The director has also done the clever thing of making each scene contrast from the previous and the next The opening sequence of the Baz Lurhmann version of Romeo and Juliet is very modern immediately because the prologue of the story is told by a news reporter on television this shows imagery and that the feud between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s has been going on for a long time. In this scene the music used is dramatic orchestral music that immediately sets the scene for action. When the newsreader is talking the camera is shooting her from a far distance then it gradually zooms in on the newsreader.
Also the sounds that are used such as the helicopters and the cars beeping their horns gives an essence of chaos and confusion, which makes the observer, scan the scene very carefully. In the part where the helicopter is flying round, the camera man uses a long shot to show the Montague and the Capulet’s buildings, the camera man also shots a birds eye view shot of the city to show how small it is from looking at it above and to show that from above there is no chaos but down in the city close up its havoc.
In the opening scene the camera shows graphic matching and shows each characters name and freezes for about 2.5 seconds so the viewer can read the characters name. Just before you see the Montague’s the camera does about 5 screen wipes then the Montague’s in Hawaiian Shirts literally force their way on the screen playing loud rap music this gives the image of a “laddish” culture. When you see the Montagues for the first time the camera is looking at the Montagues so that the camera is following them as if to say that it can’t keep up with their crazy “laddish” lifestyle.
When you see the Capulets for the first time the camera does a worm’s eye view of the one of them by showing their cowboy boot then gradually moves up to the head. This gives the impression to the viewer that the Capulets are big tough guys. The Capulet’s are the total opposite to the Montague’s the Capulet’s are the religious ones, as one of the members have a Cross shaved into his head and tybal has a picture of Christ on his waist coat this shows the viewer that the Capulet’s are the religious type. Their costume is totally different from the Montagues the capulets where sharp suits and have their hair clean cut and nicely slicked.
The face off with the Montague’s is triggered off by Montagues insulting the Capulets, the reason for that is because abra scared 1 of the Montague members by showing his teeth. On abra’s metal teeth its says “sin” this scares the Montagues so they retaliate by one of the members doing a hand gesture. The camera then shows the reaction of Abra by doing a close up of his face the music changes to a style like a Spaghetti western and you can here the sound of the spurs of the boots making the metallic sound.
The Capulet’ s use old-fashioned guns called rapiers and the Montague’s use modern guns called swords. When you see the Capulet’s draw their guns Tybalt kisses his gun and the camera is zooms up close enough to his face so you can see his lips connect to kiss his rapier. Tybalt ‘s clothing is similar to “Mafia Style” clothing with his suit and shoes, he wears a waistcoat with the picture of Christ on it this shows that the Capulet’s are very religious people.
The number plates on the rival families cars are all personalised and the cars are different, the Montague’s had a yellow convertible while the Capulet’s had a modified dark blue race car with an engine that roared with power.
The big shoot out is very dramatic as the music changes to a more up-tempo rhythm, which gives the impression of rushing around and a lot of action. One of the Capulet members has metal teeth with “sin” written on them and he scares with them. The Montague’s respond to that by insulting them by using a gesture that makes the Capulet’s angry.
Guns go blazing and one of the gunshots hit a sign that makes that “ping” noise.
In the Zefferelli version of Romeo and Juliet the opening scene is set by a narrator that you cant see who briefs you about the story line the music used in this part is soft like harps playing and the layout of the scene is yellow boarded almost to make it look like a fairy tale. The opening scene is general hustle and bustle this made it unclear.
The Montague’s wear dark clothing in this one and The Capulet's wear bright coloured clothing this is the total opposite to the Baz Lurhmann version. The Capulet’s in the Zeffereli version are not religious like the Capulet's in the Boaz Fuhrman version one and the Montague’s don’t have the laddish culture like they do in the Baz Luhrmann one. I think the reason for this is because the Zefferelli is a very old version and the Zefferelli version doesn’t bring in the younger audience like the Baz Lurhmann one.
The music was mainly orchestral, very little sound effect was used because in the days off Zefferelli sound effects were not used but in the modern version sound effects are used to get the viewers attention and it gives the film sound better quality.
In the Zefferelli version there was no real musical theme that linked the particular groups of characters but there was sounds of the harp that created a tranquil atmosphere.
The fighting that takes place is very old fashioned where the two rival families use swords to fight the music in this part is more up-tempo which shows a level of urgency. Also the fight scene is shot at birds eye view so the viewer can see the full coverage of the battle in this fight scene it seems more gory than the Zefferelli version because in this you see the swords stabbing the people but in the Baz Lurhmann version its just guns blazing which doesn’t really give it a authentic feel.
Both films used suitable techniques and props for the film. By that, I mean the Zefferelli version couldn’t have a newsreader and in Luhrmann’s film the people had to wear normal clothes, for this time and age. In Zefferelli film, the actors and actresses wore wonderful, extravagant costumes. These were perfect for the middle Ages, and looked very impressive. Just by looking at the clothes, the viewer would understand the importance of the two families. In Luhrmann’s film everybody was wearing normal, everyday clothes, so there was no way that, you could tell the people were from important families. Also, in the two versions, the weapons used were different. Luhrmann’s film used guns and Zefferelli film used swords. Another technique that Lurhmann used was the old language. The whole film was very, very modern, but Lurhmann decided to keep Shakespeare’s old English in his motion picture. I found this really good, but it was also really confusing. I had just finished studying the book, so this helped me to understand the film. The two films are set in different locations, and this small factor changes the outcome of the two movies completely. If you watched the two movies, one after the other, you would be thinking, ”This was based on the same play?” and amazingly the answer would be “YES!” Actually, you can tell the films are based on the same play, as they both have the same plot, but look ENTIRELY different. It’s amazing!