In what way does the opening scene of the 1997 film "The Crucible" reflect the ideas, atmosphere, and the plot (events) of the play.

The opening scene, which is four percent of the film, is not actually in the play itself there is however background information on it nevertheless at the start of the first act. The first four minutes of the film, which I will be analysing, is an establishing scene therefore it answers the audiences immediate questions of the film. The scene itself does not rely on much dialogue, it plays the role of a visual scene to entice the reader into the atmosphere it’s there to establish the background context. During the course of this essay I will be looking at the movement of the camera and how the camera reflects the image of the characters and the ways the camera portrays the hysteria in the opening scene. I will also be analysing the sound and the setting of the film.

The opening of the film, which displays the credits, portrays an image of obscurity as there is a black background and white writing of the individuals who participated in the making of the film. This starts the film of in a negative disposition. The music adds towards this negative atmosphere with its mysterious music and a sudden drumbeat on the opening shot.

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The setting of the opening scene about the film is based upon young girls pretending to do witchcraft possibly during the Quaker time on mid summers night eve, in a country village. They are trying to make love potions so they can get the boys they love but they are doing this without the consent of their guardians. The camera enables us to see these images as it uses blue black and white colours in the setting, which are the colours most, associated with mid summers night eve. The music is usually of a mysterious tone. There is an element of secrecy in the first twenty or so shots in the opening scene, where the camera does many close up shots of girls before leaving their homes many of them looking to either side if they weren't being looked upon by anybody and whispering when in two shots. The music is at a slightly higher tempo in the opening shots as the franticness is at a peak. Most of the filming in the opening scene is taken place in the woods, where the witchcraft is being taken place. The camera focuses many shots on the formation of the circle, which the girls form when commencing the witchcraft.

The character Abigail played by Winona Ryder in the film is shown by the camera to be a central figure in the film this is also reflected in the play. This is executed by the camera doing several close up images of her and shots where Abigail moves into the camera as represented in the first shot, showing that Abigail is a confident character who is in control of what she does. The camera also focuses on Abigail more than any other character in the first four minutes of the film this is especially shown during the beginning of the film, as she is the first character to confront the audience. Abigail is also portrayed as the leader of the group and the camera enables us to see this clearly during the scene where the girls form a circle in the woods, the camera often uses high angle shots on Abigail to make her look especially powerful. Abigail is portrayed to be an attention seeker in both the film and play. The camera shows Abigail regaining attention as the camera often switches to different characters in the play but nearly always after every three shots if Abigail hasn’t been seen the camera comes back to her. The best shot of Abigail regaining control of a situation was when Tituba was leading a chant. Which the girls were giggling and dancing to, and then Abigail whispers in Titubas ear before getting hold of the chicken and thrashing it on the floor and then smearing the chickens blood over her face causing the girls to cry screams in exasperation.

Tituba is another prominent Character featuring in the opening scene she is also represented by the camera as a leader for many of the girls when they are doing witchcraft but not for Abigail. This is shown by the sound dimming when the camera does close up images of her and also by Tituba being the character with the most lines to say in the opening scene and the girls immediately responding to Titubas commands. Abigail however waits for Tituba particularly to ask her a question before she responds she will not answer to a general question of Titubas which is aimed at all the girls. When Tituba is singing chants and the girls are giggling and dancing Abigail tends to be resolved and concentrating deeply showing that she is at another level to the other girls this is shown by a series of close up images of her focussing especially on her facial expressions.

The camera portrays the mass hysteria at the end of the opening scene with shots of girls moving past the camera and not the camera following the girls. The sound volume also increases when the girls notice Paris this gets the audience into the franticness of the atmosphere. The camera also often moves quickly between shots again to increase the drama of the scene. The camera tends not to use close up shots for certain characters but the shots at the end of the scene tend to be mid-shots or two shots in order that the audience can experience the whole mass hysteria not just the hysteria focussed on particular characters.

The opening scene of the 1997 film "The Crucible" often portrays images of stimulation and tranquillity through out the four minutes of the play this is also noticed during the play. The writer Arthur Miller tried to captivate the fluctuation of the audience's emotions in the first four minutes of the film in the exact same way as he did throughout the play to keep the audience at the edge of there seats. The opening four minutes of the film is a summary of how the play builds up in emotions from a few girls doing harmless deeds in the wood to the mass hysteria at the end of the play and noticeably the end of the opening four minutes of the play.

By Muhammud Malik