The most significant part of the battle scene is when Tom Hanks stops for a moment of silence and contemplation, next to a barricade, and looks around to gather his thoughts and perspective at that moment in time. The whole of the time that he is thinking is displayed in slow motion. We see a fellow soldier with his arm blown off but he picks it back up and continues as if he’ll need it for later. The hand held camera is positioned from Tom Hanks view to deliver a clear image to the audience of the pain and helplessness he is feeling and what he is viewing.
At the start of the battle scene there are various camera shots from the shallow water. The bobbing up and down of the camera makes the audience seem like they are in the water as well as attracting their attention, this effect is produced with a hand held camera. The hand held camera is used throughout the battle scene as though we are one of the soldiers. A shot of Captain Miller’s hand is shown focusing on a small area and then expanding outwards revealing the other soldiers on board. Using this technique creates a tense atmosphere and a sense of fear, which helps the audience to appreciate the pain the soldiers must be going through at this point.
During the battle sequence there is a camera shot from the German-shooting tower showing the soldiers down below struggling to escape the continuous fire. Spielberg uses several camera angles and tracking shots, which involve the audience.
In ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Steven Spielberg deliberately chooses to use dark and gloomy colours to represent an atmosphere of great sadness and terror. Also in the first scene, at the graveyard, the colours used are peaceful and tranquil and there are blue skies all round, whereas as soon as the battle scene started the colours are all gloomy and it begins to rain to add to the dramatic effect. Throughout the battle scene it looks as though a blue tint is used on the camera lens to make the colours appear a lot more dull and drab. In the graveyard scene, the millions of bold white graves contrast with the lush green grass. The graves look as though they are standing in uniform, exactly the same distance apart. This, to me, represents the uniformity of the army, and the way they are impeccable. The American flag fluttering against the wind shows pride in their country and it stands out against the clear blue sky behind it.
The dialogue in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is mostly the same throughout the battle scene. Whenever the soldiers speak, fear is conveyed, even in the captains’ voices. Captain Miller’s voice throughout is very commanding; this shows how serious war is. During the battle scene the background sound is filled with screams of the soldiers being shot etc, and the sound of bullets as they hit against the target. On the arriving ship some of the soldiers pray to god that they will survive and this shows the fear that they must be feeling. As the camera dips underwater the sounds that are made are lifelike, it is the same sound that is made when we go underwater in a swimming pool. Also, you can hear a slight whirr of the bullets as they protrude through the water. In the battle scene of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ there is no music but lifelike sounds of battles such as screams and bombs going off, whereas in the graveyard scene there is backing movement, which has a steady beat.
When Captain Miller looks around the beach in slow motion to observe the goings on around him, every sound is blocked out apart from his heavy breathing and the tunnelling noise as if he can’t believe what is going on. All of these sound effects accurately represent the chaos that is going on in the battle and in the soldiers’ minds.
‘Saving Private Ryan’ wanted to point out that war is a horrible and ruthless thing and has the odds against survival. It also engages the audience in the movie to show the real feelings and the general fear that the soldiers have of going to war and the inexcusable amount of deaths of so many men, and the insanity of the war that they died for.
