The Truman Show: Analysing Shots

The Truman Show is a Prescribed Text that currently features as an option in Module B: Close Study of a Text for HSC Standard English. 

 

Prior to the the current syllabus options, while reflecting and thinking about ideas, I put together a resource for previous curriculum where the text could be looked at in combination with Reality TV shows. It covers things like representation of ideas, visually constructing meaning, creating a narrative through editing, and examining the relationship between composer and responder. You know, the usual stuff! If you remember the Distinctively Visual elective then you'll know what I'm on about. 

What follows is an assessment / class activity idea. It focuses on the way in which meaning is constructed on the screen as part of a wider unit that could be used to look at Reality TV. I love Reality TV and the way in which it crafts narratives out of footage that is ostensibly meant to be a fly-on-the-wall documentary. It's so blatantly without grace or scruples that I find it endlessly entertaining in a throw-your-popcorn-at-the-TV kind of way. 

 

We know, of course, that there is nothing remotely real about Reality TV but this is also part of why it's such fertile ground for students to study. I would argue that it's part and parcel of the same need to teach our students today about fake news and the way in which the media manipulates imagery to impose their own narratives. 

 

Anyway, I've digressed enough. 

The attached task involves students taking three screenshots from The Truman Show and writing 250-300 words on each one, describing how the composer has used visual techniques to create meaning, the wider context of the shot and how it fits into an edited sequence, and generally conveying an understanding of how the composer has represented ideas and themes related to the text. 

I've had to remove the outcomes as they were from an older syllabus but I'm sure it could be adapted to the current syllabus easily enough. You'll note also that there is an 'Example of a Full Mark Response' included at the end of the task... this has been taken from My Kitchen Rules (one of the related texts we looked at - the dinner party scenes are great for demonstrating to students how 'frankenbites' are used to impose invented narratives). I was going to delete it before I uploaded it here but I figured there was no harm in including it - it shows some of the things students can talk about it and is useful for modelling what a good response could look like. 

Here's the task - Task Idea.

I also gathered a whole bunch of screenshots together from The Truman Show. Even if you don't care about the task idea, you might at least find these screenshots useful - Truman Show Screenshots. The beauty of screenshots is that they come under free usage in terms of copyright. 

Disclaimer: The above resources have been created or adapted specifically for this blog in my own spare time.

Teaching Advertising with Nathan For You

I'm currently in the midst of teaching a unit of work to Year 10 that's centred on advertising and advocacy, which I love because it gives me a chance to look at the role of rhetoric with my students. Before getting to the point where the students tie advertising to a social issue that they wish to advocate for (their assessment task), the time is spent looking at persuasive techniques and helping students work backwards from a final product to examine the purpose of these sort of texts. 

Last year I shared an activity on the three major persuasive modes (ethos, logos, pathos) in conjunction with the brilliant Reality TV satire Nathan For You. 

In today's blog I'll look at another way that Nathan For You can be used to teach some of the finer aspects of advertising but, before I do, I'll just reiterate the persuasive modes. In prior years I've focused on logos, pathos, and ethos. This year I've decided to bring in more explicit discussion of a fourth persuasive mode; kairos - something that is touched on when dealing with target audiences but could always be dealt with in a little more detail.

(Note: There's a fifth persuasive concept called topos but I'll leave that for another day!)

• Ethos: The use of authority or credibility to get someone to trust an opinion.
  
• Kairos: The use of an opportune time and place to achieve maximum persuasiveness with a target audience.
  
• Logos: The use of reason or logic to convince someone of something.
  
• Pathos: The use of emotion to persuade.

The clip above comes with an associated activity focusing on Nathan's wacky idea for rebranding a real estate company. The concept of 'rebranding' is primarily a marketing strategy but it can also be utilised here for English purposes when talking about audience and purpose. The effectiveness of re-positioning a product to suit a hitherto un-targeted audience (as Nathan does in the clip) is dependent on how well an advertiser or company understands kairos. For instance, if you are going to target a particular audience then you need to at least have an awareness of how and when this could best be achieved. The success (or lack thereof) of Nathan's ploy could be seen as indicative of both an understanding of kairos or a lack of understanding of kairos.

For anyone who is familiar with Nathan For You and its humour - fear not, I've edited the clip to avoid any elements which may be inappropriate for the classroom.

Here is the activity sheet that accompanies the video: Nathan For You - Rebranding.

This sheet includes the following questions (I have included possible answers here for ease of delivery but feel free to expand or adapt in whatever fashion you like).

Question 1: "In an oversaturated market it can be hard to stand out in the crowd". What does Nathan mean by this, and what language technique is he using?

• Nathan is referring to the abundance of real estate companies and how difficult it can be to find a point of difference for just one such company.
• Metaphor - "standing out in a crowd"
• Jargon - "oversaturated market" (also a metaphor)

Question 2: What is the benefit in finding an 'unrepresented' audience? What does this mean?

• An 'unrepresented' audience refers to a group of people (or demographic) that hasn't been catered for before. In this case Nathan is referring to people who believe in ghosts - an identifying characteristic that, as far as he knows, has never been the basis for marketing a real estate company before.

Question 3: Annotate the advertisement below; label the kind of persuasion used and point out any symbolism that reinforces Sue's rebranding as 'the Ghost Realtor'.

• The stretching of Sue Stanford's body into a ghost-like shape symbolises her affinity with the spirit world.
• The cross is a well-known symbol of Christianity, and this is also a religious allusion.
• Quote on billboard: "My homes are 100% ghost and demon free" - this is an example of logos.
• The colour palette leans heavily on shadows and the colour blue, which gives the advertisement a sombre, haunted feeling. Note also the shadowy faceless figures that are representative of unidentified beings from 'the other side'.
• The line of Sue Standford's ghostly tail and the underlining of her name both work as vectors that lead the reader's eye from her body to the quote.
• Gaze - Sue Standford's eyes are looking directly into the camera, which builds a connection with the audience. Note also her confident, positive facial expression.

Question 4: What does the psychic add to Sue's new branding?

• The presence of the psychic adds a sense of credibility to her new angle on real estate salesmanship. As an authority on this particular subject he is a perfect example of using ethos to strengthen one's business.

Question 5: What problems are there with the example of re-positioning?

• Students may have a whole range of responses to this question! Chief among the potential problems is the fact that some people just don't believe in ghosts, which essentially means that Nathan's scheme will never appeal to a sizeable portion of the market. 
• Students should have a range of ideas in relation to this question, especially considering how intentionally ridiculous Nathan's idea is.