The way in which in a movie is filmed can sometimes be the difference that decides whether a movie is good or great. The angle and different types of shots used to film a scene of a movie has the power to make the viewer feel or react a certain way. Great film makers know how these tactics work, and use them to their advantage. The use of such shot progression and camera angles are brilliantly used in what is one of the best war films of all time, Saving Private Ryan.
In the opening scene, once Tom Hanks' character begins to remember his time at war, there are some amazing shots that take place. This scene begins with the soldiers huddled up inside some type of water/land vehicle, waiting to hit land to fight in Normandy on D-Day. The first couple of shots are close ups of some of the soldiers. These shots give the audience a hint of how intense this day really was. The shots help capture the emotional side of the fighting. The cameras then move on to extreme close ups once the whistles blow to lower the gates to let the soldiers out onto the shore. The important detail is given to us here that the soldiers are about to be let out into war. The cameras zoom in to the wheels/latches that open and shut the gates of the vehicle. From here, the scene turns to a sort of middle shot that shows the American soldiers getting shot at by the enemies. However, this shot does not show who is doing the shooting. Following this, the cameras give a long shot showing the backs of the enemies as they are shooting their American targets. This final shot gives the whole perspective of what is actually taking place and shows us just how large the scale of things is.
***VIDEO CLIP*** [Saving Private Ryan - D-Day opening scene][Start at 1:21]
Another scene within this movie is when the American soldiers are attempting to find Private Ryan. They encounter another rally point and find some soldiers who might know where Ryan is. A commander then gives the soldiers a bag full of dog tags, that signify dead soldiers. The soldiers are instructed to look through the tags to see if they find Private Ryan within the names. The scene begins with a middle shot of about 3 soldiers sitting down at a table sifting through the dog tags. The information provided to the audience here is that there are a plethora of dog tags that in turn means that their have been an equal number of casualties. The next shot is an extreme close up that shows some name on the dog tags. This gives a more detailed perspective on how the tags look. Following this shot is another middle shot showing some other soldiers walking in the background behind the men who are looking through the tags. This shows the audience that the American soldiers are in a pretty public area and that other soldiers are watching them sift through the dog tags of deceased soldiers. This shot then turns into a long shot showing the whole picture of what is actually taking place. From here a close up on the Airborne soldiers passing by in the background, shows the audience the reality that some of their friends and companions names are in the pile of dog tags that the American soldiers are laughing about while searching through them.
***VIDEO CLIP*** [Saving Private Ryan - Dog Tag scene][Start at 4:03]
Shots and shot progression are definitely some very important aspects that help tell a story much better. The feelings that an audience feels vary by the film styles and angles used in filming certain scenes. The fact of the matter is that so much can be said by simply filming a scene in a certain type of shot. Saving Private Ryan took advantage of such shots and thus went on to win a plethora of Oscar awards for being such an amazing film.
