Compare the production of the crucible to the film.

The Crucible Oral

My task was to compare the production of the crucible to the film.

The things I had to compare were lighting, camera angles (only applies to the film), dramatic parts, characters and atmosphere effects.

Lighting

In the play, at the start, the lighting was used to create a spooky atmosphere, which I thought was very good as the crucible is a spooky play. Lanterns hanging from the ceilings with a dim light made this effect. The audience would feel shivers as they could only see the actors faces. The rest of the body of each actor and actress was covered by the darkness, by the rest of the stage.

The second scene was well done using the light effect. The whole of Proctors house was dark and gloomy. The light source came from a burning fire, which was at the front of the stage and an open back door at the back. The effect was that the audience would feel cold, as the stage temperature looked cold, and this was done as a symbol to show how Goody Proctor felt when she was accused of being a witch. The darkness matched the atmosphere.

In the third scene, the light was coming from two windows in the courtroom. This meant that the light was just strong enough for the audience to see. This matched the stage atmosphere as things were not looking too bright for John Proctor. The darkness reinforced the gloominess. The outside light was also gloomy, which shows nothing is right around Abigail.

In the final scene, only the centre of the stage was lit. This again shows gloominess. Prison cells are supposed to be dark so they don’t look pleasant, and with the dim light, this reinforced that. The audience should feel that the life of John Proctor is near an end.

In the film at the start, the setting was pitch black, with the source of light coming from the huge, vicious fire. Just like the production, the film had a gloomy and horror atmosphere to it. To the viewer, this would seem a dramatic opening scene which catches the interest and eye of the people watching.

There is no light effect when Proctor is being taken to the place of execution. To the viewer, this would seem like a symbol of how Proctor felt. He wouldn’t have seen any hope in surviving. The rain gave the audience ...

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Camera

In the production, you can’t obviously have cameras. But a scene which I thought was good to talk about was when Abigail and her friends were at the back of the stage. This would have given the audience the idea that the girls were frightened and it showed their vulnerability. When they ran to the back of the stage, it was like a camera zooming out.

At the start of the film when Abigail had blood on her lips, the camera made her look like she was in control. This was done as the camera was looking up at her and she is in control of the group. The viewers would see that she is the leader.

When the girls are dancing the camera zooms in and out while this action is taking place. There were cut-shots between the girls and paris. It shows danger towards the girls as they are about to be caught. The viewers would feel excited as they would think the girls would do some magic to disappear. This never happened.

When Abigail is scared and sees the devil, in the court, the camera zooms out and looks down on her. This shows her vulnerability and makes the viewer get a sense of humour as they know she is only pretending.

The Stage

The stage for the production was set out well. This was because there was loads of space and the light was shone in the correct places. It was good because the lanterns were effective and the door was used for Bettys room and the courtroom. There was spooky music and this coincided with the storyline. Whenever something bad was going to happen, the music would play slow and loud.

The poor thing that I found, was that there was too much talking and not enough action. This would have been more effective towards the teenage audience.

Dramatic Parts

In the play there were three executions. All of them had a different tone, which showed the audience that the public have changed attitudes and feelings for the victims. The first execution – the crowd were cheering, which showed how selfish and cruel the public were to the victims. It also showed how gullible they were, as they believed anything. The second execution – there was silence, which shows that the public were changing there minds towards the victims. It would give the audience a shock, as the public have changed their minds and this would give them hope of saving Proctor. The third execution – the crowd were sad, which meant they had respect for Proctor as they are not cheering for him to die.

When Betty just wakes up out of the blue, the audience would get a fright as she has been sleeping for ages. The dramatic part to this is that virtually every person is been accused for witchcraft. There is going to be a huge impact on the audience as they know the girls are being very clever as they are working their way up to Goody Proctor. The audience would sense some humour too, as they know the girls are trying very hard to achieve this.

In the film, when the last execution is taking place, their would be a shock that Proctor is going to die, as the main character never dies in majority of films. The audience would feel sorry for the victims as they repeat the lords prayer, and the most dramatic part is that they don’t have a chance of saying ‘Amen.’ The lords prayer proves the victims innocence. The executer pushes each person off one by one. This is made dramatic as Proctor is the last one to die.

When the girls imitate what Mary says it makes the viewers feel sorry for her, as they know she is telling the truth. Abigail and her friends look straight at the camera, which gives the viewers eye contact. When Mary starts crying, this shows her weakness and vulnerability.

The thing that I never liked in the play was that there was not enough action. This made some parts very boring. One part I never liked was that they never showed Proctor getting hanged and this meant that there was a poor final scene. The audience would have been looking forward to this part as it is the most dramatic part of the play.

There was no dancing around the fire which meant that there was no dramatic opening. The lanterns were effective, but the dancing would have given a more dramatic feeling to the audience. It would have showed danger straight away.

There was only one thing I never liked about the film. This was that they never showed the body hanging from the ropes. This could have given a more effective and threatening finish to the film. The ending was still good, because once the film finished, there was complete silence. Silence plays a huge factor in horrors. In my point of view everything else was perfect.