Spielberg’s use of sound within Saving Private Ryan is highly important strictly because the film is set during the war; an event that most people have not experienced. By placing the right sounds in the right sequence of events it can make the viewer feel as though they are experiencing war. For example, at the beginning of the movie when the story starts to unfold at Omaha Beach, the first thing that is brought to the viewer’s attention before the dialogue is sounds: waves crashing, humming of ships, Captain Millers shaky canteen, and vomit hitting the floor. After a few commands are given from Captain Miller the audience is engulfed with the immense reverberation of bullets flying and machine guns firing. Suddenly, sounds then begin to overlap each other, causing the viewer to feel extremely uneasy and overwhelmed. Whilst classic war sounds of bullets continue to play in the background, Spielberg begins to introduce disturbing noises. It starts with the audience watching captain Miller, and all the sounds are drowned out (8:50). This leaves the viewer in a state of shock, so that when the sound comes back fully it is even more devastating. The viewer then begins to hear grown men yelling “Mama! Mama!” (10:51). It is the use of realistic sounds of war that leave the audience in a captivated and traumatized …show more content…
Different colours conjure up specific emotions subconsciously in the audience. This allows the art direction team to use colour theory to their advantage and manipulate how their viewer’s feel in specific scenes. This concept is executed beautifully in Saving Private Ryan. Examples include how throughout the most of the film everything is shown in neutral colours and dull blues, yellows, and greens. The only use of colour in most of the film is red: the colour of blood. Red is associated with things such as fear, danger, war, and even passion. In many of the scenes blood is clearly visible on the hands of the soldiers and all over the dead bodies in the shot. These constant pops of red throughout the film make the viewer feel the emotion that Spielberg intended to summon in his audience. On the other hand, the only scene that has a colour other the red is when Captain Miller and his troops finally find Private Ryan. The scene opens with the troops walking through this beautiful field of yellow flowers. Yellow makes people feel a sense of comfort and optimism, and by adding this to the scene it sets the viewer up for what events are about to unfold by finding Private Ryan. It is these creative colour choices made by the art director that adds a subconscious layer of emotion and