Group 4 - Foundation Production: LB - Horror Opening Analysis

Women In Black (Watkins, 2012)

Genre

The film is a paranormal horror. This is clear as the dolls and manikins placed around the table, along with the antagonist, which we briefly see pictured at the end, these are all conventions of a paranormal horror. The girls also look directly at the antagonist, but we only become aware of this once they all jump from the window. These conventions are shared with films such as Annabelle (Leonetti, 2014) and Incidious (Wan, 2010).

Film Language -
CAMERA-

The close up shots of the the dolls as the children play with them helps to add an lifeless to the sequence, as the camera is focused on the stillness of the dolls, which could be foreshadowing the later death of the young girls themselves. The close ups of the porcelain tea pot pouring the pretend liquid into cup; is used to identify to the audience that the girls are role playing.

The establishing shot of the girls playing with their toys shows the audience that the scene is set in an attic, which is a common setting for a horror such as in Sinister (Derrickson, 2012).
The long shot of the girls simultaneously turning their heads to look down the camera then turns the shot into a POV shot of someone looking down at the children. This is a very interesting shot as we have idea who or what this unknown matter is, thus creating mystery and tension in the scene.
The zoom towards the window resembles an the girls attraction the window and focuses the audience on the prop.

Lastly the medium close up of the young girls walking towards the window helps show the audience their emotionless and serious facial expressions which seems controlled almost, this directly contracts from the close ups of their warm happy smiles earlier.

EDITING

Minimal editing is used in the sequence. There is no title sequence, no credits used and no unusual cuts. The sequence is film with continuity editing. This method of simplistic editing is used so the audience are not distracted from the events of sequence and make the opening scene more intense.

MISE-EN-SCENE

From the furniture in the attic it is clear that the scene is set in the Victorian era. The costume of the girls is also used to resemble the Victoria era.
The colour of the girl's dresses are all pastel colours used in many horror films to symbolize purity,victim and innocence. They are also not bright stand-out colours, meaning they don't distract the audience's attention.

The director deliberately used porcelain dolls as metaphor for the young girls, to suggest that they are extremely fragile, this is an excellent use of props.

As the girls move towards the window the obvious lack of respect for their toys is an direct opposite from earlier when they where carefully playing with them. This sudden change of personality is used to highlight the paranormal presence in the room.

SOUND

The non-diegetic sound of the music box gives a clam yet spooky feel to the scene. it is used to take the innocence away from the tea party and replace it with tension.

The diegetic sound of the porcelain smashing and breaking underfoot of the girls is left in to unsettle the audience.

Lastly the non-diegetic music drops out as the girls jump from the windows. Then we only hear the scream of a women which iconic for horror movies!

Narrative -

The opening sequence is short so it doesn't give the plot very long to develop, however in the scene we see the stock characters, in this case the three young girls, having a tea party when suddenly they dismiss what they are doing after all seeing something, walk to the window and jump. The plot leaves the audience on a cliff hanger. From the antagonist that is briefly seen at the end of the opening sequence we can see this is a paranormal horror.

Representation & Ideology -

The young girls are used here to show how evil prays on the weak and vulnerable. They film may be identified how younger people can be controlled by the evil of the world.

Media Audiences -

The target audience for most horrors is 15-24 year olds, however the film was targeted at people younger than 15, as the film was made a PG-13 (according to IMDB). The film can be read as a metaphor for how society prays of the weak and vulnerable or how the media prays on the weak and vulnerable. However from my viewpoint as a British teenager my reading of this is just that there is an evil present which needs to be removed from the earth.

Institutional Context -

The film does not star many big names apart from the protagonist who is played by Daniel Radcliffe. Daniel Radcliffe is very significant in the film as his name was a major factor in the success of film. Audiences where drawn to film as this was Radcliffe's first major film after the Harry Potter Series.

The Woman In Black was produced by Cross Creek Films and Hammer Film Productions, both independent production companies. This is evident in the film as the film had only one A-lister.