The Montagues are wearing beach style clothes to suggest that they are laid back. The music in the background has a strong beat to it. When they arrive at the gas station the Capulets emerge and cowboy music starts in the background to show the viewer the difference between the two families and to suggest an upcoming fight.
Baz Luhrmann has tried to give the viewer as much information as possible. In turn the camera pauses on each character, a name then appears next to the character and is read by the viewing audience. This helps the audience remember the names of the characters in the play.
When the characters have been named the camera focuses on the Capulets. One of the Capulets ‘bite their thumb’ at the Montagues. This is considered to be an insult. The two families are extremely polite to one another. The background sound has gone quite and the sound of a match being struck is intensified, this shows the viewer that a fight is about to break out and how tense the situation is.
The Montague’s remove their waste coats to reveal a religious shirt of Christ and a gun. This is a paradox, as religion and a fear not to use guns are not normally placed together.
The guns have been fitted with the old fashioned end of a sword, this shows whom the gun belongs to and the resemblances it has to a sword.
Once the fight begins a close up shot is given on Tibot and Romeo’s cousin’s eyes. Then the camera does jump shots of the fight, it jumps between the fight and a large yellow sign warning people of petrol and fire. The director has done this to warn he viewer of the fire, which is to come.
The Montague’s leave in their car and the camera returns to a middle shot as if you were just watching them. Then a close shot is seen through the lens of a gun, this lets people see from a different perspective and informs the viewer that the fight is not yet over.
The fire has started to burn which signifies a new start. When the army arrive to exterminate the fire, the Prince is riding high above in a helicopter. A jump shot goes between the fire and the prince, but the camera never goes level with the Prince. The camera only pans up to him; this shows how important he is. The music has become very tense to aid the viewer in understanding how bad the fire was and how it was caused by another feud is terrible.
When the Montague’s are in the Prince’s office the father is in the foreground and is being focused on, this shows that he is in charge of the family.
When the Prince is seen his face is mainly viewed or he is higher than everyone around him. The director is trying to represent him as the peacekeeper and saviour of the land. The director has also tried to bring colour into the film by using a black actor as the Prince.
A road is shown in a middle shot as if the camera is seeing the scene through someone else’s eyes. This road is bright and colourful to show it is a place for young people to come. It has many prostitutes and dancers; this is showing how unreligious this part of the city is.
When Romeo is first seen the setting sun and a stone archway silhouette him. The music has a strong beat to signify the beat of Romeo’s heart. The colours of the sunset are warm and soft to show love.
When Romeo’s cousin gets out of the Montague’s car Romeo is once again seen from a long shot, as if the viewer was seeing him from the eyes of his parents in the car. The camera then focuses on Romeo, which makes the background blurred to keep peoples attention on Romeo as an individual.
A narrator reading the prologue opens Franco Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet. Parts of the prologue are written across the screen can read and remember them. The camera started with a long shot of Fair Verona and draws closer to the city.
The camera follows a herd of horses in to the market place, which is filled with chatter. This noise is broken by the ravings of the Capulets, they are dressed in bright clothes so that they stand out and the viewer can tell the difference between he two families.
The Capulets see the Montague’s through a stall; this is a subjective point of view so that the viewer sees through the Capulets eyes.
The Capulets stroll up to the Montague’s and ‘bite their thumb’ at the Montagues. This is considered an insult but the two families are very polite to each other. A crowd has started to forma round them which shows that fights often break out between the two sides. The director has tried to represent them as troublemakers. The camera pans up to the surrounding crowd and a church appears in the background, this shows that it is a religious city.
A fight breaks out and the camera stays level with the people’s heads so that much of the fighting cannot be viewed.
Tibolt enters and begins the screen. He throws his hat into the air and the camera follows it up but not down, this shows that the fight is soon going to reach its climax.
The church bell starts to ring. This normally calls people to pray but here it is calling people to fight. Hearing this bell the Montagues grab their swords and run into the distance, this is to signify them running to war.
Both families arrive in a square area where the camera is looking down on them. Everyone is fighting around a circle to show that the fight has been going for centuries-never ending circle. The camera does a medium shot of a few people fighting and then a long shot of everyone so the viewer can see the extent of the fighting.
Over the noise a trumpet sounds, this shows that the person blowing the trumpet is more important than anyone that is fighting-someone important is coming.
When the Prince arrives he is riding on a white horse and his protectors are on chestnut horses, this makes him stand out and shows his importance. The camera looks up at him from the ground-subjective point of view. This makes him appear authoritative. The Prince never gets off his horse, which makes him higher than everyone else, and seem more powerful. When he rides of into the distance the trumpets sound again to show
When the Mother and Father are sent he Mother is standing higher on the steps that the Father to show she cares more deeply for her son, Romeo. The pale blue dress suggests kindness.
When Romeo is seen the surrounding light silhouettes him and romantic music is playing in the background to show he is in love. The director used a flower as a connotation to show Romeo was in love. He is also sniffing a flower he is carrying which shows that he is in love and not afraid to show his feelings. The director is trying to represent him as a caring person. When Romeo lies down on the stone bench the camera focuses on his face sot that the viewers attention is on Romeo.
Both Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zefferelli made a version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, just in extremely different ways.
Baz Luhrmann set his film in the modern day so used props like cars, guns and prostitutes, which were not available when Shakespeare wrote the play. The lighting was always bright and colourful so the viewer stayed interested. He has attempted to bring in other Shakespeare plays by saying ‘Hubble bubble boil and trouble’. This is something that Franco Zefferelli did not do.
Using old-fashioned clothes, carts, horses and swords Franco Zeffrelli tried to stay close to the time the play was written as possible. The lighting is not as bright, artificial, as in Baz Luhrmann’s so that it appears to come from a natural source.
Both directors made a film based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. One of the main differences is the way thy made them. Baz Luhrmann was aiming his at the adolescent audience whereas Franco Zefferelli aimed his at a more mature audience that understand more about Shakespeare.
In conclusion, the more desirable film is Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. This is because it is more applicable to life now in the twenty first century, whereas Franco Zefferelli’ Romeo and Juliet is more pertinent to when the play was set, in an older age.