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Film Techniques In The Great Gatsby

Decent Essays

The film that made an impression on me because of its techniques was The Great Gatsby. The director, Baz Luhrmann presents certain themes and ideas for the viewers. To do this, Baz Luhrmann proficiently uses a range of techniques to demonstrate these ideas. The Great Gatsby is about a man who orders his life around one desire: to be reunited with Daisy, the love he lost five years earlier. Gatsby's quest leads him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved, and eventually to death. The techniques I write about that illustrate the themes of the film are; camera shots, setting, lighting and symbolism. The scenes I will be concentrating on are the final scenes which feature the Great Gatsby.

In this scene Gatsby was waiting for a very important phone call from Daisy. The camera shots showed a close up of Gatsby's calm face, it cuts straight into a crane shot where a variety of features come in, as you can see the dirty edges of the pool, leaves in the water and his security guard standing at the edge of the pool. A shadow of a man with …show more content…

I found when watching this part that lighting was an essential element to portray the mood the director is trying to express. At the beginning of the scene it cuts into a long shot of Gatsby's house overlooking the gloomy lake. From the long shot it immediately goes into a panning shot, a scatter of lights appear on the inside of the house. This gives the viewers a sense of desolation to the house. Gatsby use to throw massive parties with lights that would light up the whole lake which made the house look alive. But the few lights in this shot made it look partly abandoned and uninviting. I think that the director deliberately made the scene dark to exaggerate to the audience loss of all personality and happiness, which has disappeared from the house. The house was once full of light but now it is

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