Macbeth: Media comparison In this essay I shall be comparing two, media versions of Macbeth one was made for a television audience, another for a cinema audience. The original version of the text was for the stage, and these two media could not have been dreant of by Shakespeare. As Kenneth Branagh says There are so many different ways to match images with words. This four hundred year old play, you could approach it as if it were a completely new script. This statement could explain why there are so many new adaptations of Shakespeares plays, and why they change so much from the original Roman Polanskis version (171) of the play doesnt change too much as it is for a cinema audience, and the people viewing it would have payed and would have been expecting a more conventional, unchanged Macbeth because they made a deliberate choice to view it.
The original Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare in the late 16th century. It was first a tragedy, but then many directors made movie parodies of it with their own little twist. Gnomeo and Juliet, directed by Kelly Asbury, has the same plot line as the first Romeo and Juliet, but is a cartoon comedy instead of a tragedy. Baz-Luhrmann directed the first tragedy Romeo and Juliet movie. Between the two movies, there are many similarities, but there are also plenty of astounding differences.
It is up to each actor to deliver the combined vision to the audience, and to insure the vision is portrayed. Each artist must understand what the playwright’s message to the audience is. In theatre, there is a promise made to the audience to deliver a message, even one consisting of pure entertainment. Whether it is a spectacle such as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, or a tragedy like “Death of a Salesman” with a message about the American dream, the performance piece is the main attraction. The audience could have easily stayed home and read the play themselves, but they go to the theatre to see it come alive before their eyes.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the appearance of Banquo’s ghost, which indicates Macbeth’s guilty conscience, is known to be one of the most significant scenes within the play. In fact, there are many adapted versions of this famous scene, all in which Macbeth is threatened with the memory of Banquo. Two of these forms are 1) a filmed performance from the Brooklyn Academy of Music that was directed by Rupert Goold and 2) the graphic novel adaption by Ken Hoshine titled No Fear Shakespeare. Both adaptations have important scenes that match Shakespeare’s original vision, but the form that is a more faithful representation of Shakespeare's work is the graphic novel. Nevertheless, the film adaption known as Macbeth is a suitable remake of the initial scene.
Now people are able to watch the two star-crossed lovers in a different media. There are many movie based on Romeo and Juliet, but two of the most famous are directed by Baz Luhrman and Franco Zeffirelli, as well as Reduced Shakespeare Company’s live production. Individuals who are familiar with both the text and the film versions of the play will notice a variety of similarities and differences between the two media. In viewing the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli film of Romeo and Juliet, there are some noticable similarities and differences between Shakespeare’s play and this movie. A similarity between the film and the play is the when Nurse calls from within at the balcony scene in Act II, scene ii.
If the film is star driven then the viewer will expect to see sequences including well known stars. As it is with posters the trailer must present itself as unique to sell to its audience. Media Advertising is another way films are advertised to wider audiences, such as the scaling down of posters so they can appear in magazines and newspapers, and scaled up versions to be plastered across the side of busses, this provides a moving advertisement to be seen by thousands of people a day. The internet is a more modern and complicated marketing tool, creating fan sites and has been an amazing tool for promoting a film. Like with the fan
Today I am going to be discussing the importance of setting and costumes in film and how the two Hamlet film adaptations, though similar in plotline, are different from each other due to the difference in the setting and the costumes. Film directors all have their own personal visions for adapting the play to the movie screen. Each decision a director makes contributes to the overall effect of the whole scene. One of the most crucial aspect in any film is the setting and costume. Setting can be critical to all the film.
The use of the clothing imagery emphasizes the motives, the changes, and the results on getting titles that are more superior. The way people dress in Macbeth effects their actions and emotions as well. Clothing imagery is evidently a dominant topic because it describes to the reader the characters’ take on what is happening. Clothing imagery provides character development like with the changes we see happen to Macbeth. It is also a dominant topic because Shakespeare uses clothing imagery repeatedly throughout the play.
Hamlet 1990 The 1990 film version of Hamlet has many similarities to the play, but it also displays many differences and discrepancies. Franco Zeffirelli, like all other directors put is own twist on Shakespeare’s original work. In his film version of the play he construes the dialogue and also rearranges the order of a few scenes. Creating a film version of a play requires more information to be conveyed in order to get the message across to the viewers. Although the original plot stayed the same, in some ways, it is quite difficult to overlook the many differences that exist between the two versions of Shakespeare’s play.
Essay Question: How does Luhrmann uses costumes/music/camera angle/slow motion/sound effects/ other techniques to make the opening sequence of Romeo & Juliet effectively contribute to the viewers understanding of Act 1, Scene 2? Essay Answer: The opening sequence of the film is very important because the audience watches the opening sequence to get a first impression and then decide whether to watch the rest of the film or not. William Shakespeare was the original writer of the play, Romeo & Juliet; however, Baz Luhrmann edited the play and made a modern version out of it. Luhrmann uses a variety of techniques so the audience understand the play better as well as make the play better. One technique that Baz Luhrmann uses is that he freezes and then zooms into the characters.