Woman in Black opening analysis

The Woman in Black

Director: James Watkins

Studio: CBS films

Budget: N/A

Total gross: $127,730,736

The opening of The Woman in Black creates a lot of narrative enigma and instantly sends chills down our spines as 3 innocent girls become almost possessed and jump out their bedroom windows subsequently killing themselves. We are also first introduced to our ghost of the film however no protagonist is shown throughout the whole opening sequence.

The first shot in the opening sequence consists of a close-up shot on a teacup being poured. The teacups and tea party depict child innocence in the scene as the children are only hosting a tea party. The colours are very cold giving a chilling theme and feel to the scene, very contrary to the typical warm and playful typical tea party. This instantly creates tension and a feel that all isn't right and in context hints at the supernatural.

The soundtrack is the only foliage throughout the opening sequence and becomes louder as the scene progresses, increasing tension. Its also a very typical "scary" soundtrack containing mainly violin and chimes of some sort to create a crooked melody. The next shot is also a close- up as we are becoming more aware of the setting. The shot shows a very vintage doll being fed in the tea party. The vintage doll suggest the film is not set in current times and is most likely set around the 1940s.

The vintage setting to this film is reinforced by the characters costumes revealed in the next shot to be very typical child outfits of the time (big puffy dresses and bows in their hair). The shot is an establishing shot as we are made aware of the setting which seems to be a bedroom. The colours are very de-saturated and cold linking to the genre. The children are controlling the dolls which could foreshadow how the woman controls them later in the scene. The use of slow motion in the scene creates a sinister effect as although the girls are laughing and seem to be having a good time the very scary soundtrack is still prominent in the scene preventing us from feeling relaxed with the characters.

The slow motion still continues through the rest of the scene close ups of the girls to reveal their true emotion and child innocence, this provokes us to form a connection with the character and through viewing behind the scenes of this film the director quoted "to feel attached and take liking to a character allows the viewer to be more impacted by the horror in the film".

The next shot is a point of view shot from the woman who is seemingly positioned in the corner. The 3 girls break the 4th wall and the smiles on heir faces vanish in unison this creates direct connections with us as a viewer making us feel uncomfortable and creates narrative enigma as we wonder whos viewpoint we are looking from the shot is also subtly looking down on the girls suggesting them as powerless and weak in this scene.

The girls look towards us (the woman) then the next shot reveals them looking toward the window, foreshadowing their fate. The soundtrack at this point becomes louder increasing further tension levels as the children begin to get  up and walk towards the door.

The next shot is a push in shot on the window, further foreshadowing the path of the children but also bringing us unwillingly closer to the fate the children will undergo, making us feel more uncomfortable the shot is from the perspective of the children as its lower than the norm.

Maintaining the slow motion theme as the girls walk towards the window we see a close up of the dolls and tea cups being smashed by their footsteps. Illustrating the lack of control they have and disregard of reality as they loose their innocence and meet a very tragic death. We then get a tracking shot of the girls walking in unison towards the window, this makes us as a viewer feel very uncomfortable. The very pale faces of the girls creates almost a sense of death even before they meet their fate. The shot is very smooth also showing no sign of resistance from the girl illustrating the power of the woman.

The next shot shows the girls jumping out the window and is also in slow motion in order to enhance the drama of the action the soundtrack at this point is broken as the girls leave the window by an unpredicted scream which is shocking to us as a viewer and very unpleasant, it gives us a feel of raw emotion for the tragedy that has just taken paced and brings us back to reality. The window frame eventually becomes foreground in the shot which gives us direct connection for what is about the happen (jump out the window).
The shot pulls back from when they jump connoting how this incident effects more than just the household.

The final shot is also a pull back shot from the window to reveal our protagonist ( the woman in black) we are introduced to her over the shoulder and do not see her face creating narrative enigma as to who she is and her purpose to the story. Her outfit is black suggesting supernatural presence or a figure of morning, foreshadowing her true motives to killing the children later revealed in the film