A comparison of clips from two Second World War films showing the D-Day landings. 'The Longest Day' (1962) and 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998).Which do you feel is the most effective and truthful?
Charlotte Jones.
0/E7
7/04/02
A comparison of clips from two Second World War films showing the D-Day landings. 'The Longest Day' (1962) and 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998).
Which do you feel is the most effective and truthful?
The two films 'The Longest Day' and 'Saving Private Ryan' show the D-Day landings, which took place on the Normandy coast on June 6th 1944. A force of three million men assembled in Britain and eleven thousand aircraft and nine thousand ships and landing craft took them across the channel.
The two clips show American soldiers landing on Omaha beach, intending to invade and capture French villages, but the German defence forces killing a large number of these soldiers with heavy machine gun fire and placed mines. They show the struggle of the American soldiers as they fought their way up the beach, many never making it, and some not even making it off the boats.
I found the clip from the film 'Saving Private Ryan' the most effective and truthful as it had a large impact on me and really made me feel I was there. It gave me an idea of what it must have been like for the soldiers. It captured the emotions of the soldiers, which meant you could relate to them and made it more believable.
A lot of factors contributed towards making it more realistic, I also feel it involved the audience a lot more. I will now look at all the aspects of the clips from 'The Longest Day' and 'Saving Private Ryan' and explore what makes 'Saving Private Ryan' more effective and truthful than 'The Longest Day'. I will look at camera shots, sound effects, attention to detail, characters, and the atmosphere and emotion each clip creates.
I found the 'Saving Private Ryan' clip to be the most realistic compared with the one from 'The Longest Day'. 'The Longest day' was in black and white, whereas 'Saving Private Ryan' was filmed in colour. This meant the images in 'Saving Private Ryan' were a lot more vivid and sharp. Being a battle scene, there were a lot of injuries and casualties, the colour used in 'Saving Private Ryan' meant these were a lot more dramatic with the blood everywhere being a deep red.
As we see in colour, the clip from 'Saving Private Ryan' seemed a lot more true to life and you were really able to imagine being there, the colour helped the entire scene to be portrayed more effectively.
In 'The Longest Day', which used black and white, the scenery appeared bleak and dismal which is a good atmosphere to create, but the action couldn't be captured as well because it seemed to me, one dimensional. 'Saving Private Ryan' creates the bleak atmosphere and contrasts that with the red blood which is shocking.
The sound effects in ...
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As we see in colour, the clip from 'Saving Private Ryan' seemed a lot more true to life and you were really able to imagine being there, the colour helped the entire scene to be portrayed more effectively.
In 'The Longest Day', which used black and white, the scenery appeared bleak and dismal which is a good atmosphere to create, but the action couldn't be captured as well because it seemed to me, one dimensional. 'Saving Private Ryan' creates the bleak atmosphere and contrasts that with the red blood which is shocking.
The sound effects in 'Saving Private Ryan' also helped to make it appear real. 'Saving Private Ryan' used layers of sound, which created the feeling of constant action and panic. There was the sound of constant gunfire, machine gunning, mines, explosions, wounded soldiers crying out in pain and the general shouting commands with a sense of urgency and fear.
'The Longest Day' used music at the beginning to build tension but once on the beach the soldiers spoke in 'normal' rational voices, and you didn't get the feeling there was a lot going on, or that it was very important. When reaching the bank the soldiers in 'The Longest Day' seemed calm, but in 'Saving Private Ryan, the sense of fear among them was maintained by facial expressions and urgent whispers.
The 'Saving Private Ryan' clip was longer and more time was devoted to the actual beach landings allowing more detail to be included. This meant it was more effective and truthful and allowed the viewers to see more of the beach. ''The Longest Day' clip was shorter and not as much time was spent on the beach making it seem a bit rushed.
Both clips showed casualties and injuries, however, 'Saving Private Ryan' really shocked me and made me realise how terrifying it must have been. It showed a man in agony lying screaming on the floor in a pool of blood with his intestines on the ground beside him. Another soldier was caught in a mine explosion and had his arm blown off, he just picked it up and carried on showing the shock and disorientation they must have felt. Men carrying fuel tanks were engulfed in flames- the attention to detail was very effective.
'The Longest Day' and 'Saving Private Ryan' both showed soldiers stopping to drag wounded soldiers up the beach with them. This was to appeal to the audiences emotions and show how, even though the soldiers were desperate to get themselves to the bank alive, they worked together and helped each other out, so many men were being shot down they felt helpless and were doing all they could.
Different camera shots were used to create different effects. In 'Saving Private Ryan' the camera shot changes over eighty times, in 'The Longest Day' it changes over sixty-four times.
More camera shots in 'Saving Private Ryan' means a wider perspective can be observed, and you get the feeling of movement. For example in 'The Longest Day' a few shots lasting a couple of seconds each are used, this isn't as realistic or effective for portraying a battle and making it feel like you're really there. You would be glancing all around, so more shots lasting split seconds is better than shots that give the impression of gazing slowly which doesn't take in all the surroundings and give the impression of panic.
'Saving Private Ryan' uses a wider range of shots. The camera uses panning to show the whole beach, then tracking on the boats and soldiers as they move up the beach. Close-ups and extreme close-ups are used to show characters expressions, or details that might be important later on. Underwater shots are also used as soldiers drown, to give you a sense of seeing everything.
'The Longest Day' also uses tracking when the boats approach the beach, but only a few close-ups and it doesn't pan out to give a wider view. The view is restricted.
The background in 'Saving Private Ryan' was more believable, filmed on the actual beach. 'Saving Private Ryan' used advanced computer graphics in the background, whereas the background in 'The Longest Day' was a film, which made you think it wasn't really happening. There were a lot of good special effects in 'Saving Private Ryan' but this is because it was made later than 'The Longest Day'.
At one point in 'Saving Private Ryan' the camera focussed particularly on one character, Tom Hanks. You get a first person perspective of events and see 'through' his eyes, this is shown with camera and sound techniques. The noise dies down, there's an extreme close-up on his eyes, sound becomes muffled and warped, everything is in slow motion and then you are looking up the beach. As he runs the camera jogs and you can hear his breathing. This shows his shock at what he is witnessing.
'The Longest Day' focuses on Robert Mitchum (the hero) most of the time, it makes the other soldiers seem unimportant. There isn't the feeling of getting to know the characters and experiencing what it was like on a personal levelhis was also the clip I most enjoyed watching as I found it interesting and captivating.
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In 'The Longest Day' the soldiers appear to take everything in their stride, quite calmly, almost relaxed. At one point Robert Mitchum says to a young soldier, "You're gonna need your gun before this days over." It seems clichéd and unreal. Not much emotion is shown and you don't get to know the soldiers personally.
In 'Saving Private Ryan' you see the soldier's characters from the very beginning. They are scared, not putting on a front. Whilst on the boats, some are praying or even being sick with fear. Extreme close-ups show trembling, fidgeting hands and terrified eyes. There is a lot of emotion. Upon landing, the soldiers at the front of the boats are gunned down immediately, faces behind are filled with horror. You feel for them all, fighting for their lives.
The sound is more effective in 'Saving Private Ryan' a really busy, frantic and full of action atmosphere is created. Underwater shots and sound are used, going from the air full of bullets and gunshots, to the contrasting muffled sounds of water and men gasping for air before quietly sinking to the seabed. Men fall with splashes, mines explode in the sea, bullets, shells and machinegun fire fill the air, bullets hit against soldiers and metal, and soldiers yell in pain. You can hear everything you see, so it's more believable.
'The Longest Day' uses dramatic music to start it off, and you hear bullets (although not as many) and shelling, also a few commands from officers but they don't sound realistic.
I found 'Saving Private Ryan' the most effective and truthful clip, it was very detailed, realistic and involves you in what is happening. 'The Longest Day' did not contain a lot of detail and I felt it was only inclusive of the bare facts needed to tell what happened whereas 'Saving Private Ryan' included a lot of 'extras'. A wider range of camera shots was used in 'Saving Private Ryan', so you could really feel and imagine you were there. Camera shots in 'The Longest Day' were more restricted. The sound in 'Saving Private Ryan' was of a better quality and more true to life, and a lot more emotion was captured which creates a more believable atmosphere.
I looked at, and compared the films on all these points and ideas in quite a lot of depth, and have concluded that all these points come together to make 'Saving Private Ryan' the most truthful and most effective clip. This was also the clip I most enjoyed watching as I found it interesting and captivating.