Texual Analysis: The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black fades in from a black screen and begins with a close-up shot of an empty teapot pouring tea into two other teacups. Typically in horror films, they begin with a black screen and TWIB enforces the ideas further. The first shot is in shallow focus so the audience is draw attention the the objects in the middle. The rule of thirds have been accounted for, the teacup in the middle square and the teapot in the top right.

Whilst the action is happening, non-diegetic music begins. It is of what sounds to be a music box which moves at a slow pace to keep the suspense going. The sounds are high pitched and are in a minor key which immediately sets the tone and makes the atmosphere kind of sinister-it gives off an uncomfortable feeling.

The camera then cuts to another close-up of a hand feeding tea to a doll. It has also got a shallow depth of field so the focus is on the doll. This follows with several close-up shots of various porcelain  and fabric dolls. Each doll has a sinister look to it making the audience uneasy.

A long shot is then used to frame the entire room, in which there are three young girls playing with their dolls and tea set. The mise en scene presents the colours of the room which are quite cold and pale, contributing to the sinister feeling. The room has old wooden beams and a old pram is positioned on the left showing that it is a playroom. This hints what time period TWIB is set in.  All three girls are of similar ages with long brown hair. The dresses and toy dolls further suggest that the film is set in the past. Based on the room and it's objects, it shows that they are from a wealthy family-the room is quite large and the number of dolls they possess emphasises that.

The camera then cuts to more close ups of the children playing with their dolls, the toys and hands being the only things in focus. A medium shot is used to show the two girls on the left and captures their facial expressions as being happy. The white dresses are to represent their innocent childlike personalities, as with the ribbons in their hair. Subtle makeup is used to make their cheeks appear rosy which shows that they are quite healthy and joyful.

After, there is a close up of the other girl wearing a pink dress to highlight her girly personality. The close up is then followed with match on action to show the action of her putting the teacup down. The shot is level with the floor and the other dolls as if it was through the eyes of one of the dolls. This contributes to the chilling feeling as the audience knows that something is wrong.

From there, the camera films a high angle shot from the corner of the room as the three girls suddenly look over towards where the camera is. This adds suspense and the audience is unaware at what the girls are looking at. Often, a high angle is to show superiority and dominance which could suggest that there is a presence of something stronger than them.

The music increases as deep sounding bells are added to signify the build up of events. The shot then transitions to a long shot similar to the one in the beginning where the girls turn their heads in unison again but towards the other side of the room. There is something strange about the way their heads turn at the same time which may signify that there is some sort of presence influencing them.

The camera zooms in to reveal a set of three windows. The zoom in is effective because it can forebode that the end is getting closer and it also draws the audience in towards the windows to show that there is some sort of significance. The windows show that TWIB takes place during the day so it subverts from the generic conventions of horror.

The girls, still staring at the windows all stand up. The camera films a close up of a black shoe. The colour black contrasts the white and pink dresses and almost seems out of place, leading to something that doesn't feel quite right. Another close up shows the girl dropping the teacup onto the floor. as it reaches the ground there is use of foley to emphasise the breaking of the cup. The sharp sounds foreshadows the danger that they are in and maybe even death.

The camera films at ground level once again showing their black shoes carelessly treading on their seemingly expensive toys and dolls. Each of the breakages are accompanied by a quite exaggerated violent sound of snapping and cracking which supports the idea further that something bad is going to happen.

The background music increases volume as bass notes are combined with it to illustrate the climax of the opening. The scene then cuts to the next shot which is a medium shot. The three girls are now standing in a line and walking slowly towards the window where the camera is following the girls until is is filming outside the window. The tempo is also increased to add to the suspense and tension.

A long shot from the back of the room shows the action of the girls stepping onto the windows ledge. All three of them open the window, continuing to do so in sync. This shot transitions to a close up of a hand pulling the handle. The action marks the build up of what is going to happen and by now, the audience knows that something terrible is going to happen. The scene then changes back to the view from the back of the room to show the girls stepping on to the window ledge. The music box sounds stop and the low bass music continues as the girls jump off the ledge. The background music increases in volume dramatically as the girls disappear from the shot.

As the music stops a piercing scream is heard faintly which signals that the girls are probably dead. The camera films a close up of one of the dolls that remained undamaged as a voice is heard screaming, "My Babies!" There is a loud deep gong at the same time which emphasises the devastating tragedy. To end the scene, the camera zooms out from the back of the room to reveal a person dressed in black standing in the corner. The audience is now aware that it was this person who probably influenced the girls to do what they did. The colour black highlights that it is probably something malevolent. This confirms the previous idea that there was something with more power linking with the high angle shot.