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Analyzing film techniques
Analyzing film techniques
Analyzing film techniques
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Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of sources This Investigation will be based on the question “To what extent does the beach scene in the movie Saving Private Ryan accurately portray the invasion of Normandy?” This will be an investigation set during the period of the invasion of Normandy in World War II. One of the two sources I will be evaluating in this IA will be the movie “Saving Private Ryan” Directed by Stephen Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. The second source I will be using is an article by Toby Haggith called D-Day Filming: For Real. A Comparison of 'Truth' and 'Reality' in "Saving Private Ryan" and Combat Film by the British Army's Film and Photographic Unit. The first source I will be evaluating is the movie: Saving …show more content…
The operation included French, Britain, Canadian and US forces to storm 5 different beach heads, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword and Juno in Northern France . The invasion of Normandy is one of the most important and famous operations during the second world war. In the movie Saving Private Ryan the first 25 minutes of the movie portrays events of D-day, during the invasion of Normandy. The movie was able to show the Americans storming through Omaha beach while on constant fire from the Germans. Despite of this the American troops was able to by past the constant fire and take over the German fortification and eventually take over Omaha beach. The beach scene of Saving Private Ryan includes many aspects that was Historically correct and was praised for by many movie lovers and even veterans sat frozen at the movie theater from the sheer realism and recalling the terrors of the invasion. Despite of this there are also some parts of the scene where it was not historically accurate and was not correctly portrayed. …show more content…
In the actual invasion of Normandy there was no captain named captain John Miller and there was no private Ryan, all the characters in the movies were fictional. However, the character private Ryan was actually inspired by a real parachuter during the invasion of Normandy, named Fedrick Fritz Niland. Fedrick was part of 101st Airborne division which Private Ryan was also apart off. Similar to Private Ryan Fedrick Fritz Niland was a son of four and when the army received the news that all three brothers were killed in action, Fedrick Niland was pulled out and brought back home. Unlike Private Ryan, Fedrick Fritz Niland was not able to resist from coming home even though he too wanted to stay and keep on fighting in the
Juno Beach is the code name for the one of the five sectors of the Normandy beaches that the Allies invaded, Operation Overlord, on 6 June 1944, otherwise known as D-Day, during the Second World War. Juno beach was located between Sword and Gold sectors; this beach is 7km long and located between the villages of Graye-sur-Mer and St-Aubin-sur-Mer, the center of the British sector of the Normandy invasion. The unit responsible for the Juno sector was 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and commandos of the Royal Marines from Great Britain, with support from Naval Force J, the Juno contingent of the Naval invasion forces. The beach was defended by two Battalions of the German 716th Infantry Division with elements of the 21st Panzar Division sitting in reserve in Caen.
It was 1944, and the United States had now been an active participant in the war against Nazi Germany for almost three and a half years, nearly six years for the British. During that period occurred a string of engagements fought with ferocious determination and intensity on both sides. There is however, one day which stands out in the minds of many American servicemen more often than others. June 6, 1944, D-Day, was a day in which thousands of young American boys, who poured onto the beaches of Utah and Omaha, became men faster than they would have ever imagined possible. Little did they know of the chaos and the hell which awaited them on their arrival. Over the course of a few hours, the visions of Omaha and Utah Beaches, and the death and destruction accompanied with them formed a permanent fixation in the minds of the American Invaders. The Allied invasion of Europe began on the 6th of June 1944, and the American assault on Utah and Omaha beaches on this day played a critical role in the overall success of the operation. (Astor 352)
D-Day by Stephen E. Ambrose follows the landings on the Calvados coast of Normandy from the pre-planning stages all the way up through the invasion and through about D-Day plus one - one day after the Normandy landings. The first two chapters deal with the combatants in a general fashion before moving on to the location of the landings and why it was chosen. From there, Mr. Ambrose moves into planning of the operation and the preparation for the same. This discussion of the preparation leads into a chapter on the operation specific training that the soldiers received. Then Ambrose discusses the numerous briefings that the troops underwent before the invasion was even launched and then he writes about the process behind General Eisenhower’s deciding to launch the invasion. Once that actual invasion begins, Ambrose uses oral history accounts from men on both Utah Beach and Omaha Beach to tell the story of how the day progressed. The end of the book is taken up with the British and Canadians on Gold Beach and Sword Beach, as well as the actions of the British airborne units. Finally, Mr. Ambrose ends his book with an overview of the Allied forces at the end of June 6, 1944.
In 1943, the decision was made to attack the Germans in the spring of 1944. It was called Operation Overlord. On June 6, 1944, Allied troops invaded Normandy on the northern coast of France. The invasion was originally planned for June the fifth, but due to bad weather it was postponed until June the sixth. The Allies consisted of the United States, Britain, France, and Canada.
O'Brien, Tim. "How to Tell a True War Story." Writing as Re-Vision. Eds. Beth Alvarado and Barbara Cully. Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing, 1996. 550-8.
The task of Juno Beach was very difficult and cost many Canadian lives. The Canadians were to overwhelm the German-held beach with troops, overrun their defenses, then allow the rest of the Canadian, other allied troops and artillery safely ashore. On June 6th, 1944 Canada sent in the third Canadian division; however, the German defenses were prepared. The beach was loaded with machine gunners and other German artillery, which resulted in 50% casualties for the first wave of Canadian soldiers. Although suffering all of these casualties, Canada managed to overrun the Germans within hours, hold this important area and progress further into France. This area was very important for the allied forces because controlling the waters was essential. At this point in time, troops and artillery were sent through ships, therefore, because of the Canadians success, allied forces were then able to send more troops in safely to France and disallowed Germany from sending any troops out. This was an important time during the war too, this victory was the start of allied forces taking back German-held land and they were slowly starting to advance into Germany itself. In conclusion, this was an essential and difficult battle that Canada fought alone which lead allied forces closer to stopping
“Saving Private Ryan” successfully uses extremely vivid imagery to display how horrible war is. In the opening scene of the movie the US troops are invading the beaches of Normandy in the battle of D-Day which is known as one the most violent battles of WWII. This shocking beginning puts the audience right into the heavy reality of war. There are many images of people being brutally injured or killed and is able to accurately show what WWII and more specifically D-Day was like.
Even visual media, which has improved remarkably over the last several decades, cannot express these feelings accurately. Today’s movies, photography and other digital media about wars are considerably more visual and realistic than in the past. They are capable of portraying events very close to reality. However, these photos and movie scenes still cannot make a person experience the exact feelings of another person who actually fought in a war.
Saving Private Ryan portrays the experiences of the mysterious captain John Miller and his army ranger Squad. The story accurately depicts what could have happened to a comparable unit mission shown had actually existed. No Saving Private Ryan character ever existed. Furthermore, it is unlikely that Saving Private Ryan’s mission ever would have been ordered. The mission shown is improbable because United States army sole survivor policy “is applicable only in peacetime.” (Sergeant Rod Powers, ret.). Regardless the movie shows the chaos that American soldiers may very well have encountered while marching through Normandy subsequent to D-day.
Even though Ryan’s book accurately describes many of the things that happened on D-day, he doesn’t describe many of the situations well. The majority of his descriptions are minimal and are not that vivid. When it comes to describing scenes that would be visually amazing, he is very brief and factual. When he describes the scores of paratroopers sent into France, he simply states that “882 planes carrying thirteen thousand men” were sent in. He doesn’t help the reader in visualizing just how that many planes looked in the sky, as well as what it looks like to see hundreds of paratroopers drifting to the ground. The film accomplishes this very well, with visuals that strived to strike awe in the viewer. When the planes fly into France, the viewer is shown hundreds upon hundreds of planes flying in the same formation at many different altitudes. To actually see all those planes was incredible, most people haven’t seen something that stunning in real life, or in a film. The same goes for when the paratroopers actually jump out of their planes. Ryan just states that there were “thirteen thousand men” sent to jump, but to show you a few hundred paratroopers has a different effect on a person. Gerd Oswald and the cinematographers did an amazing job in sho...
January 22, 1944, Allied troops dropped on the beaches of Anzio completely surprising the Germans catching them off guard. This was possible because the attention and reserve troops were moved south, in order to oppose the allies attac...
To write this book the author, John Toland, had to devote 15 years researching different stories from all sides of the war. He studied war memoirs, interviewed war veterans, and read military documents. While doing this he focused on both the allied and axis forces to truly understand both sides of the story and be able to write such a descriptive and accurate piece of work. This research was used in the book to describe the unlikely victory of the Americans over the Germans during the “Battle of the Bulge”.
Hollywood war movies are commonly based around heroic and courageous actions. These are major characteristics in the movies Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down. Although the film Black Hawk Down is based on an actual event, it is all about common soldiers conquering fear and hardship to save wounded allies, despite seeing the deaths of friends along the way. The story becomes personalized and revolves around a few individual soldiers who give examples of heroism. In the movie, one soldier returns to base injured and later chooses to return to the front line to help rescue his allies that are more gravely wounded than him. There are also multiple instan...
The movie I chose to analyze for historical accuracy was War Horse. This movie was set in the First World War, starting in Britain but the story also explored France and Germany during this time period as well. Three scenes will be analyzed: the trench warfare scene between the British and the Germans, the scene where the British soldiers were gassed, and the scene where the British were getting patched up and nursed. War Horse does well to stick to the historical accuracy of what happened during the First World War due to the fact that the three scenes that I have chosen to analyze are not embellished and are close to what really happened.
There is an intellectual discussion over the accuracy of war films and whether or not these should focus more on telling the truth or decorating it a little. Indeed, the narrative of war films has change throughout the years because the purpose of such films has evolved, especially those representing the World War II years and the aftermath. At the time of war, films were employed with diverse objectives for example to urge the public to support the war, to narrate the latest events, or to rebuild the image of the heroes. Most of the times the perspectives of films could vary depending on the country the film was produced in or which side of the story was being narrated. The plot of most war films might not be real, but they were necessary