Book excerpt: The Truman Show is a major film by Australian director Peter Weir. It sets up the conceit of a 'reality TV' show about an innocent called Truman Burbank, who doesn't even know that his whole life is a carefully scripted fiction, beamed out to millions of viewers around the world. When the truth dawns on Truman, he challenges the god-like creator of 'The Truman Show', and makes his escape into the real world. This fascinating satire on media manipulation is both engrossing and relevant to contemporary trends. Study of the film is set within the context of the NSW syllabus English Elective module 'Image'. The guide provides background material on the 'Image' theme, as well as contextual information about the 'grammar' of film, before offering a summary and detailed explication of the movie. It concludes with linking notes (the movie as an example of 'Image') and a model answer.