How does director Luhrman Engage the Modern Audience in his Film Version of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay Example

How does director Luhrman Engage the Modern Audience in his Film Version of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet? Essay Luhrman excels himself in his modern film version of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. He captivates the modern audience using camera, music and sound effects, editing, colour and lighting, characterisation, costume and props as his tools. Using these techniques he captures the audiences attention and really brings through the brilliance of Shakespeares play to the modern world using his skill as a director. He aims mainly at a teenage audience although the film can appeal to everyone. Luhrman uses camera effects to great success. The camera tracks/pans from face to face very quickly as the fight begins. This shows the rush of emotions going on. He uses this to emphasize that the fight will be very fast. It also gives you a close up shot of their facial expressions in short shots. This gives the fight a longer period of time to engage the audience in whats happening and it involves the audience with the characters. They know what theyre thinking and feeling and can see their reactions to the fight easily. Also the quick movement of the camera builds up tension, you can almost feel the adrenaline rising in Mercutio and Tybalt and at some point it has to explode. We will write a custom essay sample on How does director Luhrman Engage the Modern Audience in his Film Version of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on How does director Luhrman Engage the Modern Audience in his Film Version of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on How does director Luhrman Engage the Modern Audience in his Film Version of William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When Romeo kills Tybalt there is a long, angle shot of Romeo looking up at a religious statue. The statue makes Romeo look tiny emphasizing how he feels at that present moment in time. The rain falling creates a depressing atmosphere. It is as though the statue is looking down on Romeo, and therefore as though God is looking down on him, showing that he has just done a terrible thing. You can see the mix of shock, grief and guilt on his face in another long shot of Romeo. Luhrman uses an extreme close up on Romeos face to show the fear and regret he feels for what he has just done. This also brings the audience closer to the character; they feel sorry for him. In the build up to the fight the hand -held camera effect helps to bring the audience in to the fight. Its as though you are there amongst the action. It also helps you feel the emotions going on in the film. The high tension and adrenaline rush. After Romeo kills Tybalt there is 45 seconds of complete silence. This shows the complete shock Romeo is feeling. It also shows the seriousness of the situation. People automatically associate silence with seriousness. During the fight between Tybalt and Romeo there is a huge emphasis on the gunshot and the dropping of the gun. Luhrman uses sound effects to echo the sound of the gunshot and it is also played in slow motion so the audience focuses on it even more. When Romeo drops the gun there is a long clear camera shot of it. There is some kind of religious symbol on the gun. Once again there are implications of God, which relates to one of the Ten Commandments, though shalt not kill. These religious motifs are continued throughout the whole film. It is a clever way of relating this modern film version back to the original play. During the period when the play was written there was a lot of focus on religion, if you didnt attend church regularly then you were sure to go the hell and were unrespectable and unwanted. For Romeo to kill Tybalt was a huge deal. He disgraced his family and himself. Before Romeo kills Tybalt, Tybalt kills Mercutio. The high number of deaths in this scene makes it highly dramatic. Mercutio wears a white shirt, which shows his innocence and neutrality. Also the white shirt is of use to show his wound when Tybalt kills him. You can clearly see the blood on his shirt, which adds to the drama of the scene. He only fights because Romeo refuses to and because he is a friend of the Montague family he sees it as his duty to stand up for them. Just before Mercutio dies he shouts A plague o both your houses. It echoes all around the beach to emphasize the effect of his words. He blames his death on the feud between the two families. He curses their families. Ignoring the fact that he stepped into the fight of his own accord. When the fight started the beach was full of people and the weather was warm, bright and sunny, to reflect the lighthearted mood the Montagues were in as the fight started. Also as Romeo enters, there is soft mellow music playing, to suggest that he wants to make peace, not fight. At Tybalts entrance a cool, dramatic type of music is played to sugge st he has a score to settle with Romeo. Each character has themed music to reflect their personality and mood. It also shows the difference between the families and their hate for each other. Now the crowds have cleared and the beach is deserted apart from the feuding Montagues and Capulets and a storm is approaching in the background. As Mercutio dies the storm begins to break, it is as if the storm reflects Romeos mood. It symbolizes all the grief and anger he feels at Mercutios death. At Mercutios death there is a loud bang of thunder followed by very heavy, intense music to show that a tragedy has just taken place. There is a lot of emphasis on car engines too, the mix of sounds and the fast paced camera shots point out how frantic and confused everything is, as Romeo sets of to pursue Tybalt and avenge Mercutio. The car chase scene is extremely fast paced and very loud to emphasize the whirl of emotions going on in Romeos and Tybalts heads. Everything is emphasized showing that Romeos senses are on high and alert due to the adrenaline rush he received from his anger at Mercutios death. Luhrman is trying to show the audience that Romeo has let his emotions take over, hes not in control anymore. After Mercutio dies there is a cut to a shot of Juliet looking love struck over Romeo, it then cuts to a shot of Romeo in the car looking maddened by grief. And then after Romeo kills Tybalt it cuts to Juliet again, she is looking over her shoulder, it is as if she felt what just happened to her cousin Tybalt. This editing shows that Tybalts death is the turning point in the play. And as it cuts back to Romeo, both he and the audience realises that what he has done will curse his marriage further and lead to banishment. At the beginning of the scene you see the Montagues on the beach, all wearing brightly coloured modern clothing, like Hawaiian shirts etc. This reflects the happy mood at the beginning. The Montague boys all wear their shirts unbuttoned to show theyre laid back attitude whereas the Capulets are dressed quite formally. Then the Capulets arrive all dressed in black to seem intimidating. Their clothes represent their anger and hate for the Montagues. As the scene moves along and the mood becomes darker so does the lighting and colours. The clouds move across the sky and cast a shadow on the Montagues and Capulets as if to imply a plague moving over the houses of Montague and Capulet. At the end of the scene when the prince announces Romeos banishment everyone but lady Capulet is dressed in dark colours. She says Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live. She is obviously very angry at the death of her kinsman and she is dressed in bright red, perhaps to reflect her anger at Tybalts death. During the fight scene between Romeo and Tybalt, the costumes worn make a huge difference in the film. Tybalt is wearing a black shirt, which makes his injuries much less obvious, and so it makes the audience sympathise with Romeo, as his wounds are much clearer. As well as modern colouring there is also modern movement and gestures. For example as Mercutio makes a joke out of the word blow he lifts his shirt and shakes his bum at Tybalt in as a taunt. The Montague boys act as typical teenagers, play fighting with each other and not taking life to seriously. In another scene you see them playing pool, like typical teenagers would. This allows a teenage audience to relate to the characters and empathise with them, whereas they would find it slightly harder to relate to the more adult Capulets. When it cuts to the scene in Juliets room there is a romantic, peaceful feeling. She is surrounded by candles and religious figurines, a shocking contrast compared to the previous scene, where Mercutio was just murdered. This grabs the audiences attention, due to the sharp change and makes them pay attention to the film more closely. Also the scene shows Juliets innocence, she is blissfully unaware of the tragedy taking place and the fate of her new husband. The religious motifs appear again through the figurines, again relating back to the time period of the original play. Luhrman uses young, attractive actors for the main characters, which are appealing to the modern youth. As Tybalt dies, a short scene with Juliet is edited in. This helps us to understand her thoughts and feelings at the time. It also helps the scene to flow through into the next, making it easier for the audience to follow the film. Overall the scene is extremely well directed. Baz Luhrman has used camera, music, sound, editing, characterisation, colour and lighting to great effect. You can easily understand whats going on and its easy for the modern audience to relate to the characters and see what emotions theyre going through.

Jury-rigged vs. Jerry-rigged

Jury-rigged vs. Jerry-rigged Jury-rigged vs. Jerry-rigged Jury-rigged vs. Jerry-rigged By Maeve Maddox A reader asks to know the difference between jury-rigged and jerry-rigged. Of the two, the older term is jury-rigged, a nautical term dating from the days of sail. Because they were often damaged in storms, sailing ships carried a spare mast called the jury-mast. Apart from scholarly speculation, the etymology of jury in this context is unknown. The jury-mast was like a spare tire, to be used only in an emergency and replaced by the real thing as soon as possible. The adjective jury-rigged came to be applied to anything intended to be of temporary use. Here are some examples of the term in current usage: Andrew Gill, had coolly waited for the weather to calm down after his vessel lost its mast and communications equipment in rough weather, and then jury-rigged a sail to get him to his destination.- SailWorld, 2012 Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to  jury-rig  the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to  Earth  on April 17.- Princeton University site. A second expression that is earlier than jerry-rigged is jerry-built. As with the jury in jury-rigged, the origin of the jerry in jerry-built remains a mystery. First (1881) came the term jerry-builder: It is unfortunately too often the habit of builders- or rather jerry builders- to use the worst possible description of bricks. A jerry-builder was a contractor who put up shoddy houses for a quick sale. The first citation for the adjective jerry-built to describe shoddily built houses is dated 1869. Here are two recent examples of the use of jerry-built: In their need for access to varied sources of employment and cheap housing, immigrants were restricted to decaying or jerry-built housing.- The American Landscape, Stephen F. Mills, Routledge, 2013   Central to nearly all the semi-abstract paintings in â€Å"With a Tug and a Hold† are what appear to be architectural structures, or fragments of the built environment: a jerry-built wood shack here, a bit of metal scaffolding there.- The Washington Post, 2012. â€Å"Jerry-rigged† conflates â€Å"jury-rigged† with â€Å"jerry-built.† In American usage, jerry-rigged refers to something devised or repaired with materials at hand. Here are some examples: Our presentation was jerry-rigged because we hadn’t been able to get the software to work correctly in time.- The Accidental Millionaire, Gary Fong, BenBella Books, 2009. With the Afghan army also lagging in explosives experts, its members often resort to jerry-rigged tactics to locate and defuse IEDs, officials say.- The Washington Post, 2014 It was the very definition of jerry-rigged: She’d cut some slits in the back of a gel skin phone cover that would serve as credit card slots, taped a piece of cardboard on as a makeshift cover, and added a string to form a wristlet.- Huffington Post, 2014 Frustratingly, in this case, my attempt to use my iPad as a jerry-rigged solution has actually  created  problems I didn’t have before.  - MIT Technology Review, 2012. Although not in either the OED or Merriam-Webster, the verb to Macgyver is used with a similar meaning by some speakers: to Macgyver: to invent useful devices from ordinary materials. A device or mechanical solution created by Macgyvering is a Macgyverism. The words derive from the name of Angus MacGyver, a television character noted for his ability to resolve dangerous problems by non-violent means. Instead of a gun, this hero carries duct tape and a Swiss Army knife. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Slang Terms for Money35 Genres and Other Varieties of Fiction30 Words for Small Amounts