Cinematography

Saving Private Ryan

We are first presented with a medium shot of the American flag blowing in the wind. Panning is then used, which pans up from the back of his feet to the back of his head. This creates suspense, as we are not shown his face instantly. This can be also described as a point-of-view shot as we are then shown a medium shot of his family looking at him from behind. There is then a medium close up of what we presume is his son or son in law taking a photograph. A medium close up is then shown of his wife with the rest of the family being in a medium shot. From this we can infer that she may be more significant then the rest of the family. An establishing shot is then used to show the location. This is also a panning shot as it moves from where the family were walking to a close up of him at the front. We then finally get to see a medium close up of the male protagonist. There is then another shot of the American flag, but this time it is a medium shot, and one of the French flag. The camera then goes back to a medium shot of the male protagonist, which clearly shows the expression on his face. He is looking ahead of him, but the audience has not yet been showed what he is looking at. A long shot of him and his family walking is shown, slowly showing the head stones of soldiers that fought in the war. A crane shot is used to show the hundreds of head stones of the soldiers that died during the war. We are then presented with multiple long shots of the head stones. Lastly, we are shown a medium shot of him and his family, which then starts to zoom in, leaving us with a big close up of his eyes.