Critical Analysis of the Opening Extract of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet
Baz Luhrmann has used the three presentational devices in a specific
way in his film 'Romeo and Juliet'. The point of this essay is to
analyse them in the opening extract. The presentational devices are:
sound; mise en scene; and cinematography. The elements of mise en
scene are: why things are placed where they are; what the characters
are wearing; body language and facial expression. Sound is quite
obvious but there are many different types: Diegetic is sound which is
heard as part of the film world; non-diegetic is sound which we do not
recognize as part of the film world; parallel sound is music which we
expect to hear as part of the film alongside the image and
contrapuntral sound is when the music is in contrast to the film. The
elements of cinematography are to do with the camera such as; angle
and height. Cinematography is a primary tool with which the viewer
responds to the mise en scene. All three are closely linked together
as the director hasn't got the choice of not using them but does have
the choice to select how to use them.
The first presentational device, mise en scene, is seen in the scene
where the news reporter reads the prologue. The director has
positioned the reporter within a television set which shows us it's
going to be a more modern film instead of the older, more traditional
version like Tchaikovsky. This also suggests the story is over and we
will be experiencing the events in a flashback. The scene is very
measured as the director has been very deliberate in how the reporter
uses body language, facial expressions and costumes t...
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...nd uses the diegetic
noises like cars and helicopters along with the non-diegetic sound of
the voice over. These and the parallel music create a sense of urgency
and fear. All three together form a profound and strident scene which
couldn't be produced with just one of the devices.
The success of Baz Luhrmann's use of presentational devices is huge.
Although the story of Romeo and Juliet is an old and aged film,
Luhrmann engages the audience with a dramatic, romantic love story.
Consequently the film is immensely successful and undoubtedly most of
it is down to how he considered mise en scene, sound and
cinematography. Naturally this essay couldn't include all scenes from
the opening extract but there are the main ones down. Overall the film
is overawing, overbearing and overflowing with hatred, rivalry and
love.
out of the movie. He did this to shorten the movie and also to make it
music changes to show that she is sad. We then get a close up of
Baz Luhrmann's Success of Making Romeo & Juliet Accessible to a Modern Audience. In this essay I am going to write about how successfully Baz Luhrmann made his film Romeo and Juliet accessible to a modern audience. Baz Luhrmann uses Shakespeare's authentic text, combining it with a modern setting. This combination attracts the off spring of the modern.
of a peacemaker in the play, he says in the play “Part fools! Put up
in the way he speaks in a sly voice. He is the perfect actor to play
use of the camera the sound and the mise en scene. I will analyze the
The sound used in this scene are all diegetic, the sounds of gunfire and explosions show that the characters in this scene are in very real danger of being shot or blown up, this helps the viewer develop a more personal connection with the characters since the scene is towards the end of the film, the viewer has developed a personal connection with the characters and do not want them to die. The diegetic sounds of military personnel can be heard, this is used to show the urgency that the military personnel have to get The Sapphires and Dave out of the dangerous situation. This scene is used to emphasise the danger that Dave and The Sapphires are in very real and very lethal danger, the mixture of sinister camera angles to emphasise the visual danger that the characters are in to the inhospitable sounds portrayed by the scene to highlight the explosive danger that the characters are in. The lighting used features the darkness and the difficulty to see due to the night sky.
Romeo and Juliet presents an ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families whose children meet and fall in love. Markedly, the meeting scene depicting love at first sight continues to be praised by today’s critics. Romeo and Juliet then receive the label of star-crossed lovers whose tragic demise is written in the stars. In fact, Shakespeare 's work is well received and its numerous adaptations have made it one of his most enduring and notorious stories. The cinematic world brings to the screens a disastrous approach by Baz Luhrmann to do the play justice. A glance at Baz Luhrmann’s productions allows audiences to assume he delivers movies which are unlike those of any other filmmaker today, or perhaps ever. Therefore, blending a delicate
...e tragic celebration of young, forbidden love told by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, has been tailored for many motion picture adaptations. The most famous of these adaptations are Franco Zeffirelli’s version and Baz Lurhmann’s film produced in 1996. These two films applied Shakespeare’s most well-known work as a basis for their motion pictures. Both films had similarities, but the differences were much more apparent. Ever since William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been debuted, it has and forever will be an artistic influence for playwrights, directors, and other artists.
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.
Baz Lurhmann’s creation of the film Romeo and Juliet has shown that today’s audience can still understand and appreciate William Shakespeare. Typically, when a modern audience think of Shakespeare, they immediately think it will be boring, yet Lurhmann successfully rejuvenates Romeo and Juliet. In his film production he uses a number of different cinematic techniques, costumes and a formidably enjoyable soundtrack; yet changes not one word from Shakespeare’s original play, thus making it appeal to a modern audience.
“The most filmed of all plays, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, with its universal themes… remains uniquely adaptable for any time period,” (Botnick, 2002). Directors Franco Zeffirelli (1968) and Baz Luhrman (1996) provide examples of the plays adaption to suit the teenage generation of their time. Identifying the key elements of each version: the directors intentions, time/place, pace, symbols, language and human context is one way to clearly show how each director clearly reaches their target audience. Overall however Luhrman’s adaptation would be more effective for capturing the teenage audience.
Baz Luhrmann has done this film in a unique and brilliant way, with help of the above, and of course a great loved story as a base.
As an audience we are manipulated from the moment a film begins. In this essay I wish to explore how The Conversation’s use of sound design has directly controlled our perceptions and emotional responses as well as how it can change the meaning of the image. I would also like to discover how the soundtrack guides the audience’s attention with the use of diegetic and nondiegetic sounds.
Mise-en-scene, Cinematography and Sound in the Film Leon (Luc Besson) 1994 In the opening sequence of Leon, Besson uses a travelling aerial shot of a lake followed by a huge park, which is finally dominated by huge, cosmopolitan skyscrapers. The camera rests here to show the contrast in jungle and urban life. We then enter the urban city, where several travelling shots going through the streets are used giving an apparent sense of setting and location. The added use of non-diagetic sound combined with many beautiful shots of New York's streets combine to produce a very mysterious atmosphere.