Textual Analysis

Textual analysis

Saving Private Ryan

Courtney Lang

The clip starts with the opening credits which are in the centre of the screen and in front of a black background. The theme music which is played by trumpets can be heard and sound very calm and peaceful which contrasts with the action packed film. The music fades for a couple of seconds and then as the title of the film is seen on screen the military sound re-appears.

The black screen fades up into a close up of the American flag and the theme music fades into diagetic sound of the flag moving in the wind. The theme music is suddenly heard again as the camera then cuts to a rear view medium close up back view of a man’s feet whilst walking awkwardly. There is a rear pan up the man’s body to reveal that he is walking along a path through a park of some kind.  The camera then cuts to a medium long shot of a group of young and old people walking behind him looking concerned indicating that they are his family. There are several shot reverse shots and a medium close up of one man taking a photograph of the scenery, connoting there is some significance in the location and he wants to remember that. A side tracking shot of the man and the group behind him leads into a medium close to reveal that he is in fact an elderly man. In the background there is a beautiful landscape of the sea and Diagetic sound of a sea breeze can be heard and also seen blowing through the man’s hair. The camera then cuts to a long shot of the same American flag and a French flag high in the air and blowing in the wind connoting that the two countries are in the war and the memorial ground indicates all the deaths.

The camera then cuts back to the man again as he slowly starts to walk forward in a medium close up. His facial expressions depict that he is nervous or scared. As it cuts to a long shot tracking to the left of the man continually walking forward a gravestone shaped as a cross comes into focus. The man is looking around which connotes that he is looking for a certain grave to visit. There is a tracking crane shot Right to Left to reveal a whole entire field of the same gravestones showing that many hundreds of crosses to represent how many people were killed in the battle. The man sighs out loud which tells us he is near the gravestone he has been looking for. The man falls onto his knees in front of the gravestone and the sound of crying connotes that he is grieving thinking about his life and remembering those who he fought with in the war and died which we later discover was an emotional journey. In the background the other members of the group are seen running up behind him to comfort him.

Dialogue is used for the first time when the man who was taking photographs before puts his hand on the man and says “Dad” which connotes that the group trailing behind him is actually his family members. There are numerous camera shots of the lines and rows of gravestones which continue to reveal that so many people lost their lives in the war.  The camera zooms right in to the man’s face and the theme music increases building tension. The sound of the choppy sea can be heard also gradually getting louder as the camera is in an extreme long shot focusing on the man’s beady eyes.

The camera cuts to the wavy dull sea with big pieces of metal which are used to hide behind and connotes that a war is going on and depicts that these are the man’s memories that we are being allowed to view. There is a pan down to reveal how many of these giant metal pieces are lying on the seabed close to shore. The date appears near the bottom of the screen “June 6, 1944” which shows that we have gone back in time. “Dog Green Sector Omaha Beach” anchors the location of where the clip is set. There is a high level shot of a metal boat full of soldiers bursting through a massive wave. We then see a side view of the boat and that reveals that there are many other boats in the distance which indicates that a battle is about to commence.

A close up of a man’s grubby hand shaking badly which connotes that he is really scared. As the camera pans up to show the man taking a big gulp of his drink we discover that we are in the boat with all the other soldiers. There is a close up of the man’s face scanning in front of him which shows that he is looking for something. As the camera zooms out from his face all the other soldiers are seen throwing up everywhere which is really sad as people can tell that they are shocked, anxious and scared. The man driving the boat shouts out to warn the soldiers that they are “30 seconds” away and when he says “God be with you” shows that something bad is about to happen to these courageous soldiers and they need God’s protection as they are about to face their fate. There are a number of shots with different people giving out the instructions. “I’ll see you on the beach” connotes that he is in charge of this boat load of soldiers and wants to see them safe.

We start to hear some enhanced Diagetic sound of bomb and gun noises which symbolises a war is happening on the beach. Several soldiers in Close up make the sign of the cross and kiss their rosary necklace. The audience sympathise with this as they can see that the soldiers are extremely nervous about what is ahead of them. The Diagetic noise of a whistle being blown is heard and a extreme close up a wheel handle is seen spinning very fast as the door falls open. A low angle shot shows many of the soldiers at the front being shot before they even got off the boat. Enhanced Diagetic sounds of gun shots are heard as there are medium close ups of men being shot in their head and body. They all collapse to the floor of the boat, unable to even make it out onto shore. We then see an over the shoulder shot of the enemy who is shooting down to all the soldiers. Images of the men under water being shot and dying adds dramatic effect and creates tension.