As soon as this film begins, you can immediately see that it is in a very modern context. The viewer is showed a television with a newsreader reading the prologue to us. Luhrmann wanted to make this film palatable for young viewers. To this end, he outfitted his characters in gaudy rock-and-roll leather-and-lace clothes, transported them from Verona, Italy to the seedy Verona Beach, U.S.A and piled the mise-en-scene high with Catholic imagery, …showed first 75 words of 1472 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1472 total…mind that I am a teenager). The opening sequence manages to captivate teenage audiences through the use of different camera shots, sounds, editing, mixing of genres and the mise-en-scene. Everything in the scene is important. Mise-en-scene refers to objects placed before the camera as part of a scene. Because the characters are introduced when they appear, like in a soap, it is easier to relate to our time. This makes it more interesting to teenagers.