Horror Film Analysis 1- The Woman In Black

1.The first frame includes the ‘Momentum Pictures’ and ‘Hammer’ logos. They are shown at the beginning of the film so that the audience knows which film production and companies produced the film. They both have black backgrounds which could represent horror- darkness and danger. ‘Hammer’ is written in a bold, red font which instantly resembles horror because red makes you think of blood in a horror film.

2.The first thing seen in the film is someone pretending to pour tea into mugs. We don’t know which character is doing this yet however it suggests a chid playing as they aren’t actually pouring any tea into the mugs.  This is a close up shot of what’s happening. The colours are dull and dark, which support the theme of horror because a typical horror film is dark and not bright or colourful. It starts with some non- diegetic sound, it is spooky music which is creating a mysterious atmosphere which infers that something is going to happen. The opening scene is minimalist as it is set in an empty room.

3.The third frame shows three young girls playing with their toys and pretending to make them drink tea (that they were pretending to pour in the previous shot). There is no dialogue or action. These characters could be representing innocence because they’re young children, something bad may happen to the innocent characters. In the background, you can see that they are in a house which looks quite dark- dark walls and low lighting. The instruments keep layering up to create more of an atmosphere. It builds into a silence.

4.The fourth frame is a high angle, which shows the young girls in their room. The silence is broken when they hear what sound like church bells chiming  and look up from what they’re doing. It then cuts into a medium shot when the girls look at the window. As they’re turning around, you hear the high pitched church bells getting louder and building up.

5. This is a zooming shot, the camera slowly zooms into the window, where the young girls are looking. The room is still quite dark, with low lighting however, outside it is bright and a tree is the only thing that can be seen out of the window. The church bells are still chiming throughout this part, building up with other instruments which creates the same tune as before the silence earlier.

6. In this frame you see the three girls looking scared as they stand up. This is a medium shot which cuts into a close up shot of one of the girl’s feet as she is standing up. Sound is still the tense music with church bells with many instruments.

  

7. This frame shows the girls walking, they are stepping on and breaking their mugs and dolls which they were playing with. You hear smashes as they step on them and brake them. This is an extreme close up shot of their feet and what they are stepping on. This suggests that something isn't right. The music builds up in anticipation as they get closer to the windows.

8. This frame shows the young girls walking towards the window. This is a tracking shot which follows the girls as they walk up to the window. The shot changes to see the back of them as they step onto the windowsill. You hear the same tense music building up and when they step onto the windowsill, you hear a low pitched organ added in.  

9. The girls jump out of the windows. You can’s see anything outside because it is very misty which is mysterious and makes the audience wonder what they’re going into and whether they’ve got a long drop down out of the window. The music cuts off after they jump out of the windows, the audience is left looking at the windows and you hear their parents screaming "my babies!" which leads to the audience wondering what happened.