Saving Private Ryan - Omaha Beach Landing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZgKo46X8CI

Choose one element and discuss its use in detail.

Film - Saving Private Ryan

Scene - Omaha Beach Landing

Element - Sound Effects

At the beginning of the scene we hear the sound of the waves as they crash onto the boats that are heading towards the beach. This shows us that the sea that the soldiers are travelling on is rough and makes it more difficult for the boats to reach their destination. We also hear at this point sound of the boats motors and also the sound of soldiers that are vomiting. This sound effect shows us that they are so nervous, worried or scared about what is going to happen when they reach the shore, that it is causing them to be sick in fear. As they get close to the beach with the boats you can hear distant bombings and as soon as the captain blows the whistle the front opening of the boat opens up and instantly we hear gun fire and many soldiers are shot and killed instantly from above. We see the close up of the machine gun that is being used from above and we hear it firing down onto the soldiers on the shore. Then we see the soldiers jump into the water and we hear the muffled sounds of the soldiers moving underwater and the gun fire from above the water. This shows us what the soldiers are hearing as this is happening, and as they re-surface above the water we hear the full volume of the gunfire and bombings that are taking place. As we see the captain dragging an injured soldier out of the water we hear the gun shots hitting the water around the soldiers and we also hear the bullets hit the bodies of the soldiers. This sound effect shows how dangerous this scene is to the soldiers that are being shot at. One of the most effective sound effects in this scene is the part when the captain loses his hearing for a moment because of an explosion that occurred close to him. In this section the captain is looking around at all the things that are happening around him and we cannot hear anything, he looks around at one of his soldiers and he can see his mouth moving but no sound is coming out. This gives the effect to the audience that the captain cannot hear anything and once again is showing the audience what it was like for the american soldiers at Omaha Beach. The use of sound effects in this scene ultimately made the audience understand what the soldiers were feeling, hearing and seeing at the time of this massacre. It makes the scene more eye opening and realistic for the audience.