Saving Private Ryan

Suspiria · January 3, 2005

ok, first, let me apologize for my complete lack of knowledge when it comes to cinematography, as well as for this question, as I'm sure it's been asked a million times before. but you'd be doing me a big favor if you could at least point me to the answer.

the opening battle scene in Saving Private Ryan has a really sharp, high-contrast look to it. at least I think that's what it is, I'm not sure how to explain it, but I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. The same effect is used in the battles in Gladiator as well. The question is simply, how was this look achieved? A friend of mine thinks it just has something to do with over-cranking the camera, but I could swear I once read somewhere that it was some kind of modification they made to the camera. can anyone help? thanks a ton!

January 3, 2005

Don't consider this an answer.. I'm curious myself.

If I had to guess, I'd say it is bleach-bypassed, and probably shot with a small shutter angle to keep the motion blur down (going from memory here... I always recall that footage as being very jerky and crisp).

Waiting for the real answer...

-Sean

DavidSloan · January 3, 2005

There is a search function; please use it. I can promise you most of the members here are pretty tired of answering this question. I think some even amusingly suggested making an FAQ for this question. :)

David Mullen ASC · January 3, 2005

There is a search function; please use it. I can promise you most of the members here are pretty tired of answering this question. I think some even amusingly suggested making an FAQ for this question. :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I think we answer this question once every two months here. They shot at 24 fps (normal speed) but with a 45 degree shutter angle, making the motion very crisp and jerky. The prints used a 100 IR level of ENR silver retention processing. The negative was sometimes flashed; the lenses had their anti-reflection coatings removed for more flaring, and some shots were made with a camera with an out-of-sync shutter so that bright highlights were streaking vertically in the frame. The tungsten-balanced film (EXR 200T) was push-processed and instead of a normal 85 filter, they used a half-correction (81EF) for a cooler look.