Movie opening: Horror - The Woman In Black.

Introduction to the film:

The Woman In Black is a British Horror film, written by Jane Goldman, based upon Susan Hill's novel 'The Woman in Black.' The film was directed by James Watkins, and produced by Hammer Film Productions. The film stars the likes of Daniel Radcliffe, Liz White, Sophie Stuckey, Ciaran Hinds, and Janet McTeer.

Analysis:

 The opening scene fades in from black and starts with soft, non-diegetic melody similar to that of an old lullaby found within a children's music box, this gives the viewer a sense of tension, as old lullaby's are known to be creepy. It also gives the impression that is scene is about to introduce children, or babies, and that it is set in the distant past, most likely to be around the Edwardian-Victorian era. The first scene the camera shows is a close up of a china tea set. The Tea pot, is poured into the tea cups, however no tea comes out, Immediately this gives the impression that it is a child's tea set, that they play with.

 The camera then zooms out, and focuses on one of the teacups being picked up a small child's hand. It then pans slightly, to show the child's hand and an old handmade doll. The child'd hand, feeds the doll the small tea cup. This shows that it is a child playing with a toy china tea set, and that the child is most likely to be female.

 It then jumps to another teacup in a child's hand, that hand is also feeding a doll the teacup however, this doll is an old fashioned china doll. The dolls clothes are old fashioned, and point to that of the Edwardian times. The fact there are two dolls, and two hands from different directions give the impression that there are more than one child playing, and perhaps they are playing together. The non-diegetic music starts gradually increasing in volume at this point.

 The scene then jumps to three young girls, in old Edwardian clothes. They are in beautiful, long lace dresses showing a sign of wealth. They also have aprons over the top of their dresses, this gives the impression that they had to stay clean and tidy, The young girls are sat around a small table, playing with dolls and a china tea set this shows that the hands in the previous shot must belong to these girls, and that they are all playing nicely together. The young girl on the far right, then passes the young girl on the far left a dolls hair brush. The camera then zooms in, showing the girls hand brushing the hair of another china doll. The china doll has a crack through it's eye. This could show that it has fall from a height in the past, or an accident has happened. This could also give the impression that an accident is going to repeat itself.

The camera then jumps to the first, handmade doll being tucked into a toy bed, The fact she is putting it to bed, shows that the day is ending. This could give an insight that something is about to come to an end within the film. The camera then zooms out to show two of the young girls smiling, it then does a reverse shot to show the other young girl smiling back at them. This portrays conversation, and happiness. It shows that the girls are happy to be within each others company. The young girl then looks downwards, towards her toys. The camera pans, following her movements. It shows her hand putting the china teacup down onto a saucer on the floor. The camera then jumps to a point of view shot, as if someone is watching them from the doorway. We later find out that this is from The Woman in Black's eyes. The young girl on the far right, looks up towards the camera as if something, or someone had caught her eye, the young girl in the center followed her lead and looks up too, followed by the young girl on the far left. The non-diegetic music's volume increases further creating tension, and bracing the viewer for what event is about to happen next.

 The camera jumps to another point of view shot, at the eye level of the young girls showing all three girls sitting on the floor. The girls eyes all look over to the right hand side, towards the window, at the same time, in a swift movement as if someone is telling them to do so.

The camera then jumps to face the window, this is another point of view shot showing what the girls are looking at. The camera then pans in towards the window. The camera then flashes back to the point of view shot facing all three of the young girls, as they stand up together slowly, almost in rhythm. This gives the effect that something, or someone is calling them towards the window. The camera then zooms in to a close up of each child's hand, as they drop whatever it is they are holding. This shows that something has grabbed there attention, and their mind is now only focused on that. It then zooms out very slightly to a medium close up of the girls shoes. The camera stays still as all three girls walk past slowly in rhythm. It then zooms back into a close up of the girls treading on their toys, breaking them as they go. This gives the impression that something, or someone has taken control of their mind, and body. One of the girls stand on their china dolls head, and it smashes. This portrays death. The camera then zooms out into a medium shot, facing the girls. In the background of this shot, within the shadows there is an insight as what is controlling them. The 'Woman in Black's' figure is standing there. This gives a sense of dread, and mystery. It makes us question why she is standing there, what she wants from the children, and whether or not she is a real person.

 It uses tracking backwards, mimicking the steps the three girls take towards the window. The non-diegetic music increases volume further, creating more and more tension. The camera then turns to the back of the girls as they reach the window, and step up onto the ledge in time with each other, equally spaced out between the three window panes.

The camera stays deadly still, as the three girls reach toward the handles of the window they are standing in front of. The camera then zooms in to a close up of one of the girls hands on the handle, opening the window. This gives a sense of mystery and tension. It then zooms out to all three girls opening the window at the same time. This leaves the viewer questioning why they are opening the window, and following the exact movements in rhythm. Without any camera movements, the girls all step up to the edge of the open window, in time with each other. The non-diegestic music then becomes loud, and the notes become longer. This creates a big build up of tension for the viewer.
 The young girls all take on big jump, out of the window in time with each other. The music holds one note for five seconds, then cuts out to silence. The silence symbolises the event that has been building up tension, has arrived. Three seconds after the silence a womans voice screams, and cries 'My babies' This creates a feeling of sadness, as it allows the viewer to know that the children were loved dearly. After the scream the camera pans away from the window, back into the childrens room, and the distant sound of three drums banging can be heard. This symbolises the three lives that have just been taken. The camera then jumps to the face of the china doll with a crack through it's eye this portrays that the crack in the eye wasn't a symbol of the past, but was infact a symbol of the future. The camera then jumps back, and continues panning out of the girls room. Once it reaches the exact position the camera was at when it was showing a point of view shot from the Woman in Black's eyes, the scene fades out. This symbolises that it is not the end, and The Woman in Black, is still out there and is not about to stop.