Describe the first ONE or TWO scenes in the text. Explain how verbal and/or visual features were used in this scene or scenes to suggest what the text would be about. I will be writing about one of the first scenes in the visual text “Romeo and Juliet”, written by William Shakespeare and directed by Baz Luhrmann. One of the first scenes in “Romeo and Juliet” was the fight between the Montagues and Capulets at a gas station in Verona.
A foolish Montague bites his thumb at a Capulet and a fight is about to break out when Benvolio another Montague tries to keep the peace and orders everyone to put up their guns or swords as they are called in the film. However, when Tybalt arrives and Benvolio tells him that he wants to make peace “I do but keep the peace…”, Tybalt just sneers at him and replies, “Peace? I hate the word as I hate hell all Montagues and thee. ” This then leads to the long awaited fight, which not only affects the Montagues and Capulets, but also causes a lot of destruction to the city of Verona.
This scene then finally ends when the Prince arrests Benvolio and Tybalt “… put your mis’tempered weapons to the group! ” and warns the two families that if ever they cause any more civil disruption, then they will pay with their lives. There were a number of visual techniques that were used during this scene to suggest that this visual text would be about the hatred between the Montagues and Capulets and how this hatred would eventually affect these two families.
A visual technique used to show the hatred between the families during the scene was the use of close ups, including the close up of the “Add Fuel to Fire” sign, and the fearful faces of the Montagues, which led up to the arrival of Tybalt and created a lot of tension and apprehension. The use of close ups for this purpose made me think about how greatly Tybalt was feared because of his volatile, violent personality. Another visual technique used was how the Montagues and Capulets were made to contrast with each other through the use of costume and music.
For example, the Montagues wore brightly coloured clothing which showed their laidback, careless personality, while the Capulets wore dark, sophisticated clothing to show that they were more serious, violent and more fearful. Loud, rock music had also been used to introduce the Montagues as careless and laidback while the Capulets were introduced through the use of soft, Latino guitar music to depict them as darker, more serious people.
The use of music and costumes to contrast the two families helped me to understand how they were completely different to each other and that these differences would continue to cause a lot of conflict throughout this film. In conclusion, the visual techniques used during this scene made me think about how destructive hatred between people can be and that instead of being so stubborn and filled with pride, they should give up and make peace such as Benvolio. However, after watching the opening scene, one can come to the realisation that some are willing to hate and hurt enemies at the expense of innocent people.
