Film+Style

**Conventions of Film Style**

Sets and costumes are not the only way in which we are made aware of a world we are watching. Film style, particularly the use of camera angles, is an important indicator of where the action is taking place. One of the conventions of film is that we never see the camera. This works well in portraying the world of the production crew and television audience of ‘The Truman Show’ as **it** gives us the feeling that we are watching a ‘real’ world.

Peter Weir wanted to convey the idea that Truman was being filmed under surveillance and enable us, the cinema-going audience, to distinguish when we are observing the world of Seahaven. To do this he used a variety of techniques:

 • wide angle lenses  • unusual camera angles (not used in dramatic filming)  • shooting through oval or circular ‘masks’ giving the impression that these hidden cameras are built into various parts of the landscape  • special ‘cameras’ hidden in more mobile and surprising places (in a ring which Truman wears, another in his wife Meryl’s necklace and the ‘buoy cam’ bobbing along the surface of the water ready to capture Truman should he venture offshore)

The idea of having hidden cameras for surveillance scattered around the town of Seahaven influenced the way in which the town of Seaside was adapted to function as a film set. Certain buildings had architectural features added so that the miniature hidden cameras could shoot the story. The elegant piece of sculpture near the entrance of the insurance building, where Truman works, was specially designed so that not only could it house a camera, but also act as a sentry for the nerve centre of production for the ‘The Truman Show’ television series.

Questions:
 * 1) What unusual camera angles can you remember in the film? Give 5 examples.
 * 2) Draw a diagram of the inside of Truman’s house in Seahaven. Use your imagination to do this. Mark up any places in particular where you can remember there is a camera positioned. Now indicate on your diagram all the other places where a camera would need to be. Think carefully about the positioning of certain cameras to give Truman some amount of privacy in his own home and not offend network audiences. Design a prop for the Truman set which would house a hidden camera.

The speech and behaviour of other characters in Truman’s world such as his family, friends and the wider community of Seahaven also indicate to us that we are watching something which is not following the conventions of the film world as we know it.

Questions:


 * 1) Think about the speech and behaviour of Meryl, Truman’s wife. In what television genre would you expect to see this? What about that of their neighbours and acquaintances?
 * 2) Does Truman himself talk and act differently to the rest of the community? Can you comment on this?
 * 3) Which of the characters in Truman’s world would you say are stereotypes? What effect does this have?
 * 4) Think about the names of the principal characters in ‘The Truman Show’ - Truman, Meryl, MarIon, Christof What impression do we get of each character?
 * 5) What genre would you say the world of Seahaven is reminiscent of? Does this change within the film?
 * 6) Several characters are involved with product placement in the show. What products can you remember as being advertised? How does this add to the atmosphere of Seahaven?
 * 7) Write a short scene involving three characters in which a product is advertised. Aim to make the advertising fit in as naturally as possible, as Meryl tries to do in ‘The Truman Show'.