Any film maker when making their own interpretation of a play needs to create a general atmosphere relevant to the original script. Discuss

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Any film maker when making their own interpretation of a play needs to create a general atmosphere relevant to the original script.

This would have been the case for Roman Polanski and Orson Welles when each was creating his own version of act 1 scene 1 of Shakespeare's Macbeth. In their individual historical contexts they each had cinematic equipment at their disposal which Shakespeare did not have. When the later called for lightening and thunder ,he was given thunder boards, his play was performed in daylight with no special lighting effects in 16th century England. However Shakespeare did have the advantage of his audience understanding the superstitions concerning witchcraft, which unfortunately a modern audience would not have. Having noted these points Welles and Polanski follow Shakespeare's requirements for his play in their cinematic interpretations of Macbeth act1 scene1.

Polanskis witches were quite normal looking, one is young , one is old and one is middle aged. They are also quite harmless looking, but that is really deceptive. One witch is blind, one dumb and one deaf ; they need and depend on eachother to stay alive. In Shakespeare's day 3 was a magic number, the witches appearances are very dramatic, perhaps due to their infirmities. The oldest witch is the most terrifying looking because she has got no eyes and her skin has grown over the sockets. It makes her look grotesque. Each appears to have their own personality, which makes them seem more normal than stereotypical witches.
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Welles' witches seem much more traditional and stereotypical. He doesn't create them as clearly as Polanski. You see silhouettes of figures in black robes, long hair and claw like fingers, throwing ingredients into the cauldron while they chant. They have have Scottish accents. Sentences start with one witch and end with another, he keeps an air of mystery around them. These witches throw their hands in the air as if to worship satun, they chant forcefully. Although both Polanski's and Welles' versions are different they still reflect the evil Shakespeare wanted.

Regardless of what any film director ...

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