Baz Luhrman Attracting a Teenage Audience Right From the Start of Romeo and Juliet Teenagers can relate to the issues of Romeo and Juliet but the way it is performed does not appeal to the younger audience. This is because of the Elizabethan language which is hard to understand, the dress which teenagers are not familiar with and the religious element which is not a large part of society any more. To attract a teenage audience Baz Luhrman changes some of these features; he uses modern dress instead of the typical Elizabethan style, a modern soundtrack and attractive and well known actors/actresses. This makes the production more familiar to teenagers because it uses some elements from their everyday life. The opening is a long shot of a television with a black background it is medium teenagers can relate to thus making it even more familiar. The credits are white on a black background and uses the genre of the news. The news uses certain codes and conventions such as the layout of the screen, the icon in the corner and the typical "BBC" language so we recognise it immediately. This news is an everyday occurrence so teenagers would find it very familiar. The news shot zooms in which draws the attention of the audience and a black, female news reader reading the prologue shows it is a product of a multi-cultural society. "Star cross'd lovers" was written as a caption which makes it more acceptable below the icon of a broken ring to symbolise their fate The camera zooms into the scene and becomes and tracking, establishing shot of Fair Veronait is very dramatic and grabs your attention. It keeps on flashing from the picture to the writing. Operatic music plays when the camera zooms into Jesus' face. The police car on Verona's beach is fictional which Baz Luhrman created for a more modern scene. A montage of different shots around the city added a dramatic and eye catching scene the images were mostly to do with Jesus and religion but then there is a modern element with helicopters, cars, ambulances
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two lovers who have to risk their lives in order to demonstrate their love and will to stay together, regardless the feud between their families. By the end, the death of Romeo and Juliet finally bring the reconciliation to these two families. It is fate that the two most shall-not meet people fall in love and it love that eventually won against hatred. Since then, there have been many different versions of Romeo and Juliet, whether it was for film, stage, musicals. These different recontextualised adaptions change the original play by many ways, some modernise the language, environment, props as well as changing the original characteristics of some characters. Out of all the different adaptions of Romeo and Juliet, two stood out the most. One was the Romeo and Juliet (1996) and directed by Baz Luhrmann and the other one was Romeo and Juliet Broadway (2013) play version,
William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," set in 16th century Verona, Italy shares differences with Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet," set in modern day Verona Beach. These stories contain the same characters and conflict, however major and minor discrepancies are galore in the story lines of both formats of William Shakespeare's creation. Some major inconsistencies occur, such as Mercutio dying at a beach, portrayed as a hero, instead of being at a bar, looking like a fool, Friar Lawrence's letter is successfully sent to Romeo by mail carriers, however he does not have the opportunity to read it, unlike in the play version, where Romeo does not get the letter from Friar John, and is told the news by Balthazar, and nobody being at Juliet's tomb to stop Romeo from reaching Juliet, unlike in the play, Paris was there to pay his respects to Juliet. In addition to the major inconsistencies, minor ones are included throughout, such as Romeo and Juliet first seeing each other through a fish tank, then kissing in the elevator, not the dance, the famous balcony scene occurring in a pool, not on an actual balcony, and Juliet pointing a gun at Friar after she points it to herself, threatening to commit suicide. These inconsistencies probably occurred in the play to add a modern and entertaining twist to the Shakespearean classic, leading to the same denouement in both versions of "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet."
This is a very good film technique used by Baz Luhrmann because it makes it more dramatic. There is also a picture behind the newsreader which shows a broken ring. This ring symbolizes Romeo and Juliet's broken relationship. Pulling apart a metal by force is very hard, likewise, the broken rings tells us that the lovers have been violently pulled apart. I think that it was a good idea to do this because it grabs the audience's attention.
They also had an argument on how long ago they both went to a masked
in the way he speaks in a sly voice. He is the perfect actor to play
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two adolescents—Romeo and Juliet from two hostile families fall in love with each other. This prohibited love ultimately turns into a romantic tragedy, in which they commit suicide for each other. Both Franco Zeffirelli’s (1968) and Baz Lurhmann’s (1996) versions retained the dialogues written by William Shakespeare in their movies. However, these two movies are directed in their own unique ways, which have several distinctive differences.
He uses close ups of Romeo and Lord Capulet. The close up of Romeo is
Romeo and Juliet presents an ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families whose children meet and fall in love. Markedly, the meeting scene depicting love at first sight continues to be praised by today’s critics. Romeo and Juliet then receive the label of star-crossed lovers whose tragic demise is written in the stars. In fact, Shakespeare 's work is well received and its numerous adaptations have made it one of his most enduring and notorious stories. The cinematic world brings to the screens a disastrous approach by Baz Luhrmann to do the play justice. A glance at Baz Luhrmann’s productions allows audiences to assume he delivers movies which are unlike those of any other filmmaker today, or perhaps ever. Therefore, blending a delicate
Baz Luhrmann's Production of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Julie in Baz Luhrmann's production of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", our expectations are swept aside and a modern film appears. When I sit down to watch one of Shakespeare's plays, I expect to see medieval clothes in a rural setting with plenty of poor people. I also expect the words and acting to blend together harmoniously. Instead Baz Luhrmann chose to set the opening scene at a beachside, gas. station.
He uses many camera angles and film techniques to show the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet to a modern audience. Baz Luhrman’s use of Camera angles to convey an audience into his invited reading is second to none, He has managed to change the overall gist of the traditional Shakespeare version of Romeo and Juliet while still retaining the story line to suit a modern teen audience. An example of this is when Romeo is arriving at the Capulet party with a mask on and the invite in his hand after taking an ecstasy pill. Baz Luhrman uses a close up shot and slow motion camera movement to emphasise the fact that Romeo is disorientated because of the drugs. The tablet changes the context from a 70s or 80s to a modern 90s when ecstasy was very common and in ‘trend’. Baz Luhrman has efficiently dressed the real life characters to relate to their Romeo and Juliet meaning. Romeo is dressed as a knight in shining armour to resemble his brave courteous soul by being Juliet’s ‘savour’. Juliet is dressed as an angel to show her innocence and beauty. The antagonist Tybalt is costumed as the devil to resemble the evil that he brings to their relationship and lets the audience know that he is unwanted or bad. The song playing during the party is a well know pop/love song. Baz Luhrman uses it to show the upbeat personality of the characters and the atmosphere of the party.
Chloe Fleming investigates Baz Luhrmann’s capability in embodying Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in his own modern film adaptation, and praises the hell out of it. With one of, if not the most popular plays in the world – you want to get it right. Director and producer Baz Luhrmann knocks it out of the ball park with his contemporary take on renowned poet William Shakespeare’s tear-jerking tragedy. In the past, Shakespeare was the backbone of the Elizabethan era, captivating his audiences’ hearts with his tissue-box-grabbing performance, and Luhrmann has made him proud with his heartfelt adaptation that keeps modern audiences entertained. The audience is taken aback when the film begins right off the bat with an anchor woman voicing the prologue of the original script, then presenting a story on two “star-cross’d lovers” that have taken their lives.
Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic love story about two young lovers who are forced to be estranged as a result of their feuding families. The play is about their struggle to contravene fate and create a future together. As such, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would try and emulate Shakespeare’s masterpiece. This had been done before in many films. Prominent among them were, Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 “Romeo and Juliet” and Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 “William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.” Both films stay true to the themes of Shakespeare’s original play. However, the modernised Luhrmann film not only maintains the essence of Shakespeare’s writings, Luhrmann makes it relevant to a teenage audience. This is done through the renewal of props and costumes, the reconstruction of the prologue and the upgrading of the setting, whilst preserving the original Shakespearean language. Out of the two, it is Luhrmann who targets Romeo & Juliet to a younger audience to a much larger extent than Zeffirelli.
In conclusion, Lurhmann uses a lot of modern filming techniques to make Romeo and Juliet appeal to a contemporary audience. By relating certain aspects to situations in modern society, it makes the audience understand the ideas behind the original play and he simplifies the complicated old English of Shakespeare by adding exciting and dynamic visuals. Lurhmann tried to create a modern version of Romeo and Juliet and he was completely successful in his aims. Lurhmann defied all odds by making his film appeal to a modern audience and not only is this film very clever, it is a must see for any film lovers.
Zeffirelli’s ultimate goal for his version of Romeo and Juliet was to capture Shakespeare’s original intentions for the play while targeting the teenage audience of his generation. Luhrmann’s intentions were different however; he changed the way an audience looks at Shakespeare’s masterpiece by modernising the props, costumes, and sets. Obviously, to match film time quotas Zefirelli and Luhrmann has both cut many lines out of the play.
How Baz Luhrmann Uses Props, Iconography, Costumes, and Settings to Create His Own Version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare’s best loved tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, has been portrayed in theatres and on film in many different ways. But none have been quite like Baz Luhrmann’s imaginative and unconventional adaptation. He has brought aspects of the plays Elizabethan origins and transfused them with a modern day background and created, what can only be described as a masterpiece. I believe that his use of Props, iconography costumes and the settings he has chosen has helped him to make this film such a great success. The settings of each scene have been specifically chosen to create a desired affect.