Title Sequence Analysis

Title Sequence Analysis for the Woman in Black

The film slowly begins with 3 small girls pretending to have a tea party. Using props such as dolls and cups, they all seem to be having fun and enjoying themselves with beaming smiles on their faces. Until they all notice something in the corner of the room. The viewer cannot actually see what it is however the 3 girls then shift their view toward the window on the corner of the bedroom. The camera shot puts a lot of emphasis on the window. The girl’s faces look scared and uncertain. The three girls all stand up in unison dropping and breaking their toys as they walk towards the window, with blank expressions on their faces. All 3 girls open the windows at the same time and leap out. You can hear vague screams of what you can assume is the mother of the children. The camera slowly pans out from the window and you can see an outline of a women dressed in black. The shot slowly fades to white. During the sequence all natural lighting is used making the shot quite bright in a complete contrast too how dark and shocking the scene truly is. The sound used in the scene is quite ambient and eerie which matches with the shots of the dolls heads been crushed along with all the crockery. In the last few seconds a silhouetted figure can be seen standing on the right hand side of the screen. it remains a silhouette as the creators wanted to keep some mystery about the woman in black for later in the film, however it is still enough to shock the audience as an appearance that early in the film is unexpected. In the background slow tension building music, this creates a tense atmosphere and lets the viewer know that something big is about to happen. As the three girls walk towards the window, close up shots are used of the props are used as they are crushed under the feet of the young girls. The costumes that the girls are wearing are quite dated. This gives the impression that the film was set some time ago, presumably in the 1940's or the 1950's. The same could be said for the location, it appears to be set in an old victorian house. the interior decor appears hold fashioned as well. this therefore sets the tone for the rest of the film.