Camera shots used in the opening of saving private ryan

One of the main camera shots used is close ups. The first shot used in the scene is a close up of the main characters face, that then pulls out to show that he is standing in a landing craft surrounded by other soldiers. This tells us that he is an important character because he is the first one shown and is shown for the longest time during the opening shot. Using a close up as the first shot is different to most films as they would often start a scene with an establishing shot, normally a long range or birds eye. Close ups are used a lot during the whole opening, especially at the beginning when they are still in the landing craft. This is used to show the emotions of the soldiers while they are moving to the shore.

Over-the-shoulder shot

Another shot type that is used is an over the shoulder shot. This shot us taken over the shoulder of the German soldiers in the bunker shooting the machine gun. This shows the audience the shore line and how effective the machine guns are as they are killing most of the American soldiers. This shot is also taken at a high angle, looking down on the beach. This gives the impression that the american soldiers down on the beach are more venerable and inferior to the Germans in the bunker. 

Much of the opening scene is also shot without tracks or any equipment to keep the camera stable as they move up the beach. This makes the camera jerk about causing some of the footage to be blurry, making the audience feel like they are actually there on the beach among the confusion.