Types of Actors – Saving Private Ryan

There are a lot of big name actors in Saving Private Ryan.  Each of them is performing a role that requires a different set of skills to relay that character to the audience.  These skills can be categorized in one of several types.  I am going to pick three actors from the movie and say what category each belongs to and why.  The first actor that you may or may not heard of is Tom Hanks, he plays Captain Miller.  In this role I believe Tom Hanks is an interpreter.  I say this because Hanks has taken the role of and Army Ranger Officer during WWII and put his own twist on it. Hanks has no personal idea of what is what like to to live in that situation, he can watch film, read about it, and get first hand accounts to help him understand his role but has to interpret what is suppose to be done.  Take any scene from the movie whether it is the beach scene or going into the towns looking for Ryan, Hanks is able to make us believe he is a WWII Captain. 

The second actor I have chosen is Tom Sizemore or Sergeant Horvath.  Sizemore in this role I think is an impersonator.  You may be saying wait he is doing the same as Hanks with his role.  I argue that Hanks added his own twist to the movie and that Sizemore is just doing what we think a WWII Sergeant would be like.  That hard-ass, take no names kind of SOB.  I don’t that Sizemore puts his own twist on it.  I think this is most evident in the scene where they have stormed the German radar station and there is some discontent within the group. 

The third actor I have chosen is Barry Pepper or Private Jackson.  Pepper to me is a character actor through and through.  He is able to apply himself to many roles regardless of the time frame or genre.  I could argue that he is also an interpreter or impersonator with this role.  By playing a sniper in this movie he adds some of his own twist to it but does play the prototypical sniper, in thinking he can shooting Hitler if within and up to 1mile away. 

All three are good actors but one stands out amongst them.  Tom Hanks is a world class actor and has many roles that would have me classify him as a Wild Card category actor.  Hanks has Also starred in Big, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Castaway, and many many more movies.  I think when you look across the spectrum of what he has done he can fit into the mold of about any role that he want to do. 

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Saving Private Ryan – Sound

Sound in a movie plays a huge roll in how the crowd is presented a scene or situation that is happening or about to happen.  Many motion pictures have sounds tracks and are given awards for various aspects of sound or composition of those sounds.  When it comes to movies there are three basic categories of sound.  They are dialogue, sound effects, and music.  Each of which play a vital role in making the movie.  Below I will break down each a bit further.

Dialogue: Characters talking to one another (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).  This of course is a simple way of explaining it, but it much more than that.  It’s about creating a natural interaction between characters throughout the film.  Whether their part is large or small it must seem seamless to the viewer and natural to the point that it could happen to you.

Sound Effects: These are the noises whether natural or not that you hear throughout the movie.  It could be an explosion, door bell, or an opening door.

Music:  Music in a film is often thought of as the soundtrack. But there is also the score of a movie.  These of course are not the same thing.  The score is the music that plays in the background of the movie and is generally composed, and performed by an orchestra (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).  The soundtrack is songs played throughout the movie.  This is usually most popular because people associate music with some of their favorite movies, i.e. Eye of the Tiger, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and etc…(Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).

In Saving Private Ryan you have all three sounds being used throughout the film.  In the opening scenes of the movie, there is the elderly gentleman walking through the cemetery.  As he walks you hear score playing and it is setting the tone of the scene.

As the movie transitions to the boats and during the storming of the movie the dialogue begins to pick up with the cast of the movie.  And the sounds effects are consistent throughout the movie.  From the water crashing to shore, the bullets noises zooming past, and the explosions throughout remind you that this is a war movie.

A sound in a movie can let you know everything about what is going to happen or lead you in a direction to assume something is going to happen.  Sound can make a scene hilarious or suspenseful, magical or sombering. It can also allow you to associate with various genres of movies.  For instance horror or suspenseful films use creaking doors or floors, wind blowing a curtain, or that Friday the 13th Jason is coming sound that lets you know what is about to go down.

The sounds throughout Saving Private Ryan give a realistic and authentic representation of the period it was being portrayed in.  If the sounds would have been changed to say more modern weapons like that from Blackhawk Down I don’t feel you would have gotten the same feel for the period.

References:

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C.P. (2011). Film: From Watchdog to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bidgepoint Education, Inc.

Saving Private Ryan – Mise en scène

For this weeks Blog I have again chosen to use Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan for reference.

Type of Lighting:

In Saving Private Ryan the lighting that is used would be low-key, in addition it was desaturated (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).

Benefits of Style of Lighting:

The benefits of this lighting choice was to keep the movie realistic to its timeline in history.  In using low-key lighting it gave a realism that matched the filming capabilities of that time.  It also played into the somber mood wanting to be portrayed as the characters made their way along their journey.

Technique:

The technique of using low-key lighting and de-saturation gave the audience a feel for what it was like to be there.  It added a realism to the whole movie and mad you feel the dampness and desperation throughout the movie.

Suited to Genre:

The style of lighting used was best to date for the era or genre of film.  It’s one of the reasons why this is considered one of the best movies ever made.

Different Choices:

If the movie would have been filmed in high-key or three-point lighting and without the de-saturation it would have played out like any other big budget Hollywood movie.  The blood, death, and desperation would have been over-amped and not given the realism that was there.

References:

Bryce, I. & Spielberg, S. (Producer). (24 Jun 1998). Saving Private Ryan [Motion Picture]. USA: DreamWorks SKG

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan (1998) Trailer

Writer:  Frank Darabont and Robert Rodat

Director: Steven Spieldberg

Major Actors: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Ed Burns, Matt Damon, Barry Pepper

Year Released: 1998

Story:

Saving Private Ryan is a film about a team of men sent on a rescue mission to save one person during WWII.  

Plot:

Saving Private Ryan starts out at the American Cemetery in Normandy, France following a man with his family in tow.  As they make their way through the cemetery he stops and kneels in front of a grave marker.  The film then transitions to Omaha Beach June 6, 1944 and the D-Day attacks to take the beaches and launch the assault on Nazi forces. 

After the beach is taken the film transitions to the war department and the individuals responsible for writing the letters to notify families that their loved ones have died in defense of their country.  Where one particular lady notices that there have been multiple brothers killed during the war and that there is one brother left alive serving in WWII. 

The moving returns to the battle fields where the a Captain is notified that he will take a team to rescue the last brother.  This is where the journey really begins for the main characters. 

Chronological/Non-Linear:

Saving Private Ryan follows a chronological order of filming or in the same order they would occur (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).  I think that the flow and order of this movie is as aesthetically pleasing as it can be.  I think being able to show the order of affects on those beaches and how the men fought their way through France had to be in a chronological order.  When they were pulled out of the “normal” war for this mission it allowed the character development to jump off the screen.  It allowed you to personalized with each character and relate to the hardship and task they had to accomplish. 

References:

Bryce, I. & Spielberg, S. (Producer). (24 Jun 1998). Saving Private Ryan [Motion Picture]. USA: DreamWorks SKG

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

AFI’s 10 TOP 10. http://www.afi.com/10top10/moviedetail.aspx?id=24&thumb=1