Woman In Black Opening Scene Analysis

The Woman In Black opening scene uses a number of camera shots to portray innocence, suspension and danger. Firstly there is use of close ups which are used frequently throughout the sequence. The close ups are on children's toys, automatically showing innocence to the audience. Furthermore close ups are used in this sequence to hide the place they are in, it leaves the audience to wait for more answers. Low angles and two shots help show the audience where the children are as it focuses I more then the children but also at what is in the background. After a long shot, which also show the audience more of the room, the camera zooms into the window slowly giving the atmosphere of suspension and danger. Lastly to close the opening scene the camera zooms out revealing the room and the woman in the corner, which could be considered as answers to the audience but still creates mystery.
The sound in the opening scene is both use of non-diegetic and diegetic sound. The music in the opening really creates the realism of this film being a Horror. The music could be considered as creepy and unpleasant to listen to as it builds up tension as it goes through the scene. The non-diegetic sound is music which seems innocent, which is not contrapuntal as the music can extremely resemble a lullaby and children matching what is being seen. There is also no dialogue until the end where a woman screams powerfully, portraying danger, and when she hurtfully says the words 'my babies' also relating to the innocence that has already been shown. After this the music returns, leaving the audience waiting.
Before we see the characters on screen we see toys. These toys are old, Victorian almost, and they also suggest that they are belongings of little girls as there is gender bias (which was common in the eighteen hundreds) as it is a tea party. The children's clothing supports the fact that the movie is set in the eighteen hundreds as it is Victorian clothing. Additionally the lighting used seems natural as it leaves the corners of the room dark which possibly relates to the title of the movie 'Woman In Black'. When the camera shows the girls faces we see positive expressions which due to the music and camera shots its clear that this will change.
The editing in this opening scene is very jumpy when transitioning shots as this fits to the suspension of this horror movie. A few of the transitions are fades which slowly reveals the shot creating suspension to the audience.