A Comparison of the Opening Sequences of Two Films Version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

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A Comparison of the Opening Sequences of Two Films Version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

“Romeo and Juliet” is a play by Shakespeare; the play has been made

into films by many directors. The version of the film by Franco

Zeffirelli was made in 1976 for general release. The one made by Baz

Lurhman in 19997 was also for general release. The Zeffirelli version

is a very old fashioned type film set in Verona, to make it look

authentic the clothes worn by the characters are similar to the

clothes in Shakespeare’s time and so is the setting. The Lurhman

version is very modern, it is not set in Verona it is set in Verona

beach in USA. The clothes and setting is of the late 20th century

America.

The audience expect an old fashioned romantic story when watching

Romeo and Juliet”. They expect poetic language since the film is

based on the play by Shakespeare. They will also expect a male

dominating society. The music they anticipate would be classical and

old fashioned. Since the film is romantic, they expect the film to be

set in a sunny and romantic place probably in the Mediterranean.

The purpose of the opening sequence in both the versions of “Romeo and

Juliet” is to tell the audience what the film is about. It is like an

introduction to the film. Since both these films were on general

release, the audience did not know much about “Romeo and Juliet”, so

directors had to set the scene so as to make the audience understand

the films better.

The Franco Zeffirelli version’s opening sequence starts with an

establishing shot. The camera pans over the rooftops of Verona. The

scene is very misty and grey. There is a voice over as the camera

pans, the voice over is saying a part of the prologue from the play.

The establishing shot stops when the camera reaches the sun and then

slowly zooms in on the sun. After zooming in, there is a cut shot. The

next scene is set in the market square where the camera does a

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