April 24 Lesson: Franco Zefferelli's Interpretation of Act I from Romeo and Juliet

Essential Question: What strategies might help us to better understand drama and, specifically, Shakespeare’s plays?

I. Do Now ( 4 minutes ):

Identify in complete sentences examples of the use of music ( Vocals, Instrumentals, Lyrics) and Costumes ( Color, Style) in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. Write these in the graphic organizer below.

II. Interpretation. An interpretation is the act of making meaning from something, such as a text, film, or  play. We have talked about two interpretations of Roald Dahl’s children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We looked at Tim Burton’s film adaptation of the book, but we also referred to Mel Stuart’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) with Gene Wilder as Willy that many of us have seen. These are two interpretations of Dahl’s story. Today, we will look at the equivalent of Act 1, Scenes 1-5, of Romeo and Juliet in Franco Zefferelli’s 1968 classic---this is the one that I watched as a ninth grader when I first read Romeo and Juliet. Yesterday, we saw Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of the story; he set the play that originally was set in 14th century Verona in a contemporary “Verona Beach” in America ( the country were Luhrmann’s story takes place is undisclosed, but there are references to Time magazine and other examples of American pop culture so we might infer...).

III. While doing a “close reading” Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet, please fill-in the column marked “Costume” or “Music” as assigned to your side of the room. 

IV. We will spend time after the movie selection filling-in information from yesterday's viewing before we begin today’s viewing (5 minutes plus).

Fill-in information in the graphic organizer from yesterday’s viewing:

__________________________________________________

Version(Director): 

Costumes: 

Setting:  

Music: 

Effect of Director's Choices; 

                                                                                                              

                                                                                                               

__________________________________________________