In this scene the protagonist, Truman, starts off with his normal day, then disappears at the dead of night. Escaping Christof’s powerful clutch as the thousands of hidden cameras cannot locate him. All actors on the set then become a desperate, violent search party. Showing links to Truman’s enclosure being a like a World War Two Nazi Concentration or Prisoner Of War (P. O. W) camp. Four techniques that this scene shows strong signs of are; Set, props, camera shots, and Acting The director’s purpose for this scene is to show the extent of Truman’s imprisonment, showing that it is almost impossible for him to escape.
It also shows how Truman has evolved and gained enough strength to overpower the people who have imprisoned him and escape. This also has links to the Nazi concentration camps based on breakout attempts on the death camps such as Sobibor, which ends in success. But Truman is still in danger of Cristof on the last lengths of his escape. The true nature of this scene was shown strongly through the Set, for example the moon (Omnicam-Echosphere) that we had become familiar with becomes a powerful spotlight scouring the town of Seahaven furiously trying to locate Truman with its powerful beam of light.
This further symbolises the feeling that Truman is in a prison, as the use of spotlights searching the area during a breakout or escape is a cliche of almost every prison/Nazi camp escape in films, so the viewer gets an instant vision of him being in a prison. Loud sirens back up the searchlight which is another cliche with prison escape films. The idea of it being a Nazi death camp, is symbolised by something the Nazi soldiers were very renowned of.
The hell march, a hell march was designed to make the German soldiers look as uniform as possible, and sink the morale of enemies as the simultaneous sound of hundreds of peoples steps is drilling into your head, and you always know what fate is coming. The dark environment is an important part of the set also as Seahaven is usually very bright, it shows the how this colourful lively place is just a mirage of a dark prison. The symbolism was backed up powerfully by the use of props.
The dog Pluto in this scene is shown to be highly aggressive barking and showing his sharp white teeth whilst pulling his owner who is saying lines such as; “Go find him, Pluto, Good Boy. ” Which shows that it is used as a search or attack dog in this scene. The flashlights being used by a majority of the actor that were looking for Truman are another prop used, which again is a cliche of a night-time search of something so this again enlarges the feeling of a prison escape idea. The moon was also a major prop in this scene as it becomes a giant searchlight that is searching for Truman with an intense beam of light.
Camera shots were also a very important part of this scene. A large variety of point of view shots were used to show the perspective of the cameras, to give you a feeling you were actually watching the Truman show, a technique shown through the bulk of the movie. Close up shots were used when a camera looked at a character’s face, this shot was repetitively used on, Marlon, Christof and the staff of the Truman show, showing the worry and stress that they were feeling at the time, intensifying the situation that the viewer is seeing.
For example when Marlon emerges from the hole Truman had dug to allow him to escape, he looks straight into the camera with a worried look on his face against Christof’s wish saying. “He’s gone. ” Panning camera shots show the full scale of the search for Truman by following the searchlights movements across the town as it looks for Truman and tracking shots move with the props and characters to almost give you a feeling you are among those searching for the missing man.
This is used whilst the marching actors are walking and his fake mother and father are calling out for him. This scene is one of the most unique in the film because of these certain camera techniques. Acting techniques brought this scene together. The use of facial and body expression, show the stressful environment these characters are in at the very moment and time. The scene is unique for acting because you see the darkest side of Marlon. He shouts commands to his fellow actors if he a German commander ordering his troops, yet he is commanded by Christof.
This is shown by Christof saying “Have you searched the college? Get some people over there! ” this shows that Marlon almost like Moses being told by his god, what he should do so he can tell his people what this ‘god’ wants. Marlon is trying to capture Truman proving that he never cared of the prisoner, even though growing up with him. These techniques deeply show the references to prison and Nazi Techniques in World War Two. And make this scene one of the deepest and unique in the Truman show film.
