Identify design mechanism that (1) Engages the audience in the story, Essay

Identify design mechanism that (1) Engages the audience in the story, (2) Enhances a visual message, and (3) Provides any histor - Essay Example Conflict arises when the two characters fall madly in love with each other before knowing about their families’ long lived dispute. The two fights for their love and finds ways to be together despite all odds. The story ends in a tragic note when a misunderstanding of their plan of escape led to Romeo’s suicide, which then led to Juliet taking her own life too. Romeo and Juliet is said to be â€Å"a timeless love story that's been done again and again† (Jernigan). It is commonly presented in local and international theaters either as a traditional live performance or on the silver screen. Famous movie versions of the text include George Cukor’s version in 1936, Franco Zeffirelli’s version in 1968, and the most recent version was Baz Luhrmann’ version in 1996 starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes (Luhrmann). Shakespeare’s language is used in Luhrmann’s filmed version in an interesting, trendy, contemporary setting. The film features a composition of romance, action, violence, and music, executing a strong 90’s vibe.   Principles of design are concepts used to organize elements that make up a composition. It affects the expression of text content and the process of message communication (Jirousek). It is essential in film production and is interestingly applied in Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. Principles of design include balance, proportion, rhythm, emphasis and unity. The opening scene of the movie shows a vintage television news broadcast of a lady saying the famous lines; â€Å"Two households both alike in dignity in fair Verona where we lay our †¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This is the text’s prologue made into the movie introduction. These lines are repeatedly shown while an introduction of supporting characters and antagonists is being made. This design mechanism falls under the concept of emphasis, which is defined as a compositional device made to draw attention to specific details, b ecause that area is meant to be seen. Emphasis can also be considered a way of delivering of a text’s focal point (Moore). In the aforementioned prologue movie introduction scene, emphasis is made to deliver the message on how heavy the conflict is between Capulet and Montague. The repeated lines not only tell the story of the wrath between the families, but screenshots of the church, war, violence and chaos over the city tells how the wrath between the families affect the societies their living in. Moreover, big establishments, random sign boards, religious images and other related icons suggest the living age of where the story is set. These elements also reflect the current culture of the setting displayed, i.e. for example, the constant flashing of religious monuments, the crucifix inside the Montague’s limousine and the Tybalt of Capulet’s shirt all suggest the religious underlying context in the film, despite all the violence happening between the two part ies. This could also be seen as the director’s way of inflicting the original setting of which the text was made. A further discussion of this will be made in the latter part of this paper. In the opening scene, the rhythm of the whole movie is also presented. Moore describes rhythm as a principle of design which tackles a repetition of recurrent themes, like simply painting a pattern in which a beat is designed for a certain flow of storytelling to be achieved. The rhythm of the