LF: Technical Analysis

Woman In Black (James Watkins, 2012)

Shot: Close Up
Duration: 9 Seconds
Mise En Scene: Old fashioned teapot and tea cups in a dull coloured scene.

Shot: Close Up
Duration: 4 seconds
Mise En Scene: A typically scary dolls face drinking 'invisible' tea from the tea cup

Shot: Close Up
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise En Scene: The other doll in the tea party is having some tea which build suspense and build unease because this is an unatural/childish happening

Shot: Long/Establishing Shot
Duration: 4 seconds
Mise En Scene: 3 girls sat around the tea party with old fashioned furniture and scenery in the background, still in a colour wash

Shot: Mid Shot of doll
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise En Scene: Brushing the hair of the doll creating abnormal actions and making the audience undersrand that everything is strange

Shot: Mid shot of doll being tucked into bad
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise En Scene: Hands of the girl being very gentle as though the doll is alive

Shot: 2 Shot framed in Mid Shot
Duration:3 seconds
Mise En Scene: Old fashioned clothing very plain white colours

Shot: Close up of solitary girl
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise En Scene: the background is not in focus making the audince focus on the girls face which is smiling but otherwise expressionless

Shot: long shot of doll in the hands of a girl
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise En Scene: there is a lot going on in the scene mainly realted to the dolls tea party not the girls actual lives. there are neatly laid out table and chairs for the dolls which emphasises how strange it is

Shot: establishing shot of the 3 girls
Duration: 8 seconds
Mise En Scene: they are sitting on the floor of the bedroom and you can see the only source of light is coming from the window which suggests that the window may be a key feature

Shot: long shot
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise En Scene: still the same colours and surroundings as the location has not changed. old furniture and a colour wash

Shot: Zoom in on window
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise En Scene: the light from the old fashioned lead window drowns out other props

Shot: Mid Shot of 3 girls as they stand up
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise En Scene: basic old fashioned clothing

Shot: low angle close up shot
Duration: 1 second
Mise En Scene: the girls boot under the dress is shown as the girl stands up

Shot: close up
Duration: 1 second
Mise En Scene: cup in the girls hand gets dropped

Shot: close up
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise En Scene: cup smashes on the floorwith girls feet in background out of focus

Shot: close up of girls feet
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise En Scene:tredding on and walking over the doll

Shot: close up
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise en Scene: tea cup being stood on and smashing

Shot: close up
Duration:3 seconds
Mise en Scene: girls boot treading on the doll juxtaposing the relationship they have earlier with the dolls

Shot: mid shots of the girls in a line walking
Duration: 5 seconds
Mise en Scene: can now see they are in the attic or top floor of a house because the shape of the roof is visible in the ceiling

Shot: long shot
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise en Scene: girls approaching the window slowly

Shot: close up
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise en Scene: handle of the window being opened carefully by the girls hands

Shot: long shot
Duration:10 seconds
Mise En Scene: girls jump out the window in slow motion

Shot: still the same shot but starts to zoom out
Duration: 5 seconds
Mise En Scene: contents of the room still unchanged but is now empty of humans

Shot: close up
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise En Scene: expressionless face of the dolls increses horror and thrill to the sequence

Shot: establishing shot/zoom out
Duration: 4 seconds
Mise En Scene: the room is left untidy with broken cups and dolls, still with a colour wash

Dips to black to note the end of the sequence

Sound Track and sound layers:

• It starts with a slow and quiet soundtrack while there is a close up of the teapot and tea cups, which is layered with some synchronous sound of the tea cups hitting the teapot. This helps create dramatic tension as it is typical of a horror/thriller movie therefore the audience are expecting something but they dont know what it is going to be and when it will occur.

What have I learnt from my technical analysis?

• There has been many things i have learnt from analysing this opening sequence as it is a popular and highly talked about and highly viewed film. It typifies the horror/thriller genre from camera techniques all the way through to the Mise en Scene.

• The fast cutting rate enhances the fear the sequence is trying to create as it brings unexpectation, or maybe even expectation that something is going to make the audience jump, which is one of the main aims of a horror/thriller.
• The colour wash which was used throughout helps make the sequence portray the mood and atmosphere present in the scene. I beleive it symbolises horror because the colour wash suggests that things are not normal.
• The shallow and deep focus allows the audience to concentrate on what the producer is trying to show, which makes the audience understand it more.
• I have also learnt that the sound used is crucial to the sequence as if the visuals are outstanding and the sound track or background sound doesnt equal the quality of the visuals the sequence will not succeed in hooking the audience to want to watch the rest of the film.