'Woman in Black' Deconstrucion

'Woman in Black' Deconstrucion

Point 1 (Hears and approaches the rocking chair)

Camera angles

Primarily there is a Long Shot of Arthur from down the corridor as he climbs the stairs which makes him look very small and vulnerable- he takes up a considerably small amount of the frame. It also helps by making the corridor look long, large and intimidating making his plight to find out what the noise is much more frightening. Then we see a Close Up of Arthur and his confused and scared expression and as we identify as the protagonist this emphasises our own fear. It also features a lot of long shots and over -the-shoulder shots of the door which Arthur approaches cautiously as this shows what Arthur is looking at making it seem as though it is ourselves who are approaching it making the scene more intimidating.

Editing

The scene uses Eye Line Match as we see Arthur carefully watch the door as he walks towards it and then we see the door itself. This is effective by putting us into the shoes of Arthur and increasing our fear substantially. It also uses a lot of Continual Editing rather than quick and snappy Jump Cuts making the scene seem incredibly dragged out and this escalates the tension as he approaches.

Sound

There is no non-diegetic sound as Arthur approaches the room, all we can hear is the sound of the rocking chair moving back and forth and this is effective as it emphasises our feeling of being the protagonist as we can hear all that he can hear and by it being the only sound we hear and amplifies the loudness. The sound of the rocking chair gets increasingly louder and faster as Arthur moves towards the room and this helps by slowly increasing the tension as he nears it. It also means that the audience are expecting something to make them jump or happen as a peak of the tension. 

Mise-en-scene

The colour red is prominent throughout the scene along the wall and also emphasised in the light at the end of the corridor. This shows that danger is to be found in the room. Also, as Arthur walks along the corridor his face is commonly shown as half in light and half in shadow and this could connote that he is only half in danger from The Woman in Black perhaps because he is not a child. It also gives the impression that he still has a slight chance of escape as light hasn’t completely evaded him.

Point 2 (Door is open)

Camera Angles

We first see that the locked door seems to have opened by itself through an over-the shoulder shot and making us see it at the same time as the protagonist. We therefore feel at the same level of threat as him. We then see a Close Up of his scared expression and then a Close-Up of the open door but not so that we can see what is in it. This makes us as clueless and fearful as the protagonist.

Editing

The scene uses Eye Line Match again as we see Arthur’s face looking at the room and then we see the open door and this makes us feel included and part of the scene increasing our feel of being at threat. This is commonly used throughout the horror genre as it is effective at making the audience feel part of what is going on on-screen.

Sound

Just before we are confronted with the open door we can hear non-diegetic sound of a brass orchestra playing discordant notes increasingly louder however this stops at the point of the over-the-shoulder shot of the door which has been opened. By dramatically stopping this music it helps increase fear by giving a sense of reality as we can again hear all that Arthur can hear. It also emphasises the sound of the rocking chair which is even louder now that the door is open.

Mise-en-scene

There seems to be a faint dark green light in the shot of the open door and this connotes that there is a supernatural element to the sudden opening of the door. The lighting is very low-key and this increases the tension of the scene as it darkens the atmosphere considerably. Also, by there being a lit lamp flickering by the side of the door it emphasises that there are spirits inside the room.

Point 3 (approaching door for second time)

Camera angles

Over-the-Shoulder shot it used again in the scene as Arthur moves towards the door, this puts us into his point of view which is an effective method of making the audience feel threatened and scared. We also see Close-Ups of Arthur as he is cautiously walking with an axe raised in his arm; this makes the audience feel as they also need to protect themselves. As we get increasingly closer to the door we only see a Close-up of it getting larger and nearer to the screen- making us feel extremely at danger.

Editing

Continual Editing is used to emphasise the length of time which Arthur takes to reach the door. This helps to build the tension in the scene. We see Close-Up shots and Over-the-Shoulder shots used alongside each other for a long while as he approaches the room and used together they give a sense of being the protagonist ourselves as we can see what he is seeing, and then how he is reacting to it.

Sound

The continual rocking noise of the chair help to highlight the continual of time alongside the Continual Editing as it mimics that of a clock- this increases the tension of the scene largely. Non-diegetic low humming piano notes can be heard with finally some discordant high notes being included as he gets very near to the door. This is effective as it is uncomfortable for the audience to hear and underline that something is about to go wrong.

Mise- en-scene

The colour red is again predominant in the scene connoting the danger to come for the main protagonist. However, as the camera gets closer to the door tighter framing is used around the door as we approach it and also Arthur and this shows how there is no escape from the Woman in Black and that she is in control. As Arthur walks towards the door we can quite clearly see his shadow along the wall and this shadow emphasises the bad spirits around the house and is also a foreboding to his terrible outcome.

Point 4 (Empty rocking chair)

Camera angles

We see a full-shot of the rocking chair from behind- seemingly empty. This has the effect of somewhat calming down the audience as there doesn’t appear to be anything of threat in the room. We see a Close-Up of Arthur’s confused expression and this emphasises the audience’s own confusion as to what is making the rocking chair move. Then we see a Full-Shot of Arthur and in the corner of the shot we can see a Close-Up of the Woman in Black rocking in the chair. This is effective as the audience know more than the protagonist and know the extent of the danger he is in whereas he doesn’t.

Editing

We firstly see the Full-shot of the empty chair and the Close-Up of the protagonist before the Close-Up of the Woman’s face in the chair and this has the effect of increasing our fear as we begin to think there is no danger and are therefore more shocked when we see the Woman in the chair.

Sound

The sound is used alongside the editing by relaxing the audience and then shocking them again. The non-diegetic soundtrack fades away and we begin to think that there is no-one there however just as it dies down a sudden loud drum noise is made as the Woman’s face comes into view. This effectively shocks and makes the audience jump even more.

Mise-en-scene

The rocking chair and the Woman in Black are facing away from the camera when we first see it- this emphasises the Woman’s alienation from the world and also her mystery to the townspeople. When we see the Woman she is not the dominant as she isn’t in focus and we only see her for a brief amount of time- this is not only effective in making the audience jump but emphasises that she has not been seen by the protagonist and she is a concealed threat- likewise throughout the film. The Woman and the Protagonist have been linked by them both wearing black and this shows that they are connected through the suffering of losing a loved one however Arthur’s innocence is still present and this is shown through his white shirt and serene blue eyes which the Woman lacks.