Romeo and Juliet, Baz Luhrmann
I believe that Baz Luhrmann has created a very effective prologue and version of Act 1 Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, using visual images and landmarks along with the language to aid the audience in understanding the story. Using the media throughout, Luhrmann makes the situations easier for the audience to grasp, and in turn, relate to.
The film begins with the camera zooming in on a television. The prologue is spoken by a black female news reporter. Using a coloured female reporter is effective as it shows how universally important the story is. This indicates the importance of the Montagues and the Capulets for their frays and fights to shown on national television. Using the media makes the situation seem more real, and makes it easier for the audience to relate to as the media is where we find out most of our news in a modern day world.
In the background of the news studio the image of a broken ring appears along with a caption saying star-crossed lovers'. This indicates to the audience how their love and unity will be broken during the story.
A caption then appears reading in Fair Verona'. This is telling the audience that Verona should be a nice, peaceful place to live, but the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets is ruining everything for all the citizens of Verona. This gives an indication to the audience of how long the fighting has been going on, and how much it affects everyone.
The helicopter flying over the beaches of Verona reinforces to the audience, that Verona should be a pleasant place for everyone to live.
Immediately the audience is made aware of how important religion is, and how both families should be bound by the rules of religion. It is important for Baz Luhrmann to do this as in a modern day world; religion is not generally seen to be as important as it used to be. Luhrmann frequently reminds the audience of this, referring back to the statue of Christ in Verona, and having religious messages and images
The film begins with the camera zooming in on a television. The prologue is spoken by a black female news reporter. Using a coloured female reporter is effective as it shows how universally important the story is. This indicates the importance of the Montagues and the Capulets for their frays and fights to shown on national television. Using the media makes the situation seem more real, and makes it easier for the audience to relate to as the media is where we find out most of our news in a modern day world.
In the background of the news studio the image of a broken ring appears along with a caption saying star-crossed lovers'. This indicates to the audience how their love and unity will be broken during the story.
A caption then appears reading in Fair Verona'. This is telling the audience that Verona should be a nice, peaceful place to live, but the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets is ruining everything for all the citizens of Verona. This gives an indication to the audience of how long the fighting has been going on, and how much it affects everyone.
The helicopter flying over the beaches of Verona reinforces to the audience, that Verona should be a pleasant place for everyone to live.
Immediately the audience is made aware of how important religion is, and how both families should be bound by the rules of religion. It is important for Baz Luhrmann to do this as in a modern day world; religion is not generally seen to be as important as it used to be. Luhrmann frequently reminds the audience of this, referring back to the statue of Christ in Verona, and having religious messages and images