Representation in film openings of:

The Woman in Black

Bradley Barnes

Characters

• The three young girls are the main characters in the opening as they are the only characters, this is emphasised by them not saying very much and because of this they are conveying the typical young, kind and innocent stereotype which we would look to expect. This stereotype is misleading in this particular opening as at the end of the opening the three young girls jump out of the high window, by us then hearing a scream we expect that they have committed suicide and perhaps they were under a trance/being controlled in the process of them doing this.

Mise-En- Scene

Costume • The three young girls who appear throughout the

opening have typical Edwardian costumes on. They are all wearing feminine, girly dresses which emphasises their innocence; and so when we see them heading towards the window to jump out, there is a major contrast in what their image portrays and what their actions are. This is a way to indicate to the audience that they be possessed by ‘the woman in black’ and so signals the sub-genre to the target audience.

Lighting

• The lighting appears to be bright is when the camera is on the three young girls.

• Artificial lighting is used to highlight the girls and we can see the lighting is artificial as shadows form in the background. The audience have a clear view on the girls and the lighting emphasises their pale expressions.

Actors

• The three young girls are played by Ellisa Walker-Reid, Molly Harmon and Emma Shorey.

• The opening ends with the three main actors displayed in the opening, jumping out of the window, creating enigma to the audience who are watching, as they already feel emotionally attached to the young girls as the stereotype portrays a sense of innocence to the audience, yet the ending completely goes against this and leaves a strong enigma of: Why have the girls done this?, therefore making the audience want to find out the solution to this strong enigma left.

Make-Up

• From looking at the young girls in the opening we can see that each child has their hair pinned back by a delicate bow which emphasises their innocence and allows the audience to gain a full view of their pale expressions which is created by the use of pale make-up. Furthermore there pale make-up gives them a ghost-like and eerie aura which builds suspense within the audience as they try to figure out what happened to these children.

Props

• The Women in BlackTea set, Doll’s, hairbrush, window ledge and window

At the start of the opening scene there is an extreme close up of a little pretending to tip tea into a cup and then there is a switch to another extreme close up of the girl giving it to the doll. As they are using teapots and cups and saucers, it gives the impression that the film is set in England, as tea is commonly known to represent England. By the use of a tea set it gives the connotation that the children are just like any ordinary young child. This soon changes when the girls become possessed and trample on the tea set in order to get to the window.

Setting

• The setting appears to be in an attic of a home which may be because it is quite an isolated part of the house. It would also be seen as the safest part to play in, as it is out of the way of everything else, which suggests irony because it is the place where the girls committed their deaths. The use of an attic has connotations of evil lurking where people rarely go.