Conventions of an opening Sequence

Romeo Juliet (1996) — Art of the Title



Convention: Engaging Music

The opening sequence for Baz Lehrmanns's 'Romeo and Juliet' connotes music starting at 0:50. The music sounds like a religious piece when you sing in church and this connotes that the film is set in the time when religion was an important influence to peoples lives. The music draws the audience in as it starts very loud so suddenly and this connotes that it is important with the mise-en-scene. The music is very intense and that matches the montage of the riots and encounter of both families. The music represents the characters as religious. The audience expectations created from the music is where does religion and the church relate the two families and why does the music start so suddenly. The music communicates the the institutional information as when there's a loud beat, the graphic shows on screen at the same time and this engages the audiences attention. The music establishes the genre which is romance as religion  is linked to romance immensely and the genre of the music is quite religious.


Convention: Super Imposed Graphics

This shot denotes a still of the video of the character playing Romeos mother and the super imposed graphics denotes her real name and the role she plays. Just like this, the other parents of Romeo and Juliet both have super imposed graphics. The typography of the graphics are white bold box writing and the sir names are written in capital letters to connote that they are part of the 'Montague' or the 'Capulet' and they are two different classes and that this feud between the families are very important in the film. The super imposed graphics represent the characters as separate communities. The graphics create enigma as the audience wonders why the parents graphics are shown and other characters such as the chief of the police but why doesn't the main characters, Romeo and Juliet has the graphics and this connotes that the sequence does not want to reveal the actors of the main characters yet. Also the lighting in the graphics of the parents denote that the actors are in the dark and this foreshadows the fact that the parents did not know about Romeo and Juliet.


Convention: Montage

The opening sequence for Romeo and Juliet denotes an action montage which is fast shots of different scenes put together from different places. The action montage starts at 2:02 and denotes a choir singing in the church and this represents the theme of religion. It also denotes a series of different shots of people shooting and this connotes the theme of violence. The questions the montage makes the audience think about are why are people shooting and how does religion relate to all of it. The montage represents the location as a
dangerous place as you can see people on the roads and the station shooting. The montage is connotes by very fast cuts and the mise-en-scene is overlapped by the music. The editing of the montage is quite smooth as each shot is shown after each other straight away. The montage also introduces man of the characters such as Tybalt and the Friar. Most of the shots are close ups and this connotes that they are mostly reactions of an event that just happened and this creates enigma as it makes the audience wonder what happened.



 Convention: Introduce Themes/Ideology

The first shot denotes a close up of a television screen showing a news report and you can see an image of a ring with a cross in between it and this connotes that one of the major themes of the film is romance and this is also shown by the news reporter saying "star-crossed lovers" which connotes that the romance was forbidden. Another way the theme of romance is connoted is through a graphic which also denotes "A pair of star-crossed lovers".
Also the title denotes 'Romeo and Juliet' and this connotes the theme of Romance as it is a very famous story written by William Shakespeare. These denotations create enigma as you don't see who Romeo and Juliet are so the audience does not know how their romance story actually is like.
Another theme revealed in the opening sequence is Religion. This is denoted by the graphics as the 'T' letters in the graphics are replaced with a cross. Also there are several shots denoting the church and these connote that religion will have an influence on the romance.
Another shot denotes the parents of Juliet standing in a mid shot in natural dark lighting wit reflections of the police red and blue lights. This connotes the theme of Parenthood as in the opening sequence you see the parents on screen the longest and this means they are important characters in the film. Also this represents the parents as people who failed in their job as the constant fighting with each other and the police results in the death of their children.



Convention: Establishing Shots

The opening sequence denotes an overlook of the city of Rio De Jenerio. This connotes that the film is set in that country. The establishing shot of the building represent the location as busy and a normal working class area. The establishing shot makes the audience question why the film is set there. This establishing shot denotes two tall building that stand out the most with 'Montague' and 'Capulet' written on them and separating the buildings is a statue of Jesus and it connotes peace between the two families.



Convention: Production Company (0:05)

The production company is shown at the start of the opening sequence as a graphic in the television. The production company denotes "Twentieth Century Fox" and then the graphic changes to "A Baz Luhrmann production". The graphics are small but on the black screen you can see the white typography very clearly. Also the fact that the production companies are denotes through a television connotes that the companies incorporated the idea of media into the story of Romeo and Juliet. Also as it is shown first, this connotes that the production companies are important.



Convention: Introduce Characters

The opening sequence of Romeo and Juliet introduces the characters through a close up still in the video which focuses on their faces and super imposed graphics. The first character introduced is Juliet Father followed by Juliet's mother. You then see Romeos Father and then his mother. You also see the chief of Police, The governors son and Romeos best friend.
These characters are crucial to the film. However you also are introduced to the Montague's and the Capulet's through a close up of a newspaper article denoting the family members on separate sides. This represents the characters as a feud going on between them and very stern. The audience expectations the characters create is it makes them want to know why there is a feud between them. This also creates enigma as it is not revealed in the opening sequence. The lighting in the graphics also foreshadow the story and the parents who are in dark lighting did not know of Romeo and Juliet being in love, whereas the chief had an idea and Mercutio (Romes best friend) did know of Romeo's and Juliet's love.

Convention: Minimal Dialogue

The opening sequence denotes the prologue of Romeo and Juliet as the news reporter speaking. Other than this, there is no dialogue except for a voice over repeating the prologue. This connotes that the director does not want to give any thing away in the opening sequence and this creates enigma as it makes the audience wonder what the prologue has got to do with the film. The fact that the prologue is repeated represents the importance of it in the film.



Convention: Smash Mouth opening

 The opening sequence of Romeo and Juliet does not start as a smash mouth opening however there is a point in the opening (0:54) where suddenly the music and the video starts and this connotes that the film starts of with interesting action and this catches the audiences attention.