The Woman In Black Opening Scene Analysis (Horror)

The Woman In Black Opening Scene Analysis

Sound

Non-diegetic sound is used to create an eerie sound and suggests something important is about to happen. It creates suspense and tension and reflects the change that the little girls go through during the scene. This shows it is a horror as these genres tend to do this, especially with something that seems to be innocent.

Diegetic sound is used not for speaking but as the girls walk towards the window, the dolls and tea cups break as they step on them, like they don't know they are there and therefore are not themselves as they were just enjoying playing with them. Also, after they jump out of the window, you hear a woman screaming in terror as she has just witnessed her kids commit suicide. This intensifies the atmosphere.

Camera Angles

At the start there are medium shots to show the girls having an innocent tea party. As they turn different, a long shot is used to show all of them looking at one place in the room at the same time and the camera cant see what they are looking at. As they stand up and walk towards the window, close up shots of their feet breaking cups and dolls make the scene more intense. Then another long shot is used to show all of them jumping out of the window at the same time. The camera is placed right at the back of the room and after they jump, it starts to zoom out, slowly showing a mysterious, figure in the shadows.

Characters

There are three main characters in this scene - the three little girls. This is very typical of a horror movie as a lot of them include innocent children and something bad happening to them. This connects the audience with the film as you don't want bad happening to them. Also right at the end of the scene, the antagonist is slightly introduced as you see a dark, mysterious figure that has just watched the children jump out of the window and do nothing about it, this makes the audience assume that it made them do it.

Enigma Codes

An enigma code in this scene is right at the end, when the children just jumped out of a window for no reason and the mysterious figure is there, this makes the audience wonder why they did it, did the figure make them do it, why would it do that and what the figure actually is as you only see the back of it.

Props/Costumes

The dresses that the girls are wearing are old and so does the house. Also they are having a fake tea party so this suggests that it is not set in modern times. This is typical of a horror genre because a lot of them are set in the past as the past was mysterious and a lot of tales and paranormal stuff supposedly went on which makes up modern day horror movies. Also old dolls are used because a lot of people find them creepy and too innocent, like when they constantly stare at you and a lot of them are linked to paranormal activities.

Clichés
A cliché in this scene is that children are the victims, and a woman in a black dress is the one that seems to make them do it. A lot of people associate with women as being ghostly and therefore scary in horror movies, especially when they are dressed in black.