Truman's Artificial World

Truman Burbank lives in an artificially created world. There are three worlds, which take place in Seahaven. They are Truman’s world of Seahaven, Christof’s world which is located in the moon and the views of the audience and how they interpret and react to the Truman Show. All these worlds need to rely on each other in order to exist. The Truman show in not told in sequential order and has a difficult narrative structure to follow. Through the use of cinematic and film techniques the director Peter Weir and writer Andrew Niccol have communicated a message about society and the role of power in the media.

An establishing shot is shown at the start of the film to introduce the world of Seahaven. By the use of these cinematic techniques it demonstrates that the town is very quiet, that there is no life except for the birds and there are boundaries that have been put into place. As we realise later in the film, it is ironic because the environment turns out to be completely different. We also realise that these boundaries that are put into place are to stop Truman from leaving Seahaven at all cost. When Truman is in the car driving to work, we realise that something suspicious has happened when the radio frequency is uncontrollable and starts to change the channels.

When Truman comes out of his house we realise that through the use of an extreme long shot and low angle shot that the houses are perfectly the same and white picket fences represent that we are in 1950’s America culture. The way that Truman dresses also indicates that he is of a middle class world. The most important feature about this film is that Truman does not know that he has been filmed and also is surrounded by actors who formulate the Truman Show. The thin...

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...e Truman Show. This scene in particular represents the clash of Reality vs. Allusion. As an audience we are dragged into this stereotype because of the uncertainty that is presented to us and the fake allusions that Christof provides within the power of technology.

The Truman Show uses a range of cinematic and film techniques to convey its message about the three worlds of Seahaven. The director Peter Weir has used a wide variety of techniques such as camera shots, camera angles, editing, mis-en-scene, lighting, music and dialogue to portray meaning. Through the use of hidden cameras, it conveys a message that the media is very powerful through the use of advanced technology. The Truman Show constantly creates questions and raises suspicion for the viewer because of the fact that it has a complex and difficult narrative structure to comprehend at first.