Comparing Saving Private Ryan and The Longest Day

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Comparing Saving Private Ryan and The Longest Day The purpose of this essay is to compare which of the two films (Saving Private Ryan and The Longest Day) is the most emotionally effecting. I am also trying to compare how each of the two films represent war and soldiers to the audience. The camera work in the two films is very different. The Longest Day nearly always uses the "God" view where the camera is taking an aerial shot of the action. The "God" view means that because you are above all the action it feels like you are in control. The camera work is also really smooth throughout the whole of the clip giving the impression to me that the shot isn't really happening and it has been manufactured. I don't know why the director chose to do the camera work like this because it would've been a lot more realistic if the camera moved around a bit more so it would've appeared like it was like a documentary clip and was actually happening. In Saving Private Ryan however the camera work is a lot shakier and shuddered when a bomb went of as if the cameraman can actually feel the vibrations from the explosion so it looks as if they were actually there. This clip also uses the parallel camera shot where you are right alongside the soldiers and you don't feel powerful or in control at all it made the clip a lot more tedious for me anyway. I feel the director of this film approached the camera work with a lot more thought and consideration than the director of The Longest Day. This clip also uses a lot of low angle shots and close ups it hardly ever shows long shots except for the German bunkers and the beach at the start. For sou... ... middle of paper ... ...to show the audience that the Americans are not an invincible army, but are in fact just normal people fighting for their country. In The Longest Day, I feel the director was trying to represent the opposite of what Saving Private Ryan did. The captain and his men seem to have no fear whatsoever showing that they think they are invincible. One example of this is when the captain is strolling around talking to his men right in front of the enemy's machine guns as if he isn't in the middle of a war. Finally I think Saving Private Ryan was trying to portray that even if you win, war is not a good thing, whereas The Longest Day was simply a chance to show off that the Americans won that battle. I preferred the Saving Private Ryan clip because it contained the best SFX, it was honest and overall more emotionally moving.

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