Romeo & Juliet (1968) was originally a play that was written by William Shakespeare, but as time progressed, plays became less popular and films became more popular. In 1968, Franco Zefirelli directed the film Romeo & Juliet that was nominated and won fifteen awards. Some of these awards are two Oscars, three Golden Globes, and five Silver Ribbon Awards. Romeo & Juliet is a romantic tragedy about forbidden love between two young teens whose families despise one another (CITE). Juliets family is referred to as “the Capulets”, and Romeo’s family are “the Montagues” (CITE). Zefirelli uses lighting and framing to capture the audience’s attention and design to reflect that the Capulets and Montagues during the Medieval time era. Meanwhile, he portrays …show more content…
In Romeo & Juliet, one major element of design is the setting because the film took place in Verona, Italy which suggests the use of décor, costumes, and hairstyles. Zefirelli uses on location within an exterior scene in figure one as a key element of symbolism that portrays the division between the two families living in separate castles. Another element of design that Zefirelli uses are costumes in order to distinguish the differences between the Capulet family and the Montague family. In figures two and three, Juliet is wearing a “high-waisted empire dress made from thick, plush velvet, with flowing sleeves” that is more of a subtle red and gold costume, while the Capulet family’s costumes were more contrast colors of red and gold (CITE). Zefirelli differentiated Juliet from her family in order to portray to the audience that her family is a part of the conflict, while she is portrayed as an unbiased character. He also distinguishes Romeo and his family’s costumes. Romeo’s costume consisted of dark red and blue with some contrast in his sleeves of bright blue, but the Montagues differed from Romeo because the Montagues had no significant bright contrast in their costumes. Another difference was the hairstyles between the Capulets and Montagues and differs in hierarchy amongst the two families. In figure two, the royal Capulet women have the hornedhead dressed cap covering their …show more content…
In Romeo & Juliet, Zefirelli uses lighting ratio in order to balance the lighting on the main subjects, which are Romeo and Juliet. However, on the Capulets and Montagues, he uses complete contrasting opposites in order to show the conflict amongst the two families. Zefirelli uses artificial lighting in figures three and four in order to emphasize the match cut in the scene of Romeo and Juliet locking eyes for the first time. He uses three light sources that are placed in the out of focus background with the use of backlighting, side lighting from frame right and frame left in order to portray Romeo as the focal point. In figure three, Zefirelli uses four lighting sources show contrast artificial lighting through three point lighting, and overhead lighting on Juliet to portray her as the focal point while she is dancing at the Capulet party. In figure one, Zefirelli uses artificial and natural bright contrast in the lighting source in order to portray the Capulets as the antagonist, and uses a foreshadowing lighting source to portray the Montagues as the protagonist. Zefirelli provides the Montagues having more of an overcast shot use of natural lighting that seems to incorporate fill lighting in order to create more depth of the shadows that is in the background rather than the subjects
Someone once said "An individual can never escape their fate." Fate causes events in a person's life that are only controlled by a higher power. This is evident in the play "Romeo and Juliet" written by William Shakespeare because after reading his play, the reader learns that Romeo and Juliet's fate ultimately leads to their death. In the movie adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Zeffirelli does not include some of the significant fateful events that occur in the play. However, the events that do appear in the movie makes the viewer understand that the play’s lesson is fate leads to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths.
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.
The astounding perils of young love has been eloquently captured in the story of Romeo and Juliet. Franco Zefferelli and Baz Luhrmann are the creators of the two most renowned film adaptations of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Zefferelli, the more traditional director, created his Oscar winning version in 1968. Baz Luhrmann put an abstract, modern twist on Shakespeare's classic and created the 1996 version that raised millions of dollars in box office sales. Being that these two films are so different, I have chosen to compare them to one another, using the famed balcony scene as my focus.
Luhrmann modernised Romeo and Juliet through regular amendments of the props and costumes. In updating these aspects of the film, Luhrmann makes the play more relevant to our everyday modern environment. The actors in Luhrmann’s version carry guns instead of swords. Luhrmann, in an act of ingenious brand the guns with titles such as “Sword,” thus, enabling the original Shakespearean language to be preserved. Costumes differ dramatically between both versions of the film. In Luhrmann’s depiction of the motion picture, the Montagues have buzz cuts and pink hair whereas, the Capulets’ dress in vests and mainly dark clothes. All of these adjustments to the original play contribute to the popularity of the fil...
Designing the Set for William Shakespeare' s Romeo and Juliet I am going to look at each scene in which Romeo and Juliet appear
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.
middle of paper ... ...peaceful; the only light we can see is coming from the pool and the fairy lights which are near the balcony, this sets a very romantic mood for Romeo and Juliet. The lighting in Franco Zeffirelli’s film is very subtle; the only source of light that has been used is coming from inside the Capulet. residents from other rooms. Again the lighting is very important and it is dim and you cannot see a lot, which makes it more interesting. and romantic for Romeo and Juliet.
This shows that both the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann version are similar because the marketplace in the Zeffirelli version is very busy with people and much activity. They For example, in the Zeffirelli version, as Romeo see Juliet, she is on her balcony in a white dress. Additionally, in the Luhrmann version, Juliet is wearing a white dress as well. This shows that both the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann versions are similar because they both have Juliet wearing a white dress to symbolize her purity, innocence, and beauty.
For this project, I chose to represent Juliet. I used a variety of components to express what I think Juliet’s mask would have looked like at her father’s party. My overall perspective of Juliet is a beautiful young girl who has an awful attitude and was raised with getting whatever she wants. On my mask, I incorporated three different colours to represent crucial details about Juliet. The white background on the mask serves as Juliet being a bride in a white dress. In Act 2 Scene 5 the narrator tells us that “Romeo and Juliet are secretly married in Friar Lawrence’s chapel.” The only person who knows about Romeo and Juliet’s wedding is the Nurse. The blue feathers at the top of the mask represent Juliet being the boss of the Nurse, but still having manners.
Context of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet [IMAGE] Likely the most influential writer in all of English literature and certainly the most important playwright of the English Renaissance, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. The son of a successful middle-class glove-maker, Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582, he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590, he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part owner of the Globe Theater.
The text contains many pieces of evidence that support the idea that the Montague and Capulet families are metaphors for Italy and England, respectively. In the following quote you can see that the play opens with an obvious reference to the English defense apparatuses used by the house of Capulet. "Enter Sampson and Gregory, with swords and bucklers, of the house of Capulet.”(Crowther 4) They most likely would have carried short broad swords along with bucklers, which are small shields. Lord Capulet speaks of Romeo’s dagger being not in Romeo’s sheath but in his daughter’s chest:
In the 1968 version, it accurately portrays what people usually wear in the medieval time period, which is similar to the play. For example, men wear tights, frills and Robin Hood like hats. It also uses the color difference to distinguish between the Montague actors and the Capulet actors. The Montague family wears dark color clothes like dark blue and grey, whereas the Capulet family wears bright color clothes like orange and red. The custom also depicts the social class difference. In the party, Juliet wears a red beautiful dress, which creates a strong contrast with the Nurse who wears servant clothing. In the 1966 version, the customs are more modernized. Female wears more make up and fancy dress. Male wears Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses. The color of customs between Montague and Capulet also changed. Montague wears bright color clothes, with pink hair and tattoos. While, Capulet wear dark clothes, vests and tattoos. Besides, actors use guns not sword as their weapon to fight. The above shows that the 1996 version is more modern and more applicable to our daily
The most recognizable portrayal of Juliet is her original; daughter of the Capulet leader, cousin of Capulet prince Tybalt, and of course Romeo’s true love. Baz Luhrmann’s modernized version follows the original closer than any other modernized movie made from this play, as all the characters and dialogue are from the original. Despite the accurate cast and lines, there are some modifications made to the movie that slightly impact how Juliet is viewed/acts in the movie. Costume may not seem like it plays a very important role in major productions but it does. In spite of this being a contemporary version, her costume differs from the one expected or seen in the original version (Gibbs 1). In the scene where Romeo and Juliet first meet at the Capulet party she is usually thought t...
Thought out the story, Romeo and Juliet, there are many examples of appearance vs. reality. The examples discussed were when Juliet appears to be crying for Tybalt but she is actually crying for Romeo, when Romeo and Juliet get married in secret but it looks as if they are still single and when Juliet appears to be dead but instead is just in a deep sleep. Appearance vs. reality is a very interesting theme because it makes the story more suspenseful and gives it dramatic irony. There are many themes depicted in Romeo and Juliet but appearance vs. reality is a theme that is prominently portrayed through out the play. Romeo and Juliet is an amazing play filled with drama, irony and suspense and leaves the audience wanting for more.
In addition to the location, Luhrmann chose to have a contemporary look for the costumes as well. For instance, in the opening scene the Montague boys are sporting Hawaiian shirts and artificially coloured hair whereas the Capulet boys wore leather and metal-heeled boots. This current approach is a major deviation from the traditional Elizabethan wear, location and facilities that were available.