Peter Biziou is The Truman Show’s cinematographer and here is a little about his work on the film.
Peter Biziou has quietly built a solid reputation as one of the finest cinematographers of his generation that Britain has produced. Of Welsh extraction, he began his career building models, graduated to lighting commercials, and began his career behind the camera with his friend and long time collaborator, director Alan Parker. His journeyman years spent making commercials have heavily influenced his style without inhibiting his creativity: in making Peter Weir’s The Truman Show (1998) he relied on that “unreal” look to create an insular world lit by too-brilliant sunlight: as Weir put it, “I was taken with the way Peter uses light, his choice of lenses and his overall look. I loved his work with directors Alan Parker and Jim Sheridan. He takes chances, yet one always sees what one needs to see. I also knew that Peter is selective and only takes on films to which he feels he can offer something unique.” The Truman Show itself is a showcase for the cinematographer’s art: when the director Christof (Ed Harris) says abruptly, “Cue the sun” and a fireball shoots up in response (a stunning effect requiring Biziou’s strategy and elaborate digital enhancement) or the vignettes that alert the viewer to the presence of the many spying cameras recording Truman Burbank’s life. To give “a more obvious, menacing feel,” Biziou used gobos placed in front of the lens and explored the use of wide angle lenses often used in commercials, as well as all the ingenious “Truman-cams.” His ability to translate Weir’s wish for a hyper-real, light-soaked Norman Rockwell world is in keeping with his reputation as an inventive, intuitive artisan who compliments and completes a director’s vision.
Read more: Peter Biziou – Writer – Films as Cinematographer:, Publications http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Ba-Bo/Biziou-Peter.html#ixzz0rquLoFM9
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