Looking at the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

Looking at the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet Essay Romeo and Juliet, a play originally written by William Shakespeare in 1595 1600 is a tale of love and tragedy involving two young people who fall in love, but find it ends in disaster due to their age old family feud. This play had been directed as a film in 1968 starring Olivia Hussey, but never before has it been modernised as a film. By choosing to do this the problem that faced Baz Luhrman when he was directing the film version of Romeo and Juliet was that he could not predict whether there would be an audience for Shakespearean stories in a modern culture. Particuarly as the age group he was targeting were those who would probably still be at school, where Shakespeare had been stereotyped as boring. This problem was tackled by updating the swords involved by replacing them with guns, adding a famous cast known to the particular chosen age group and backing the film up with modern music. The opening scene of Baz Luhrmans Romeo and Juliet begins with a screen of black, and a very small television screen in the centre. As the shot continues the camera zooms in on the television screen that is showing a coloured female newsreader, with a plain background and a split ring in the top right hand corner. This entrance to the first scene of the film forces the audience to concentrate on the film by introducing it slowly, making you feel anything missed will detract from the films impact. The newsreader is dressed in red, the classic colour of love, danger, passion and blood, and the ring split in two with the words Star-crossed lover subtly introduce the main themes of the films while the audience is focusing on what the newsreader is reporting. The screen around the television is black, focusing all attention on the newsreader, and her voice is quiet and sounds almost muted while she talks of the feud of Verona, re-enforcing the directors obvious wish to capture the attention of the viewers. With this red on black theme it seems to represent the blood and tragedy of the story of Romeo and Juliet on the rest of the town, and almost shows the final tragic word on the darkness of the two feuding families. From this opening, though the newsreader does not directly speak of the main characters, Romeo and Juliet, you feel as if the feud is already familiar before entering in to the actual film. The change from the first scene to the second is a very quick jump cut. The camera zooms very close in on the newsreader tilting, and jumps through to a street in Verona, travelling down it and coming to a halt at a large statue of Jesus, but only allowing you a very quick glance before switching to a black screen with the words In Fair Verona in large white capitals at eye level. It then jump cuts back to a the same picture of Jesus, but this time it is a closer shot, and holds for a bit longer, before very quickly zooming back to show the statue in between two sky scrapers, one named Capulet in red, and one named Montague in blue. The buildings are the highest in the street, and with the statue in between them seem very important and noble, informing the audience of the familys wealth and power, and also of their rivalry. The statue standing dead centre between the two towers shows that while religion is important in this story, and does to a certain extent act as a barrier between the two families, it is much smaller then the buildings, symbolising that their feud may prove stronger then their religion. The next shot is a jump cut on to the camera moving on to the streets of Verona, and a tracking shot of a police car with the words Verona Beach written down the side. This shot of the police car informs the viewers that police are involved, and the place the play is set in is called Verona Beach. Once focused on the car the camera tilts and zooms out, jumping in to a zoom in shot of the same statue of Jesus, which it zooms in on, jump cuts back to a second shot and zooms in again, this time blurring the statue. This blurring shows the disregard held by the families towards their religion as the feud gets greater. The scenes by now are moving very quickly and are very separated, not flowing smoothly at all. It is quite difficult to keep with the speed at which the film is moving, Luhrman once again trying to keep the audiences attention. Following on from the blurred shot of the statue, the camera, remaining blurry, focusing in turn, on the signs above each building, reading first Capulet in red and then Montague in blue. These choices of colour cause you to question whether or not the Capulet family are more fierce, with their name in red. You then get a tracking shot of a police helicopter against what you assume to be a church, and the city of Verona. Again re enforcing the religion verses law theme that is apparent throughout this film in Verona. Following this is a zoom in shot of a person lying on a mattress in the street surrounded by dirt and people in black. Through this shot you assume the person involved is injured, showing the severity of the feud. Again, jump cutting to the next scene, though seeming to slow the pace slightly, you get an aerial tracking shot from the helicopter with the diagetic sounds of the propellers, of a large statue of the Virgin Mary standing with open arms. Quickly moving on through a jump cut the statue of Jesus seen before is briefly shown, before zooming in on his face, although it is made up of many small dots, and shown in dark grey and black. This shot is held and zoomed out to reveal a family tree with both families on it, starting at the top with Ted Montague and Fulgencio Montague. Symbolic of the hatred that is passed down the family through each generation. The music up to this point has been very loud and menacing, increasing in volume when what I see as relevant shots are held. The lighting has been bright throughout, all shots set in the day, and there have been no characters introduced until the family tree. The beginning shots seem to be more introducing the place and the themes than the characters themselves. The layout of this tree implies that the rivalry started between these two men and has been passed down through the family. With the statue of Jesus with open arms set between the two families reminds us of the strong religion present in the city, and the grey colour of the pictures and background sets in almost like a cloud of grey, strongly contrasting with the colour we have seen in the previous scenes. As well as being the first shot of the characters, also introduced in this scene is the first voice since the newsreader, although this time it is non diagetic, in the form of a voice over. The music reaches a climax and then fades away to a quiet backing for the deep male voice commenting on the family trees in front of us. The shots of this tree are broken up by shots of fire and newspapers titled Montague vs Capulet, and while the speed of the changing shots has slowed down, now dissolving in to each other, Luhrman makes up for it with the impact of the shots he is using, you need more time to look at each one then before. Coming off the newspaper shot using dissolving and fire, we see the familiar screen of black with white text reading In Fair Verona, reminding us of the setting while looking in to the characters, as seen before when the city was being introduced and we were shown the names of the families. This subtle mixing of the two is very effective in showing the strong relationship between the setting and characters, and the effect that they have on each other. This phrasing of Fair Verona is ironic, as although we are being told the city is fair, we are shown only violent shots of the goings on and only controversial shots of the place itself. Moving on from the text shot we are shown a series of tracking shots of Verona, similar to those shown before, combining diagetic sounds such as the helicopter propellers with non diagetic such as the voice over. We then get another still shot of a newspaper reading Ancient Grudge followed shortly by a third newspaper reading New Mutiny and a picture of one of the young Montague boys. This ancient grudge followed by new mutiny re enforces the idea of the feud being passed down the family that we were introduced to through the family tree. The text is also in older style writing, showing that such an old thing has carried through in to modern day. This picture of the young Montague holding a gun is the first we see of the younger generations of the families, and it is associated with anger through his face and death through his gun. The next newspaper clip we get is Civil blood, also read out to us by the voice over, this emphasises the fact that the brawls caused by the families do not only affect themselves, but the rest of Verona. We are shown a tracking shot of a middle ages coloured man wearing helicopter equipment against a dark background, fitting as the shots seem to be getting darker, set later on in the day. The word Police is shown in large white text against black, symbolising their affect on the feud, good on bad or clean on dirty. There is then a series of shots of Verona and magazines with bullets on the covers, showing how much violence there is in the city. It is made out to be a loud, busy dangerous place reflected in the characters themselves. The feuding families seem to sum up the rivalry present within the city, Religion verses hatred, Law verses war. Although you may argue that at this stage you are unable to establish whether it is the place reflected through the characters or the characters strife being the reason for the way the place is. We then get our first shot of a man and a woman in a black car, both look drawn and very worried. Jump cutting through to a shot of a second couple, obviously the other family, recognisable only because of the quick glance we got of the man on the family tree. This creates a broken up image of the families, imposing the idea that the families get in the way of each other. As the music builds up again there are two screens of just text, when put together reading A pair of star crossed lover take their life. The T in the take is actually a cross when you look at it, bringing religion in to death. At this point the voice over is stopped and the music becomes loud again. Following the text the camera then jumps from one to another introducing through text and a frozen image of each character, the Capulets, the Montagues, both with the under text Romeos mother/father and Juliets mother/father. To follow we meet the chief of police Captain Prince, the Governors son Dave Paris and Mercutio, Romeos best friend, in a provocative position with his face angry and his finger pointed with a gun on him. Each character has a shot held on them for about 5 seconds before jumping straight on to the next. As the music builds up we see a pair of eyes, later recognised to be those of Romeo Montague, pushing the door of a church open to reveal light and flowers, portraying the church as a place of sanctity. This relates to the theme of religion present throughout the film, and it also gives a preview of the place in which the lovers lives end. Luhrman would have realised that as Romeo and Juliet is such a widely read play the majority of the audience would know then ending of the film, thus giving him a lot of scope to play around with previews of the rest of the film. The music quickens pace and very quickly we are run through the text previously shown and spoken but at a speed that it is not supposed to be read. This is followed by shots of fireworks, choirboys singing high piercing notes almost as a climax, guns shooting showing violence, main characters and eventually finishes on a black screen with William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. This creates a point of high climax, quickly let down by the still almost dead screen in comparison to previous shots. The mention of William Shakespeare is the first we hear of the author, and in mentioning him Luhrman has made himself seem almost modest, discarding any impression made implying that it is Luhrmans own play. The title then moves off the screen to the left and the film begins. As an opening sequence for this particular film I find it very effective. The setting of such a film in modern day would have proved very difficult, but the replacement of swords by guns has a huge impact on its success. The violence is portrayed well and you learn just about enough to follow the film as it opens but not enough to know what happens between now and the death of the characters. I like the way Luhrman lets the audience know the resulting death of the characters, but he does not say who dies. This builds up an immense suspense throughout the film. This introduction is done in such a way that it will captivate almost everyones attention through moving so quickly and creating such a tense atmosphere.

Modern Day Cinderella Essay -- Creative Writing Short Story

A few months ago a girl named Cindy's parents took a vacation to America, leaving her alone with her aunt and two daughters, Tiphisha and Moya. Her parents lived in England and were extremely wealthy, and for that reason her aunt, Lorna and her daughters were jealous of Cindy and despised her very much. They treated her very bad, Cindy had to do all the chores in the house in order to keep it clean. They ordered her around and gave her dirty clothes to wear. They would keep her locked in the basement so that no one would know that she was there. Cindy's life was made difficult, she often sits by the cinders and cry, and wish her parents had took her with them. But in the pass times, she would sing, which is something she loved with a passion. One hot sunny day her aunt sent her to the market for a loaf of bread. While she was getting the bread the king servant made an announcement in the middle of the market. ?Here ye! Here ye! The king of England is throwing a ball for his son at the palace, an invitation will be delivered at your door.? He said as he left the market. Cindy got the bread and ran home to share the good news with her aunt and cousins. Cindy was in the kitchen making dinner, when the door bell rang ?Cindy go get the door!? shouted her aunt. Cindy took her apron off, and rushed to answer the door. Standing at the door was a servant from the palace with a paper in his hands, ?good day ms, the king ordered me to deliver an invitation to the ball? ?thanks? Cindy said taking the invitation and went to show her aunt. Her aunt and cousins were excited about the news, they went shopping the next day leaving Cindy alone in the house to do all the work, while they spent all her parents? money. Cindy ... ... else there and at the moment Cindy started singing ?who is that the prince asked with curiosity. ?Oh! No one just the maid cleaning? the aunt uttered with guilt covering the basement door. But the prince insisted ?send her out here, it is requested that every woman is to try this slipper. Cindy tried the slipper and it fit perfectly, as she put her foot in it she went and got the other foot and put both of them on. She magically turned into a beautiful princess, the bell of the ball. The prince picked her up and off they went to the palace to get married. The aunt and her daughters gasped in surprise and asked ?you were that beautiful girl at the ball ?See I knew it was something about that girl hum!? said tiphisha ?why those things do always happen to weird people? Why moya said sobbing. The prince and Cindy got married and lived happily ever after.

Biggest Problem Facing Our Generation

The biggest problem facing our generation is fixing the mistakes that our fearless leaders have made. George W. Bush had made many mistakes while in office from 2001 to 2009. One of the most controversial issues that he had completed related to the signing of a report endorsing outsourcing with thousands of American workers having their jobs shipped overseas. He may have had good intentions, but all that was lost after the signing of this bill that took 2. 6 million jobs away from the people of the United States.Due to this decision, numerous companies were shipped overseas since the labor costs are lower and emission standards don’t exist. Another notorious decision relates to the invasion of Iraq. After September 11, 2001, Bush became convinced that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear weapons and represented a mortal threat to the west. However, he chose to ignore conflicting evidence and undermined not only his presidency, but the reputation of US intelligence agencies and h is country.Another mistake that occurred just weeks prior to the 9/11 attacks notified the people of his loss of dedication to the country. Bush received a memorandum, called the pre-9/11 memo, from the CIA entitled,†Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US. † Although, he did not respond to the threat since he was on a family vacation, which will forever blight his legacy. The results of these mistakes are still dwelling over the United States. Yet, our generation is only able to learn from the mistakes and ensure that they are not repeated.

Essay on Furthering Knowlege of Dissociative Identity...

CLINICAL QUESTION 2 I would like to further my knowledge on the controversial mental illness identified as Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID. More commonly known as multiple personality disorder, it has been a mental illness which gained attention from being the main focus in a variety of Hollywood’s films, aside from what has been portrayed in films I have little insight to what this disorder is. â€Å"What is Dissociative Identity Disorder, its causes and how is it clinically diagnosed?† Dissociative Identity Disorder is a target of controversy among health care professionals as a result of it displaying characteristics of false memory syndrome, as well as its common ties to childhood abuse and trauma. (Stickley †¦show more content†¦Following the end of a traumatic event the affected person’s personality resurfaces without any recollection of what had taken place. This coping mechanism allows the child to perform daily tasks without the influences of the event psyc hologically. An affected person often has different alters that have the ability to cope with different situations they may face in life. (Stickley Nickeas, 2006) Diagnosing Dissociative Identity Disorder Due to its complexity and skepticism there is minimal information in regards to dissociation, dissociative disorders, and the effects of trauma throughout the core development years of childhood. Within recent years the awareness, and study of DID from a clinical standpoint have increased and diagnosing criteria has been outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and is as follows: (Pais, 2009) A. The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self). B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior. CLINICAL QUESTION 4 C. Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. D. The disturbance is not due to