Analyse the plot and describe how you would direct a film of romeo and juliet?

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Romeo and Juliet Coursework

‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a romantic tragedy first printed in 1597, which deals with ethics of revenge, hatred and anger between the enemy families of two young lovers. Juliet is the headstrong young daughter of Lord Capulet, who is keen to marry her to a young man called Paris. However, she becomes opposed to this when she falls in love with a romantic but fickle man called Romeo Montague. Romeo and Juliet meet at a party held by Lord Capulet for Juliet and Paris to get to know each other, which Romeo has gone to, uninvited, in order to catch a glimpse of another girl, called Rosaline. Romeo was madly in love with Rosaline until he saw Juliet and suddenly fell in love with her instead. Unknowingly, the two fall in love without realising that they are each from the enemy family until it is too late. The play ends in tragedy, with both Romeo and Juliet believing each other to be dead and committing suicide, the moral being that is took their children’s deaths to make the two families realise how pointless their feud is.

Act One Scene Five is an extremely important scene because it contains many of the key points of the play. Romeo and Juliet first meet; Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, spots Romeo at the Capulets’ party and swears to get revenge on him; and Romeo and Juliet discover that they are from enemy families and therefore their love is doomed. The fact that their families are enemies would have been a huge factor in deciding whether or not they could be lovers at the time that the play was written, because, then, the idea of family honour was considered a lot more important than it is now. It sets up the tragedy of the play.

My version of this scene would have a contemporary setting, because I think this would make it more interesting and understandable to younger children as well as older people, and it is more original than the traditional sixteenth century version. I would like to produce a screen version because this will enable there to be more variety in the way it is shown; for example, I could film from different camera angles to make the appearance of the scene more interesting. It will be set either in New York, to add to the modern theme, or in Italy, to bring back some of the Latin element of Shakespeare’s original play.

As the scene is set at Capulet’s party, the first shot will be a bird’s eye view of a large, wealthy-looking hall with balconies, chandeliers, mirror balls, coloured lights and the sound of loud, thumping dance music. In particular I think that ‘I Turn to You’ by Melanie C would be effective, as I want to create the impression that everyone is enjoying themselves, and this is a typical party song that would convey this. Also, a line of the song is, “I turn to you, like a flower leaning towards the sun… I turn to you, ‘cause you’re the only one…” which symbolises the idea that Romeo and Juliet are destined to be together, and the I think effective imagery of a flower being attracted inevitably to the sun reflects what happens to Romeo and Juliet. The hall will be full of dancing, laughing people to show that the party is going well, and the camera will gradually zoom in to ground level and show an old, but expensive-looking, wooden door. This is to show the expanse of the party, to give an overwhelming impression of the hall and all the guests, before coming to rest at one significant place. This door will then burst open to reveal two servants bustling through, chattering loudly, and the camera will track them to focus the audience’s attention on their conversation.

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The first significant part of this scene is Capulet’s opening speech, where he welcomes his guests and encourages them to dance. He says, “You are welcome, gentlemen! Come, musicians, play,” as he tries to get the party started, and in my version he would say this with sweeping hand gestures to include everyone into the group. He is in a cheerful, jovial mood, which is shown by his light-hearted manner as he teases the ladies – “will now deny to dance? She that makes dainty, She, I’ll swear, hath corns; am I come near ye now?” This is because he ...

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