Episode 6: The Truman Show and how to do sh*t in film
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Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
The Truman Show is truly one of the most fascinating films I have ever seen. From the very premise, the story of a guy whose entire life has been a TV show, to the entire execution of the film, The Truman Show is indeed a great idea executed amazingly. But the question arises, how does it do that? The director, Peter Weir, and writer, Andrew Niccol, have the mammoth task of making us believe in such an unusual world. Well, let’s just try to answer how they do it.
Wanna Make People Believe?
The Subtle Art of Perspective.
One of the biggest problems that directors often face is how to make the audience completely immersed into the world that they have created. How do you completely believe this weird-ass sh*t the director is presenting to you?
One of the best ways to do so might even be the most obvious. It requires the director to use the simplest tool at his disposal:
Ah the Film Camera, so majestic
This simple yet complicated tool can completely change the perspective of any film. Take E.T. Extraterrestrial as an example. As the entire film is from the perspective of a young child, the entire film is deliberately shot from a low angle shot. Like in this scene
The height of the camera is kept low to, in a way, put us in the shoes of the main character
To give a more recent popular example, consider Gully Boy. The film is a rags-to-riches story, or more explicitly from the slum of Dharavi to the high rise apartments of Mumbai. But how do you immerse the audience in this environment? The camera. When we are in Dharavi, most of the shots are tight close-ups of the characters. This makes us feel the claustrophobia the characters go through in those tight surroundings.
Tight close-up shots during the scenes in Dharavi
But as soon as we come out into the city, we see wide-angle shots signifying the freedom that the world outside the city presents.
Wide Angle shots
Now coming to the film at hand, The Truman Show. As I said before, the film is about a guy whose entire life is actually a TV show. So how does director Peter Weir and Cinematographer Peter Biziou do this? They literally shoot it like a show.
If you see the film carefully, you can notice that quite a large chunk of the film is shot like it is shot from CCTV cameras or hidden cameras, just like it would be in a reality tv show.
This shot is from a fisheye lens, often seen in CCTV cameras
By executing this simple technique, Peter Weir manages to capture us completely in the world that he has created. He takes it to the next level by using it as a trick. The few natural shots that are present in the film are mostly from Truman’s perspective and appear as he begins to discover the ‘reality’ around him.
Consider when he first begins discovering that he is a part of a TV show. When the star Sirius falls from the sky, the shot is from Truman’s perspective. It takes us into his shoes and make us feel the confusion he is feeling.
A natural shot
Conclusion
When Zoya Akhtar was asked what does a director need, her reply to that was ‘a point of view’. And I guess that is what makes The Truman Show such an incredible film; it’s the point of view and perspective of the director that makes us believe in such an absurd reality.
Which makes one think.
Right at the middle point of any good film, when the lights are already down, you have your popcorn in your lap, and you are completely immersed in that film, aren’t you a part of that reality? Aren’t you in the millennium falcon? Aren’t you one of the rappers in Dharavi? Aren’t you an MI6 agent?
So at the end of the day, during every good film…
Aren’t we all Trumans?
About The Series
Films may not just be art, and they’re not simply entertainment either. What they are, for sure, is an experience.
When you want to watch a film, you make a plan with your friends or family or sometimes with just yourself. You buy the tickets, get some popcorn, get in the seat and enjoy the show–even if you merely open up your laptop and watch the film, it still is an experience for you, whether good or bad.
That experience can make you laugh, cry or maybe even think. This series is a homage to that very experience.
This is a homage to cinema.
|| Note :- Now, I have not seen every movie ever made (I wish I had, I really do) so my information primarily comes from the films I see, which is why whatever I write might be totally meaningless in the context of other films These articles are not going to be teaching anyone about films, these are just going to be about me talking about my passion for films, and the people who make them (which reminds me, why are you reading this?)
TL;DR: Whatever I say doesn’t matter.
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