The Opening Sequence of Saving Private Ryan

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The Opening Sequence of Saving Private Ryan

In Analyzing Steven Spielberg’s movie ‘Saving Private Ryan,’

I realized that I can not base a movie only on realism. I

think a good movie has to have some kind of character or

formalism to carry the viewer through these realistic scenes.

In my critique I wish to point out some uses of realism

and camera effects in the movie saving Private Ryan. In my

eyes saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece. Although the

movie is nearly three hours in length, it is evenly

distributed and takes on a powerful subject. I think ‘Saving

Private’ Ryan was not another war movie; I really felt it

caught the soul of war. The film begins with a half-hour

sequence of the landings at Normandy on D-Day. Many films

have portrayed this D-Day scene, but have failed, to me, in

realism. In ‘Saving Private Ryan’, realism portrayed in near

perfection. The film contains such actors as Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore,

Edward Burns and Matt Daron. In the film Spielberg took a

documentary approach and in doing so got 5 academy awards

and the Best director award.

In the opening scene of the battle the camera shots are

dull and gritty which create the sense of realism as the

glossy finish has been taken away. This represents the old

newsreel cameras which followed the soldiers in to war.

As people are advancing up the beach two different camera

angles are used The first is the de- saturated and the other

is a hand-held camera whi...

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...ct way . All of

the other war films I have watched the allies seem to have

a super human figure as there main character whereas in

‘Saving Private Ryan’ the main character seems to be a normal

individual . Spielberg has taken in the facts and made a

interesting interpretation of how it may have seemed but not

making either side look to have any advantage or

disadvantage over the other.

This opening sequence prepared me for what was to follow as

you could actually sense how the soldiers might have felt

from the well illustrated feeling put up on the screen for

example the repeated scene of the hand shaking or the

vomiting in the boat but the whole thing put together this

more than prepared me for the film.

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