Look at the opening of Nicolas Hytner’s film of “The Crucible” and discuss how tension and suspense are raised through cinematic features.

Further on is this scene a quite far off shot of Abigail running from her house into the centre of town then another shot of her with a group of girls giggling, then all the girls are running as fast as they can. What can be heard is the quiet yet fast footsteps of the girls also the girls giggling as if they were really excited. Then from a high diagonal shot of the girls running into the forest with still low lighting also this shot I believe makes it easier to now say that it is Probably early morning.

The next scene is of the girls meeting Tituba who tells them to sit on the floor around a cauldron type pot. Then it looks like the girls are offering things that look like herbs, they kiss them and then say a name of a man or boy who they want to be loved by. Tituba is shown as the leader and throws all these herbs into the cauldron, which is on a fire and then a frog is put into the cauldron though a young girl called Mary Warren steps out of this ceremony. The lighting now is increasing but only slightly as the sun rises more, with this you can see what the girls are up to easier. The camera shows sharp fast shots of the girls talking as if was a joke thought there is only one face, which looks serious. The one person who is taking this serious is Abigail Williams her face looks like she about to do something, which creates tension for the audience making them want to know what is Abigail going to do that is if she does do something.

Then the camera turns around and shows a picture of Parris who is walking through the forest and it looks like he can hear the girls but does not know what it is so he tries to find them. The music gets faster as he finds his way through the trees and bushes, Then he comes close to the area where the girls are though he does not it is them the music changes to a drum beat with Parris' footsteps being able to be heard.

The camera changes back to the girls with Abigail walking up to Tituba and then Abigail whispers in Abigail's ear and Tituba looks scared and shocked as she say no. Abigail then turns around to the pot runs to it and picks up the chicken by its feet and hits its head of a rock breaking its neck the Abigail drinks the blood of the chicken. Then Abigail takes her clothes off, all the girls are screaming then one of the girls sees Parris coming towards them so they all run away except Betty who says that she cannot move. The camera angles through all of this were very fast and furious.

Then everything starts to slow down with a picture of Parris on his own looking at the cauldron he lifts up the large spoon inside the pot and drops as if he was scared of it, when he see the chicken as well he gets annoyed though he is a bit scared.

The next scene shows Betty in her bed, with a suspicion of witchcraft floating about the place. Only Tituba and Abigail are in the room with Betty there have about eight minutes of filming yet we hear no words spoken. There is obvious tension between Tituba and Abigail over what has happened.

More tension is shown when Parris questions Abigail about the incident in the forest. Now music is played again with Abigail saying that they danced but Parris suspects witch craft though Abigail is saying that no spirits have been conjured.

The next scene is of Elizabeth and John Proctor who are showing a lot of tension. This tension is raised because John Proctor had an affair with there former servant, and guess who that servant was... Abigail Williams. The scene starts of quite pleasant really with John Proctor and his sons working, the music is quite cheerful, the camera angles are quite far of. John Proctor and his go inside with his sons going to bed and him going to have his dinner. Elizabeth gives it to him without speaking but when they do speak it is about how there marriage is falling apart.

Then the final scene of tension is in Church with the whole village there when a song is sung the girls go over to Betty's room then Abigail speaks to Betty saying she has told her father everything that happened in the woods. Then like lightning Betty wakes up with her saying "I bet you never told him that you drank a charm Abby, a charm to kill Goody Proctor". Then the music gets very loud this is emphasising how important this scene really is. The others girls get quite scared and start to walk away so Abigail threatens them that she would kill anyone who tells on her doings. The camera is only on Abigail, but then Betty jumps up shouting she wants her mom and tries to fly to her out of the window but the girls hold her back and everyone in the church rubs out to them. This causes a lot of tension between all the girls and makes witch craft a better conclusion to what has been happening.

In conclusion to Nicolas Hytner's film of the play "The Crucible" was directed extremely well making them beginning of the film already better to the book the film sets the scene better and I believe that it also creates more tension. Also with the plot being so old it was sometimes easier to understand the words better with them being said correctly and with also being able to see what is going on. Nicolas Hytner has used cinematic features to the best they could be in this film there fore making the filming better for all viewers.

Matthew Brooke English Coursework 20th Century Drama