Romeo and Juliet - Remakes

Romeo and Juliet - 1996

Romeo and Juliet - 1968

What country and era each version made in and what impact this might have on each of the way the versions where made. What social or political issues were going on at the time of each version?

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  Romeo and  Juliet - 1968;  
  
  
  The 1968 version was mostly made in parts of Rome or near to Rome, although it was released in 1968 it was set in the 14th century. The impact that this has is that in the 1960s there was not a lot of technology or money to be spent so there resources were not limited but they did not have everything. The social and political issues that were going on at the time of the release were minimal but did still occur, I do not feel as though this made an impact on the release of the film, although if I may add that Oliver Twist was released in the same year and I think this was a mistake made by the producer, as both of the films Oliver Twist and Romeo + Juliet have gone on to be amazing films that are now classed as classics they probably both could of earned more if they were released a year apart or some space between them.
  
  
  Romeo and Juliet - 1996;
  
  
  The pre production and post production was completed in Australia, while some parts of the film were shot in Miami, the rest were shot in Mexico City and Veracruz. It was released in 1996, so there is quite a lot of difference between the two versions, both of the versions give off different impacts as there was a lot of difference in money, technology and time, again I cannot find any social or political issues going on at the particular time of the release date that would affect the film in any way, although there were a lot of films being released in that year which would've affected the film and its ratings/viewers, Matilda, Fargo, Independence Day, Mission:Impossible and Scream were all released in the year of 1996.
  
  
  
  

  What the budgets were of each version and how this might impact production?

  
  

  
  

  Romeo and Juliet - 1968;

  
  
  

  
  

  The Budget for this version was $850,000 which would be a lot of money to produce an amazing film in that year.

  
  
  

  
  

  Romeo and Juliet - 1996;

  
  
  

  
  

  The budget for this version was $14.5 million, so when you look at both versions you know that the newer one is going to be a lot more modern with more technology, time and obviously money. Big difference.

  
  
  

  
  

  The impact;

  
  

  
  

  Ratings on IMDB for the earlier version has 7.7/10 and the later version has 6.9/10 so maybe money does not make a film necessarily better, more modern and definitely does attract a younger audience.

  
  

  • Are the intended audiences for each version the same? How do the producers identify these audiences? 
    
    
    I think that both of the intended demographics were the same, definitely a younger audience, teenagers can relate to the film as a lot of young people struggle and aren't allowed to see friends, boyfriends/girlfriends because they're parents do not want them too, the film attracts parents swell as maybe they can relate to the film as well, and could act on it.
    
    
    I think that the producers of both have identified there audiences by reviews and ratings of the screenplay and the earlier versions than these two, I think the 1996 version has widened there intended audience by adding a modern feel to the film, like guns and cars, a lot of people like to see an action film, so this was a good choice.
    
    
    
    
    Were there any other successful films that may have had an impact on the production of this remake? Were the reasons for the remake artistic or financial? 

  
  

  
  

  1968; There were many popular films released in 1968, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Planet of the apes, Once Upon A Time In The West and Oliver were all released around the same time of the release of Romeo and Juliet, although Romeo and Juliet is on IMDBs most popular films released in 1968, the film is positioned after all of the films I have listed above, so yes the film could of done a lot better if it was released in a different year. 

  
  
  

  
  

  1996; In the same year that Romeo and Juliet was released there were also many popular films released too, Mission:Impossible, Fargo, Matilda,Happy Gilmore and The Rock, on IMDB Romeo and Juliet is positioned 3rd on their Movie meter list,  so even though there were a lot of other popular films released in the same year, I do not think it would of made a massive difference, this Romeo and Juliet is used a lot for 

  
  

  schools and education purposes so that's why it is so high in the rankings.

How was each version marketed? Did this change depending on the

audience?

1968 - In this version and in that year there were not trailers for films as such but the director Franco Zeffirelli had his big break the year before with his film 'the taming of the shrew' and it was really popular so the director has a good name already, if people heard that the Romeo and Juliet film was going to be directed by the director of 'The Taming of the Shrew' then they would be looking forward to seeing it. This is how the film was marketed.

1996 - The newer version was marketed by trailers and posters and because the budget was much larger than the 68 version they had the money to do this, both films are marketed by the famous script play by Shakespeare so audiences and viewers knew what they were going to watch and in most cases if you had read the play or seen the play then you are going to be excited about watching the film, both of the films would not have been as successful without Shakespeare anyway.

How did production and distribution technology impact on the production of

each version?

In 1968 if you wanted to see a film you would have to go to the cinema to see it as there were no videos or dvds back then, so if you didn't go to the cinema to see it then you wouldn't be able to see it anyway, in 1996 films were on VCR (video tapes) so you had the choice of waiting for the video to come out so its yours and you can watch whenever you want if you didn't want to go to the cinema there and then. Also with technology there was a lot of difference in 1996 there were different makes and models but in 1968 there was only one make with different models so the technology has made a big impact on both of these films.

This was the one of the only video cameras in 1967-1968.

1967 Model 7016400 B/W Vidicon Camera

This is one of the newer cameras from 1994-1996 for the filming of the newer Romeo and Juliet.
Cross section of "EOS-1N"with EF300mm f/2.8L USM
The Evolution of the "EOS-1" for Professional Use

How was news of the remake/reboot received by modern audiences? How
did modern audiences respond to the new version once it had been
released? What does this say about the audiences in question?

1) News of the new Romeo and Juliet was received by modern audiences in a good way as it had been 30 years since the last Romeo and Juliet, I think it was especially exciting to young people and teenagers as they can relate to Romeo and Juliet.

2) The 1996 version was exciting and something old and new for modern audiences, a lot of different reviews on IMDB and most are good and say the film is perfectly modernized but still has the Shakespeare in it which is always good when a play adapts to a film then another then another then another.

3) This says that the audience loves things being modern but they also don't want the film to lose its originality and the main sparks about the film, for example if they did not use the language that Shakespeare used it would not be the same and audiences would think it is ruined, so you have to keep the original idea and the main aspects
of the film but just make it more modern and the audience will love it.

Shakespeare has had a great reputation from the play and the films and would not have been as known without these remakes and reboots, so I feel as though the films have made a massive impact on audiences everywhere in the world but also on Shakespeare himself.