The film begins by showing an older veteran visiting graves at Normandy from World War 2, which triggers a flashback to the D-Day invasion. Scenes show the bloody landing on the beaches of Normandy as American soldiers faced heavy German resistance, sustaining thousands of casualties as they fought to break through to land. Key characters are introduced as the invasion moves up the beach, including Captain John Miller and new recruits who will be the focus of the film.

1. Saving Private Ryan 1998
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Genre; Action, Drama and History
Analysis of Professional Film Opening

2. Summary of the opening 2-5 minutes
The film begins by showing an older man, a war time veteran visiting the
grave yard of the fallen soldiers who fought and died in World War II with
his family. As he stumbles through the graves he finds the grave which
makes him think back to the war, causing a flash back to appear, presenting
the D-Day invasion. The landing boats hit the French beaches and the
Germans try to fight back resulting in thousand of deaths to American
soldiers until the reach the defensive area allowing them to break the
German offensive and successfully invade.

3. Locations
• Normandy, where the large military grave yards are located.
• Normandy Beaches during the invasion on France.
Characters
The old man who is unknown at the beginning of the film.
The old mans family.
Captain John H. Miller is seen on one of the landing boats during the invasion
along with Sgt. Mike Horvath providing orders to the men.
As the invasion pushes up the beach you get introduced to the soldiers which
will become the main characters;
Pvt. Richard Reiben
Pvt. Daniel Jackson
Pvt. Stanley Mellish
Pvt. Adrian Caparzo
T-5 Medic Irwin Wade

4. Enigma Codes
Who is the old man in the graveyard?
What will happen to the soldiers we see leaving the beach?
Who is Private Ryan? Why does he need saving?
Editing
On the beach, short sharp cuts between each shot occur to bring the pace up to
Fit the environment and the surroundings. Whereas in the graves the editing is
Much slower paced between cuts.

5. Use of sound
• Gun shots, fizzes under water
• Explosions
• Sand spraying
• Metal pinging
• Trumpets
• screaming and shouting of soldiers.
• Waves crashing
• As subject falls under water sound becomes “slurred” and ringing begins.
Audience
The target audience for this film is of an older age, those who know about the war and
those who are interested in history.

6. Ideas you could transfer to your own opening
Sequence
• Titles which set the genre and suit the film opening well.
• Large use of sounds to fit the scenes and add that extra feel to the film.
• An interesting opening which catches the viewers attention making them want to keep
watching.
Titles
The titles are seen right at the very beginning of the film, before anything else is shown.
There presented right in the middle of the screen in a “Times New Roman” style font,
in white and underlined with an all black background making it look very serious.

7. Camerawork
The camerawork at the beginning of the film tracks the old man making things seem
very slow and makes the walk towards the grave even longer. On the beach
the camera follows the soldiers push up towards the enemy in a shaky motion
to make the bombing and the shooting is effecting the camera, making it seem
even more realistic. When the subject falls under the water, the camera follows him
jumping up and below the water to grab the effect the subject is going through.