Manipulation through film techniques…
In the film ‘The Truman Show’, director Peter Weir shows many ways of manipulation through film techniques such as camera angles, background music and camera frames. He shows in the film how a viewer can be so mindlessly absorbed by others surrounding them on television. The director also shows how easily our minds can be involved and enwrapped in a storyline or plot, and how this can affect the way we see things and how our perspective on reality can change from this film manipulation.
Some of the films techniques that are used to draw in an audience or manipulate them are screen shots such as close ups, extreme close-ups, mid-shots, long shots and extreme long shots. Generally in TV shows such as ‘Big Brother’ or ‘American Idol’, close ups are used to show deep emotion. For example, in ‘The Truman Show’, Truman is given a close-up when reuniting with his Father after many years of separation. In this close-up Truman appears to be crying with happiness and loss, which in many cases would influence the way the audience feels, possibly making some cry of happiness or making them feel overwhelmed with emotion. Close-ups are just one of the few types of screen shots that draw in an audience and are a much-used technique in the film ‘The Truman Show’.
Another film technique commonly used in ‘The Truman Show’ is music. Music plays an important role in films to lighten, deepen or strengthen the mood of a scene. During ‘The Truman Show’, we see Christof often conducting the background music to Truman’s life, like it was a great piece of art and he was the creator. The director of ‘The Truman Show’ shows how the music in the background affects the viewers of ‘The Truman Show’ in the reunion scene when the viewers’ life’s stand still to see this moment, and the music makes the scene more meaningful and appealing to watch. It even shows people in Japan, from other nationalities being sucked in to Christof’s creation and film techniques. This film technique is also much used throughout the film.
Some other film techniques that director Peter Weir uses as an example of film manipulation are camera angles and movement. Camera movements like panning, zooming, tracking and tilting. An example of when he uses this technique in the film is when Meryl is riding a bike and Truman is watching her. As Meryl rides the bike, the camera pans towards her, as if the camera was following her. This technique makes the viewer feel as though they are also watching Meryl. Another example is when Truman is walking. Often in ‘The Truman Show’ this technique appears and the camera follows behind Truman as to follow him. This is designed to make the viewer feel as though they themself are following Truman. These manipulative film techniques are often displayed throughout the movie.
Another film technique used to manipulate the audience of ‘The Truman Show’ is the lighting. This technique includes high-key lighting and low-key lighting. The lighting in ‘The Truman Show’ is very important because of the day and night aspects of the movie. Often in ‘The Truman Show’, Christof seems to plan the big emotional dramas to be at night-time, to make a suggestion of deep emotion and to cover anything else in the background, making it more appealing to the audience. But for just ordinary day to day routines, Christof has the bright high-key lighting to make the scene more innocent and uncomplicated. Christof uses these techniques throughout the film to highlight different things and perspectives.
The director of ‘The Truman Show’ uses different film techniques through the film to highlight how an audience can be manipulated to feeling emotionally attached to a character. Screen shots such as close-ups and long shots are used to show the audience a deep emotion or a recognition of landscape. This manipulates how the audience is feeling by reaching out to them and possibly making feel the same sadness as the character or attachment. Music in the background are used in scenes to lighten or deepen the mood. This enhances and emphasizes the drama of a scene making the audience manipulated into feeling more engrossed or addicted. There is also an amount of camera angles and movement in the film, including panningand tracking. The perspective and movement of the camera makes us look at the character in different ways, for example if the camera was following an actor, we would be manipulated to feel as if we are doing the same. He shows how the film business works and what attracts us to our favourite television programs. Peter Weir gave all of the viewers of his movie a great insight to how manipulative and cunning show business can be and what to look out for in other television programs and movies.