"Saving Private Ryan" - 1998- Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg's Film "Saving Private Ryan" begins with an opening sequence of the US marine soldiers landing on Omaha Beach during the D Day Landings. This scene was set to replicate the time the Americans came to invade the Germans on June 6th 1944.
The opening sequence starts with a Close Up Shot of a soldier in the US marines, who is supposedly the main character of this film as the camera is in focus with this soldiers' face whilst also being amongst a group of another 15 soldiers in a boat. A Close Up Shot is used again on the soldiers' hand to show his nervousness of being deployed into battle. This shot is particular effective as this portrays to the audience watching the film the reality of how these soldiers were feeling at the time, rather than supposedly being the "super-soldiers" that were always brave and fearless.
The shot then cuts to another Close Up Shot of the same soldier, but with the camera placed to the left whilst he is shouting at the other soldiers - meaning he could be a leader or some sort by the way the camera is tilted also.
Once the marines land on the beach, the ramp is lowered and the soldiers are surprised with machine gun fire heading towards them, coming from German frontiers, which gives a very gruesome feel to the scene. This sequence has the camera filming an Over the Shoulder Shot in the eyes of the main character, making the scene more personal and realistic again. In the same sequence, the camera shots change to the German side which switches to a High Angle/Over the Shoulder Shot to show that the Germans have superiority over the US marines.
The following sequence carries on for the next few minutes showing some more gruesome and horrific scenes of US soldiers being killed from every direction. Loosing limbs and having heads blown off adds tension to the sequence. A lot of the shots are taken using Medium Close-Ups or at Eye Level, especially during the scenes when some soldiers are in the water as the camera uses a "bobbing" effect. Having the camera angles facing the soldiers in awkward angles makes this uncomfortable for the audience to show them the struggle the US marines had fighting the overpowered Germans on Omaha Beach.
These were not marines that stormed the beaches during D-day.
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