The Truman Show Essay
Describe a scene with a strong sense of mood or suspense or atmosphere
and analyse production methods used to create this mood or suspense or
atmosphere.
Plan:
Scene
How
Truman out at sea – escape
Production methods
created suspense/ atmosphere
cross-cutting
close-ups
special effects
1st – beginning of scene
2nd – at sea
3rd – when Truman leaves
In the film The Truman Show directed by Peter Weir and written by
Andrew Niccol, a scene that had a strong sense of suspense and
atmosphere was ‘Truman out at sea’ – his escape from Seahaven. Peter
Weir used clever production techniques, including camera angles, crosscutting and special effects, that enabled us as viewers to be caught up in
the mood of the scene.
Truman Burbank is the unwilling and supposedly unwitting star of ‘The
Truman Show’, a reality television show whereby 5000 cameras observe
his everyday life. On discovering that his world is indeed a farce and
everything down to his wife and mother are fake, Truman makes an
escape. The director of ‘The Truman Show’, Christof, discovers that
Truman has escaped “Where is he?... cut transmission. Cut it!” and
invokes a Nazi-like search for him by the cast and crew on the set.
Through the use of cross-cutting between the set and the lunar room and
zoom we see the tension building on Christof’s face. Also, the use of bluelighting, the sound effects of military marching and low angle shots of the
searchers builds the urgent and somewhat sinister atmosphere that ‘The
Truman Show’ has suddenly taken on in their attempt to secure Truman
and ensure that he doesn’t escape, showing the lengths they will go to
keep him entrapped and their sheer dependence on him to keep the show
on air. The nervous atmosphere is added to by the audience of ‘The
Truman Show’ who watch their blank television screens in anxious
anticipation of the return of their “beloved” Truman.
The camera suddenly cross-cuts and zooms in on Christof as we see him
stroking a small monitor and whispering “Truman … where are you
going?” transmission resumes and the tense atmosphere is somewhat
eased as the audience relax at the return of Truman. The Truman Show
Bar erupts in cheers and Christof quickly sets about adjusting camera
angles on Truman’s boat to their “hero shot” of Truman. Christof soon
realizes the danger in letting Truman go too far out to “sea” as he will
eventually hit the outside of the dome and be able to escape. Using the
advanced special effects on “The Truman Show” Christof causes a storm
at sea, complete with sound effects (thunder) and lighting (lightning), in an
attempt to force Truman to turn back. Truman however is resilient and
determined and continues upon his journey. Christof is angered by this
and close-ups of his face alert us to his determination to keep Truman
entrapped. The storm intensifies and through cross-cutting we are able to
see Truman’s reactions to the storm as well as that of Christof and his
production team (some of whom are becoming increasingly worried).
When Truman yells “Is that the best you can do?” Christof reacts in
desperation by intensifying the storm even further. By this point the mood
has exceeded anxiety and there is a general fear for Truman’s life. When
told that Truman could die, Christof responds with “He was born on TV”,
illustrating Truman is thought of as merely a pawn rather than a person.
The end of the scene opens with a high angle shot of Truman forlorn atop
his boat, clearly showing his sense of isolation and vulnerability on the
show. The mood has now relaxed and become more triumphant as we
urge Truman to beat Christof in the game of entrapment. Cross-cutting
again enables us to see Christof’s reaction and we take note that he has
effectively created Truman and thus the reason that he is so dependent
and fundamentally determined to retain Truman on the show. When
Truman hits the wall and discovers the exit sign, as the audience we feel a
sense of Truman’s accomplishment. As Christof makes a last-ditch effort
to keep Truman from leaving by speaking to him from the Lunar Room, as
if he is god (this effect is created by use of high angle shots of Truman),
we also consider Christof’s sense of sadness at losing his creation. We
also take note of the changing camera angles (high angles to eye level)
and lighting (dark to light), reinforcing the idea that Truman has over-come
something and has won the battle against the somewhat villainous
Christof.
Truman’s escape scene caused the mood of “The Truman Show” to be
altered regularly, first from somewhat sinister intent, to anxious waiting and
finally triumph. The production techniques particularly camera angles,
cross-cutting, lighting and special effects contributed greatly to the moods
that were able to be created in the film and were generally very successful
in building and then maintaining that sense of atmosphere for us as
viewers.