The Woman In Black

(2 minute analysis)
By Luwang Gitteh

The film begins with a close up of the girls playing with their dolls and tea cups, when
the teapot hits the cup, it acts as a form of commencement because straight after we
hear the non-diegetic eerie music which then carries on coexisting with the girls
playing with the tea cups and pots. This adds to the effect of the creepy atmosphere.
The close up shots also help create the ghostly atmosphere as the camera focuses on
the girls hand when she feeds her doll, furthermore the director uses slow pace editing
which builds up suspense and gets the audience thinking about what is going to
happen next.
The fact that the first thing we witness are the tea cups connotes the fact that the film
is filmed in England as it conforms to the typical stereotype of English people and tea.
The tea cups, their old dolls, and their clothes illustrate what era the film is set in and
this all contributes to the mise-en-scene of the film. Editing techniques such as jump
cuts to create an artistic effect.

Here we have a medium close up of the three girls sitting on the

floor looking in the same direction. The fact that the stop and look
in the same direction, at the same time implies that something
has happened or there is a supernatural element involved.
Furthermore it could connote the fact that a new character will be
introduced in the scene. This camera shot allows us to see the
sinister atmosphere. The continuous eerie music insinuates that
something bad is going to happen and makes the audience feel
on edge. The music begins to get louder which is building up
suspense as it seems like something dangerous is about to
happen. From this it gives of this motion of death and mortality as

Here we have a close up shot of when the girls are stepping on their beloved dolls.
This suggest the paranormal activity, and foreshadows that something will happen.
The fact that they have just dropped everything and dont seem to be bothered bay
the fact that they have broke their toys suggests that they are possessed and
highlights paranormal activity. This is always emphasised through the continuous
use of the slow pace editing. The girls are walking really slow which insinuates that
they have no control of their body and that an evil force is present.

A medium three shot is used to show the audience

their facial expression. This contributes to the aspect of
mise- en- scne and helps to prove to the audience
that they are possessed as we can see that the girls
are fixated on a point and do not even blink. It supports
the fact that they are possessed and emphasises the
darkness and sinister atmosphere.

In this medium shot we see that the girls are jumping out of the window, this is something
children shouldn'tt and dont ever done. therefore its easy to see that they are not themselves,
and it aids the audience in figuring out the narrative(the idea that the ghost is the antagonist).
It insinuates that the antagonist will continue to posses and killing the other characters. It begs
the question of whether their will be retaliation, so it makes the audience feel intrigued. When
they are jumping out the window the lighting outside is white and blank so their body's
disappear into the light. This white light creates the extra-terrestrial atmosphere. The music
then cuts and this is then followed by a loud scream shouting my baby presumably the
mother of the children. As we dont see the mother as the audience we feel quite sympathetic
as a mother has just witnessed her children uncontrollably jump out a window.

This scene ends with a high angle wide shot to show the isolation of
the scene. It also shows that in the corner there is a dark figure in the
right corner which adds further emphasise on the fact that there is an
evil spirit present. It also suggests that is the reason why the three
girls jumped out the window. The way she is hovering in the corner
insinuates that she is satisfied with what's happened and could
foreshadow something bad is going to happen.