Film Techniques In The Crucible

866 Words4 Pages

Creating film adaptations of stage productions can be very easy, but creating a film adaptation of a stage production that makes effective use of the film medium to communicate an idea without losing the essence or message of the original production, well, it can be quite difficult. Although screenwriters, cinematographers, and directors have and use various tools that aren’t available to playwrights and book writers they often struggle with the effective presentation of an idea. They wonder what they could change to enhance the author’s message and how they could change it without losing/disparaging the original charm or themes. The constructive use of film techniques and film medium is the key to both a distinguished film adaptation, and the successful presentation of major ideas. It is evident that in Miller’s 1996 film adaptation that one of the major ideas present in The Crucible is the irony of male power. This idea could only be effectively presented through the use of various film techniques such as lighting, music/sound, and camera angles/shot selection.
Within the Puritan society located in Salem, Massachusetts, power is a dominant force in the daily life of almost all Puritans. Puritan society is very patriarchal which causes most of the power and authority to lie in the hands of both The Church, which is controlled by men, and Men. Therefore deeming women and children to be inferior, but all this is changed during the Salem witch trials. The town is led into a period of hysteria, …show more content…

They effectively presented this idea through the use of various film techniques such as lighting, music/sound, and camera angles/shot selection. The film adaptation is both effective in its delivery of the message but also in its maintaining of the original essence of the