John Proctor's Use Of The Opening Scene In The Crucible

Normally dancing around the fire isn’t a bad idea, rewind to the 17th century and you’re in for a lot of drama. Depicted first as a play written by Arthur Miller, The Crucible was later developed into a movie in 1996 directed by Nicholas Hytner. The movie portrays a series of events based on true incidents that happened in Salem, Massachusetts 1962 as the Salem witch trials came to be. Starting out with the opening scene, young girls begin to dance around a fire, summoning spirits among those men they liked. Mainly focused on one, in particular, Abigail, who is the center of attention, providing actions against any puritan would portray. Samuel Parris, the town’s preacher, witnesses this event and keeps his mouth shut, as Abigail is his niece. Horrified of the consequences they shall face from their actions, the girls begin to pretend to be under the works of the devil and …show more content…
Starting in the opening scene, it is merely foggy with a low ambiance of light creating a solemn mood. Fast forward to the introduction of John Proctor, who we see working hard in a field, the joyful, fast-tempo sound displayed builds the idea that John is the protagonist and a good man. Throughout we see Abigail as a very aggressive role, due to the fact that she wants to be with John and doesn’t want to be executed for witchcraft. Her tone of voice when accusing a townsperson in court and in the beginning when awakening Betty, is beyond rigorous and rugged. Likewise, when John and Abigail are first seen together alone, her tone becomes completely opposite as it is soothing because she loves John. We see the obvious connection as the camera functions a close up on the two, back and forth, with an enjoyable sound in the background as they kiss that quickly turns to suspense as Abigail lashes out to John slandering his wife’s name in