The Woman in Black - Opening Scene - Daniel Radcliffe Movie (2012) HD

 

In this opening scene of women in black we are first introduced to a close up shot of children playing with tea cups alongside nondiegetic sound which is  eerie slow music played in the background giving this scene a sinister mood. The camera then cuts to a long shot of the three little girls sitting around playing in this shot we are able to see what costume they are wearing which is old fashioned long dresses and by the looks of their toys being china dolls and old fashioned prams this tells the audience that this story is set in a different era long time ago. The use of the white dresses the girls are wearing connotes innocence and portrays them as the victims in this story. The next significant shot is a close up shot of the girls' facial expressions they are smiling at each other and the duration of this shot is dragged out making their actions seem slow, this causes tension and makes the audience anxious. The camera then cuts to a long shot still following the 180 rule and the camera films them form one side of the room, and at this moment the girls heads turn towards the direction of the camera as if they are looking right at the audience , they facial expressions change to serious and they stare intently at something the audience cant see, this makes the audience curious and connotes mystery. The Three girls then turn their heads in synchrony to look at the window which is made up of three squares. The camera then zooms in to the shot of the window as the music becomes louder highlighting the window as something dangerous. The girls then stand up together still looking at the window, as they stand up the camera cuts to an extreme close up  of one of the girls hands dropping  the tea cup to the floor the camera cuts to a shot of her feet as the tea cup falls and smashes next to her feet. This is an effective shot as it shows the audience that they are so focused on this window that everything is else is oblivious to them. The camera continues filming their feet as they walk towards the window we see the tea cups break under their feet as they walk over them  hinting to the audience that the girls are in some sort of trance and are unaware of what they are doing. The camera then switches to a medium shot on the other side of the window so we see the three girls walking up to window and their facial expressions are blank as if in a trance. The camera cuts back to a long shot filming them from the back as they step on to the balcony and open the doors in the window. this creates tension for the audience as it suggests they might jump out of the window. The girls then jump out of the window together as the music suddenly hits a high note emphasising the moment. this moment is then quickly followed by a nondiegetic sound of a painful scream in a women's voice and the dialogue  "my babies" the camera then cuts to an extreme close up of one of the china dolls face which shows contrast of the horrific scene having an object like a dolly which usually connotes innocence and fun. The scene then ends with an over the shoulde shot of a figure in a black veils standing in the corner of the room. The use of the black veil connotes mystery as we can not identify who this is and the colour black connotes danger and fear making this being an object of fear to the audience,the scene then is faded out.