How effectively do Roman Polansk, Orson Welles and Trevor Nunn Use a combination of sound and vision to create an atmosphere of evil and the supernatural at the beginning of their respective versions of Macbeth?

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Clare Apps 11A                Macbeth Media

Comparing 3 versions of Macbeth

Introductions

How effectively do;

  • Roman Polanski

  • Orson Welles
  • Trevor Nunn

1) Use a combination of sound and vision to create an atmosphere of evil and the supernatural at the beginning of their respective versions of Macbeth?

2) What differences in interpretation do you notice?

Roman Polanski

This is a modern representation of evil. The scene starts with a time lapse sequence, beginning with sunset into night, pulling through to sunrise. This style of scene opening makes it clear to us that the ritual has to take place at a certain time; early morning. A seagull breaks the silence, giving the scene an isolated feel. A title saying, ‘the tragedy of Macbeth’ appears as the opening scene comes to an end.

The camera moves to show a crooked stick make a mark in the sand, and then three pairs of hands begin to dig a hole in a very hurried way. This gives a mysterious effect as it isn’t obvious at this moment what exactly is happening. The camera now shoes us the three witches that are digging the hole, they are breathless which gives the impression they aren’t in the best of health. We see a full facial view of the witches as they begin to chant their rituals. They are traditional looking witches, one has a crooked nose and they have bent figures, mumbling voices, facial warts and black clothing.

The oldest witch is instructing the other two witches what to do. This indicates to us that she had been doing this activity for a long time so is very experienced and in charge. Their movements are synchronised, demonstrating the familiarity of this ritual to them which emphasises their wicked ways. The women’s voices seem urgent and their actions are shaky and hurried as if they need to get the ritual done before something happens.

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The oldest witch reveals a severed forearm and places it in the hole, along with a dagger and noose (rope). We know this cryptic symbol demonstrates something evil has or is about to happen. The witches hastily fill the hole whilst still muttering the lines of the ritual. Blood is poured over the filled in hole and they co-ordinately spit in front of them and on each side of them. Each witch seems to know exactly what to do and when to perform each part of the ritual. This tells us they have done this at least once before.

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