One example being the shot when Romeo runs off followed by Benvolio. The camera stays in one place, looking over the shoulder of Mercutio where it had given a close up shot, but stays focused on Romeo and Benvolio. This makes Romeo look isolated, as there is no one around him apart from Benvolio. Another good way that Luhrman uses the long distance shot in this scene is when Mercutio had just said, ‘a plague on both your houses’. By saying this he had separated himself from the Montegues that he was allies with and even further separated himself from the Capulets. He runs off into the background and is alone until Romeo goes to help him.
The fight itself uses a lot of panoramic camera work as well as panning shots and close ups. The close ups exaggerate the facial expressions of the characters and the panning shots show the way in which the characters are surrounded during the fight. They also exaggerate the frantic nature of the fight by making the actions of the fighters and the camerawork look rushed and frantic. The scene is made to look more violent by the way that the camera angles switch between each other in quick succession.
This same close up technique was also used in act three scene one where Tybalt dies. Luhrman uses close ups on the actors that are talking at the time. This helps to build tension right up to the moment that Tybalt is killed.
The music and other sound effects used in the film also give a way of portraying the characters and key scenes that could not have been done easily outside of a film set. The sound helps to build and emotive atmosphere and portrays the feelings of the scene. In times of high tension there was often no music at all. The silence brings a sense of anxiety because the audience wants to know what happens next. The silence acts as a break between the action. For example there is a long silence once Tybalt had been shot before the thunderstorm started.
Along with the camera effects there are other visual tools, such as pathetic fallacy. Pathetic fallacy is used in the film during the fight that leads to the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. The use of pathetic fallacy is also a good way of showing how the mood changes from one action scene to another. In the fight that leads to Mercutio being killed the weather starts off nice and sunny with little wind and clear skies. As the fight progresses the weather becomes slowly worse until the sky is clouded over and there is a strong wind blowing. This weather change shows the change of mood from order to dis-order. This is because images such as clear skies and warm weather are seen as being happy, positive images and images such as cloudy skies are regarded as being bad and gusty winds are associated with violence.
The weather change continues until Tybalt dies when the sky is totally black and a thunderstorm begins to start. The structure of a Shakespearean tragedy goes from a state of order to one of disorder and then, at the end, returns to one of order again. This part of the play is where the mood hits its worst and most tragic point. It is also where the play is at it’s most violent and the imagery is at its most emotive, hence with the most extreme weather. After this point the play begins to cheer up again. As far as the pathetic fallacy is concerned, this part of the play is worse than the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. It is one of the major turning points in the play.
The language of the play cannot be changed a lot from the original but the way in which it is spoken is very important. At the start of both of the fight scenes the language from Tybalt is very provocative. For example when he repeats the words ‘turn and draw’ ‘turn and draw’, it is clear to see that he was looking for a fight in the first place. However Romeo is not looking for a fight to begin with, which is why Mercutio got involved in the first place. Romeo takes the law into his own hands when he goes after Tybalt and his language changes so that it is he that is now the aggressor.
As far as it’s contemporary context goes it fits in ok apart from the way that the protagonists all carry guns around on their person in view to the public. This way common practice in Elizabethan England with men and their swords but in the present day it was too open. I understand that they may have had guns with them but they would not have made it quite so obvious. Like, for example, at the beach when Mercutio is shooting into the water and the people around are not bothered. In real life there would have been open chaos and panic.
Overall I feel that although some aspects of the film are slightly elaborated and do not fit the modern context of the film, Baz Luhrman presents the key scenes and characters very well using a variety of techniques to illustrate his arguments and ideas. Many of these techniques could not have been done outside of the film set and the modern day persona.
