The first scene in ‘Woman In Black’ introduces the storyline of the film a little by how the children act and where the scene is set. The opening scene has many conventions of horror, such old children’s dolls and toys, tinny music and the fact that it is set in a gothic time period. All these and some more horror conventions add together to create an opening scene which introduces the type of horror that will be expected in the rest of the film.
Sound:
The main sound in the opening scene is the non-diegetic music which is playing throughout the scene. This music starts off very slow and quiet at the start of the scene and gets slightly louder as the scene goes on. The music is like children’s music playing from an old music box as it is quite shrill and tinny. This adds to the effect of horror because the sound could connote a ghost is present as it is very eerie.
Apart from the music, the only other sound doesn’t come from the children playing with the toys, but from the toy tea set. There are some faint sounds of china teacups clinking when the three little girls are playing with them. As well as the sounds from the teacups, there are also the sounds of the dolls smashing when the little girl steps on it and the teacups smashing. This could have been done to exaggerate the destruction the woman in black has to the families of the children she kills. It also could have been used to show the audience that these children are being controlled as previously; they were playing with their toys very delicately.
Another way sound has been used for effect is right at the very end where the music stops and then suddenly there is a scream. By using this diegetic sound, the audience knows that the three girls have died from jumping out the windows. This is a convention of horror as it tells the audience what has happened without showing them which makes people fear for what has happened to the girls even though they know they have died. The way that there is silence before the scream creates tension and makes the audience wonder whether the children have survived.
Mise en Scene:
The elements in the scene are some of the main parts in making the scene fit into the horror genre. The costumes that the children are dressed in are Victorian which is seen as a gothic time period. This sets the scene as being in a time where there were a lot of horror stories and superstition.
The children are then playing with very old china dolls and an old tea set. These types of toys are often shown in horror films because of the fears and stories about china dolls. The appearances of these dolls are also very creepy because they are much worn and dirty which could show that they are very old. Old objects are a convention of horror as we don’t often know much about them.
In the playroom the children are in, there are three windows. There also three little girls. This creates horror near the end of the scene as the girls are walking towards the windows. The windows are separated by window frames so when the children are on the window ledge they are separated. This could reflect the fact that the children are being controlled and therefore are separated from their surroundings.
Another way that the children are shown to be controlled is by making them move in sync without them showing that they are acknowledging each other. This is would make the audience feel uncomfortable as it is very unnatural as previously the children were all playing together normally.
Editing:
In this scene, there isn’t much editing which is obvious to the audience apart from the cuts to each different camera angles. Saying this, it is possible that the scene has been brightened to show that the scene is set on a normal day in the children’s lives. This contradicts with what happens to them as their fate is very dark. The scene could also have been lightened to reflect the children’s innocence which also contradicts what happens to them.
Camera:
There are a lot of different camera angles in this scene but all of them have a significance to give the audience understanding and direction in the scene. Instead of the first camera shot being an establishing shot, it is a close up of the children playing. This shows that audience that, in this scene, the children and their actions are the main focuses. It also shows that audience that the film is set in Victorian times.
The close-ups in this scene are mostly of the dolls and toys. By doing this, the audience could begin to feel uneasy as the facial expressions of the toys are very blank. Close-ups are also used in time with the diegetic sounds of the toys breaking. The camera is close-up whenever something smashes or when the windows are opening. This is most likely done to give the audience’s eye line direction and also to show where the sound is coming from.
The last camera shot of the scene I feel is very significant to explain the children’s odd behaviour. At the end of the scene, the camera back tracks in an establishing shot of the playroom to show a woman standing to the side of the camera in a black veil so we can’t see her face. This introduces another character and shows the audience that this character was controlling the children. This then makes the audience fear this character as this character has proved that they are powerful and controlling in a supernatural way.
Audience Demographics:
I feel that if I was to look at the target audience using the old fashioned class rankings, I think the target audience for this specific film would be Upper Middle Class to Upper Class as those are the classes that are portrayed in the film. However, this approach is no longer appropriate for analysing a target audience. A better approach to use is the 'Life Matrix' approach. This approach groups audiences into their different personalities. For example; 'Free Birds' will be different to 'Tribe Wired' as 'Free Birds' categorised as vital and active whereas 'Tribe Wired' audiences are described as digital and creative thinking singles. Using this approach, I think this film appeals to more to 'Tribe Wired' audiences as it is based around a supernatural idea. A 'Tribe Wired' audience may enjoy this as it allows them to think about how the spirit has become so vengeful.
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