The Woman in Black

Scene 50:51-55:10

Mise-en-SceneProps In the extract the character, Arthur Kipps, picks up an axe and

candle as a weapon, this is important as it is regularly used in horror movies, because the actor has picked up a weapon it means that he clearly feels threatened and needs to protect himself. In turn this allows the audience to also feel in danger.

The dolls in the room are an important prop as the movement of the camera shows reflections of light in the glass eyes, this gives the effect of the eyes moving and them watching Kipps. As the audience can only see the dolls eyes it make them tense for the character being watched. The dolls in itself are a symbol of children, the twisted version of the innocence into something more sinister makes the dolls use more disturbing.

The cross in the last shot shows that someone has died, the fact that a child is stood next to it makes it more disturbing to the audience as they both represent opposing concepts like death, innocence and vulnerability.

The main prop can be considered to be the rocking hair as it is the center of the room and also the cause of the noise, moreover where the ‘monster’ is seen. The prop is tied to the supernatural as it appears to be moving by itself, as this happens the audience would become more tense and afraid because the majority of people have a phobia of the unknown, in addition there is a sense of helplessness as if you cant see what is happening making it difficult to prevent it.

Setting The location of the extract is an isolated house which is typical of horror movies which include aspects of the

paranormal. As the camera follows the actor around the house it shows that the house is old and almost derelict, this indicates that the character is out of place in the house. The house is made of the majority of empty space, covered in dust and has unusual decorations, which gives the audience a feeling of being out of place, furthermore the empty space gives the illusion of having no-where to hide which creates vulnerability of the character. The colours of the setting are all dull with no light, this gives the set the ability to create shadows and play on the phobia of the dark.

The corridor which leads to the end room creates tension because the character walks slowly towards the noise, the long shots of the corridor builds up tension because the audience knows where the character is heading and believes that it is the wrong decision.

The boys room is the main location in the extract as it is the center of the supernatural activity, this room is filled with children’s toys and is set out so the main prop of the rocking chair is the focus of the room. As children in horror movies are seen as innocent characters, the extract changes the viewpoint as the tension and activity is revolving around the room. The colour of the room is tinted blue to show isolation, the contrast of the light from the candle traveling around the room re-enforces the idea that the character is not welcome. Moreover is contrasting to the characters dispositions.

Actors Movement The character, Arthur Kipps, begins the extract in a

panicked state as he rushes to get a weapon, the axe, once he has the object he become apprehensive towards continuing to the room, this is because he is becoming more relatable to the audience and less like the hero, The slowing down in the speed of the movements shows that he doesn't know what to do next, the hesitation makes the actor vulnerable, shown by the tense sharp movements of looking around, which creates tension for the audience.

The woman is only shown in a flash on the rocking chair, as the woman is in the chair the audience assumes that the rocking chairs movement is also the woman's, therefore the loud banging of the chair and fast swinging displays the aggressive demeanor of her, the movement can be seen as confident and purposeful in intimidating Kipps which is the contrast of her who is apprehensive and makes small jittery movements.

Costume The costume of Arthur Kipps, is a plain black and white suit. In comparison to the woman’s dress the white

shirt identifies him as the victim and innocent in this scene. The clothing is traditional of the time the movie is set in, however Kipps’ suit looks expensive and new, this shows that his in not local to the location and also gives a contrast to the houses old look to his clean clothes.

The woman is dressed in an old fashioned dress, which is completely black, in other scenes the audience has seen the full character and knows that the dress reaches the floor, because of this it depicts the character is shrouded in evil, which is the usual connotation of the use of black in horror. As the flash of the character in the extract is extremely short it means that the character can easily hide in shadows which is the purpose to the costume.

When Kipps’ open the wardrobe in the extract it shows the audience a set of child’s clothes, although this is a prop as well, the costume looks if it belonged to a young boy who belonged to the family who owned the house, by the expensive design of the clothes, the audience deduces that they are the possessions of the son of the woman in black, it creates tension because the audience can now link a child, who symbolizes innocence to evil of the woman and also gives the ‘monster’ of the movie a motive to the actions towards Kipps.

Lighting The lighting in the boys room is important as it is dark enough to create shadows, moreover the night light is

tinted blue, which causes the room to become cold and uninviting. On the other hand the candle that Kipps is holding emits light and creates warm colours heightening the feeling out of place and unwelcome. Overall each change in location has the same dark lighting, even the outside of the location this shows that there is no escape for Kipps from the woman.

Iconography • The axe that is picked up by Kipps is typical of the

horror genre as a weapon for either victim or monster to use, as the weapon is used in the extract as a form of protection and to make him seem stronger than he is, in addition Kipps uses it with the intent to harm which makes the audience tense as he is usually calm. However in other movies an axe is used as a method to introduce gore as it can be considered a brutal weapon if used in a certain way.

• Dolls and children’s rooms are also used in horror movies as they contrast ideas that a child is innocent but can be

involved with something evil, in the woman in black the idea of Kipps should not be there is played on as he clearly is uncomfortable in his surroundings, the sense of confusion and unease is played on in many horrors which is why it is iconic.• Crosses are iconic in supernatural or paranormal subgenres as they often relate to religion or death, The cross is used in the woman in black to signify the motive of the monster, and the fact that she wants revenge because of her son dying is illustrated in the cross and boy.• A isolated location is usual of a horror as it means that the victim cannot escape or get help.

SoundDiegetic SoundThe majority of sound in the clip is diegetic sound, this is to make it more realistic and intense for the audience to watch as horrors rely of getting the viewers to relate and empathise to the story. The most important sound in the clip is the rocking chair, this is because as Kipps gets closer to the room the sound increases in volume and gets significantly louder, by doing this it creates tension as the audience can hear the object but not see it therefore become afraid of it. In addition because there is very little sound in the house and coming from the character the rocking chair becomes almost overwhelming against the silence. The sound itself of the rocking chair can be heard of a heart beat and because it gets louder and faster the audience will build up adrenaline and relate to the character Kipps more through empathy. Other diegetic sounds like rain, footsteps, movement of the toys and Kipps ripping the wallpaper become louder as there are sections of the clip without noise as a result when there is sound the audience are much more aware of it, creating tension.The sounds that stand out to the audience are signifying that something important is happening like the message on the wall or the weather creating pathetic fallacy and impacts how the viewers feel and know.

Non-Diegetic SoundIn the extract there is significantly less non-diegetic sounds however during the last part of the clip a soundtrack which has spikes of high pitched music can be heard which is typical of horror for building tension and atmosphere.

Camera

Wide Shot

High Angle

P.O.V Extreme Close Up

Close Up

The wide shot in the extract is used to establish where the character is in the room, however this shot also shows the layout of the room, specifically how there is and empty space in the middle, this shows that the character cannot hide and gives Kipps a sense of vulnerability.

The shots used to convey how the character feels include point of view and close ups, the extreme close up is used to show the overwhelming emotions of the character in the scenes case fear. In these shots the director is able to show the responses of Kipps which allows the audience to empathise with him. The point of view shot put the viewers in the place of the character, it is used in horror to make the audience feel involved or in situations to feel like they are experiencing to make the movie more believable and have more of a reaction.The high angle is to make the victim look smaller and in danger, in the case of the woman in black the sense of being watched is more apparent because of the previous shots of the toys who appear to have eyes. Also within the extract tracking shots were used as Kipps and audience entered the room, on the other hand static shots were used to watch Kipps move closer down the corridor this technique of using the movement or lack of movement creates the feeling that something is waiting and watching the character, both of which disturbs the viewers and builds tension.

Tracking/Steadicam

EditingThe pace of shot at the start of the scene were slow to show the apprehension of the character about what to do, the low pace also allows the audience to become paranoid about what the unknown sound was or what was in the room. As Arthur Kipps begins to tear the wallpaper off the pace of the editing gets faster, and is to imitate the characters movements, as well as the camera movements getting less smooth to reflect the characters determination and frenzied actions to find what is under the wallpaper.

CGI was used in the rocking chair scene as the quick movement from the woman entering and moving out of the frame would not have worked if practical effects were used as it would have being to slow to produce the apparition effect . By doing this it creates a jump scare for the audience, heightening the tension in the scene.

Transitions were not used as the camera followed Kipps around into different rooms, if effects like fade to black were added the audience would have disconnected from the footage because it would break the flow and movement of the character, in addition the steady shots of the camera showing the locations allows the viewers to get a better understanding of the house, consequently empathise more with the character as they experience the same things.