Truman Establishing Shot Analysis

The following stills show the unfairness shown to Truman and the fake world that’s created by Christof. In this fake world Truman’s rights, freedom and dreams are denied and he’s forced to stay. Truman who’s been imprisoned in the lonely town of Seahaven goes beyond his boundaries in order to uncover the truth and to find a way into the free world.
Establishing shot: This simple establishing aerial view shot is rather a significant picture if we pay more attention to it. We’re shown the perfect town of Seahaven and some of the recognisable features of the town like the lake around, the sea, the forests and the houses. The angle used is every important as it gives the ordinary things in the picture more meaning and it allows us to see the bigger
picture. As we’re all aware of Truman’s fear of coming in contact with the water due to his bad childhood experience, it’s as if this every landscape and environment were made to stop Truman from even thinking of leaving town. Simple privileges and rights are taken away from him like following his dream of becoming an adventurer or to travel to Fiji. The lake is used as a cage to imprison Truman and to lock away the town from the world, from freedom and from the truth. Everything else is merely there for the decoration of the movie and more excuses to get Truman to stay and live in this fake world.
Moon Over Beach: In this eye level long shot, Truman is depicted looking out into the ocean.
He takes it upon himself to his father’s death as he remembers the terrible memory of him drowning in that very ocean. As much as he fears the ocean, he is drawn to this place where he can remember his father. This reason and memory of his father’s death is used against him by Christof to make him stay in Seahaven. He thinks of travelling to Fiji in order to cheer himself up only to find his wife disagreeing scenes later. Meryl is also

Truman Exit: In this long shot we can see Truman directing his last “good afternoon, good evening and good night” to his lifelong fans and audience before he takes his leave from the fake world he’s lived in until the present day. This is a chance for Truman to finally be free as he struggles to make his decision. The angle of the camera is slightly at a low angle which suggests that Truman is finally not looked down on. We can tell he is released after taking such a big risk to get to where he is by his facial expression. The way he is standing shows that he’s a step away from a whole new world and freedom. The dark colour beyond the door displays the unknown world that Truman’s about to
discover.