The scene starts with a tracking shot of two soldiers running away from enemy fire and taking cover behind sand bags. We can easily tell the two men are soldiers from the military equipment they are using as props, which was from the Second World War. The tracking shot is used to put us straight into the battle, and puts us in a position where we are behind them and see everything that’s going on clearly. Also, from this position we are able to see the enemy which they are attacking and the battlefield tactics which they are using. This again puts us straight into the heat of battle, and we feel as if we are there fighting with them. There is a lot of diegetic sound used in the first 30 seconds of the extract, which includes battlefield sounds like rifles being fired, commands being issued and the explosions of grenades and other explosives. This diegetic sound creates a greater atmosphere of the battle, and livens it up making it exciting for the viewer to watch, and also put them into the battle themselves.when one of the soldiers leaps across the cover to retrieve a detonator, a close up and a tracking shot is used to focus on the detonator, signifying its importance and showing that the soldiers need it to fight of the Nazis. At this point the close up also shows the characters expressions and make up. We can see that he is panicking while he is trying to set up the detonator and there is a lot of stress from the enemy. His face and hands are covered in a lot of dirt showing that he has been fighting in a rough area and has probably been fighting for a long time.
Straight after, a medium shot showing a solider with a rocket launcher is shown along with another solider giving him orders, with the shelter in front of them and the background. This shot helps us to see whats going on, and along with the diegetic sound of the commands being ordered, a little suspense is created before the soldier launches the rocket as we wait for it to explode. This medium shot helps us to see what the soldier is doing, and then after a reverse shot is used to show what the solider was aiming at, which again puts us into the middle of the battle. The camera movement which is used up to this point is hand held, and it helps make us feel as if we are the camera man, putting us into the shoes of one of the soldiers which is there and fighting along the other soldiers.
After the soldier shoots the rocket launcher a long shot is used to give a overall view of the battle. The diegetic sound of the dialogue helps us to understand the reason for their actions in the battle so far; that they are defending the other side of the bridge, and are about to blow up the bridge so the Nazis can’t reach the other side. Alot of special effects like explosions and ricochets from bullets are used to create a greater atmosphere of the battle. So far there hasn’t been any contrapuntal or parallel sound used as no music has been played. I think the director chose to do this to put us in the heat of battle, and see everything clearly without being distracted by the music, so we feel everything from what we hear and see in the battle. Also I think the director wanted to create a dramatic effect from the battle itself, and not the accompanying music.
Just when one of the soldiers is about to take cover special effects are used to show the bullets hitting the little vehicle. From the long shot used we can tell that one of the soldiers is about to get hit. Straight after a medium tracking shot is placed in front of the soldier and we see him getting hit by a number of bullets. Special effects are used on the soldier to show the bullets flying through him, and to show the impact of the bullets on his body as smoke comes out. The camera then tilts upwards and moves away from the solider showing where the enemy fire was coming from. A close up of the soldier who was hit is then shown so we can see his facial expressions and we can see that he is hurt as hes gasping from air, and his mouth is wide open showing that he can feel the pain. The fact that he lost his balance and had to be carried by his team also shows us that these wounds are serious, and he may die. There is not a lot of dialogue used in this extract, and I think the director chose to leave out the dialogue but only include it for parts which were needed to emphasize that this was a war, and during wars soldiers only have time for commands to issue. Also the dialogue was in the form of a lot of shouting, which shows us theres a lot of other noise like explosions and gun fire which means they have to shout loudly in order to be heard.
The editing used in this extract is mainly built up of jump cuts, as there are a lot of things going on in the battle, and I believe the director chose to use jump cuts so the audience’s attention is focused on a lot of things in a short period of time, so they get a greater sense of the war and they can see more things in a shorter period of time. Also the jump cuts help give a greater understanding of the story as the audience are shown more clips of different things, but all of the clips shown are related to one another as they are all part of a battle. Most of the editing is continuity editing, as the shots are placed after one another to give away the narrative of the film, as different clips of the soldiers fighting of the Nazis is shown to create the narrative of the war.
At the point where the commander of the enemy side tells the person in the tank to shoot at Tom hanks, there is a great explosion and the building collapses on him. The shot starts of as a medium shot, and slowly zooms into him and focuses on his face ending up with a big close up. We are then shown a number of shots, point of view shots and then reverse shots. So we are shown his expressions before he focuses on something, then we see his point of view at what he is looking at, and then we see his expressions and reactions of what he has just seen. This helps us identify with the character as we are put into his shoes, and we start to feel what he is feeling. The rest of the background sound is blurred out, and the noise of his eardrums popping is used to relate back to the explosion and the effect of it on him. All of this helps create a dramatic effect, as we can tell he is a little lost from the explosion, and while all of the gun fire and fighting is going on around him he is just crouching in one place over looking the situation. During his point of view shots, the camera image is a little blurred to show the effect of the explosion on his eyes, and the camera movement is very rapid which again puts us in his shoes.
There isn't a lot of lighting used in this extract as its set during day time, and we can see everything clearly as the natural lighting is good enough. Also I think the director chose to leave out key lighting and back lighting to emphasize the action seen on screen, and to remind the audience these are clips during war, so the soldiers wouldn’t need key lighting while they are fighting as the director would want it to look as natural as it could.
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