Analysis of the First 15 Minutes of a Similar Film - The Woman In Black

I have chosen to do The Woman In Black for my film analysis as it is similar to the film my group and I aim to create. It's similar because the film features supernatural elements and ghosts, and also due to the flashback being used in our film, it has similarities with the time setting of the film.

 

The first shot of the film is a close up of an old fashioned looking tea set, which then cuts to a close up of an old fashioned doll and various other toys. This close up shot is used to show the detail of the toys to the audience, and suggests by the appearance of the toys that the film doesn't have a modern setting. There is no diegetic sound in the first minute of the film, instead there is non-diegetic music. The non-diegetic music starts off sinister sounding, but quite soft, and creates ambiguity in this scene. The lack of diegetic sound is also effective as it causes the viewers to pay more attention to the sinister sounding music. We are then shown a long shot of three girls playing with the tea set and dolls. This is an establishing shot as it places these three characters in their environment. From the


girl's costumes and props around them it is clear that the film isn't set in modern time. The music then becomes less soft and more harsh sounding when all three girls look into a corner of the room which is out of view to the camera. This sudden change in the music changes the ambiguous feeling to a more ominous one and suggests that whatever the girls are looking at is threatening. The girls then turn and look to the other end of the room, and a

zooming in shot is used on the window, the music also becomes increasingly harsh as the camera zooms in on the window, these elements suggest that the window is of importance. As the girls stand up, one of them drops a cup they were playing with. The smashing sound of the cup is the first piece of diegetic sound to be heard in the film. Limiting the 

diegetic sound in this scene to the smashing of the cup is effective as the only piece of diegetic sound the audience have heard is the sound of something being destroyed, this builds up tension and the ominous feeling of the film even more, as it suggests something far more valuable could be at risk of being destroyed. The next three pieces of diegetic sound in the film are all sounds of the girl's toys being destroyed. While this is happening, close up shots are being used on each toy being destroyed, and the whole sequence appears to be slowed down, temporal editing is used in order to put more emphasis on it. The sinister music is still playing and an echoing effect has been used on the small pieces of diegetic sound which is heard, this gives the film a surreal feeling and also builds up tension. As the girls walk up to the window the camera moves out and match on action is used as they step on a higher ledge which brings them closer to the window.The non diegetic music begins to build up as the girls open the window, sounding increasingly sinister, the girls then jump out of the window and the sinister music fades away. Diegetic  dialogue is then heard of a woman screaming, As the woman is hysterically screaming the camera pans out, giving a clearer view of the bedroom. A close up shot of a toy doll is then shown, whilst the woman is still screaming in the background. The screaming adds juxtaposition to the shot of the doll as dolls aren't usually associated with unpleasant things such as screaming and death. A high angle shot is then shown of the children's room whilst the camera continues to pan out, the screaming then fades out and the shot also fades out whilst a dissolve edit is used to move onto the next shot which is of fog moving.

 The title sequence is then shown to us, using the moving fog as a background image. More dramatic and sad sounding music is used while words emerge out of the fog, images also emerge out of the fog, with a transparent affect used on them. One of the images is of a wedding ring being placed on someone's finger. The mood the music sets doesn't fit in well with these images shown as the images often have connotations of happiness, whereas the music does not. This adds a feel of ambiguity to the title sequence, and makes the music contrapuntal. A close up image of a man appears in the fog, the fog then gradually fades and a dissolve edit is used to show the viewers that this close up shot is of a man looking into a mirror. The Lighting is dull and there

is very little colour, which gives the scene a depressing feel. The man also appears to have tears in his eyes which heightens the depressing feel of this scene. The camera slowly pans out whilst and a blurred figure appears behind him in the mirror, she then says his name and a deep, short sound is used in the non-diegetic music, possibly to suggest his surprise. He then turns around to face the woman, the film then cuts to a long shot, which shows that the woman isn't there and establishes the scene. 

This is the first main character we've been introduced to, he is presented to us as troubled straight away in this scene. We then get a clearer indication of why he's troubled 5 minutes into the film, when a close up shot is used on a picture his son has drawn of him, his dad, his nanny and his mother as an angel in the sky. This shows to the audience that the main characters wife is dead, and adds depth to this character. The film then cuts to a Long Shot of a busy looking city setting. Dim lighting and bland colours are used here again, there is also a lot of fog, which is a typical convention of a horror film. There is then a medium shot of the man and his son, talking whilst a lot of ambient sound is present. This enforces the idea of them being in a busy city setting.

The film cuts to a scene of the main character in an office setting, a birds eye view angel is used of the room as an establishing shot. There is another character present in the scene, they begin speaking of a woman who recently died, when the death of her child is brought up in the dialogue non-diegtic solemn music begins to play, which suggests the death of her child could be important to the storyline, and also adds ambiguity to the scene.

Once the scene is over it cuts to a long shot
of a train moving on some tracks, this then cuts to a shot inside the train where the camera then zooms slightly towards the main character before cutting to a medium shot of him. He looks out of the window into the distance, and a sound bridge is used to move onto the next scene of a flashback of his wife giving birth. The us of a sound bridge is effective as

it makes the transition between shots less noticeable. A sound bridge is also used when the flashback is ending and it cuts to a scene of the main character at a train station. Elliptical editing is then used whilst he is waiting for a train at the train station and for the rest of his journey to his destination. The main character then arrives at the place he is planning to stay, when he opens the door to the room he's going to stay in, a long shot is used to show the full inside of the room, and slightly sad non-diegetic music begins to play, the room is easily recognisable as the room the three girls we're playing in in the first scene of the film. A close up shot of the broken toy doll is used, and then diegetic sound of rattling and wind begins, which adds an ambiguous feeling to the film.