This scene is a pivotal moment in the entire film, it depicts the first time Trueman realised his life might be a result of a reality tv show. The scene begins with a point of view shot, where the camera appears to be set behind the car radio, this shot sets the foundation for a cascade of events that followed after. In the shot, Trueman is not framed perfectly, as the camera leaves him on a slight tilt, this is obviously a directorial choice. The slightly ‘unprofessional’ camera set-ups throughout this scene leave the audience with clues that will eventually be revealed at the end of the film. The shots within Truman’s car position a quarter of his body out of the frame, suggesting that the camera inside the car is stationary, therefore unable to capture the star’s every move.
As the protagonist gets out of his car, the camera gradually became more and more shakey and tilted. It became obvious where the camera was positioned, whether stationary or operated by a camera person. The tracking shot when Truman comes back out of the office building and tries to act unpredictably creates difficulties for the camera operator, as he appears to be out of the frame at certain times. Another significant shot is when the camera movement began on an extreme wide shot, looking for Truman and then cut to an extreme close up with the camera being so shakey it barely captured his facial expression. In these two scenes, the depth of field would have changed drastically, when covering the entire street, the camera would have been on a shorter focal length, which allowed for a wider depth of field. On the contrary, in the next close-up of the protagonist, the camera would have adjusted to a longer focal length and achieved a shallow depth field, this is what allowed Truman to be the only object in focus and his surroundings blurred.
It is interesting to analyse the different types of intended ‘bad shots’ within this scene, as it reflects some of the experiences I have also encountered during the studio classes. For example, the positioning of the camera in the car scene, which created little coverage of the character is something we encountered often during production. As new filmmakers, we tend to position the camera closer to the subject and adjust the entire camera later on. However, it would be beneficial to set the camera further away and zoom in on the characters. Another example is when shooting a tracking shot. There are times when the camera operator who might not be paying close attention easily loses track of the actor if any sudden movement was made. Therefore, it is always important for the camera person to focus on what is being captured on screen. Furthermore, it is also essential to conduct a proper walkthrough with the actor when prior to the production, as seen in The Truman Show, it could be extremely difficult to follow the actor in a tracking shot when the action is drastic and spontaneous.
Overall this scene is a great collection of what could go wrong on a set and it is extremely relevant for new filmmakers to understand these ‘mistakes’ in order to prevent them in their own projects.
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