Media as Character Dog Day Afternoon
What role does the media play? How does the media change the story? What is the main character’s relationship to the media? Secondary Characters? How does the media change the story? What is the main character’s relationship to the media? Secondary Characters?
What do you make of the ending? Long shot of “Sonny” He looks at “Sal” The bank workers pay no attention to him The movie’s decent into darkness Long shot of “Sonny” He looks at “Sal” The bank workers pay no attention to him The movie’s decent into darkness
The Truman Show 1998, Peter Weir Andrew Niccol 1998, Peter Weir Andrew Niccol
Expectations and Interactions Almost too much information to absorb Overall, information about Truman is revealed in “artfully spaced doses” Only in bits and pieces do we find out what is being done to Truman Almost too much information to absorb Overall, information about Truman is revealed in “artfully spaced doses” Only in bits and pieces do we find out what is being done to Truman
Explicit Meanings “we except the reality of the world with which we are presented” “you were real. That’s what made you so good to watch.” “we except the reality of the world with which we are presented” “you were real. That’s what made you so good to watch.”
Implicit Meanings Squeaky clean tract housing Sunsets so beautiful that they are weird Larger than life characters even caricatures Squeaky clean tract housing Sunsets so beautiful that they are weird Larger than life characters even caricatures
Seahaven “A surreal version of America as America wishes it once was:paradise without the serpent”
Light and Contemporary Hollywood Cinema High key, undifferentiated gloss of television Film blanc, film lumiere, film fluorescent, film flash, or film deadpan (bombs us with light just to get a picture) Truman Show overdoes that kind of lighting surreal, mad glaring, unsettling High key, undifferentiated gloss of television Film blanc, film lumiere, film fluorescent, film flash, or film deadpan (bombs us with light just to get a picture) Truman Show overdoes that kind of lighting surreal, mad glaring, unsettling
Symbols Truman (the name sounds like True Man) Christof: Tyrant whose police force keeps keeps the subject ignorant and in line, and god who restricts his subject’s free will, nearly kills him, and finally implores him to continue his role Fear, as a source of control Truman (the name sounds like True Man) Christof: Tyrant whose police force keeps keeps the subject ignorant and in line, and god who restricts his subject’s free will, nearly kills him, and finally implores him to continue his role Fear, as a source of control
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