Paranoia (A Truman Show Fanedit)

*Disclaimer: Nothing in this review is meant to disparage the editor's immense skill and effort. I appreciate both, regardless of my feelings about the final product.*

I really wish I loved this edit. The concept is genius, and largely well-executed. I sincerely congratulate the editor on the creativity, passion, and technical expertise that obviously went into this edit. Unfortunately, its shortcomings are such that I cannot give my recommendation.

First and foremost, I disagree strongly with the decision to fluctuate between color and grayscale. The intention, as stated by the editor, was to use "a high-contrast black and white filter for 'hidden camera' shots". With all due respect to the editor, I feel this was a bad choice, executed poorly. The decision as to which shots were from a "hidden camera" seemed to be completely arbitrary, if not flat-out nonsensical.

The editor has graciously provided the first ten minutes of this edit on Vimeo, so I'll use some examples from that footage. A little after 6:00, Truman passes a billboard with a hidden camera on it, (the black ball in the top center). The twins speak to Truman, and even push him against the billboard aggressively to ensure they are visible on the hidden camera. But when the viewer's POV switches to that camera's perspective at 6:14, the footage remains in color. Other shots have the exact opposite problem, having been converted to grayscale when it cannot possibly be "hidden camera" footage. For instance, at 9:41, the hidden camera providing the audience's POV seems to be floating invisibly in the empty sky above Truman.

Of course, all of this ignores the issue with the very premise of including conspicuous "hidden camera" footage when the explicit intention of the edit is to remove "all explicit references and evidence to the viewer that Truman is part of an elaborate reality show centered around his life". If the goal is to create mystery behind whether or not Truman's entire life is being filmed, it seems counterintuitive to give the audience that exact information from the outset.

However, I insist upon ending this review on a positive note, and there is much to admire about what the editor has accomplished. On a technical level, the editing was flawless, with the sole and understandable exception of the driving sequence (which the editor was forced to accelerate due to a soundtrack bleed). The "new" score for the film is a delight, and masterfully integrated.

If the editor converted the entire film to grayscale, this would be a far better edit. A few tweaks beyond that, and it could easily become one of the best edits on the site. However, in its present form, this edit is far inferior to the source material.

I could not recall what wasn't there, beyond the segment on the Creator and the segment which recaps the history of The Truman Show, but I don't think that accounts for the missing 30 min.

The narrative isn't changed at all, so it's essentially still the same story.

The visual change with the Hitchcock themes is great, and the audio is appropriate for invoking Hitchcock; the new, Hitchcock-style B&W opening is perfectly executed, and there were no noticeable problems in the edits, EXCEPT for the moment when Truman is driving his wife for a few loops on the roundabout, there's a moment where he is shown speaking but the music is playing over that whole moment, so it's a very apparent and odd situation where the protagonist is speaking to a side character, but the music has shut that out. A little bit of a problem. Otherwise, I like this presentation, it's a great idea and it works, and nothing is left unexplained or plot-holed, the shortening by 30 min. is nice.

Anyone interested in fanedits at all should definitely see this, a terrific idea well executed, and creators can take inspiration as to what boundaries they can stretch their editing concepts.

This was an amazing, transformative fanedit that takes the original source material and creates an entirely new aesthetic and feel to the film. I would have LOVED to have seen this without ever having seen the original, because THIS is how I would have loved to experience the original film.

Perfectly edited, the soundtrack was fabulous, and the tension was real. Impossible to tell this was a fanedit if you had not watched the original.

What a fantastic edit! Always loved The Truman Show, so it was really cool to see it done in this style. The score, visual editing and just overall Lynchian/Hitchcockian aesthetic was amazing to see!

First, thank you for doing this. I love the Truman Show, I watch it quite often. This edit, somehow, surpasses the original in my opinion, I do enjoy a lot of fan edits, rarely does one replace the source for me when I want to sit down and watch a movie. A lot of edits change the narrative, modify the flow, they're different enough to sit on their own alongside the source material, this edit here blows the source material away. My brother is the one who introduced me to the Truman Show, and after I watched it the first time I had to show it to him, we watched it together and we both agree this edit is superior.

Thank you for making this.