It's been 20 years since The Truman Show predicted...well...the last 20 years. Here is a brief documentary explaining how the film was made, its meaning, its impact, and its legacy.
Produced and written by Matt Beat. All images and video used under fair use guidelines.
Music credits:
Mozart- Piano Sonata #11 (Turkish March)
Lorth Koro- Music of Truman Show extended
Photo credits:
Gage Skidmore
Piotr Drabik
Steve Tiesdell
Georges Biard
WNYC New York Public Radio
Before reality TV exploded in the mainstream, this film predicted it. Here’s everything you need to know about the film The Truman Show.
Behind the scenes
Andrew Niccol first came up with the idea for the film back in 1991. He called it “The Malcolm Show,” and it was a pretty dark science fiction thriller, set in New York City, about a guy who was living in a reality TV show but did not know it. After Niccol completed the script, producer Scott Rudin bought it for more than $1 million. Paramount Pictures took it on, and hired Australian filmmaker Peter Weir to direct it. Weir wanted the movie to be less dark and funnier, and so he and Niccol got together to re-work the script sixteen times. They eventually called it The Truman Show.
In 1995, Paramount signed Jim Carrey to be the main star, the one to play Truman Burbank. However, 1995 was a crazy year with him in movies like The Cable Guy and Liar Liar, so it’d be another year before he was available to film. Because Weir felt Carrey was perfect for the role, he agreed to postpone production to wait for him. Carrey took a huge pay cut for the role. They decided on Seaside, Florida, as the primary location for filming. Seaside is a “master-planned community” famous for being designed for walkable neighborhoods and its unique architecture. It’s ridiculously picturesque, which is why the producers chose it, as they also relied on Norman Rockwell paintings, 1940s Sears and Roebuck catalogs, and 1960s postcards to influence set design.
Weir went all in with this one, even creating a novel about the show’s history. He created backstories for the characters and told all the actors to create their own backstories as well. Ed Harris was called in as a last minute replacement to play Christoff. In fact, Harris and Carrey never met each other on set as Carrey’s parts were filmed before Harris joined up.
The producers put a lot of emphasis on cinematography, led by cinematographer Peter Biziou. They instructed the actors to lean into the cameras with their eyeballs wide open. Everything was well-lit, with the idea that every product seen in every shot would be for sale. Since much of the cameras in the film are supposed to be hidden, a wide variety of shots were used. Some of the camera angles are just strange. Whenever they filmed Truman Burbank, they often used an iris shot or a fish-eye lens to create the impression that every shot zoomed in on him was done in secret. As Truman would discover more and more about his true nature throughout the film, less of these shots were used. Philip Glass provided the minimalist piano-based soundtrack.
Producers filmed The Truman Show between December 1996 and April 1997. Despite filming in Florida in paradise, some of those January and February filming dates were fairly cold. Some of the filming also took place in Los Angeles. They made it for $60 million, $20 million under budget. Once completed, it took forever for Paramount to release it. Originally they wanted it out in August 1997, but it ultimately wasn’t released officially until June 5, 1998. It was a box office hit, eventually making over $264 million. It currently is certified 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and is one of the highest rated films of all time on IMDb. It won a ton of awards, and was notably nominated for three Academy Awards.
Plot
Here is the basic storyline, and of course there are no major spoilers- I want you to watch it yourself if you haven’t already. So Truman Burbank is the star of The Truman Show, a reality TV show, broadcast live around the world and around the clock. Truman is the star, yet he does not know it. Everyone else on the show, however, does. They are all actors, and some of them have grown up or grown old on camera alongside Truman, pretending to be his mom, or his dad, or his best friend, or even his wife. The town Truman lives in, Seahaven Island, is just a gigantic set, the largest the world has ever known, in fact, all enclosed in a giant dome in Hollywood. Approximately 5,000 cameras constantly monitor Truman’s day-to-day behavior. The producers of the Truman Show, in order to prevent Truman from ever leaving and realizing his whole reality is just a, you know, set, raised Truman to be afraid of the water, through the drowning death of his fake dad or even the use of propaganda. So any time Truman talks about traveling far away, the actors in his life strongly try to talk him out of it.