{"id":15435,"date":"2024-06-06T00:19:30","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T07:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15435"},"modified":"2024-06-06T00:19:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T07:19:31","slug":"how-filming-saving-private-ryan-shook-an-irish-beach-bbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15435","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHow filming Saving Private Ryan shook an Irish beach\u201d, BBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chris Andrews<\/strong>, BBC News NIShare, 5 June 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hanks joined the film\u2019s other stars in a boot camp pre-filming<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"CBS<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost of the explosive charges on that beach were real, so when they went off the beach shook<\/a><\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1997, the usually peaceful Curracloe Beach in County Wexford was transformed into a scene of bloodshed and horror as Steven Spielberg recreated D-Day in Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saving Private Ryan was released to critical and veterans\u2019 acclaim for how it depicted the American assault on Omaha Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story followed the mission of Cpt John Miller, played by Tom Hanks, who was tasked with locating James Francis Ryan, a private whose three brothers had been killed in action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normandy beaches ruled out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Northern Ireland filmmaker Mark Huffam was Saving Private Ryan\u2019s unit production manager and associate producer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the sights and sound of that iconic beach scene, more than 20 minutes in length, were \u201cterrifying\u201d to witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Huffam said at the end of production he bought one of the landing craft<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe brief from the get-go was: \u2018We want to make this look real\u2019,\u201d Huffam told BBC News NI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not out to glamorise war, we want it to look like what those soldiers and men really went through when they hit that beach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This meant only three special effects were used in the sequence, with real explosions and fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some eight cameras were rolling at once, capturing the emotions of Hanks\u2019 character as he watched the deaths of comrades unfold in a barrage of machine gun bullets, shells and sniper fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Mark Huffam (centre), was photographed along with other members of the crew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Normandy was considered as a filming location but quickly ruled out, Huffam explained, due to post-war development along the coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, after an extensive search, Curracloe was chosen as its beach gradient allowed the landing craft to come ashore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huffam said much of the planning for the film, which took less than 60 days to shoot, was in Spielberg\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting him for the first time on board a minibus, he said the crew was \u201calways running to keep up with him\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe used to every night fax him about 150 questions and you\u2019d come in the next morning and there would be a succinct answer to every single one of them,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the departments would collate the questions they needed answers on: how many soldiers were we going to have in this scene, are they going to be Airborne Division or are they going to be paratroopers, how many Germans are there going to be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was D-Day?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

D-Day was the first day of the invasion of Normandy \u2013 the beginning of a huge campaign by the Allies of World War Two in north-west Europe, which was occupied by Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with campaigns elsewhere \u2013 including the Eastern Front and the Italian campaign \u2013 it would eventually lead to Germany\u2019s defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cD\u201d in \u201cD-Day\u201d simply means \u201cday\u201d \u2013 it is a military term used to mark the start of an operation. The hour of attack was known as H-Hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allied troops \u2013 mainly from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States but also other countries \u2013 landed on five beaches in Normandy on 6 June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Allies suffered about 10,000 casualties \u2013 including an estimated 4,000 deaths \u2013 but the operation was a success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omaha D-Day recreation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Dog
Huffam has kept a dog tag marked with the name of Tom Hanks\u2019 character John Miller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Such was the attention to detail that Irish army reservists, drafted in as extras, had to be signed off as competent swimmers, while ex-Royal Marines piloted the landing craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These were sourced from Palm Springs in the US, Southampton and two closer to home, from County Donegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hanks and other stars were also made to attend a boot camp to \u201cbe trained into soldiers in two weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This involved \u201cwith no exceptions\u201d, learning how to fire a machine gun, sleeping under canvas and eating rations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey occasionally did try and slip out up to the production office and see if they could scrounge some cooked chicken rather than having to cook it themselves,\u201d Huffam revealed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added hundreds of gallons of food dye was used to turn Curracloe\u2019s water blood red, while about 600 crew members stood ready, from stunt teams to fire safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This helped to set the tone for recreating Omaha, which witnessed more than 2,000 casualties on D-Day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his research Spielberg had spoken to US veterans about their experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hanks learned Saving Private Ryan lines from helmet<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Irish lighthouse keeper who gave D-Day the go-ahead<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American D-Day soldiers who left messages in a castle<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"CBS
Matt Damon played James Francis Ryan who was searched out by Captain Miller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Huffam has gone on to work on other major productions such as Game of Thrones, Napoleon and The Martian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When speaking to BBC News NI he brought along a clapper board, dog tag and Ranger Battalion jacket he kept from the set of Saving Private Ryan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one stage he owned one of the landing craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

80th D-Day anniversary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He reflected that Spielberg\u2019s standard was \u201cit has to be accurate\u201d, even if it is difficult to fully depict what the real-life experience must have been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do you get off that landing craft and into a hail of machine gun fire and shells landing all around you?\u201d Huffam questioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow are you brave enough to do that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it is terrifying, even when you know you\u2019re doing it purely for a film.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The feeling after each day on set, he added, was: \u201cOh my God, we pulled that off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cThe first time I saw it on a big screen I thought: \u2018Wow\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wartime epic won five Academy Awards, including best director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special commemorations are being held to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Andrews, BBC News NIShare, 5 June 2024 Tom Hanks joined the film\u2019s other stars in a boot camp pre-filming \u201cMost of the explosive charges on that beach were real, so when they went off the beach shook.\u201d In 1997, the usually peaceful Curracloe Beach in County Wexford was transformed into a scene of bloodshed and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15436,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15435\/revisions\/15436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}