Proxemics are an important way in which Spielberg sets the scene and creates an atmosphere; approaching the beach in the boats as men spew up sick from rattled nerves, the men are very close together which illustrates the sheer number of men who are about to attack, but as soon as they actually get on to the beach and the machine guns and mines tear through them, the men seem few and far between which gives the feeling that the Americans forces seem to be being rapidly depleted and really emphasises the amount of men being killed. Men constantly surround Captain Miller; this suggests his importance and the fact that he is a figure of authority. Without this entourage of soldiers beside him we would probably not even notice his superiority amongst the ranks.
At the very beginning of the film when we see the aged Private Ryan making his way towards the grave of Captain Miller he is walking about three metres ahead of the rest of his family, this shows the way the war and thinking about the war has made him distant. It is clearly a long time after the war has finished the fact that he still seems that he doesn’t want to walk with his family and share the experience shows how the gruesome war has shaped him into a possibly despondent person.
Janusz Kaminski, who was the lead camera man on the recording of Saving Private Ryan, through various techniques and camera angles, helps to make the opening battle scene to Saving Private Ryan both shocking and realistic. On the boats as they are approaching Omaha Beach, the camera is zoomed in on the faces of the soldiers; it zooms in so you can hear them whispering prayers and consoling themselves. By doing this we can see that they are scared so it makes us nervous and makes us feel like we are there because we sympathise for them. When the battle commences and we see the men run across the beach the camera seems to be running, this effect is accomplished by a camera man actually running with a camera amongst the soldiers, this gives the illusion that we are one of the men at the D-Day landing, this makes the scene more realistic because it brings us right up into the action- “I wanted to hit the sets much like a newsreel cameraman following soldiers into war.” Often the place where the camera is pointing is not accurate, by this I mean that the people running or an explosion happening is not directly in the middle of the shot, this is a very good way of making everything seem random and unrehearsed as the battle would have been in real life. It makes it seem that the explosions and killing is everywhere.
When Private Ryan visits the graveyard at the beginning of the movie it is modern day so they are wearing modern clothes, the sort that would be worn in real life. Plus they are bright which symbolises peace. During the war the uniforms are dark and dirty especially the Germans this could be to signify that they are the greater evil and make them look more intimidating like an enemy should.
Due to the gruesome nature of the film, special effects play a huge role in making it realistic and shocking, there are constant gun woundings, severed limbs, explosions etc. making the first twenty five minutes very gory, it is also almost impossible to decipher between the special effects and the real thing, it leaves nothing to the imagination. Without the advanced special effects the essential, detailed death scenes would not be possible. Because of the special effects the war can become as shocking as the war would have been, making it also realistic. Props also help to make the battle bloody, the pretend bodies are indistinguishable from real bodies to the naked eye, especially as there are so many of them. They make the scene look shocking as it makes you realise how many are dead because you can see hundreds/thousands of scattered bodies. Religious symbols are constantly put into the battle and in the graveyard; this begs the question of whose side God is really on, Captain Miller and his crew are made out as the people we are meant to feel sympathy for but many of the Nazi Germans believed that God was with them. The main point is that bringing in everyday religious objects is a good way of making it all seem more realistic.
The use of fast paced editing during the battle sequence makes the film like it is in real time. It is constantly switching from view to view, which means it makes the battle scene seem realistic even as if you are there. It is so quick to flash from shot to shot that it disorientates you, this works as a very effective method of making the battle scene seem real. Very rarely does the camera angle even change position in the graveyard scene, this makes it appear longer and more melancholy, it is put together so moves very slowly, not only does this emphasise the depressed mood of this scene but we are then instantly rushed into the action and into the opposite method of recording.
A continuous barrage of loud, warlike sounds add towards the terror immensely, the diegetic sounds or what we would expect to hear helps to create a sense of realism for the reason that in a war you would expect to hear screaming, gunfire and explosions. The volume and amount of these noises also keeps you on edge it is relentless and always in your face from the beginning of the battle to the end. Without the sound the movie has a lot less effect on the viewer as most of the carnage can not fit onto the screen and we need the sound to create the feeling that the war is all around us. Soundless the war is fed to us in small doses of whatever the camera is aiming at. Making us hear the same silence as Miller does when he is temporarily deafened by a nearby explosion is a great way of making us feel like we are sharing the same experience as him because it makes it seem as though we also have been standing by the explosion. Music is used extensively in the background in movies but in the battle scene there is none this makes it seem very realistic.
Flapping in the wind in the beginning the American flag seems drained of colour this is probably to symbolise the flags age but maybe it has the deeper meaning such as the transparency of patriotism, the flag which is one of the most patriotic symbols of any country and to see it so unconvincing coincides with the theme that develops in the mind of the viewer which is, it’s not worth dying for your country. On D-Day the lighting is done to make the scene look dark and dismal, it may be bright but it also is stormy overhead, which is quite fitting for the situation. After the battle the sea is blood red, which helps to emphasise how much killing and bloodshed has taken place. Also the bodies that litter the beach are another effective method of shock tactics.
In the battle the American soldier is presented as very clean cut and well rounded for example none of them smoke and under the circumstances they don’t swear very often. By making the American soldiers out to be well behaved, do-gooders we become more engulfed in the story as we want them to succeed in their conquest.
To conclude Spielberg has cleverly used cinematography, proxemics etc. to make a realistic yet shocking movie.