Image, Sound, and Camera Techniques in The Crucible

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Throughout the course of life, many things are needed to survive. The main three are food, shelter, and love. Along with these main things there are side items. One of which is entertainment. Entertainment comes in a variety of forms. Some include: sports, music, video games, shopping, and movies. From observation one can conclude that movies are a popular form of entertainment. What most people fail to see when they view a movie are the camera angles, visual aids, and audio aids used by the director of the film. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the director demonstrates the power of image, sound, and camera techniques very well. In Act I Scene I, the opening scene, there are many audio and visual aids used. When all of the girls gather in the woods, mysterious music is playing. As the women get further and further into the forest, the scenery gets darker. When all of the ladies are gathered around the pot, whispering is used to catch the attention of the viewers. As the scene continues one of the persons starts singing a voodoo song. A girl takes a dead chicken and drinks the blood from it. By now everyone is running wild jumping and screaming. One girl feels the urge to get naked and dance around. By now the governor has entered the scene. The maidens see him and recognize him. They all frantically run away, except two. One is screaming because of what she has seen. She claims to not be able to move. The other one is holding her staring off into an endless gaze. Aside from the audio and visual points, there are various camera angles used. When everyone is circled around the boiling pot the camera man uses a stedicam shot to circle around and show everyone’s face. When the viewer is seeing a girl take off her clothes the camera technician uses a zoom shot. This holds true when the governor approaches the gathering. In Act III Scene III some of the best techniques in the whole movie are used. This is the scene when John Proctor and the little group of girls are in the court room. When John’s wife enters the room the girls start glaring at her. At the same time this is happening, mysterious music is playing. There is a dead silence in the room. Then the girls start screaming. Abigail turns pale, and her temperature drops considerably.

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