MISE EN SCENE: Cinematograhy & Realism in Colour film: Saving Private Ryan (1998)

COLOUR: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Study the way in which Steven Spielberg has used Colour and lighting to represent the D-day assault on Omaha beach in Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Also assess in relation to the following:

 Camera movements,
 Editing,
 Sound,
 Mise en scene


REALISM

Key words:

‘Verisimilitude’
‘Generic verisimilitude’
‘Cultural verisimilitude’

A film like Saving Private Ryan offers a sense of ultra-realism, through a bright screen, clear and powerful dolby sound and a darkened room experience.

These factors heighten the senses for the spectator and gives a sense of SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF. (Research term for homework)

Such ‘appearance of reality’ is called ‘Verisimilitude’. This is a convention as there is nothing genuinely realistic about media images or indeed the Omaha beach landing in SPR.

There are 2 types of Verisimilitude:

GENERIC VERISIMILITUDE convinces us because of the genre we are watching (in Horror it seems to be realistic for a vampire to sink teeth into a person’s neck/In American gangster films it seems to be realistic that most gangsters are Italian American and wear sharp, Italian suits and so on)

CULTURAL VERISIMILITUDE seems realistic because it mimics real life.

Q: Which type of Verisimilitude is being used by Spielberg with SPR? And SCHINDLER’S LIST?


*Read handout on Saving Private Ryan – Highlight key points regarding the depiction of reality as portrayed in the film