YEAR 10 GCSE ENGLISH MEDIA STUDIES ESSAY        DANIEL EDWARDS           

              SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

        On the 6th of June 1945, hundreds of American troops stormed Omaha beach in northern France in an effort to Re-Invade France, which was currently occupied by Nazi forces. As the troops ascended the beach they were brutally slaughtered by nazi forces in a concrete machine gun placement. In 1998 Stephen Spielberg, director and producer portrayed this gruesome and bloody battle in the award winning epic, Saving Private Ryan. It won many prestigious awards including awards from Time Magazine, The Producers Guild Of America and British Motion Pictures for his cinematography, sound, film, and special effects editing.

             In the first scene it pans in on the American flag blowing in the wind. It is also accompanied by bugle music. It portrays the flag as very patriotic and proud. You also see a family with the eldest member walking ahead of the group. He eventually walks into a field with perfectly cut grass. An establishing shot of the field shows rows and rows of adjacent graves. Most are Christian but some are Jewish. The endless rows of graves establish that there is a lot of death in the film. Also, the bugle music changes to soft violin. The elderly man walks up to one particular grave and collapses in an upset state. This shows that the particular grave has significance to the film. The camera zooms in to an extreme close up (ECU) of the mans eyes and you can hear the non-diagetic sound of waves crashing in the distance. The non-diagetic sound of waves crashing while focused on the mans eyes give the effect that the waves are his memories or thoughts.

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             It switches scene to a beach in northern France with large cross defenders on the beach. It goes to show an amphibious vehicle full of soldiers. The cold dark atmosphere makes the viewer uneasy and distressed. The camera ECU’s onto one particular soldiers hand. He is trying to drink from his flask but is having trouble due to him trembling. It also shows men vomiting and making religious gestures. This gives the impression that they are consumed by fear. The driver of the boat signals that they will be landing soon. Actor, Tom Hanks ...

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