Institutional information
Woman in Black is a 12 rated film produced by Cross Creek Pictures. The 93 minute long movie was directed by James Watkins and is currently rated 6.5 stars out of 10 on the IMDB website. The opening weekend of the film produced $20,874,072, while the gross profit is $54,322,273; the budget for this film was $17,000,000. It was successful in its opening.
Narrative
The Woman in Black, made in 2012, is a supernatural horror film involving a lawyer that discovers a vengeful ghost in a deserted house. The film builds up to introducing the main setting, which creates tension within the audience as the locations is not yet revealed. The area surrounding the house is very isolated and secluded from 'reality', thus makes the audience feel more apprehensive about the film as locations like this are often associated with horror, presenting a typical horror convention.
Mise en scene
The opening of the film begins with children playing with a china tea set and dolls; this already creates a tense atmosphere as stereotypically old fashioned children's toys are used in horror films, which presents the genre of the film immediately. The shots of the china dolls are close up, not revealing the entire scene until 20 seconds in. Again this creates suspense as the audience are unaware of the location.The lighting in the opening isn't entirely dark, but there is gloomy feeling to the light in the room. Only natural light is used making some areas of the room dark, but a sepia type effect has been used to diminish bright colours which creates a more mysterious atmosphere. This effect also signifies film from years ago, as generally older films have less colour. A flashback is often used to show how something has changed over time or affected the present, so this gives the audience an idea that the clip is the cause for the disruption in the film.
The characters, 3 little girls, are wearing traditional Edwardian clothing, representing the time that the film is set in. This is also reflected in the toys that are in the background, which appears to be a nursery.A long shot is then used to establish the location with a better view - it shows the three children using direct mode of address looking at the camera. It provides a haunting shot that connects with the audience, allowing them to relate to the characters, although also proves chilling, leaving the audience in anticipation of something to come. The girls then simultaneously stare to the bay window at the other end of the room which signifies that someone has told them to. As the audience can't see if there is anyone behind the camera, it creates tension and suspense - a key horror convention.
A series of close ups and medium shots follows this, showing the girls drop everything they are holding and move towards the window. The way that they do this possibly shows they have been possessed, something that is common in horror and will meet that audiences expectations. When the characters move towards the window, they step on the china dolls heads, smashing them. Their complete disregard to the toys they were previously playing with could connote that they are no
longer who they once were e.g they have been possessed. The smashing of the dolls head may represent a lost childhood or destroyed happiness.An eye level shot is used to capture the girls emotions, however due to the possible possession, they are displaying no feelings as they are being told what to do. We then see the three girls stand in front of the windows, which causes tension as well as shock, because the little girls are portrayed as innocent and sweet. The children then jump out of the window, leaving the audience stunned as to what has just happened; the camera zooms out to reveal a black figure with a vail, confirming that the girls were possessed. This sets the film up to involve said black figure, conforming to the conventions of horror.
Editing/camera angles
The Woman in Black uses a lot of quick cuts to create tension for the audience , something that is typically used to stir emotions. Most of the opening is shot in a slight slow motion, which makes the audience aware of every aspect of the shot; it also has a sinister and creepy feel to it, as every move is slow which builds tension as the audience is waiting for something to happen. There are a lot of extreme close ups and close ups, particularly on the china tea set and the girls faces. This puts specific attention to the things that are close up, giving the audience something to focus on and think about. A jump shot is used to show a cup falling from a child's hand and smashing to the floor, giving emphasis on how the children have lost interest in their dolls and are doing what someone is telling them to without thinking. The camera also uses deep focus on some of the dolls to imitate the things surrounding it, especially as there are a lot of toys in a nursery. A high shot of the three girls shows that they are inferior to whoever is 'possessing' them, and that that person holds dominance in the situation. Cuts are used most commonly to change shots, as this can help to create suspense for the audience.
Sound
The entire opening of the film uses a pre recorded non-diegetic sound track of a slanted take on old fashioned nursery rhyme. Stereotypically, this type of music is associated with the genre horror as the sounds can be ominous and eerie, so the use in this circumstance seems to fit. Towards the end of the opening when the three girls are standing at the window, non-diegetic sounds of church bells begin to play. This has significance because it signifies death as they are bells that may be played at a funeral, so it foreshadows what is about to happen. The bells also add tension to the clip. There us one section of diegetic sound, which comes from the mother as she screams 'my babies' once the girls have jumped. This evokes empathy from the audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment