Lacan theory example - Grizzly Man:

"Lack" - Treadwell's desire to befriend/become a bear

An example of Lacan's notion of "lack" is the film text Grizzly Man, a documentary made in 2005 by Werner Herzog. The entire narrative of the text is about how a man, Timothy Treadwell, wanted and even believed that he had made friends with a tribe of grizzly bears in an Alaskan reserve. The physical representation of "lack", shown through Treadwell, is that he wanted to become friends with bears and even to an extent become one of them which is impossible - due to the massive differences between the human species and bears. 

In terms on technical signification in the film, the editing that has been used to create the narrative of the text also allows the director to encode and construct his own opinion into the text. Werner Herzog chose to encode clips from Treadwell's original footage (of which there is over 100 hours worth) and accompany it with contrasting clips of interviews that he filmed of/with his close friends and people who didn't know him personally - such as the mortician, rangers/agents who worked at the Alaskan reserve, and ecologist. This choice to edit clip of other interviewees, in itself, actually presents Lacan's notion of "lack" as each of the individuals being interviewed acts in a false manner with the presence of the camera in the room - particularly the lady introduced as Timothy Treadwell's ex girlfriend - who acts overtly fake and overly sympathetic towards both him and the lady he was killed with (his present girlfriend of the time). The music or non-diegetic sound that has been added in during the editing process (quite "happy" and almost relaxing guitar music), makes the clips feel more empathetic and also causes audience members to feel more sympathy and understanding towards Treadwell.