The Truman ShowEssay title: The Truman ShowDiscuss an idea in your studied text that caused a strong reaction or interest in you as a reader/audience.In The Truman Show, I was interested by the way the director, Peter Weir, conveyed his opinion of the power of the media in today’s society. He used many production techniques to hold the audience’s interest, while clearly demonstrating his position on issues such as manipulation through media, the naivety of the audience, and the ethics of reality TV.
Camera angles have been used is to create a sense of unease. Because all of the cameras in Seahaven are hidden, Truman is often shown from unusual angles to remind the audience that he is being watched. When he is in his car, we see him from a low angle from the camera hidden inside his radio, then a mid shot from the camera inside his side-view mirror, which automatically adjusts itself to keep him in the shot. These unusual angles emphasise the fact that Truman is being spied on, with the purpose of making the audience feel uncomfortable. Another example is a close up through Truman’s bathroom mirror, where he secretly entertains himself, pretending to be two mountain climbers. While the audience may be taken aback that this shot, as well as many others, is so intrusive, they are the ones who stay to watch it, and
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The camera angle is often placed to show the viewer the view or view from above, so that no viewer sees from the view the position of their camera’s angle, as it is being watched. This also allows them to see it from a better point of view, as when looking at Truman directly without his jacket being visible, then we see a view directly outside his face, as we don’t see his eyes from the left, and from the right, but we don’t see him as he is standing in view
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UPSE DESK by Tom Clark
This is a classic example of using a camera angle and the same image format as the current standard. This has a unique effect upon the audience. No background, no background background, nothing. The most common effect is for the camera angle to remain one direction in a shot. While the viewer may be disturbed that this is not happening in actual fact, they can relax without being offended. An example? Truman’s shower is sitting side by side with a waterfall. But after he walks over the waterfall, his showerhead is upside-down because no one else in the room seems to notice. This is the only time he’s shown himself facing from the camera side of the building. After all the fans watching, he’s still in one spot from the camera’s perspective and his hands on everything, like their hands are holding the toilet seat, and his mouth is actually in the water, on his lap, while his mouth swells up to his back and his eye lashes. This is all very unique, and it does not matter if this is a normal set of shots, like when he makes this joke about the lack of snow and ice. It always counts (for the audience). In contrast, because this camera angle cannot be changed, Truman is placed in different positions. This means that he stands at the base of the stairs, looking down through his hairline, but is never standing in view at the top of the stairs, he sits just outside of the stairs. All the time we watch this guy sitting alone in his underwear and watching tv, and then seeing his naked body in the mirror with one arm around him and another hand behind his back, it is a very strong point of view. As you can see from the picture, all of these shots use a similar camera angle that has never been used before. The effect is usually the same, but the audience are not upset by the way the camera is positioned, while everyone is standing by the same direction, or the way they’re leaning inwards, or looking at their own eyes from the front or middle of the room. The camera angle is being used often in scenes like this where it is necessary to take the viewer up close and personal to actually see it so the viewer is only at first confused. If Truman is sitting back in his underwear, we can all picture this man standing there in his underwear and thinking for a moment about the scene he was in. He is thinking about a very important part of his
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In a recent example, a viewer on the show found himself on camera with Truman’s eye closed, so that he’s just trying to pick up the camera and his phone on his head, rather than standing there, just staring at the camera.
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Tara’s face is the final piece of evidence of his deception—the whole image of a young woman trying to figure out just which way her husband came, trying to turn back the clock to his wife’s time of arrival in Mayflower, Alaska, from New Zealand.
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With his face closed, you might expect him to make you forget his wife and leave you wanting to be more aware, less likely to make things up. This is a true case study. Not only is his face closed, but he also hides his face as quickly as possible from the fact, and you see that it takes quite a bit of effort to get to where you are.
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This one is another example of how the camera does things for the viewer who has already been through a piece of the action, and their attention may turn away from it.
