Victoria Travia March 5, 2013 Romeo and Juliet Paper In William Shakespeare s, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare presents Juliet as the more dominant character of the play. When reading the title of the play, the reader may believe that Romeo will be the more prominent character; however in comparison to Romeo, Juliet has double the amount of lines and plays a larger role in the progression of the plot. In his 1996 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Baz Luhrmann presents Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) as the more dominant character, instead of Juliet (Claire Danes). Firstly, Baz Luhrmann immediately directs the viewer s attention to Romeo because he uses Leonardo DiCaprio to play this role. Additionally, during the balcony scene where Juliet realizes that she loves Romeo, even though he is a Montague, Luhrmann uses different techniques to present Romeo as the more important character. In the sequence from 37:28 to 38:56, Luhrmann uses the placement of Romeo and Juliet, camera angles, and lighting to present Romeo as the more prominent character in the film. During this sequence, Romeo is always shown above Juliet, and he has several close up shots while Juliet is speaking. Furthermore, Romeo always has a form of non- diegetic lighting on his face, while Juliet rarely does. Additionally, Luhrmann adapts parts of this prominent scene to show Romeo as a powerful man, and to present Juliet as an unobservant vulnerable woman. When first beginning to look at this sequence, it becomes immediately apparent that Romeo is the more dominant character. Traditionally, this scene is shot with Juliet standing on a balcony, and Romeo below her. However, Baz Luhrmann adapts this traditional style, and decides to show this famous scene on a pool patio. In Luhrmann s adaptation, he presents Romeo hanging onto vines on the side of the Capulet s home, and shows Juliet Travia 1
walking along the edge of the pool. Consequently, when looking at the long shots during this sequence, Romeo is always shown above Juliet, resulting in the viewer s eyes being immediately drawn to Romeo. Additionally, throughout this sequence Romeo has approximately four lines, and Juliet has sixteen lines. Since Juliet has four times the amount of lines as Romeo, the spectator would assume that Juliet would be on camera for the majority of the sequence. In actuality, Luhrmann shows Juliet on camera alone for approximately 22 seconds, while Romeo is shown on camera alone for approximately 29 seconds. Additionally, during segment four from 37:47 to 37:49, Juliet speaks about her love for Romeo. This is one of Juliet s larger and arguably most important monologues of the play; however, Luhrmann does not keep the viewers attention on Juliet. While Juliet is speaking, Luhrmann cuts to a medium close up shot of Romeo s face. As the viewer, our attention is no longer focused on what Juliet is saying; rather we begin to focus on how Romeo is reacting. Furthermore, when Romeo is presented in the frame alone he is always shown in a medium close up shot, while the camera always shows Juliet in a medium shot. By presenting Romeo in repeating medium close up shots, Luhrmann makes the viewer more aware of Romeo s facial expressions, and makes them desire a close up shot of Romeo, after or while Juliet says her lines. Lastly, at the very end of the sequence as Juliet begins to finish her monologue, the viewer is able to see Romeo s foot in the bottom left corner of the screen at 38:49. The camera then pans upward as Juliet stands, and the spectator is able to see the distance between these two characters, which is only about one foot. By having Romeo slowly come into the frame, the viewer is no longer focused on what Juliet is saying, rather they are in suspense waiting for Romeo to speak his first words to Juliet in the sequence. Overall, Luhrmann clearly manipulates the placement of the Travia 2
characters and the angles of the camera to present Romeo as the more prominent character of the film, and to keep the viewers attention on Romeo. Luhrmann not only manipulates camera angles to present Romeo as the more dominant character, but also uses different lighting techniques to attract the viewer s attention to Romeo. Firstly, as Romeo is holding onto the vines on the side of the Capulet s home, he is surrounded by diegetic Christmas lights. Since Romeo is holding onto the side of the Capulet s home for one minute and four seconds, he is shown surrounded by lighting for the majority of the sequence. In contrast, Juliet is shown with minimal lighting directed at her body, and is rarely surrounded by light. Furthermore, during the high angled medium long shots of both Romeo and Juliet, it is clear that there is non- diegetic lighting coming from the right of Romeo into the frame. As a result, when both Romeo and Juliet are shown in the frame, Romeo has more lighting directed at him since he is closer to the light source in comparison to Juliet. Also, when Romeo and Juliet are shown in the frame alone, both characters are presented with non- diegetic lighting being reflected off of the pool onto their bodies. Romeo is first shown with this form of non- diegetic lighting during the second segment of the sequence from 37:36 37:43. Since the lighting is reflected off of the pool onto Romeo s face, his face looks like it is sparkling. Juliet is also shown with this same form of non - diegetic lighting during the segment from 37:55 38:02. However, as Juliet kneels down at the edge up the pool, the lighting is reflected up onto her body and can barely be seen. Not only is she wearing a white dress, making the lighting difficult to see, but also the lighting barely hits her face. As a result, the viewer becomes uninterested in Juliet, and begins to anticipate another medium close- up shot of Romeo, because it is more aesthetically pleasing and interesting to the spectator. Consequently, Luhrmann puts more Travia 3
focus on Romeo through lighting during this sequence, which results in the viewer becoming more attracted to the character Romeo rather than Juliet. Additionally, during this sequence Luhrmann manipulates the portrayal of both characters to present Romeo as a powerful man and to show Juliet as a vulnerable woman. Firstly, as already stated, Romeo is seen as domineering, because he is always presented above Juliet, thus demanding attention. Furthermore, Juliet is consistently shown as vulnerable and unobservant, because she does not notice that Romeo is alongside the Capulet home. When Juliet exits the elevator and walks out onto the pool patio, only a single statue separates Juliet and Romeo. As the segment continues, Juliet walks closer to the pool s edge, and keeps her head down, making her unable to see Romeo, who is only a few feet away. Furthermore, Romeo is able to speak, move down the vine ladder onto the patio, and walk within one foot of Juliet without her even sensing that somebody is nearby. In actuality, Juliet does not notice Romeo s presence until the very last second of the segment, when he speaks directly to her. Additionally, once Romeo speaks to Juliet, she screams and the two fall into the pool. Her shock further shows how vulnerable Juliet is, and makes the viewer believe she is weak and unobservant. As a result, Luhrmann directs the viewer s attention to Romeo, by making the viewer anxious as to when he will speak to Juliet and notify her of his presence. Moreover, Baz Luhrmann adapts this traditional balcony scene in order to change the appearance of Romeo and Juliet, to strive to show Romeo as the more prominent characters of the film. In comparison, there are many other scenes of the film that reinforce Romeo as the more important character. Firstly, when looking at the sequence from 1:19:23 to 1:20:41, Romeo is shown as more important than Juliet. As the two discuss if it is in fact morning Travia 4
yet, the camera continually shows Romeo in many medium close up and medium shots, while Juliet is frequently presented below Romeo. Additionally, the viewer does not receive many close up shots of Juliet during this sequence. This is similar to the balcony scene, because Romeo is presented in repeating medium close up shots, and is therefore represented as the dominant character through different camera angles. Another scene, which reinforces Romeo s dominance in the film, is from 56:20 to 56:42, as Juliet is walking down the aisle to marry Romeo. As Juliet walks down the aisle, the camera cuts back and forth between the two characters. However, the camera spends a longer time focused on Romeo, from 56:33 to 56:40. During this segment, the camera zooms in closer to Romeo s face to a medium close up shot, and the viewer watches as a small smile appears on Romeo s face. As a result, during this sequence, the spectator becomes more focused on Romeo, through similar medium close up shots, rather than focusing on Juliet. This is especially unusual considering traditionally people are focused on the bride during a wedding and not the groom. As a result, it is clear that Luhrmann manipulates the camera and story line during many scenes to direct the viewer s attention to Romeo. In conclusion, there are many moments throughout the film that show Romeo as the more prominent character; however, this balcony sequence clearly shows the viewer who the more important character is. Additionally, by looking at the lighting, character placement, camera angles, and the way Luhrmann chooses to portray these two characters in this scene, the spectator will immediately know that Luhrmann puts a greater focus on Romeo. As a result, Baz Luhrmann adapts William Shakespeare s play Romeo and Juliet, in order to present Juliet as vulnerable and relatively unimportant and to show Romeo as strong and the more dominant character. Travia 5