Compare the opening scenes of the two 'Romeo and Juliet' films.

In the older film of Romeo and Juliet the prologue is set out in a much simpler way when compared to the other film as there is only one male voiceover which is done very slowly and mournfully which gives a very depressing start to the film. During the voiceover the camera is panning across the town, where there is a small market and a few houses. We can also see from the panning that it is early morning and there is a picture of the Sun rising which is significant throughout the play as the characters say that tempers frae in the heat. Throughout the prologue there is also some very courtly/ medieval music to set the scene for the era it is in.

In the more recent version of Romeo and Juliet the fight between the two households in the opening scene is shown in a very drastic aggressive manner to give a real insight to the hatred between the two households. There were lots of different camera shots throughout the fight; there were still images to introduce the characters with their names and relation to Romeo or Juliet pending on which family they belonged to. There were also lots of close-ups of characters and ground shots, which gave a real western theme to the film; there were also close-ups of different signs and their guns, which again portrayed the western image to the fight. There were zooms into the fight and into the characters so it was as if you were there observing the fight, another shot that was very effective was the slow motion shots, there were many parts of the fight that had slow motion filming, when they were shooting at each other and when the fire starts in the petrol station this is good because it makes the audience keep watching because they want to know what's going to happen.

The costumes and behaviour of the characters is very important, as it is the opening scene so if people don't like them at the beginning they aren't likely to keep watching the rest of the film. The two families are complete opposites with dress and behaviour, as the Montague's are very laid back and casually dressed, as they are wearing typical Hawaiian shirts and jeans, they are also typical white race Americans where as the Capulet's are very smart and uptight with black boots some with steel toes and black trousers and they are all wearing waistcoats with religious images as religion plays a big role in their life's, they are also from Italy or Mexico so they are not typical Americans. The Montague's are shown, as a very scared and funny family where as the Capulet's are a very serious and threatening family that don't seem to be scared of anything. The costumes and behaviour of the families also seems to follow a very western theme as some of the Capulet's are wearing steel studded boots that cowboys use to wear and both families are wearing holsters to carry their guns.

The setting is very traditional for a modern city, with big skyscrapers, in particular two with the rival families names on. You can also tell from the panning across the city that they have very hot climates as there are palm trees and the characters are walking round with just tops on. The actual fight takes place in a petrol station, which is reasonably modern and a good place for a public show down.

The type of music played during the fight varies, when the Montague's are entering the petrol station there is some drum and bass perhaps rock orientated music playing to fit in with their cool and casual attitude but when the Capulet's enter the petrol station there is some very threatening western maybe Mexican music playing. When the two main characters in the fight from the different households return some western show down music starts playing to set the real western theme. But when people start shooting the tempo picks up and becomes a lot faster and to give a big shock effect the volume of the music increases so instead of being quiet background music it becomes full frontal all that you can hear music. All these things I have mentioned set the scene for a dramatic film to come.

In the older version of Romeo and Juliet the fight is displayed in a less dramatic way when compared to the more recent film. The camera shots are varied with some quick shots causing blurriness in the more chaotic scenes which gives the image of a fast and furious fight, there are also some close-ups of the characters and some long distance shots so that you can see the whole fight which makes you feel as if you are really on looking the fight.

The characters are dressed in very traditional clothes for its era of around 1600AD. The families are both wearing different suits, the Capulet's are wearing yellow and red and the Montague's are wearing green and blue I don't like this idea as it makes it very confusing as to who is who where as the other film is very easy to understand. In this film all of the people from the different households join in where as in the other film only two or three people from the different households are involved in the fight which makes it easy to follow and in this film the roles of the fight are reversed as it is the Capulet's that start the fight where as in the play book and the other film it is the Montague's that start the fight with their snide remarks. This film is also a bit more graphic in the fight as you can see all the violence where as in the other is was more hidden and in this film the two families are more evenly matched in fighting terms but in the more recent film the Capulet's seem to be in control of the fight.

The fight is set in the centre of a medieval town in the market square, which is very featureless compared to the newer film, which has lots of decoration, and there is also no music in the fight of this film.

The two versions of Romeo and Juliet are very different as they are both set in different places and at different times but they both show the basic comparisons as they are both based from the same script, as they both have opening prologues and a fight in the opening scene. I preferred the more recent film of Romeo and Juliet as I thought it was more dramatic and had a lot more character to the film which would make me want to watch it again where as the other film was very lifeless and boring. I also thought the actors made the film more noticeable and watch able as most of the actors were well known by the public so that would make more people want to watch it.

Natalie Dent 10CCF