When Arthur Miller published “The Crucible” in 1953, the audience for the work was a nation of Americans prey to McCarthyism. The communist “witch hunt” is long over, but the public's fascination with this shameful piece of American history is not. The original opera took place over the course of 4 acts which consisted mainly of dialogues. As a result, the creators of the 1996 film adaptation were given a lot of creative freedom to update the narrative for a modern audience. Director Nicholas Hytner used a number of cinematic techniques that allowed the moving images to tug at the audience's heartstrings as effectively as the previous book. Given the time constraints of a film, several scenes were rewritten to facilitate easier delineation of the plot. The director also used different camera techniques to control the pace of the film, making it easier to pick out the most important parts. Overall, Hytner's scene changes and unique shots resulted in an emotionally compelling film. The director rearranged the tense discussions that occurred immediately before Reverend Hale's arrival into different scenes to make the conflicts in the film easier to understand. Otherwise, audiences may become confused about the characters' identities and the complex web of disagreements between them. The play condensed a heated argument between the men of the book into a series of discussions just before the reverend's arrival. In the book, Parris, Putnam, Proctor, and Giles were in a room discussing the general discontent in Salem. As Giles says: “Why is everyone suing everyone? I have been to court six times this year” (p. 37)....... half of the paper ...... falling from the gallows, while the citizens raised their arms in celebration. Audible drums were played as the bodies went limp, underscoring the finality of death. Whenever a written work is adapted into a film, artistic changes must be made to create an effective film. The play The Crucible relied heavily on complex passages of dialogue and took place in a very small group of settings. Due to time constraints, the film couldn't include all the dialogue from the book and still be entertaining. The director then selected the most important passages, often separating scenes from complex settings to make the film easier to understand. The director also used a wide assortment of camera techniques to highlight the parts he wanted viewers to get excited about. Overall, I thought the film adaptation of The Crucible was well done.