A Comparison of the Opening Sequences of Two Films Version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
“Romeo and Juliet” is a play by Shakespeare; the play has been made
into films by many directors. The version of the film by Franco
Zeffirelli was made in 1976 for general release. The one made by Baz
Lurhman in 19997 was also for general release. The Zeffirelli version
is a very old fashioned type film set in Verona, to make it look
authentic the clothes worn by the characters are similar to the
clothes in Shakespeare’s time and so is the setting. The Lurhman
version is very modern, it is not set in Verona it is set in Verona
beach in USA. The clothes and setting is of the late 20th century
America.
The audience expect an old fashioned romantic story when watching
“Romeo and Juliet”. They expect poetic language since the film is
based on the play by Shakespeare. They will also expect a male
dominating society. The music they anticipate would be classical and
old fashioned. Since the film is romantic, they expect the film to be
set in a sunny and romantic place probably in the Mediterranean.
The purpose of the opening sequence in both the versions of “Romeo and
Juliet” is to tell the audience what the film is about. It is like an
introduction to the film. Since both these films were on general
release, the audience did not know much about “Romeo and Juliet”, so
directors had to set the scene so as to make the audience understand
the films better.
The Franco Zeffirelli version’s opening sequence starts with an
establishing shot. The camera pans over the rooftops of Verona. The
scene is very misty and grey. There is a voice over as the camera
pans, the voice over is saying a part of the prologue from the play.
The establishing shot stops when the camera reaches the sun and then
slowly zooms in on the sun. After zooming in, there is a cut shot. The
next scene is set in the market square where the camera does a
Juliet’ due to the fact that his film work was about youth and how its
music changes to show that she is sad. We then get a close up of
One of the most celebrated plays in history, “Romeo and Juliet”, was written by William Shakespeare in the late 16th century. It is a story about two lovers that have to meet in secret because of an ongoing family feud. Tragically, because of their forbidden love Romeo and Juliet take their lives so they can be together. In 1997, a movie was adapted from the play “Romeo and Juliet”, directed by Baz Lurhmann. However, as alike as the movie and the play are, they are also relatively different.
A Comparison of Scenes From West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet Cinematography The scene before the meeting scene in West Side Story Maria spins. around in her dress the camera then carries on spinning which creates a colourful blur effect on the screen. The effect makes her look like she is almost spinning into the next scene. When Tony and Maria met, all the other characters that were dancing.
Juliet act very serious. The reader can tell this by the way the two speak.
The Adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for a Cinema Audience There are many difference between showing a play in a theatre and showing it on film. The theatre is more of a writers medium and more emphasis is shown on language, you could say theatre acting is more dramatic. Film actors don't need to be quite so dramatic as the point the actor is trying to make can be conveyed in other ways on screen (such as through use of varied backgrounds). Also on stage the scenes need to be longer, this is to avoid changing the stage regularly. If a film had long scenes set in one place only, the audience would probably become quite restless and wonder what the point of such a long scene would be.
Have people ever wondered which is better actually reading the the Romeo and Juliet play that's about true love or being lazy and watching the movie first and go off that ? There are major differences in comparison from the actual play from 1595 to the movie that was made in 1969. That Zeffirelli had chosen to changed while directing the Romeo and Juliet Movie were scenes like the balcony,the fighting, and the very end of Romeo and Juliet Scenes. Why did he do it no one really knows why he did.
The Major Differences Between Two Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet The major differences between the two movies Romeo and Juliet who were
Good morning/afternoon Ms Pritchard and 10B English, today I will be exploring two of the same scenes from different film versions of Romeo and Juliet. Each film was directed by different but equally professional directors to allow the audience to understand the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The scene I am going to analyse is the party scene when Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time. The first film being discussed was directed by Baz Luhrman in 1996; an Australian director who loves to spice up his films to keep the audience on their feet. The second film was directed by Carlo Carlei in 2013; an Italian master mind of directing who prefers to stay true to his films and become one with the audience and the story being told. Both directors
Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic love story about two young lovers who are forced to be estranged as a result of their feuding families. The play is about their struggle to contravene fate and create a future together. As such, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would try and emulate Shakespeare’s masterpiece. This had been done before in many films. Prominent among them were, Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 “Romeo and Juliet” and Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 “William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.” Both films stay true to the themes of Shakespeare’s original play. However, the modernised Luhrmann film not only maintains the essence of Shakespeare’s writings, Luhrmann makes it relevant to a teenage audience. This is done through the renewal of props and costumes, the reconstruction of the prologue and the upgrading of the setting, whilst preserving the original Shakespearean language. Out of the two, it is Luhrmann who targets Romeo & Juliet to a younger audience to a much larger extent than Zeffirelli.
One of the greatest questions addressed in both Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare in Love is the question "does love conquer all?" Should one follow his heart or should one conform to society's view as to what is proper? In the movie, love does in fact conquer all, but, in the play, it does not. In the play Romeo and Juliet decide to follow their hearts and they do not conform to society's wishes. Romeo and Juliet end up dead and the feud between the Montagues and Capulets is over. In the case of Shakespeare in Love, Will loses Viola but his love for her lives on as seen in his later writings. So, one could argue that in some instances love does indeed conquer all and, in other cases, it does not. Following the path of true love can be a tragic one as seen in Romeo and Juliet. As for Shakespeare in Love, both characters meet society's wishes and therefore return to their normal lives never being quite the same.
In conclusion, Lurhmann uses a lot of modern filming techniques to make Romeo and Juliet appeal to a contemporary audience. By relating certain aspects to situations in modern society, it makes the audience understand the ideas behind the original play and he simplifies the complicated old English of Shakespeare by adding exciting and dynamic visuals. Lurhmann tried to create a modern version of Romeo and Juliet and he was completely successful in his aims. Lurhmann defied all odds by making his film appeal to a modern audience and not only is this film very clever, it is a must see for any film lovers.
sequence of their film version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Introduction = == == ==
but in the new version the Montagues’ started it and it was set in a
as if you did not concentrate you would get lost but because it was a