Truman finally gets to work and he calls a phone directory for Fiji to find Lauren Garland and Sylvia Garland (The same Person) because she was his first “REAL” girlfriend. While Truman is on the phone he is shown a newspaper telling Truman that Seahaven (the place he lives) is “THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH” to convince him to stay and not try to go to Fiji. Truman is given a prospect to close in Wells Park on Harbour Island but of course Truman makes excuses “I uh…have an appointment….Dentist yeah” because he has aqua phobia. Truman is deliberately late for his ferry so he could tell his boss he missed it but beside the ferry still being there he couldn’t cross the harbour. Christof placed a rotting sunken boat next to the harbour to see his reaction when it would immediately remind him of his “dad” Kirk. Christof’s plan worked as Truman couldn’t cross the bridge to the ferry. Meryl (Truman’s wife) comes back from shopping and advertises a Chef Pal “a dicer, grater, peeler all in one. Never needs sharpening. Dishwasher safe.”
Marlon starts scene 8 at the “unfinished bridge” by advertising a beer “Mmmm...THAT is a beer.” In this scene Truman reveals his plans to go to Fiji to Marlon his “best friend” Marlon tries to convince Truman to stay at Seahaven.
Scene 9 shows the audience a flashback in Truman’s life to a journey with his “dad” out to sea. Kirk (Truman’s “Dad”) drowns on this trip which is why Truman is scared of water. Truman is sat on a beach thinking about it when it starts to rain but only on him. Christof’s machinery has malfunctioned. Truman runs out of the rain and it starts to follow him. This triggers Truman’s suspicions about his world. After running out of the rain to go back home it starts raining everywhere. Evidently Christof’s team had fixed their machine.
Meryl’s character seems extremely fake which makes the audience feel more sympathy for Truman. Her personality seems to be manipulative, commercial and a control freak. Meryl’s costume and make up makes her seem to be an old fashioned doll with her bright red lipstick and nurse outfit or the summery dress and again bright lipstick. Her way of speaking makes her come across as a very confident, sweet, kind and happy person. Truman doesn’t seem to be interested in Meryl and seems like he doesn’t love or like her. Truman’s life seems to be controlled by Meryl because he does EVERYTHING he is told to by her.
Marlon character seems like a typical American man, he has a lot of freckles, ginger hair and is slightly tanned. Marlon’s personality makes him out to be a very good friend (to Truman and others), he seems not that bright and he occasionally comes across fake. Overall he comes across as a happy and cheerful person. Truman likes Marlon as they are best friends. Truman reveals all his secrets, plans and feelings to Marlon.
Truman himself seems like a happy, funny person. Christof dresses him in bright colours and he dresses like a child but formal for work. His personality is childish, calm, awake and easily excited.
In scene 1 there is a close up shot on Christof from the audience point of view. This gives him a godly appearance. In this scene Christof tells “the Truman Show” audience and the real audience what the show is about and its beauty of no one ever doing this before. This shows us who Christof is and what his role is in the Truman show. The mis-en-scene in this scene is the computers, monitors, people busying themselves behind Christof, high tech equipment and cameras. This shows how serious Christof is about his project.
Scene 2 starts with Truman being the audience point of view as it is a close up on his face through the bathroom mirror. Truman is very childish at home as he starts drawing with soap around his reflection. There are interviews with two of the actors Marlon and Meryl. Meryl is sat on a bench talking about her life being the “Truman Show” and she tells both of the audiences how good her life is and how good Truman’s life is. The camera angle make Meryl look a lot more relaxed in her interview and genuinely happy but when she is on the show she seems fake, controlling, manipulative e.t.c. During Meryl’s interview the camera has a mid shot on her but on the other hand Marlon’s interview tells us that everything you see isn’t fake just “controlled”. The camera also has a mid shot on Marlon as it did on Meryl. The mis-en-scene for this scene is the bathroom mirror, toothpaste, mouthwash, soap, toilet, towel, cameras, pillows, bench, cushions, door and a sink. This creates sympathy still because everything is deliberately placed to make it look like a normal bathroom and a normal porch.
In scene 3 Truman is on his way to work. The scene starts with Truman opening his front door where the camera has a high angle and long angle shot which zooms into a mid-shot. He gets greeted by his friendly neighbours and Pluto the dog. I think Truman is scared of dogs because when Truman tried to go off exploring Christof sent a rottweiler to stop him getting across a bridge when he was about 10 years old. The mis-en-scene is houses, cars, fence, gardens, gardening tools, dog, shopping. The mis-en-scene makes Seahaven look like an old fashioned toy town as all the houses are the same shape, all old fashioned clothing and old fashioned cars.
Scene 4 starts with Truman in his car on his way to work listening to the radio. His radio seems to be asking Truman questions and left a pause for him to answer then replied to him. Truman goes to a news stand to buy a newspaper and a fashion magazine. He is then pushed into a Kaiser chicken advert (advertising) which switched from a high angle to a point of view. The mis-en-scene for scene 4 is cars, radio, newspaper, magazines, Kaiser chicken advert, newspaper stand. This makes it more realistic so the viewers can start watching at any time instead of trying to learn something totally new for the story.
Scene 5, Truman lets people through a revolving door before him to get to work. He calls up the Fiji directory to find his ex girlfriend who he is still crazy about, who obviously is unlisted due to the work of Christof. The camera angles in this scene are mid-shot, static, pans up to a low angle, high angle, close up also a point of view. The mis-en-scene used in this scene are a revolving door, office blocks, phones, desks, chairs, paperwork, magazine, pencil sharpeners and a newspaper. This mis-en-scene makes it look like a real working environment.
In the next scene Truman is on his way to harbour island where the ferry is waiting for him. Weir uses a long shot at the start of the scene and ends it with a mid-shot. He also adds a low and a high angle shot to create sympathy throughout Truman’s faint condition around the water. The mis-en-scene used is a ferry, sea, dock and a ticket box. This seems like Christof already has his whole life planned out.
On Truman’s lawn we see Truman doing his gardening when Meryl comes into the scene and advertises a chef pal. The camera angles used are an extreme close up on Truman’s bum which is also the audience’s point of view. Weir uses a mid-shot on Truman and Meryl talking. The mis-en-scene used are a blow up globe, a garden fence, garden, houses, bag, chef pal, gardening tools and bright coloured childish clothes. His appearance seems like Christof is mocking him.
At the unfinished bridge Truman is playing golf with Marlon. Peter uses a mid-shot to start the scene and throughout Truman’s conversation with Marlon until he tries to explain where Fiji is on a golf ball as the world. Weir used close ups, mid-shots and points of view during Truman’s and Marlon’s conversation. To finish the scene Peter Weir used a high angle, long shot and a jump shot. The mis-en-scene in this scene is an unfinished bridge, golf ball, golf clubs, cars, beer, street lights and the sea. This was used to show the audience that the bridge is unfinished so Truman can’t leave Seahaven.
When Truman has a flashback to his “dad” Kirk drowning the camera jumps from Truman sat on the beach to Truman’s flashback which is the audience point of view. In the flashback the camera angles switched from High angle to a long shot to a mid-shot to a close up to a point of view to a crane shot and a low angle. The mis-en-scene is a boat and sea. The camera angles create sympathy for Truman because it shows that his life is really being watched wherever he goes and that they have cameras on a boat.
Finally, Peter Weir’s most effective techniques to cause the audience to have sympathy for Truman are the camera angles and editing which is telling us as the audience that his whole life has been spied on by millions of people all around the world. Weir also uses clever mis-en-scene for example when that audience first see Seahaven, it looks extremely fake and almost like a child’s toy town.
