Analysis of film opening: Romeo and Juliet

In the 1996 version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the first image the audience is given is of a television screen which turns on and the titles appear, as if someone is changing the channels, followed by a news reporter, who delivers the chorus line from the play. The television screen is surrounded by darkness, which is a way of foreshadowing the events that are to come.

The use of the news reporter provides the audience with a large amount of information in a short time, which is provided from a, usually, well-informed, objective report of the events that have happened as well as giving the audience a sense of setting. The use of the news reporter also establishes the fact that the affairs of the "two households" concerns everyone in the city, showing that they are well-known figures.

The audience is then taken through the city of Verona and the soundtrack is of opera music, which also helps to set the scene as the film is set in Italy. The words "In fair Verona" flash, which is fast-paced and reiterates the place that the film is set.

Then, there is a quick shot of the two buildings from the families next two each other and both standing out above the other buildings in Verona, which shows in one quick shot that they are, as the news reporter said, "both alike in dignity" and also shows the division between the two.

The quick shots of police cars, helicopters and arrests emphasise the fact that there will be action scenes within the film. This is then followed by the chorus line being repeated and a family tree and shots of fire, showing that there will be some tragic scenes within the film. There are many newspaper clippings of the Capulet and the Montague families which flash in shot, showing that the feud between the two families has already been established before the film starts.

There are then two shot medium close ups from the head of each family and their wives with determined, hostile looks on their faces, reiterating the fact that the two families have had large disputes for a long time.

This is then followed by medium close ups from all the main characters from the main characters in the film, and, as well as the actor's names, it is also providing the audience with information about who the characters are before the film properly begins.

After this, there are shots from the rest of the film, which create a sense of anticipation for the audience as well as making them assume the events of the film before they happen and, again, establishing that this film has action elements within it, as many of the shots show guns and other action shots.

Finally, the title of the film comes up and there is a song change, signifying the end of the opening sequence.