Editing Saving Private Ryan (section)

===Filming in Ireland ===
[[File:Ballinesker Beach, Co Wexford.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of Ballinesker Beach|Ballinesker Beach (pictured in 2015), a segment of Curracloe strand in Ireland, was used to portray [[Omaha Beach]]]]
[[Principal photography]] began on June 27, 1997.<ref name="TCM"/><ref name="WexfordPeople"/> Filming completed up to 50 shots per day. Spielberg wanted the actors to get little rest, "A war is fought fast, and I really wanted to keep all of the actors off-balance. I didn't want them to be able to read 75 pages of a novel{{nbsp}}... I wanted to work fast enough so that they always felt as if they were in combat{{nbsp}}... I had to keep them on the set, which meant shooting the film even faster than I normally do. War doesn't give you a break."<ref name="BuffaloNewsFacts"/><ref name="ASCSpielberg98"/> ''Saving Private Ryan'' was shot almost entirely in continuity order, although some of the crew found this "a mentally demoralizing experience" because the cast started together and left as their characters died.<ref name="Privatespielberg"/><ref name="BuffaloNewsFacts"/><ref name="ASCSpielberg98"/>

The Omaha Beach battle was filmed over three to four weeks, for $12{{nbsp}}million.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="NYTimesTrue"/><ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/><ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/><!-- Three Weeks --><ref name="MovieFoneFacts"/><!-- 25 days --><ref name="ASCSpielberg98"/><ref name="BuffaloNewsFacts"/><!-- Four Weeks --><!-- cost --><ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/><ref name="NewsComAU"/>}} The scene involved about 1,500 people including 400 crew, 1,000 volunteer [[Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil|reserve]] and [[Irish army]] soldiers, and dozens of extras and about 30 amputees and paraplegics fitted with prosthetic limbs to portray disfigured soldiers.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="IndependentIE"/><ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/><ref name="BBCBeach"/><ref name="NewsComAU"/><ref name="NYTimesTrue"/>}} Their numbers were supplemented with over one thousand detailed mannequins.<ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/> The extras were divided into platoons with a designated leader, allowing Dye to control their action via four different radios with aid from three [[non-commissioned officer]]s.<ref name="NYTimesTrue"/> Costume designer [[Joanna Johnston]] contracted an American company responsible for making boots for soldiers during WWII to create about 2,000 pairs, using the last batch of dye from that period.<ref name="NYTimesTrue"/><ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/> Soldiers in the ocean wore wet suits beneath their uniforms to minimize hypothermia.<ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/><ref name="BBCBeach"/> [[Weapons master|Armorer]] Simon Atherton was responsible for supplying authentic weapons.<ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/>

Two [[Higgins Boats]] used in the landings were used in the scene; additional boats from the 1950s were brought from California, Donegal, and Southampton.<ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/><ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/> Hanks recalled:
{{blockquote|The first day of shooting{{nbsp}}... I was in the back of the landing craft, and that ramp went down and I saw the first 1-2-3-4 rows of guys just getting blown to bits. In my head, of course, I knew it was special effects, but I still wasn't prepared for how tactile it was. The air literally went pink and the noise was deafening and there's bits and pieces of stuff falling all on top of you and it was horrifying."<ref name="EbertHanks"/>}}

Soldiers vomiting from the boats was achieved using [[milk of magnesia]].<ref name="JoeIEFacts"/> A [[crane shot]] moving from beneath the ocean surface to above the battlefield was achieved by placing the crane on a flatbed trailer and reversing it into the sea.<ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/>

The Omaha Beach sequence was extensively choreographed by stunt coordinator [[Simon Crane]], with [[Squib (explosive)|squibs]] and explosives managed by [[Neil Corbould]]. The only serious accident resulted when an extra's foot was run over by a car.<ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/><ref name="NYTimesTrue"/> Thousands of gallons of fake blood were used, mainly to turn the ocean and shoreline red.<ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/><ref name="NewsComAU"/> Based on his interviews with veterans, Spielberg had dead fish strewn in the water and around the battlefield, as well as floating a Bible on the surface.<ref name="NYTimesTrue"/> Bullet impacts were emulated using air pipes concealed beneath the sand and ocean surface.<ref name="BBCBeach"/> Drums of diesel fuel were burned to create black smoke, while a series of pickup trucks carried systems to disperse white smoke.<ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/>

During filming, the weather was cold, rainy, and overcast; Kamiński said this matched the weather during the Normandy landings, enhancing the film's accuracy.<ref name="ASCSpielberg98"/><ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/> Artificial light was used sparingly apart from on the boats to highlight the actors' eyes under their helmets.<ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/> Spielberg had the camera stay close to the ground to appear as if it was the view of a soldier avoiding getting shot or a combat cameraman. He intended for the audience to feel like they were a part of the battle rather than watching.<ref name="BuffaloNewsFacts"/><ref name="Privatespielberg"/> Most of ''Saving Private Ryan'' was filmed with handheld cameras. This was physically demanding on camera operator Mitch Dubin and [[Steadicam]] operator Chris Haarhoff due to both proximity to the ground and movement through exploding scenery. The camera was close enough that fake blood, water, and sand would stick to the camera lens, but the filmmakers believed this made the footage more authentic.<ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/><ref name="ASCSpielberg98"/>

Kamiński considered the extensive setup of explosives, smoke, and choreography of over a thousand characters to be demanding as it could take half a day to reset if something went wrong, but the majority of scenes in the sequence were captured in less than four takes, using up to three cameras simultaneously. Spielberg said, "I rarely walked away from a scene until I got what I wanted, and I'd say that I got what I wanted from those complex setups about 80 percent of the time."<ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/><ref name="ASCSpielberg98"/> He reviewed each day's footage nightly in a local parish hall.<ref name="NYTimesHertfordshire"/><ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/> The production crew remained after filming to restore the beach to its original state over the following month, per an ecological protection order.<ref name="IndependentIE"/><ref name="IndependentIEOmaha"/><ref name="ASCMagJanusz"/>