Luhrmann and Zeffirelli use very opposite effects and techniques in each of the Romeo + Juliet films. The contrasts between the Zeffirelli 1968 and the Luhrmann 1997 versions are vast.
Comparison coursework Luhrmann and Zeffirelli use very opposite effects and techniques in each of the Romeo + Juliet films. The contrasts between the Zeffirelli 1968 and the Luhrmann 1997 versions are vast. Even though the directors of each film use different effects and techniques. They both tell the story in their own unique way. Zeffirelli's traditional, English, authentic piece of almost theatre with basic use of lighting, camera and sound. Luhrmann's modern, loud, and emotional gripping piece of film uses a vast variety of lighting, camera and sound to emphasise the piece to the max. Luhrmann's is certainly far more powerful than Zeffirelli's in all aspects. Its use of music creates tension, joy, and emotion. The camera and lighting creates another and I certainly prefer Luhrmann's to Zeffirelli's. The opening scenes of each both include the famous dialogue: "Two families, both alike in dignity. In Fair Verona where we lay our scene..." Luhrmann's repeats the dialogue twice first using a TV news reporter and then using a modern and powerful approach using text to emphasise the meaning of the dialogue fully. The view of Verona and the "Montague" and "Capulet" skyscrapers, determine the rivalry is down to Business empires of the two families. On the other hand, in Zeffirelli's version it uses just the slow, patient narration and has some traditional middle-age music
Write a brief humorous essay on the director’s take of a modern production of a chosen scene in Romeo and Juliet
Write a brief humorous essay on the director's take of a modern production of a chosen scene in Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5 " No, no, no and NO!" I was beginning to get exasperated. The actors I had selected for my production of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" were, how should I put it kindly?, dim and untalented. We were rehearsing one of the most important scenes of the play, the scene where Romeo and Juliet first meet. The scene where they fall in love, the whole play revolved around this scene, and this bunch of amateurs was ruining it. " Look Megan," I said to my Juliet, "you have to put some feeling into this, acting is about much more than just reciting the lines. You have to imagine that YOU are Juliet. You are a fourteen-year-old girl being approached by a handsome boy. You have to SHOW the audience that you aren't sure how to react to his advances. Be coy, sweet and innocent. But you also have to be witty. Do you understand, darling?" I felt as if I was talking to a toddler. "I think so," said Megan. "Okay, lets try it one more time. Places everyone! Act 1, scene 5, Action!" I yelled. We tried it again, Megan's tone had improved, but I suspected that she didn't have a clue what any of what she was saying meant, and her movements were awful. Whilst Mark, my Romeo, was actually doing okay. I guess miracles do happen. "Yes that
What is the significance of sound and music in the play as a whole?
What is the significance of sound and music in the play as a whole? `The Tempest' is on a basic level a play about a magical island, complete with its own wizard, monster and handsome prince. However, it is much more than a fairytale. Complex themes such as usurpation, colonialism and the supernatural are interwoven into the plot to produce a play so diverse that it is widely considered to be one of Shakespeare's finest works. Music and sound are dramatically significant in this diversity. This makes `The Tempest' very different to other Shakespeare plays. For example, `The Tempest' -along with `Twelfth Night'- contains nearly three times the amount of music normally present in his plays. In this essay I will be exploring how this sheer amount of music and sound is significant. This will involve looking at the affect that they have upon the major themes, characters and the play as a whole. Many critics have described `The Tempest' as an allegory. The opinion of what it is an allegory of differs widely, due to the fact that the play can be interpreted on many different levels. In any allegory though, the characters fulfil representative functions. So if `The Tempest' were a musical allegory, Prospero could be described as the composer, and Ariel as the performer. With this interpretation in mind, Prospero can be seen clearly to be composing the events on
Shakespeare's Play Reading Course.
Course Title: Shakespeare's Play Reading Course convener: Maxim Parr Name: Dawn (Lily Zhao) Student Number: 410107056 Year: 2nd Major: English If by your art, my dearest father, you have(1) Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.(2) The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,(3) But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,(4) Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffered(5) With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel,(6) Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,(7) Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock (8) Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perish'd.(9) Had I been any god of power, I would(10) Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere(11) It should the good ship so have swallow'd and(12) The fraughting souls within her.(13) This is from Act 1, Scene 2 in Shakespeare's comedy The Tempest that is set in the island before Prospero's cell. It is the first time two of the main characters in this play, Prospero and Miranda, are introduced to the audience. In this speech by Miranda, she expresses her strong piteous concern for the people suffered from the sea storm created by her father and her affliction caused by this, which gives us a general idea of this girl's personality. Meanwhile, it indirectly puts forward the information that the storm is terribly
Romeo and Juliet - In this essay I am going to describe how I want characters to dress and act in Act 2 Scene 5, I will also describe the setting e.g. lighting, stage, objects, etc.
Romeo and Juliet essay In this essay I am going to describe how I want characters to dress and act in Act 2 Scene 5, I will also describe the setting e.g. lighting, stage, objects, etc. I will also briefly go over the story up to Act 2 Scene 5 then I will explain how I want Act 2 Scene 5 to be acted out and what I want the actors to wear. The origin of the feud is not made clear but has no relevance to the events in the play Romeo and Juliet are a pair of star crossed lovers, they are victims of circumstances effected by things beyond their control. Unfortunately the ancient grudge, accidents and misunderstandings lead to their tragedy. This play begins with a confrontation between the servants of the two families. Shakespeare introduces love, anger, vulgarity, crudeness and violence all in Act 1. Shakespeare brings in the prince, who represents the role of justice, and in his speech says it is pointless fighting, it is disrupting social life of the city and he threatens death to anyone who fights again. All the characters appear and the scene is set for the two main characters Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Benvolio speaks of sunlight; secrets and silence, these ideas and images accompany Romeo and Juliet in the play, which Shakespeare uses to create a deliberate mood of love around the lovers. "The shady curtains from Aurora's bed, locks fair daylight out, and
Compare and contrast the ways in which the writers of The Tempest and Translations have dramatically presented the links between language and power
A2 English Literature Holiday Homework Assignment: for Mr Majewski: The Tempest by William Shakespeare and Translations by Brian Friel "Compare and contrast the ways in which the writers of The Tempest and Translations have dramatically presented the links between language and power." The modern linguist Norman Fairclough said, "Language is power", implying that if you want to control a person or people, an event or series of events, or indeed the entire world, and have power over it or them, you must first control language. Controlling language is the key to both the initial act of gaining power, and then maintaining that power. We find examples of this throughout The Tempest and Translations, which share common themes and elements. To tackle a question which requires suggesting how the writers link language and power, it is necessary to look at the plays in just such a thematic way. The first and most obvious area in The Tempest where language is linked with power is the way in which prose and verse is used by different characters to different effect. Most notably, and especially for it's irony, Caliban's use of verse when Stephano and Trinculo talk in prose reverts the old ideas of rank, whereby people of higher status, (here supposedly the King's butler and the jester) spoke in verse, and lower classes (the uncivilised Caliban) spoke in prose. Style shift refers to
IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT THE WHITE DEVIL IS BLOODY AND FULL OF HORROR. IS THE WHITE DEVIL ANYTHING MORE THAN A HORROR STORY?
IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT 'THE WHITE DEVIL' IS 'BLOODY AND FULL OF HORROR'. IS 'THE WHITE DEVIL' ANYTHING MORE THAN A HORROR STORY? When considering the above statement, it must be acknowledged that 'The White Devil' does indeed contain many instances of graphic violence, which serve to shock the audience. However, to assume that this means that the play is nothing more than a 'horror story', that Webster's incorporation of bloody horror constitutes nothing more than sensationalist shock, would be reductionist. The play provides a dramatic insight into the corruption of the social elites and of the Catholic Church, with both the physical violence and violent imagery therein contributing to this overarching theme rather than standing alone as a kind of exercise in mindless bloody horror, as the view in the title would seem to suggest. Despite the shortcomings of the given view, the quote it is derived from is fairly valid; there is no escaping the fact that 'The White Devil' is "bloody and full of horror". Indeed, the quote appears to have come from the lips of Gasparo, a minor character in the play, who states that Lodovico has "acted certain murders here in Rome, bloody and full of horror" in the opening scene of the play. From the offset, then, Webster leaves no doubt that the goings-on in the play are bloody and horrible. However, the fact that the audience learns of
The ways in which Shakespeare portrays the themes of love in Twelfth Night
The ways in which Shakespeare portrays the themes of love in Twelfth Night Twelfth Night is a comedy set in 'Illyria,' a Mediterranean country. However, amongst the well-timed comical scenes, Shakespeare has other emotional predicaments intertwined with a variety of characters. Such predicaments are due to misleading identities and different love themes throughout the play; including love between grieving siblings, and the counts and countess' of Illyria. The main plot of the Twelfth Night revolves round the three main characters, Viola, Orsino and Olivia who speak in rhyming couplets. Each of the main characters form a 'love triangle' which expresses the main love themes in the play including Elizabethan courtly love, real selfless love and overwhelming love. The love between each character that form the love triangle is such that the love and affection is directed one way around the triangle; Viola loves Orsino who believes he loves Olivia who also impetuously believes she loves Viola. Outside the love triangle are the minor characters who speak in pros and show a further variety of different love themes but expressed in a light-heartened manner. These include self love and love based on a mutual agreement. All the characters in the play are all connected through different love themes. Orsino's love for Olivia is also known as 'Elizabethan courtly love' familiar to
HAMLET: The Assignment
Tan Wei Jie Joel (31) 3.11 HAMLET: The Assignment TNT Britain's Theatrical version and Ethan Hawke's movie version of the play 'Hamlet' were vastly different in virtually all aspects. From the portrayal of characters in performances, the sets, paraphernalia and especially the fact that one is based in our modern world, (New York, 2000) both differ to large extents. Hamlet in the TNT's version does not dwell on about his Father's death in contrast to the Hamlet played by Ethan Hawke, who is constantly watching videos to reminisce about times he had with his Father. The two actors portray Hamlet, the main character, in a different way. In the play version, he is very vocal and blunt. Hamlet's interaction with the ghost however, is more dramatic in the theater version, with ear-splitting shrieks and squeals. This reflected the influence of the supernatural and unworldly during Shakespeare's time in the Renaissance Period. The movie version had a very different influence on me compared to TNT's play version. For example, in TNT's version, Hamlet is a Prince with zero influence; however, he illustrated as a photographer who instantaneously shows his peripheral nature towards the King. A great deal of the sound effects used was very apt and imaginative in TNT's play. The ghost in TNT's play was interesting and original. I feel, in general, that TNT's version was easier to
What do you think is the importance of Shakespeare(TM)s presentation of the theme revenge in Hamlet for the audiences then and now?
What do you think is the importance of Shakespeare's presentation of the theme revenge in Hamlet for the audiences then and now? Well, we can begin by acknowledging that Hamlet is a revenge play. It is also important to consider the audience today and how they felt about revenge. The story is based upon the need to revenge a murder in the family. In a typical revenge plot, there are no authorities to appeal to, either because the original criminal is too powerful (e.g., has become King) or those in a position to act don't know about or believe in the criminality of the original villain. Hence, the central character has to act on his own, if any justice is to occur. However, although it seems like Hamlet follows the traditional revenge plot at first after a short period of time the audience will realise that there is something that differentiates Hamlet from other conventional Elizabethan plays of the same plot and theme. Today's audience may understand why Hamlet is resulting to revenge but may not consider it to be the right thing to do. The Elizabethan audience who would have first paid to view this play would have been very used to the format of revenge plays; they were exceedingly popular during the 16th and early 17th centuries. There were also two views in the time of Shakespeare. One view is the protestant and the other is catholic view. Today's audience would think
