The atmosphere at the begging of the film is dramatic and has a sense of urgency. This effect is given to the audience, because of the music that is slow at first then fast, as Abigail makes her first sudden movement in the night, when she wakes up and sits up straight very quickly. She then wakes the young girl next to her, Betty, who also gets up quickly and they both change from their nightdresses to their day clothes very quickly. This first scene on Abigail is a close up side angle shot, which shows the expression on her face, which shows anxiety. Abigail has been chosen for this shot as she plays a major part in The Crucible.
In the play, Abigail is introduced as if she was innocent, but is “ a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling” who introduces Susanna Walcott, and advises Susanna not to say anything to the village, and then she says to Parris “We did dance, uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted. And that’s the whole of it.” And fails to tell Parris exactly what happened, and then when questioned denies conjuring spirits. It is important for young and beautiful girls to play Abigail in both the play and film, as it makes her appear more innocent than she is. She makes herself seem more innocent by being able to talk about witchcraft like no one else in her village, this also helps her to seem fearless and confident. Abigail’s effect on the audience is that she is a liar, and will say nearly anything to try and protect her innocence and come across to the people she knows as pure as she can. Abigail’s affair with John Proctor in the film is only mentioned briefly, and not much is said on the subject as if it was not to be talked about, as if it was an unheard of thing o do and would effect the reputation of the family. In the film it is gone into with more detail, not by adding speech, but by the way the characters act and their body language, Parris is over bearing, looking down on Abigail has a sense of power, and Abigail is looking up to him harshly, with out a sign of fear. To show that she has nothing to be ashamed off, and shouts at him when he suggests the affair with John Proctor as if she was insulted and shocked that he could suggest such a thing. Back in the old days when the play was set, having an affair was a big deal; the woman could be outcast from their home and village, and wiped for their sins, back in 1953, it was just as unheard off, you weren’t outcaste or wiped, but is was still a very serious issue. When the film was made, having an affair was more acceptable, but is still frowned upon, and people were becoming more open minded and forgiving, so the film director could get away with going into more detail in this particular area.
Tituba is a slave from Barbados; so because she is a slave and coloured, she has no rights, and no respect from the people around her. Her character in the play is timid and afraid; she is timid, because she knows she is different from her master, Parris, he is a man of the church; she is a social out cast because of her job and race. If Tituba behaves badly she knows she will be without a home and job. She is afraid, because she knows that something is wrong, because Betty is lying in her bed, not dead but barely alive. And if witchcraft were going to be a suspect, then she would be an easy target because of whom she is. But in the film, because it starts differently, Tituba comes across as a different person. When the girls run into the forest to meet her, she says, “ what you bring me?” this is a demanding statement, implying that she is a Godly figure, in control and the girls are being her slave. But the roles are quickly reversed when the girls, especially Abigail start to boss Tituba around. Then later on in the film, Abigail accuses Tituba of witchcraft, and Parris and other important people of Salem, go to Tituba’s tent to confront her. She is dragged out of her tent, and flung onto the floor, resting against a rock, shaking with terror, they then accuse her of witchcraft, with a look of horror she denies the accusation, and is then whipped and forced to confess out of fear for her own life.
In the film, Reverend Parris is, sneaking up on the girls in the forest, and watching from a distance, and is then spotted. As the girls flee, leaving a petrified Betty and Abigail cowering by a tree trunk, Parris approaches the cauldron on the fire and lifts up a spoon, when he sees the frog in the pot; he jumps back, and appears quite shocked. Later on he is quite worried about his daughter Betty, and wants to know exactly what happened in the forest, and accuses Abigail of dancing naked in the forest, she lies and denies it, Parris then slaps her, and accuses her of having an affair with John Proctor that she also denies. But in the play, he comes across as someone completely different, he yells at Tituba, when she asks how Betty is, and he is a selfish man worried about his ego, we know this when he has a strong reaction as to what the people of the village should be told, as rumours are being said about Betty flying.
The content difference between the film and play start off right at the beginning, the film has witchcraft as its opening scene, which help add to the atmosphere, Miller added this to his film to help the audience understand what was going on, and to make it more exciting and intriguing for the audience to watch, it also makes it more modern and easier for the audience to relate to. On the other hand, the play has a much simpler opening as it would be nearly impossible to stage the opening of the film on a stage, because there is too much happening to quickly for the actors to keep up with the story. Also the opening of the play is dramatic, but it wouldn’t get peoples attention in a cinema. Back in the day where the play is set, communism plays a big part to it as many people were being accused of being a communist, and if you weren’t accused you were afraid that someone would accuse you. It seemed that they were concerned with themselves and thought that if they accused someone else then they couldn’t be accused. This played a huge part in the film and play as the girls who were “witched” protected themselves by accusing anyone who posed a threat to them. Witchcraft scenes are not in the play as it helps emphasise to the audience how serious it was. The main theme to the film seems to be a game of “point-the-finger”, everyone was blaming someone else, which led to a great deal of miss-trust. A Hollywood audience is expecting mystery and excitement, which is what they get in the film. The mystery is what the girls are up to, and the excitement comes from guessing who will be accused of next.
The differences between the play and film have been made to make the film more appealing to a modern target audience and the play for a more old-fashioned target audience. In the film you found out who did what in the forest, but the play is full of ambiguity, it is vital not to know, what happened, otherwise the story line and plot is given away. The Crucible was based on an endless theme that people all over the world are fascinated by and fear, it is based on witchcraft that has a great deal of mystery about it. Also, the film and play were based in Salem where the famous witch trials took place. This is a very clever thing to base a film and play on, as it will always grab people’s attention. It is also full off love, deceit and secrecy, which all films are trying to include. All this helps to make the film popular for a long time.
