In the beginning of Act two Scene ii (the balcony scene), Romeo appears and is creating a lot of clatter outside as he stumbles about anxiously in need to find his lover Juliet. There are different background noises that we hear when Romeo arrives at the Capulet household garden. It triggers off when Romeo bumps into the statues and smashes them on the floor which makes the dogs bark and there is an addition of rustling leaves, these are some of the sound effects that have been used, which builds up tension and causes more of a scene.
In action to this, Romeo climbs up the wall that leads to Juliet’s balcony in order to get to her. The camera shot used is a close up of Romeo to show his emotional distress that he is feeling. The statues in this scene represent Juliet as a goddess and that she is very important, this is a key fact to remember in Romeo’s eyes. This version is different to the text as Juliet does not say her famous lines from the balcony, but comes down from her room to the pool outside, where she recites her lines with passion thinking of her dear Romeo.
In Zeffirelli’s account of the film, Romeo is shown down below in the bushes whereas Juliet is the higher and more powerful person out of the two of them, and she is shown as the higher person sitting on the balcony. Once again this has been showing the higher and lower and lower angle shots. It also shows a point of view camera shot throughout this scene, meaning that the film would be played throughout the character’s eyes, as if Romeo or Juliet were filming it themselves. This is done a lot in Franco Zeffirelli’s interpretation of the film. When Romeo is staring at Juliet at the start an over-the-shoulder shot would be used to produce a shot from over-the-shoulder of Romeo, focusing on what he is seeing; Juliet.
When Romeo and Juliet actually meet at the balcony, Romeo has to rush towards Juliet by climbing the trees’ in order to get to her; again Romeo is still shown to be looking up at a low angle framing position. Also, when Romeo is standing in the bushes, a height camera shot can be used to show the high positioning of the camera to signify the view of Juliet. When they finally meet confronting each other, Romeo and Juliet are filmed in an extreme close-up shot where it focuses on their faces. The area from the lips to the eyes is shown during this shot and is often used for highly emotional situations to increase dramatic effect. This shot would show Romeo and Juliet’s adoration and sexual nature for another. Juliet is wandering around in a dream by the pool and is wearing her fairy costume from the Capulet party. This symbolises purity and reveals her innocence of an angel. It is also worn as it is fitting and it illustrates her great figure. The camera shows height levels and camera shots of when Juliet is wearing her angel outfit, so Romeo is looking up to Juliet from a high-angle shot whereas Juliet looks at Romeo from a low-angle shot.
Instead of wandering around, Juliet is perched upon the balcony resting her hand on her face and gazing into the air as she aimlessly talks about Romeo and her undying love for him. Zeffirelli’s interpretation follows Shakespeare’s text and all the techniques used in the balcony scene.
In Zeffirelli’s explanation of the text, Juliet is wearing a very tight fitting dress which shows a lot of cleavage and makes her figure look great. The dress does her justice and is just the perfect thing to appeal Romeo and get his full attention. Dresses in the 1960’s are very much all fitted and are worn like that, as that was the fashion. Zeffirelli also wanted to show that it is a very sexual and romantic scene.
When Romeo and Juliet are in the pool together there is always an extreme close-up or close-up shot of them. This is to show the emphasis of their facial expression and how they feel for another. They do not use long distant camera shots in this scene as this does not show how Romeo and Juliet feel for each other.
While they are in the pool, there is a lot of splashing and the background music has started, it is very subtle but sweet and suits the mood that Romeo and Juliet are in. It is soft and gentle music that shows the love shared between the two eponymous lovers. When Juliet is about to leave the pool the music becomes louder and picks up pace meaning that their time together is coming to a halt. The music stops as Romeo shouts “O wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied”? Meaning that he is wanting more than jus kisses off Juliet and is waiting for his reply to the question, “What satisfaction canst thou have tonight”? Juliet answers. As Juliet hears Romeo’s response, she hurls back into the pool and the music gets louder again. The music throughout the pool action is varied and is a common change of mute and loud.
The background music in Zeffirelli’s interpretation is different as there are many birds chirping and again the leaves in the bushes where Romeo is standing are shaking and rustling gently. The music which we here is very quiet and is a very old style choice of music which suited the time period in which the film was made.
The lighting that is used in the interpretation of the film is very peaceful; the only light we can see is coming from the pool and the fairy lights which are near the balcony, this sets a very romantic mood for Romeo and Juliet.
The lighting in Franco Zeffirelli’s film is very subtle; the only source of light that has been used is coming from inside the Capulet residents from other rooms. Again the lighting is very important and it is dim and you cannot see a lot, which makes it more interesting and romantic for Romeo and Juliet.
Towards the end of the balcony scene in Baz Luhrmann’s film, the scene fades away slowly and picks up the pace when it quickly changes to a new scene. Whereas in Franco Zeffirelli’s film, the scene does not fade away so quickly, as there is a long shot shown of Romeo when he is running back home from Juliet’s balcony. He is very excited and the music starts up again.
I dislike Franco Zeffirelli’s film because it is very old fashioned and it is much harder to understand whereas the Baz Luhrmann’s version appeals to me and grasps my attention, it is modernised and something that would suit all types of audience.
