Analysis Of Saving Private Ryan - Sniper Scene

Analysis of the short sniper scene from the film: ‘Saving Private Ryan’.

Directed by Steven Spielberg

At the beginning of this scene we are met with a horrible rainy day which creates large muddy puddles on the roads alongside the rubble of the buildings helps to draw attention to the fact that what was once here is gone, the buildings which stand tall reduced to nothing but ash and dust alongside the barren and empty town solidifies the idea that this is a warzone and that the only life in this place is the life of a soldier.

The rain constantly tapping away on their helmets serves as a reminder to both the audience and the characters that the warzone is still raging on.

As we enter the sequence we see American soldiers pouring into this small village, we know it is a small village because the roads are not paved and there are farming objects in the local area (apple cart/farming tools)

This could go on to show how even the smallest things in war can go on to make a difference such as; a single victory in a town, a single man surviving or their mission to bring Private Ryan (Matt Damon) home to his mother.

When the French girl is passed to Pvt Caparzo (Vin Diesel) he passes her his cross from around his neck, this could foreshadow his loss of life and the passing on of a message which he does later on in the scene.

Tying into this the removal of his helmet could also foreshadow his vulnerable and exposed state, when he presents himself to the sniper without his helmet or cross for protection.

When hit, Pvt Caparzo falls on an old piano cast out in the street, the loud notes let off by the piano alert the audience and the characters in the story to the fact that something bad has happened, this is then followed by the sound of the gunshot.

Following this the sniper in the group quickly identifies the tower far off in the distance as the location of the shot, the tower is located in the right side of the shot but towers over the field, during this scene his helmet is taking up a large portion of the screen on the left. This shows the snipers dominance over the man in the tower; it also foreshadows the coming events in which the sniper shown in the dominant position of this shot is victorious.

The German sniper is shown to be very bright and elevated, he dominates most of his close up shots and there is very little shown other than him, this shows that he is very dominant over the situation, based on his position from the previous scenes it also shows how he towers over the vulnerable American troops.

The way he moves throughout the scenes is very much like a low ranking male in a lion pack, he watches slowly and creeps around looking for a weakness, he then sets up his scope like a lion making ready to pounce and takes down the man in the tower with ease.

When Pvt Caparzo is laying on the ground a puddle of blood flows out from and spreads out to form a cone shape, this shows that the life is draining from him and as he is revisited throughout the shots this puddle is getting larger and larger flowing towards his American friends, also his movements are becoming less and less, as his movements and time passes it also nears the eventual death of the German sniper in the tower.

Pvt Caparzo also speaks his last words at the same time as the American sniper takes the shot at the German sniper; this is used for juxtaposition as it creates a linking effect between the pair’s lives, as the American dies so does the German.

The death of the two is also placed in juxtaposition, the likeness of their deaths, bloody and violent with little remorse.

There is great effect from lighting and colour in this sequence, all the colours are dark and grey except for the French family, the German sniper tower and the blood leaking out of Pvt Caparzo’s wrist.

When the camera is taken in for a close up of Pvt Caparzo we see his wrist and the pool of blood close up in the shot, this draws away from him as the scene is dark and the red blood stands out heavily.

Throughout this sequence before Pvt Caparzo is shot the camera is placed high up above him, this shows that he is constantly vulnerable and ‘weak’; once Pvt Caparzo is shot the camera angles change to low angles facing upwards towards the characters, this shows that the tables have turned and they are now in a position of power.

After the German sniper has died the blood from Pvt Caparzo’s wrist washes away in a stream, this could symbolise the loss of life and how he simply slipped away.

After the sniper sequence ends the scenes return to much drier conditions, the rain seems to have thinned and becomes less obvious in the shot and the characters are placed much more central and in brighter lighting, this shows that the war is still on but that the characters are free from danger for the time being.

To Summarise, There is a distinct use of colour, lighting and character placement used to create great effect throughout the sequence.

Spielberg uses juxtaposition of lighting and colours such as the blood in the darkness and the Germans comfy position in the tower compared to the American snipers position in the dirt.

He also uses juxtaposition in the sense that the characters deaths are placed close together symbolising the unified loss of war.

The characters are well placed throughout the scenes and the cameras are placed well inside the angles used, characters are made to seem less important or vulnerable thanks to this effect and some characters are made to seem more important or dominant in the same sense.