The Truman show -Summative

“I’ve been addicted to TV since i’ve emerged from the womb.” -Anderson Cooper
In the past decade technology has revolutionized our society and continues to develop; from
medical, to industrial to entertainment and media. Today’s film industry has become such a big
part of society, in addition our generation’s addiction. No one probably even knows why shows
and films grasp the viewers attention, making them addicted. This is proven as filmmakers use
media techniques to impact the way viewers interpret the story or characters, making the plot
interesting and easy to understand. For example, different angles, shots and lighting can be used
to give an insight into a character’s fear, capturing the audience’s attention and keeping them
involved. In the “The Truman Show”, directed by Peter Weir, many media techniques are
strategically implemented by the director to enhance the audience’s understanding of the film;
keeping the audience wanting more. Two media techniques that were strategically used are zoom
and shot-reaction shot, which gave a deeper understanding to the characters relationships,
conflicts, motivations, hopes, fears and overall the plot of the film.

The first scene where zoom is used, to help the audience gain an understanding of the
plot. Is when Truman is going to work but for the first time he doesn’t follow his daily routine.
Truman runs into a revolving door and when he runs back out, the camera zooms in on him. The
zoom on Truman is used by the employees in the operating crew to find Truman. Since they
were caught off guard by Truman not following his daily routine. Symbolically, the scene shows
that Truman, is finally seeing the world he grew up in and that his eyes are finally open to the
fact that his whole life has been controlled by everyone but himself. So rather than following
“his daily routine” he breaks himself free of the cycle, forging a new path for himself. Creating a
new conflict for everyone privy to his fake life (such as the director) because Truman is the star
of the show and therefore must stay infront of the camera. This enhance’s the audience’s
understanding of the plot because the audience is seeing for the first time Truman breaking out of
his fake life.

Another example, where this technique is used, is when Truman and Meryl are in the
kitchen having a serious conversation, when all of a sudden Meryl turns to Truman while the
camera is zooming in on her and says “why don’t you let me fix you some of this new mococoa
drink? All natural cocoa beans from the upper slopes of Mount Nicaragua. No artificial
sweeteners. ”. Throughout the movie the camera is zooming in on Meryl advertising products.
This zoom and scene of Meryl advertising the cocoa is used to show Meryl’s true motivation as
to why she’s in a relationship with Truman, which is greed. Meryl could see that Truman was
feeling paranoid, however she didn’t care, as she continued to advertise the product placement so
she can make money. This gives the audience a greater understanding of what type of person
Meryl is. Since her motivation is fueled by money this proves that she does not care for Truman
at all, nor her crumbling relationship with him and that her only role was to advertise.
 The first scene where a reaction shot is used, is when Truman asks what Meryl’s rush is
when she’s leaving for work, she replies saying “surgery, there was that elevator disaster
downtown” and then goes on to say that it’s good he wasn’t there. The camera cuts back and
forth from Meryl talking, to a reaction shot of Truman seeming suspicious, because he was in the
building downtown where there was that “elevator accident” and knows that there was no
elevator, instead a hidden set. This scene and reaction shot of Truman’s suspicious face is telling
the audience that Truman knows that Meryl is lying, causing a new conflict between the two and
adding to Truman’s suspicion that his life is fake. This helps the audience understand the plot,
because the audience can see the ongrowing conflict of Truman’s trust in “his life”. In addition,
the scene and technique tells the audience that Truman is hoping that his relationship with Meryl
is fake. Meryl is Truman’s wife, the person he’s meant to spend his life with, and he didn’t feel
any sadness or anger when discovering that his wife is lying and probably in on his fake life, it
was more as if he was satisfied and happy. This helps the audience understand the plot, since the
audience can see why Truman is trying so hard to expose his fake relationship with Meryl and
that throughout the plot he'll continue to try prove that it's fake. Since Truman doesn’t actually
want to be with Meryl.

Another example where this technique is used, is when Christof is talking to Truman and
is trying to convince him to stay on set, the camera cuts back and forth from Christof to Truman.
The director says things like “you were real, there’s no more truth out there, then there is in the
world I created for you, I was watching when you were born, I was watching when you took
your first step.”, all of which was said while there’s a shot reaction shot of the directors happy,
sad and very emotional face. In this scene, where the reaction shot is used, he’s mentioning
these moments of Truman’s life as if he was Truman’s proud dad with a big goofy smile on his
face, which shows the audience that the director is emotionally attached to the character that he
built. And for that reason, his motivation to keeping Truman on the show. The shot-reaction shot
of the director’s face gets the audience to feel a bit of sympathy for the director, showing the
audience that the director is trying to keep Truman on the show because he might love him. This
helps the audience understand the plot because it explains to them why the director tried so hard
to keep Truman in the show.

In conclusion, in the film “The Truman Show”, many media techniques are strategically
implemented by the director to enhance the audience’s understanding of the film; keeping the
audience wanting more. Two media techniques that were strategically used are zoom and shot-
reaction shot, which gave a deeper understanding to the characters relationships, conflicts,
motivations, hopes, fears and overall the plot of the film.