I shall be discussing the differences and similarities between two film versions

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In this essay I shall be discussing the differences and similarities between two film versions of Shakespeare's tragic play "Romeo and Juliet". Before hand I will have analyzed the text from three sonnets "The Prologue", "Lady Capulet's praise of Paris" and "The lovers first meeting". I will have given some information on the sonnet form and structure and also briefly explained the sonnet tradition. I will then move onto producing a film-based version of the three sonnets using my own ideas.

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Finally I will end my essay and conclude what I have learnt and enjoyed.

A Sonnet is a 14-line verse with the rhyming scheme AB AB CD CD EF EF GG. Shakespeare had a style of verse called Iambic Pentameter, this is alternating stressed and un stressed syllables. These contain 10 beats in every line. Iambic is a Greek word and means pattern of stresses in each line and Pentameter is a Latin word mean 5 pairs of stresses to each line.

They were very popular in the time under the rule of Elizabeth the first. The language in Romeo and Juliet shows strong influence of an Italian poet named Petrach who lived 1304 to 1374. He was very popular with English poets in Elizabethan times. The English poets drew on Petrach's themes and styles writing about courtly love such as in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo loves Rosaline an unattainable unrequited love; this shows very strongly Petrach's influence. The influence of sonnets in Romeo and Juliet are Shakespeare's neat and deliberate use of rhyming schemes, elaborate conceits such as the metaphors for war, word play of wit, puns and repetition.

Verse and prose are both used at different times in Shakespeare for specific purposes. Shakespeare used verse for important speeches and serious subjects, where as he used prose for general conversation and particularly with lower class characters. Shakespeare's verse is always written in Iambic Pentameter, as we know about. The punctuation shown and spelling shown in editions of Shakespeare's plays are not necessarily his own. Shakespeare's earlier plays followed a rigid format, but as he developed he began to play around with accepted patterns of verse and rhyme and started to use increasingly complex imagery.

Here is an example of sonnet form and structure using sonnet 29:

I have colour coded the lines in the rhyming scheme colour's as above, showing the elaborate rhyming pattern and complexities of sonnets.

SONNET 29

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,

I alone beweep my outcast state,

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

And look upon myself, and curse my fate,

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,

Featured like him, like him with friends possest,

Desiring this man's heart, and that man's scope,

With what I most enjoy contende

least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

Haply I think on thee, - and then my state,

Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;

For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings,

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Once colour coded you can easily see the rhyming scheme.

Shakespeare uses verse for serious and important speech. He uses prose however for everyday and lower class characters speech. He does this to define between serious and comedy moments and upper and lower class characters. For example. When Romeo is talking to his "cousins" Shakespeare chose to use prose, however when he is meeting Juliet for the first time he uses verse.

I attempted to write my own sonnet, which is shown colour coded below:

And I can see through her golden eyes true,

The beautiful way you feel about me,

I don't know how you do the things you do,

You unlocked me heart and through out the key,

You make me feel special and good inside,

You make me strong oh so healthy and meak,

You are the one from which I can not hide,

A feeling different you make me weak,

Oh how you watch me fall to my knees,

There's no need to help me for I am gone,

And you comfort me; I'm already there,

You have bewitched me with what you have done,

It must be true you are sent from above,

You are my angel, my savior, my love.

As you can see I managed the rhyming scheme however did not get the stressed and unstressed syllables. It was very hard to try to use Petrach's influence in my sonnet. I was also very unaware of how to introduce complex imagery into my sonnet. Brian Reade once said "Quite simply the finest word smith in the history of writing, in his years the Bard wrote 38 plays, 134 sonnets and introduced 600 new words to the English language, but those facts described only a fraction of the mans genius" referring to Shakespeare and I certainly agree with Reade after I have had my attempt and have not lived up to Shakespeare's standards in the least.

The prologue

This is a sonnet at the very beginning of the play. It is a kind of introduction to the play that also informs the audience of what happens incase they miss bits of the play. It is a very clever idea as Shakespeare's audiences would be drunk, inattentive and loud and therefore would miss parts of the play. This sonnet builds suspense and keeps attention through its clever use of stressed and unstressed beats in sentences such as "where civil blood makes civil hands unclean" making the words "blood" stand out.

It has been colour coded using the rhyming scheme and underneath a line-by-line translation. He uses tension laying words such as fatal, mutiny, fearful, these words all bring up an image in everyone's mind of terror and make us interested, hungry for more.

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona (where we lay our scene),

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood make civil hands unclean,

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of start-crossed lovers take their life:

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows,

Doth wish their death bury their parents strife

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

The continuence of their parents rage,

Which but their childrens end nought could remove,

Is now the two hours traffic of our stage:

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

The translation in modern English:

Two upper class families,

In Verona where the play is set,

An old grudge is still,

Where locals fight each other,

From the parents of the two hates,

The two lovers commit suicide,

Unfortunate pitiful disappointment,

When they die their parent's grudge is removed,

The scary time of their death brought love.

The rage of their parents,

Which only death of their children could stop,

Is now the two-hour play,

And if you patiently listen,

What has not been said here will be filled in throughout the play.

Zeffirelli's version of the prologue. He uses lines 1 to 8 of Shakespeare's text and these lines are spoken slowly and calmly in a male voice. The camera pans as the man is speaking and then does a close up on the sun with the words "William Shakespeare" around it, this is written in an old style of text. The text is in an average size of about 48 on the computer. The camera zooms into the castle and there are horses and carts in the courtyard, this is when the text "Romeo and Juliet", written in the same text as William Shakespeare, is shown. The colour of both is black. The music is in the background from the very beginning, it is a loot, plucking strings, style tune. This prologue takes 1 minute and 6 seconds and does not play a very important or memorable part in this version of the play. I found this version of the prologue to be a calm start to the play that eased you into the story however the words of the prologue are not calm, they are of suicide and resentment and I found his tone of voice to be inappropriate, sympathetic rather than tension building. Zeffirelli decided to use lines 1 to 8 for his prologue. He chose to take a more traditional angle on his version of the prologue. I believe that this is more suited to an older audience.

Luhrmann's version of the prologue is a very important and focal part of the film. It grasps your attention from start to finish and is not only exciting but informative, it is loud, using loud powerful music and colourfull. It involves very fast editing which reflects Baz's style. It starts with a small black television in the center of the shot, with a picture of a broken wedding ring and the words "star crossed lovers" in the top right hand corner. The TV is zooming all the time. There is a black news lady speaking the prologue in an assertive strong voice, this shows the multi cultural angle taken in this film unlike in Zeffirellis. "In fair Verona" these letters are full screen and white on a black background, the words ancient grudge are next scene on a news paper, this juxtaposition not only makes the film more exciting to watch but also keeps the audiences attention. The characters are introduced with a religious cross next to their names; religious imagery is very poignant throughout the whole film. Again there is fast editing, flames, and short shots. The skyline in Baz's version is of skyscrapers. The whole prologue is repeated 3 times, by the newsreader, by the flashing text on screen and by signs around Verona, this makes the prologue deep seated in the viewers mind and hungry for more or the play. The prologue does something rather odd and shows the last scene of the film towards the end of the prologue. This scene consists of the parents crying, the police cars, the increasing noise of the helicopters, and the rain. It is tension creating, suspenseful and dramatic, Baz chose to take a totally different approach to Zeffirelli and was brave in doing so, he was also very successful.

I will now move on to discuss "Lady Capulet's praise of Paris" in act 1 scene 3.

This sonnet is one of many religious metaphors such as Paris' face being a metaphor for a book, the bible. This is shown in the modern day translation. Lady Capulet spoke this sonnet when she was trying to sell Paris to Juliet. She is using a lot of religious imagery. I believe Shakespeare had this concept running throughout his play because in Elizabethan times upper class families had to marry purity and the virgin marry was a strong role model for young teenagers such as Juliet. This sonnet however strays away from the conventional rhyming scheme AB AB CD CD EF EF GG, however I am unaware as to why Shakespeare chose to do this other than for the flow of the sonnet, this is shown up by the colors on the sonnet below.

Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face,

And find delight writ there with beauty's pen;

Examine every married lineament,

And see how one another lends content

And what obscured in this fair volume lies

Find written in the margent of his eyes.

This precious book of love, this unbound lover,

To beautify him, only lacks a cover:

The fish lives in the sea, and 'tis much pride

For fair without the fair within to hide:

That book in many's eyes doth share the glory,

That in gold clasps locks in the golden story;

So shall you share all that he doth possess,

By having him, making yourself no less.

The translation in modern English:

Look at Paris' face,

And you will be delighted with how good looking he is,

Examine every beautiful feature he is,

And see how they compliment each other,

And what you cannot see from his looks,

You can find written in his eyes,

This precious pure lover,

To be complete he only needs a wife,

He is single and has much pride,

He is not hiding himself,

He is in many women's eyes a great man,

That in gold wedding rings is he going to be married,

So will you share all that he has?

By becoming his wife?

This sonnet has many metaphors of Paris to the Bible; the holy book, and of him being sent from God, heaven almost, virginal.

In Zeffirellis's version of "Lady Capulet's praise of Paris" he chose to use no lines from the actual sonnet itself. He did this as he chose to make Romeo a more important and focal point, and have no sub-plot undermining this. His scene, which replaces this sonnet, is set in Juliet's room, next to Juliet's dark wood double four-poster bed, which has a red, yellow, and gold bed spread on it. Juliet is sat on the bed talking with her nurse when her mother walks into the room. The 3 walk round the bed to get to the stain glass window, this is a long white window with red circular patterns on it. Juliet is wearing a long flowing red dress with a gold trim and her mother a slightly darker but similar dress. The maid is wearing a typical maids outfit in Elizabethan times, long black dress, white front on it and a black head dress, now similar to a nuns outfit. The room has stonewalls and a large beautiful stone fireplace. The room also possesses high ceilings. This room, on whole, has a country setting.

I found this scene to be nothing special; it had a few comedy quips from the maid and a very romantic feel to it using the image of the window cleverly. It lasted 40 seconds and went at an average pace, not fast and not slow but calm, considerably shorter in comparison with Luhrman's version. In proportion with the rest of the film you can understand why Zeffirelli wanted to edit out this sonnet.

Luhrman's version used lines 82, 83, 88, 89, 94, and 95. He used blocks of two from the script. This version took 1 minute and 35 seconds duration. It had a very fast manic feel to it. A modern, Hollywood, mum feel to it. A mother who pops pills, drinks whiskey, smokes cigarettes whilst putting on an elaborate costume for a party. This version shows that Lady Capulet is a busy woman; she is talking about arranged marriages to her daughter and of her experience with it at a younger age however has no time for this important subject. She does not know how to talk to her own daughter with out the aid of Juliet's nurse who has quite obviously raised her. Through out this scene there is a lot of the nurses' recollection of how she raised Juliet, and her maternal vibes from the Juliet. You can see strongly the corporate Beverley hills wife angle Luhrman has chosen to place on this scene. Juliet's mother is talking about how it would be good business to marry Paris, and showing quite obviously how she married Juliet's father for money. As they are having this conversation Lady Capulet is being transformed into Cleopatra for the ball, this is a very cleverly piece of imagery from Baz as Cleopatra is a tragic heroin. The nurse wears a modern maids uniform, stylistic with Luhrman. This scene is dramatic and colourfull. Using aids such as magazines "bachelor of the month" to help display its message without changing the text. Juliet's looks natural where as her mother is smoking and rushed, puffing away all the time she is talking and getting dressed. Coughing on the cigarette when she doesn't like Juliet's opinion. Finally the mother groans and cant wait to leave the room, which she quickly does closing the door behind her. After this scene you feel tired, watching all of the action in such a short time, watching as the camera moves around a considerable amount more than in Zeffirelli's. I thought this scene worked well in showing the relationship between the nurse and Juliet, and the distance between Juliet and her mother. I enjoyed this scene, and Luhrman's style definitely shows, with the fast editing. This works successfully and keeps attention well.

Now I will move onto Romeo and Juliet's first meeting. This is much longer than both versions of the other scenes I have analyzed. It is a crucial point in the play where the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, meet for the first time at a ball held in the Capulet's mansion. Below is the sonnet Romeo speaks to Juliet

If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this,

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows is this,

For saints have hands the pilgrims hands do touch,

And palm to palm is hold palmers kiss.

Have not saints lips and holy palmers too?

Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do:

They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.

Saints do not move, through grant for prayers sake.

Then move not while my prayers effect I take.

This sonnet is based around the concept of Romeo comparing Juliet to a Holy shrine. This is shown through the clever metaphors shown in the sonnet. For example "this holy shrine" in the second line, he is saying she is a shrine, using religious concepts to describe her. He's saying that she is a shrine of holiness. That he is "unworthy" of her touch, she is too good for him. Also he compares his lips to "pilgrims" religious devotees who journey to a shrine or sacred place, someone who embarks on a quest for something conceived of as sacred. This is a very high stature to be compared to. This sonnet shows us how Romeo is trying to "woo" Juliet, impress her by showing her how much he means to her, how beautiful she is and how much he wants her. She is teasing him - "have not saints lips and holy palmers too?" It's conversational. The last lines show the effectiveness of Romeo's flattery,

"Saints do not move, through grant for prayers sake,

Then move not while my prayers effect I take"

She's saying to him that saints do not move to grant whishes, and he's telling her back that she doesn't have to move while he makes his prayers/whishes come true. After this last line we can almost she the image of them kissing in our minds. After all the flirting that keeps us on the edge of our seats we come to a climax at the end of this sonnet, will they? Wont they? Is a theme that runs throughout this sonnet.

I will now briefly explain the lovers first meeting in Luhrman's version of the scene. It lasts 12 minutes and 29 seconds. All of the Capulet family and friends are feasting and dancing in the Capulet mansion. There is typical of the era folk music playing and dancing. The party is a "masked ball" and this is how the Montague friends, including Romeo, manage to sneak in. Romeo is wearing a metallic mask that covers his eyes down to his mouth, he is wearing blue trousers and a top in the traditional fashion. His mask being metallic reflects a knight theme, subconsciously showing to the viewer that Romeo is strong, brave, himself a knight. The music changes as soon as Romeo sees Juliet. She is wearing a cross necklace which is a use of religious imagery, her dress is long touching the ground in red and orange shades. She has a headpiece on using the same colours. Bells are handed out and there is an excitement in the room over the bells. There is a dance preformed with these bells by the procession of the room. Juliet is involved in this however Romeo is not, he is leaning on a wall by the side of the dance floor. Juliet's dance using the bells is seductive; she is looking at Romeo and seducing him with her dancing. The dance is now done at a faster pace and the camera pans faster, speeding up. The music then changes to a song that was officially written only for use in this scene, it is a "green sleeves" style loot song. The song is romantic and the room is then quiet. Through crowds they see each other. She walks over to him and they speak for the first time behind a pillar. He speaks the lines of the sonnet and they kiss while Romeo still has his mask on. He then takes off his mask and she runs from him, teasing him, she then runs back and kisses him. There is a close up on the singer at this moment, an intense romantic one and the song helps to capture this. Juliet's nurse turns to Romeo and says, "he who has her shall have the chinques" followed by a wink. She also curls her first finger into a circle; this was a symbol for female genitailiar. Soon Tybalt, a Capulet rival, sees Romeo and informs his uncle who is furious with his nephew's obedience.

In Zefirelli's version everyone in the rooms attire is of a dark colour. Well, everyone except Juliet. Juliet stands out from the crowd and makes the audience see that she is special whilst watching how Romeo reacts to her. This is a very simple contrast, which makes a big impression. I believe a lot of the effects used in this scene are a success. Zeffirelli made a scene that has shown the cheeky nurse's character well, much more effectively than Luhrman's version.

Moving on to Luhrmans version. This version lasts 6 minutes and 47 seconds and all of the lines of the sonnet are used. His scene takes place again at the Capulet's mansion, it is a fancy dress party which is the modern day equivalent of a masked ball. Romeo is dressed as a knight, again using the "knight in shinning Armour" theme. Juliet is dressed as an angel reflecting her innocence, her purity and her virgin Mary like status, Juliet's mother is dressed as Cleopatra; a tragic heroin. Tybalt is dressed as a devil, this imagery later comes in when Tybalt notices that Romeo is at the party and becomes angry, fiery and devil like, about the situation. The scene starts with tropical fish in a large rectangular tank. A popular love song by Des're begins to play in the background, it is called "kissing you", I think Baz chose to use this song as it is a modern love song keeping in key with the time the play is set in and also because of the words "kissing you" which is a climax in the scene, Romeo and Juliet's first kiss. Juliet is dancing with Paris who is dressed in an astronaut suit; this is symbolic of an American hero. There are glances between Tybalt and Romeo whilst Juliet dances with Paris. The camera keeps doing close up between Tybalt and Romeo, with shots of Des're in there, I think this is to show the tension between them and the irony of the moment. It is ironic that Tybalt is so angry while such a beautiful song is playing. However this sighting does not deter Romeo from seeking his love. The first time Romeo and Juliet make eye contact is after Romeo has finished washing his face in the a bowl of water, he is doing this I believe to show that now the hallucigenic drug he has taken has been washed away and now he can see clearly. He walks away from the bowl and happens to go by a fish tank, Juliet is also walking by the fish tank and they meet through the glass. The fish tank shows purity, water is pure, natural. Through the fish tank we see their meeting through flickering shots of the camera between Romeo and Juliet's eyes, this shows us their eye contact. All other background noise is dulled and all we can hear is the love song. This shows us the "love at first sight" aspect. Nothing else matters now except their love, the music being a love song also ties in well with this theme. Juliet then pulls away from the fish tank to join the party again, however Romeo grasps her hand and pulls her behind a pillar where he soon recites the sonnet. The sonnet is to woo Juliet who reacts "flirtingly" to it. Teasing him with the lines explained in the analysis of the sonnet. After much deliberation they walk through the party to a lift where they share their first kiss. As she goes into the lift her mother calls her frantically and is disgusted at what she sees. Running away from her mother shows their conventional life. They stop once more and go back up in the life to no avail of her mother shouting. Finally the nurse calls Juliet and she joins her leaving Romeo at the bottom of the stairs. The nest camera shot is of Juliet and the nurse, there is then a popular realization that Juliet is a Capulet and Romeo a Montague. Their confused and distraught faces show well how the actors are feeling. Quickly the Montague's have to leave the party being found out and as they leave Romeo finds it hard to stop staring at Juliet, his love. We are certain then that this isn't just another infatuation like with Roseline but true love, and we feel for the characters. I think this scene is done very well, the modern masked ball turned into a fancy dress, the setting and the music. The camera shots were very persuasive with your emotions. I think Lhurman got all of Shakespeare's ideals across in this scene.

Moving on now, I plan to write my own version of this scene, also including my version of lady Capulet's praise of Paris and Romeo and Juliet's first meeting. I will explain why I have chosen the sets, costumes, and music and include some actor directions.

My modern day Romeo and Juliet

I have chosen to do my modern Shakespeare remake as "Romeo and Julian" instead of the conventional. I thought, "What more modernization can you do to a film that is set in the 1990's" so I decided to do a different approach to it and involve sexuality more. I decided to make my leading roles homosexual. This works well as it is forbidden love, it is not widely accepted in our society to be gay or bi-sexual.

My cast:

(Craig Kelly, Adrian Gillen, Charlie Humman)

My cast is made up of Adrian Gillen who plays Romeo. I chose Gillan because he had the diversity that this role needs when he was cast in "Queer as Folk". He has the energy to play this role and could act melancholy and seductive at the same time. He has many of the qualities that you would expect in a Romeo but also has enough of a personality to bring a new life to the role without changing it.

To play Julian, my version of Juliet, I have chose Charlie Human as he has the innocence needed for this role, an innocence that is portrayed for Juliet in Shakespeare's text. He is young and uneducated like the role he played in "Queer as Folk". The two actors, Gillen and Human, worked well together in the channel 4 series. The ages are similar between him and Claire Danes that I also took into consideration when choosing this actor.

For Mercutio I have chosen to cast Craig Kelly, although he was not a particularly daring actor in the channel 4 series, I believe he has the ability to be. He also stared in Titanic and had a very panic stricken role, showing his ability as a serious actor. I think he could bring a new flare to Murcutio's character, whilst showing his sensitive side.

I will set my version of the play in the city of Manchester. The characters not being rich as portrayed in both films, but the Capulet family sharing a few houses on the same street, and the Montague family in a block of high-rise flats. I think this new approach to the living arrangements can create the tension between the two families needed; I am involving the aspect of class affecting relationships.

The Prologue

As this is a key scene to make viewers interested and think the film is worth watching I think it needs to be bright. I will use a lot of neon lights, the words of the prologue spoken whilst the camera is moving down the road of the gay club scene in Manchester. The voice used will be a radio coverage, of the breaking news, the voice saddened and tolerant. I will have shots of dancing in the club flickering up whilst the camera is moving down the street. The voice will be male and have strength to it.

To help the characters to do this prologue I would give them a version of the prologue and a translated version, the version used in the other part of the essay. I would want my actors to have watched previous films and maybe have some previous knowledge of other Shakespeare plays and his style. The costumes used throughout the play will be modern, shirts, short tops that don't cover stomachs, tight or flared trousers. In different colours depending on the scene. I will use different colours for dramatic effect, contrasting with other characters for visual impact.

This photo has visual impact as the orange and black, and orange and blue are contrasting colours, showing Mercutio's extravert character. The clothes above in the picture will be used throughout the film in different colours and styles. The music played in the background of my prologue will be a techno tune. The link with this is the clubs and the music.

Lady Capulet's praise of Paris

In this scene I will have Julian's mum praising the neighbours daughter to him. The mother is enthusiastic about this girl and his son getting together thinking that Julian is lonely and confused. Julian's father is homophobic as is Romeo's family however Julian has told his mum and her answer was "you'll grown out of it" this explains a bit about their forbidden love. In this scene Julian is in his room and the mother comes up, with photos and says her sonnet slowly and hopingly. Julian seems disinterested and the mother becomes upset. It will be set in an upstairs room of a semi-detached house. The scene is set in Julian's room that is decorated in blue and has several techno and rock posters on the wall. They have their conversation sat on the end of Julian's double bed, the room is a box room with a computer television and chest of draws in it. Julian is wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and his mother is in a dressing gown, for a homely feel. Sound effects will be a television heard in he background from downstairs. Again to help the actors they would get a translated sonnet script and the original text. Also, with Romeo and Juliet being such a well known play I don't think that many of the actors would not have heard or scene some version of this. There would be no music throughout the sonnet however once the mother had left the lodger (nurse in the original text) would come in and say the last line "seek happy nights trough happy days". After the lodger had left a song would cut straight in with a few seconds on the last scene before moving on to the next.

Romeo and Juliet's first meeting

This scene will be set in a techno gay club in Manchester. The nightclub will look like the photo after this text. The songs playing will be techno and older dance songs however when Romeo and Julian's eyes meet the song will change not immediately but discreetly to "heart of gold" to which the lyrics are "you have a heart of gold, a precious jewel to which I was sold and I just cant justify your love..." and so on. Whilst dancing to this song Romeo will recite the sonnet to Julian. Julian is teasing Romeo with the replies. After this sonnet Julian pulls away to go to the bar when Romeo pulls him close and they kiss for the first time. Julian is a very innocent character and Romeo is more experienced. After this Julian runs away to the call of his friend Mercutio who has been told he must leave the club due to false ID. Mercutio then inform Julian that Romeo is from a rival gang from the other side of Manchester. During this popular realization between Romeo and Julian, the music changes. The scene goes into slow motion closing up on the faces and their distraught looks whilst a rather depressing song from placebo plays. This song has perfect lyrics for this moment. The lyrics are:

My Sweet Prince

Never thought you'd make me perspire.

Never thought I'd do you the same.

Never thought I'd fill with desire.

Never thought I'd feel so ashamed.

Me and the dragon

Can chase all the pain away.

So before I end my time,

Remember..

My sweet prince-

You are the one

My sweet prince-

You are the one

Never thought I'd have to retire

Never thought I'd have to abstain

Never thought all this could back fire

Close up the hole in my vein

Me and my valuable friend

Can fix all the pain away

So before I end my time

Remember

My sweet prince-

You are the one

My sweet prince-

You are the one

Never thought I'd get any higher

Never thought you'd fuck with my brain

Never thought all this could expire

Never thought you'd go break the chain

Me and you baby,

Still flush all the pain away

So before I end my time

Remember

My sweet prince-

You are the one

My sweet prince-

you are the one

My sweet prince

This song not only talks about their love but also their feelings of shame and the forbidden aspect. I had chosen the first song because it is filled with positive energy and also is sort of cheesy which is how I think the situation comes across. I chose the last song "my sweet prince" for the complete opposite effect.

(This is the nightclub inside)

The clothes below would be worn by my characters at the club: Mercutio, Romeo and Julian.

This vest would be worn my Romeo, accompanied by a pair of jeans. Also by this hat:

Mercutio is more daring however and would a pair of white flared trousers and a white feather bower. This shows his more daring and experimental side.

For example...

Finally, Julian would be wearing a silver metallic shirt unbuttoned at the top and a pair of averagely tight trousers in black. Showing his more innocent inexperienced side.

As in all the scenes before I would give the actors a translated version of the sonnet to help direct them and ask them to watch and educate themselves on their type of character.

From doing this essay I have become more experienced with the ideals and flexibility of Shakespeare. I have learnt that Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a timeless play adaptable to every situation and time. I have learnt the complexity and level of difficultness of sonnets and the amount of effort they take. I now know what a lengthy process adapting a film can be and how the director takes every detail into account. From comparing the films I have found out just how different the same script can be interpreted, and how you can aim your film to appeal to a certain target audience through decisions based on set, costume and music.

With music you can influence the viewers opinion of the scene and distort its meaning. If your choice for music is wrong it can completely ruin how effective a scene is. I have learnt to appreciate Shakespeare's genius whilst enjoying using my creativity on his text. I have most enjoyed applying my analysation techniques, used earlier in the essay whilst discussing Zeffirelli and Luhrmans versions, to my own version of the scenes and understanding why, and what impact my choices will make.