Romeo And Juliet Opening Scene Analysis

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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 …show more content…

He uses many camera angles and film techniques to show the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet to a modern audience. Baz Luhrman’s use of Camera angles to convey an audience into his invited reading is second to none, He has managed to change the overall gist of the traditional Shakespeare version of Romeo and Juliet while still retaining the story line to suit a modern teen audience. An example of this is when Romeo is arriving at the Capulet party with a mask on and the invite in his hand after taking an ecstasy pill. Baz Luhrman uses a close up shot and slow motion camera movement to emphasise the fact that Romeo is disorientated because of the drugs. The tablet changes the context from a 70s or 80s to a modern 90s when ecstasy was very common and in ‘trend’. Baz Luhrman has efficiently dressed the real life characters to relate to their Romeo and Juliet meaning. Romeo is dressed as a knight in shining armour to resemble his brave courteous soul by being Juliet’s ‘savour’. Juliet is dressed as an angel to show her innocence and beauty. The antagonist Tybalt is costumed as the devil to resemble the evil that he brings to their relationship and lets the audience know that he is unwanted or bad. The song playing during the party is a well know pop/love song. Baz Luhrman uses it to show the upbeat personality of the characters and the atmosphere of the party. …show more content…

Baz Luhrman used filming techniques much more efficiently then Carlei and also used characterisation much better to relate to a modern audience. Luhrman Used clear changes in music and camera shots to convey his point of view on the tragedy making it much easier for the audience to pick up on. Although the language used is more supportive in Carlei’s version, I still think that Luhrman has provided a better balance of modern context to fulfil the audience’s needs while providing insight of William Shakespeare’s love Tragedy of Romeo and

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