There are no backgrounds used in Welles version instead silhouettes are used images of things are taken from strange angles and this adds to a views thought that the witches are very strange in their workings. Perhaps Welles way of shooting this scene was an original as there have been many films since its release that have followed this format.
In Polanskis adaptation of the play the camera is a long shot still shot and also a tracking shot of the sunrise. Into the shot came the witches their attire is wild the stick is twisted like the witches they twist the truth through fair is foul so they make up their own reality. Polanski concentrates on the witches hands we only see the witches faces after about 1 minute of play. The blood of the witches is used to seal their spell we assume that the site where the spell is cast is where Mac Beth kills the man. At the end of the scene the witches move off in different directions the shot is beginning to go from close up until it becomes a long shot, the camera doesn’t appear to move but the witches are splitting apart. Mac Beth is ruthless and this is shown in the second scene where he mutilates the man on the ground with a mace.
The use of camera angles in the plays makes a real difference to what the viewer understands. I prefer Welles version, as it has a better scene however Polanskis creation of the spell is the more effective as Welles is set in a very confusion filled atmosphere.
Welles concentrates more on the stereotypical view of witches they have warts and are old with screeching voices and have a sort of extremely old woman air about them.. This is also different from Polanskis version, as he preferred to stick to a more original plot he chose to make each one of the witches different. The witches aren’t individualised in Welles’ version they all speak and all perform the same actions and pick up on each other’s sentences they are almost one minded also all three of the witches talk in this version this is different from Polanski as he believed that only two witches talking was best. Here evil comes in many forms, all of the witches are different they are in silhouette they have sharp chins and warts they are not stereotypical witches in their appearance. There is a mixture of colours black for the very old and blind witch and white for the younger not as ugly witch. The old witch is blind and perhaps she can see into the future she knows that they will meet with Mac Beth
When we are reading the Mac Beth text We don’t know what the witches look like we are only told their attire in Act Once Scene III “wither’d and wild” the witches in Polanskis version are portrayed as having choppy fingers and hacked lips. The more effective of the two differing portraits of the witches is Polanskis version as he only has one of his witches stereotypical whereas the other two are not as ugly or evil looking perhaps this is to do with my earlier mentioned point about evil perpetuating itself with age. Polanskis witches are more visualised than Welles’ who preferred not to concentrate on the witches but to concentrate more on the sound and movement of the witches.
During this scene the camera focuses on the cauldron not the witches although it is clear that the witches are creating some form of a potion with many ingredients e.g. the figure of a doll this figurine is somewhat like a voodoo effigy doll of Mac Beth and this is also linked to black magic. The contents that are placed into the cauldron are all unnatural unchristian things. Welles is able to show how the witches have control over some things in nature by showing us a part of the scene where the witches place their hands into the boiling water. The witches seem to have an unnatural control over nature.
The witches begin to dig a hole which becomes their cauldron from which they cast their spell the cauldron is marked by a circle which is a sign of eternity and life and once you get in it there’s no escape one action leads to another. Mac Beth will be unable to stop what is happening. Firstly although the only stage direction of where this takes place given in this scene is an open place we expected to see foggy misty and creepy moors. Instead we are shown a beach and the creepiness of the scene is added through the music. There is also no mention in the Mac Beth text about the materials used in the spell namely the hand clutching the dagger and the noose. This noose that is placed into the hole is linked to the death of the Thane of Cawdor Mac Beth inherits this title. The hand and dagger is a sign of the daggers that Mac Beth uses to dispose of Duncan. These items along with the spell show how the witches are manipulating the future. Here in the spell part of the introduction Polanski is trying to confuse the viewers but he is giving them a window into the future. “Is this the dagger I see before me!! Mac Beth is the right hand man of Duncan and it is the right hand that is put into the sand with the spell and it is Mac Beth who tightens his own noose by killing Duncan. Throughout this scene there is a gull screeching and circling overhead again this is linked to the circle of death that the witches have cast.
By far the most effective cauldron is Polanskis as he puts in many things that have relevance throughout the play of Mac Beth and his items are little snippets of the future. Welles however hasn’t given us much of an insight into the future, as one of the main ingredients in his cauldron is the voodoo doll. This has little or no value to the story except for the initial control that the witches have over Mac Beth
In Welles’ version during the dialogue between the witches there is a pause in the line “there to meet with… Mac Beth” this pause helps the name to be emphasized to the viewers. The “credits” music is used to depict the battle scene and I believe this is very effective. The next scene that Welles jumps to is the scene where Mac Beth and Banquo meet the witches he skips the after battle scene and perhaps takes away some of Mac Beths character depiction as a war hero. At the beginning of this scene we are presented with a picture of the witches chanting there are flames around the cauldron. The witches do not follow the Mac Beth text all the time and in fact there has been some text added in “boil and bubble” this is used to describe the cauldron. The music at the beginning is mellow dramatic almost overdramatic, this confused music slowly changes to a more suspenseful tone and slowly there is a sound that is very much like nails screeching down a blackboard. These sounds help us to visualise this scene as if it is an extremely dangerous situation and that what will become of this will not be very good. Also during the dialogue amongst the witches when Mac Beths name is mentioned the music changes to a more mellow dramatic tone.
Polanski obviously thought about this scene in great detail he doesn’t just follow the text to a T he has changed some parts. For example he misses out the lines “I come Graymalkin Paddok calls. Anon.” The use of the word hurly-burly used to describe the battle this word is onomatopoeic with strong h’s broad u’s here the witches are describing the sound of the battle. Lost and Won is used to describe the battle and the predicament that Mac Beth gets himself into Cawdor loses the battle but in the end it is Mac Beth who loses. Lost and won is also a paradox, we are getting a sense of evil, mystery and confusion a window into the future is given. Polanski takes this window and shows it. In the line there to meet with Mac Beth during this line there is a pause before the word Mac Beth this highlights Mac Beth as an important character.
The more effective usage of dialogue in the two films if Welles’ version as he was able to highlight a very important character very simply by having a pause in the line “there to meet with Mac Beth” this pause between with and Mac Beth is very effective. The sounds used through out the scene are very effective but the most effective was Welles version as his chosen music put the viewer into an almost jumpy mood. Overall the most effective prologue scene of Mac Beth is Welles.
