In the film Truman show directed by Peter weir, a significant scene that attracted my attention was the closing scene. In this scene, There were several points which made the scene significant. The director did this by serval film technique which is Long shot, close up, high angle and dialogue. This film technique helped the viewer understand how Truman is overcoming his fear of water
Firstly Weir uses a long shot in this scene, Peter, over exhilarating Trumen fear as Weir has taken this shot in the middle of the water on a boat. This is over exhilarated as before closing scene Truman is shown several times being afraid of water. This scene also shows the deepness of water. This has a great impact on the audience as deep water can get very scary. The key idea of this shot is to show the intensity of the ocean as the water looks deep and intense; this creates emphasis on the extreme tension; this is a hearing warming situation as the audience feels the fear of Truman to help the audience understand weir uses close up. This shot is focused on Truman with a shaded corner to show that it is being watched by the game makers. In this shot, Turmen is shown relaxed. Truman is relaxed as he is escaping from the island where the game dominates him and his thoughts. The effect of this long-shot technique is enhanced, the director creates an intended situation that then relieves the audience through a close-up, which shows that he is slowly overcoming his fear of being in the water. These two techniques are relevant as the first shot shows the intensity of the ocean and how he slowly overcomes his fear; this then leads to close up where we see he is being watched and how relaxed he is. This made me feel scared as I know that Truman has never faced his fear before, this makes me feel worried about Truman.
In the Next scene weir uses high angle shot during the shot Truman is gripping the side of the boat in the middle of the storm looking up toward the camera lens. Weir shows how Truman is struggling to survi
ve in the storm where Truman is shown weak and vulnerable regarding the extreme weather. During this scene, water is moving fast and the sea id increases its volume and area this makes the audience feel caution about Truman. This scene is also very effective as in this shot we see Trumen being Courgefull which is a movie changer as we have always seen Trumen being weak and vulnerable, so this shot was a movie-changer. And the high angle shot is also showing that he is weak. But on the other side, it also is character development as now he is getting stronger. This then leads to a verbal Technique dialogue. During the storm, we hear Truman saying “ Come on, what the best you can do? You’re gonna have to kill me. This shows that Truman is getting stronger and he is slowly escaping in this intended storm and he has begun to Realise that he has some sense of choice in his life. This two-shot is relevant as the high angle shows his weakness and the dialogue is showing a charter development as at first weir shows Truman being weak and the next shot we see Truman being fearless show the director is connecting the idea of strong and week The key idea behind this technique is to show how he is surviving and getting stronger in this intense weather this is shown through the high angle shot and the dialogue. The purpose behind this is to show that Truman is being himself and not being controlled by other people. In this shot, it made me feel a little scared and happy because in this shot I have seen Truman struggling which made me scared and I was happy because I never saw Truman being so strong and courageous.
The third shot is close up, in this shot weir to enhance Truman’s desperation to escape the island. In this shot, Trumen is staring at the, during this weir focus on Truman through close up this helps the audience understand Truman desperation of being free and going to Fiji. he director uses close to also shows that he emphasizes his confusion; this also creates a heartwarming situation as Peter creates this atmosphere through close up. We see this through facial expression. And slowly we are knowing that he is being watched and manipulated by the media. This scene then leads to a long shot to create a stressful atmosphere that shows him and the wall and the distance between them which is not much. The director is showing the long shot as he is wanting to show that he is close to achieving his escape to Fiji. This key idea of this is to show that he is confused as he does”t know that every moment he doses is being controlled. This emphasizes the effect as it creates a foreshadow of what is going to happen next? The purpose of this scene is to create the Intensity of his escape. The two techniques are relevant as the close-up shows his facial expression and the second technique is showing the distance between the escapes. These two techniques connect to the idea of how close he is to his freedom which is also the key idea of this scene. In this shot, it created a heartwarming feeling in me as I know I was desperate for Truman to escape.
In the ending scene, the director presents the key idea of freedom. During the ending, there is a long shot where Trumen is holding his head up high looking toward the sky with his arms outstretched in the front of the open exit door this symbolizes freedom. This symbolizes freedom as he is standing like The Statue of Liberty which symbolizes freedom. In this scene, Truman is not afraid anymore of what is outside the world and it”s reality. As he can overcome his fear. This shot is showing distance which is his freedom and the island So the director is Introducing the idea, how he is only a few steps away from freedom shown through long shots and the background of the door. This technique is relevant to the next shot which is the Dialogue as Truman says “Well in case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight. This shows that now Truman has realized that he has the power to take control of his life. And he can make his own choices and decisions. The key idea is to show that finally, he has overcome his fear and he has escaped from the island where the media manipulated him and he has no control over him. Another key idea is to show that Truman has his Freedom to do what he wants to do which is to go to Fiji. In this shot, it created happiness as the audience were happy including me as Truman was free to live his life.
Overall In the movie Truman Show directed by Peter Weir, The scene that I have studied is the closing scene the four key techniques that I have studied on his Long shot, Close up, High angle shot and dialogue Which also shows one key idea of how Trumen has overcome his fear of escaping the island where he is being filmed without him knowing.