Nick Lacey’s article focuses on providing a perspective as to how media images are used to communicate an aspect presented by the photographer. To enable the audience to understand the premise, Lacey provides a brief introduction on communication, its elements and how it is crucial to interpreting the world around us. From this approach, he takes the reader into a world of photography and elucidates how different forms of communication are embedded within photography. Similarly, the same approach has been taken in the recent film, The Great Gatsby based on the classical novel written by Fitzgerald Scott. By drawing knowledge from Lacey’s article on communication in production, the aim of the current paper is to delineate on the communication aspect of the film.

Step 1: Observation

Lacey’s main takeaway is the art of communication. Lacey believes that the art of communicating centers around the aspects of sight (5). Out of the five senses that humans possess, the strongest is from the eyes. The reason is derived from the fact that humans place hope in the sense and as a result, believe in what they see. Based on the movie, the most striking film style in the film is the attention to detail bringing out the pomp and color that existed in parties in the 1900s. In the scene, Gatsby, the main character, throws a lavish party where hundreds of people crowd his manor. The set design is classical with the party-goers dressed in 1900s attires where the women wore make-up and dressed in conservative yet, progressive dresses and the men in elegant suits. The surrounding is filled with great lighting and party ornaments surrounding the house’s interior. As for the acting style, the actors are pompous and energetic which is synonymous with the trend in the 1900s where people were care-free and willing to take risks different from the conservative mindset.

To properly insert the audience in to the setting, the camera moves diagonally as well as horizontally through the scene. The idea, probably, is to permit the audience to comprehend the extent of the grandiose parties that the Great Gatsby used to hold in his house. As such, the shots of the camera range from full shot to close-up. At the beginning of the scene, the camera takes a full shot of the house with all the lighting and the music in the background. The concept drawn upon is the approach that the party was extravagant and grand. To show how grand, it was, the camera takes close shot then an extreme shot of the people inside the house. The close shot takes the audience through the over the shoulder shots which allows the audience to enter the party with the other actors. From this shot, another down shot is presented providing an up-close shot. The up-close shot presents the ventures that the cast takes while understanding why the party is always being held and what theories surround the mysterious Gatsby.

The scene is not edited, it is exactly as presented to understand how big the parties were and a synopsis of how one party can be. The cuts, nonetheless, are medium and not as long or as short. They allow the audience to endure what the cast is going through based on the fun the people are having as well as the characters’ questioning about why the parties are always occurring. There are no conversations but, the sound effects are music based with most of the noises coming from the cast expressing their joy.

Step 2: Interpretation

From an interpretation basis, the plot, characters, and theme of the scene matter because it presents the ideology that the great Gatsby was a wealthy man but, a lonely one who needed people around them. As for the other characters, the need to associate with great Gatsby was considered the greatest affiliation at the time. Thus, the shots from the camera are medium-shot allowing the audience to gravitate with the characters to find out what the purpose of the parties are about and who is the owner.  Lacey suggests that the use of normal human senses is categorical in understanding what is around us as well as what is in front of us (8). The reason is defined on the ideology that as humans recognizing an object (s) is through placing a linguistic label on it or them. By labeling the subject, there is no room for misinterpretation. Borrowing from the film, the lighting is high providing a magnificent party. As such, there is no dialogue, only the presentation of the party and the people and the fun they are having. There are no stylistic changes just people dressed with different styles such as burlesque dancers and drinks being served.  Therefore, how a person interprets an image as well as analyzes, comes from what they have learned from the world around them. As such, Lacey (8) emphasizes that senses are directly linked to the world around and that is how people can understand what an image is trying to convey.

Movie makers use concepts found in the world to express and convey a particular and specific message. Lacey (9) accentuates that how we perceive the society plays a significant role in how analysis of a scene is conducted. It is critical that while analyzing a scene, the observer has to be as neutral as possible in the denotation of an image including associating of precisely what the picture is trying to depict (9). The standing is that, for instance, how American view a picture may be different from how Europeans or Asians interpret from the image. The conflict in other scenes is that the party-going stops when  Gatsby lays eyes on his love and the film looses its credibility from then.

Step 3: Analysis

With the above knowledge and comprehension, Lacey indicates that the interpretation of any image relies heavily on the concept of culturally sensitive matters (12). Otherwise, when interpreting a scene, it is official that six non-verbal communication factors ought to be used. They include facial expression, gaze, gestures, posture, body contact as well as clothing and appearances (12). Non-verbal cues, as Lacey determines (13) are constantly changing within a society. Other aspects of the film scenes are different from the chosen scene. Based on non-verbal cues, the party aspects are more direct, camera-sensitive as well as provide a lot of non-verbal cues. For example, the scene where Gatsby finally meets the love of his life, is projected through a truck-shot then an extreme shot. Thus, when defining what a message entails, it may be difficult to comprehend the actual meaning if the person is not from the culture. It is depicted that as human beings, we are continually interpreting information through our senses which gain knowledge from the environment (13). The interpretation is necessary since it allows humans to acknowledge the information presented in the film scenes. The particular aspect is crucial for any media student learner according to Lacey (13).

Compared to other films, there is a contradiction because of the representation of writings into a movie. However, the director has been able to address the conflicts in a way that has contributed to American historical film. The ability to bring contrast to a movie at the beginning to the end. Consequently, the film provides a sense of how camera-motions and characters can illuminate the theme of the movie.

Conclusion

The meaning in image interpretation is to allow production professionals to critically incorporate all the concepts presented by Nick Lacey in the article, Image, and Representation. The formal analysis has provided a synopsis of what image and interpretation entails. By inducing a code, a professional will be able to understand how photography concepts such as level, height, framing, and form can be used to denote an image or what the message is all about.

Work Cited

Lacey, Nick. Image and representation: key concepts in media studies. London: Macmillan, 1998, 1-16.

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