The Woman In Black Trailer Analysis - Chelsea Neil

The Woman In Black

 

A young lawyer travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.

Shot by shot:

1. The film trailer begins with an establishing shot of a train moving and diegetic sounds of the train moving and the train whistling as it goes along. A non diegetic soundtrack which sounds very slow and peaceful is also introduced, this matches the scenery that the viewer is shown and fades out to the next shot.

2. This then moves onto a mid shot of one of the main characters on the train, it is accompanied by the same slow paced harp music and flashes of lightening are flicking on the main characters face. We can also hear another character talking: 'So you're from London..'

3. This establishing shot fades in from black, the way the shot is positioned makes it seem as if someone is watching the house from a distance. The misé en scene in this shot makes the house seem very mysterious and almost haunted.
 

4. There is then an over the shoulder shot of the same character who is then talking to someone, the fact that the character takes up the most of the room makes it pleasing to the eye and lets the audience know where the main

5. It then fades in from black again with the same non diegetic music with a low choir in the background and skips to a few establishing shots of an old car driving down a long winding road in the middle of no where.

6. This long shot of a horse and carriage makes the audience ask questions, the fact that they go past a cross in the ground makes you think that something has been buried here recently.

7. This establishing shot is one of my favourites so far, I like the fact that the shot seems completely symmetrical with fences on both sides of the shot. The way that the main character is at the very centre and bottom of the shot portrays how big this house is compared to him.

8. We then see another establishing shot of the main character opening the door to the spooky looking house, the first shot on the camera slowly moves forward as if someone is watching him and accidently moves. The second shot is another establishing shot, but it pans around the room. The shots are slowly unfolding the scenery and what is inside the house. The mise en scene of the house makes it very spooky as there are a variety of old ornaments and furniture covered in cloths which looks very old and add to the fact that someone has not been here for a very long time - this house is untouched.

9. There is then another close up of the main characters face, there is an eerie diluted sound which echoes and slowly builds up to add tension. The camera moves around the main character in a circular motion making the audience focus on one point.




10. This then moves onto a very dark mid shot of the main character looking around the house, the mise en scene in this house makes it look untouched and very ancient. The non diegetic soundtrack of the eerie tension building music continues to build up.

11. I like how this shot follows on from the previous shot, however, this time it is a mid shot of the front of his face and we can see him holding a lit lantern. 

 12. There is then a mid shot of one of the main characters, at this point the eerie sound has come to a sudden stop as the character has then become interested in something in the house. They have kept to the rule of thirds as the main character is in between the second and third half. All of the shots have a minimum of lighting, this adds to the genre as it leaves the audience in forever suspense - What is in the darkness? What is waiting for him? The darkness links to horror films as a lot of people are scared of the dark and this therefore represents this link. The mise en scene in this shot consists of typical old candles with dark and expensive looking furniture. The costume that the actor is wearing makes him almost blend in - His black suit, black trousers and very dark hair are consumed by the shadows in the house. 


13. This close up of the actor looking at something makes him blend into the house, the dark shadows on the side of his face leaves the audience in suspense and makes it so they can just about see his facial expressions.



14. At this point the audience is slowly welcomed to the very point of the film, this shot is giving away a small part of the film. We can hear the diegetic ticking noise of the zoetrope (moving picture toy). After this there is a quick shot of the zoetrope with nothing standing behind it which leaves the audience asking questions - Was it a ghost? Is this house haunted?

15. There is then a close up of a woman pouring a drink, the fact that she is shaking represents the fact that she is scared. There is a non diegetic sound of a low tense building soundtrack which sounds like a rumble, I like how the editing is done to blur out the right hand side of the shot.


16. We then see a two shot of the main character and a woman, there is fast paced editing as the woman is warning the man by saying 'Please, don't go back to the house.' The way the shots build up adds tension and makes the audience wonder what will happen next. The mise en scene in this shot (the windows at the top of the shot) highlights the actor/actress faces so the viewer can just about make out their facial expressions and the dark clothes they are wearing also blends in to the dark looking background. If the actors were wearing bright clothes, the spooky feeling the audience would grasp from this dark scene would not work as the actors would be in the light and not in the dark.

17. This is a close up of the main character, the light is done in a particular way so that the right hand side of his body is bright and in the light, whereas the left hand side of his body fades into the shadows/darkness. The blur in the background lets the audience know that someone in watching him, however, the fact that he is looking down makes it obvious that he doesn't know that he is being watched by a lady in a dress and a veil. In the second shot there is a mid shot of the actor turning around, at this point there is a non diegetic fast drumming rumble that quickly builds up and stops just as he turns around. The mise en scene in the second shot is made to look very scary, there is lots of cobwebs on the window which represents the fact that the house is old and no one has been there to look after it. There is also lots of boxes behind the main character which looking untouched and old, this shot ends by fading to black.

18. There is non diegetic sound of a woman saying 'She's there'. A mid shot of the main character sneaking around with a lamp is shown, the editing is done so that the camera is focusing on a house ornament, this adds suspicion to the viewer.



19. There is a quick fast paced shot of a crow landing inside the house, the diegetic sound of the crow is so loud that it would scare the audience and make them want more. The fact that they have used a crow symbolises death and bad things, this is symboling for a horror movie.

20. There is then a very faced paced edit, this jumps from the previous shot and shows a shot of three people standing around whilst two is holding a woman back, there is the diegetic sound of the woman screaming. This links to the previous shot as we saw a crow that could represent something bad happening, then we see a shot of something bad that has happened - Was the Crow a warning to the main character?

21. There is a two shot sequence which makes it seem like it jumps, however, the shots are so fast that the viewer will not notice. The first shot is an over the shoulder shot of what seems like man watching the fire happen, this then quickly jolts to a closer shot of the fire and people trying to get others out.

22. There is a two shot of both the main character and the older man from the beginning of the film trailer in a car. The mise en scene of the car in this shot makes it obvious that this film is not based around the times now. At this point the non diegetic sound of tension building music comes to a sudden stop and the shot fades to black.

23. There is an over the shoulder shot of a man and a woman talking to each other. The repetitive use and selection of the way the light is positioned keeps the audience in the dark about the horror film and allows them to keep the spooky/scary feeling throught. Some of these shots almost seem like deja vu, this is because he seems to revisit the places he has already been to. There is the diegetic sound of the main character saying 'I can't leave yet.'

24. We then see a title screen which breaks up the various shots, the writing used is almost spooky and they keep it simple by using a plain black background with white text. It is the words they use which get the audience hooked and makes the want to watch more.

25. We see a close up of a boot standing on a doll, snapping the head off. This shot in itself is creepy, dolls are usually represented in horrors as being scary. The editing in this shot is done so that the background is blurred out so the audience can focus.

26. All of these three shots link together nicely and flow, the first shot is a mid shot of all three girls. The fact that they are wearing very bright colours contrasts with the scenery they are in - The background is very dull and dark and makes the girls seem out of place. The second shot is a long shot of all three girls standing by the window and the third shot is an extreme close up of on one of the girls opening the window. There is a non diegetic soundtrack of what seems like a drum beat and diegetic sound of one of the actors saying 'you should of left.'

27. This shot is a mid shot of the main character, the camera zooms in very slowly and then moves onto a very fast paced shot. There is a sound bridge that runs from this shot to the next shot of a man saying 'You should of gone when we told you to'. In horror trailers we typically see a man character going against what they are being told, this adds tension and lets the audience know that something bad is likely to happen.







28. As the pace starts to quicken up dramatically, there is a bigger contrast to dark and light and more shots that make the audience question what will happen next are then used. The fact that there is rain used is very common in the horror genre - The rain makes people always think of the worst and assume that something bad will happen because it is dull and raining. 








29. I especially like how both of these shots are done because of how different they are. The first shot is a low angled mid shot of one of the characters slamming the door, I like how we can only hear the door slamming and a faint non diegetic echo sound in the background. The second is a birds eye view/high angled shot that looks down at the main character, the ways these shots are done almost makes the characters seem like they are being watched.

30. There is a constant sound bridge from the next shot which starts from the previous shot, there is a non diegetic high pitched soundtrack which builds up and adds tension as the shots get faster and the pitch gets higher. 

31. The non diegetic soundtrack of the high pitched tension build continues as we see a close up of the main character ripping something off the wall. The editing is done so that the camera only focuses on the main character and nothing in the background. The second shot we see a long shot of the main character and red writing on the wall which looks like blood saying 'You could have saved him.'









32. We see this shot after a black out and the high pitched soundtrack stops. I like the first shot as it is a close up of the main character lighting a match, we can hear the diegetic sound of the match being lit. The fact that he is lighting a match makes the audience ultimately think that he is going into the darkness where he could potentially be hurt. These shots are very fast paced and we see them so quickly that the audience does not get to see a lot of the scary parts but just enough to want to watch it more. The second shot is an over the shoulder shot of a boy screaming covered in mud.




33. A close up of the actors face is then shown, the lighting is done so that his face is lit but the right hand side of him is in the shadows. There is the diegetic sound of what sounds like a woman speaking, it is as if she is following him and is whispering.




34. There is then a close up of the main characters face, there is the continuous use of the non diegetic low grumbling sound track which slowly gets more and more high pitched. I like how the actors name appears and stays there as we see the close up of his face.


35. There is then a close up of a family photo and the eyes of the man and woman are scratched out makes the audience ask questions - Who are they? Why is the photo scratched? Why aren't the boys eyes scratched?

36. This shot of the window is very fuzzy and blurry so that the audience can't actually see who is in the window, but it adds to the fact that someone is watching. The window is in the very middle of the shot and is framed by the leaves/bushes around the window.




37. There is an establishing shot which is very similar to the scenery at the very start of the film trailer, the low pitched tension building non diegetic continues. The shot is made so that it looks like the place is deserted, it also gives the audience a scary feeling because of the clouds and the dullness.

38. We then see a mid shot of the main character looking back, the low pitched tension build soundtrack continues. The fact that the character is looking back makes the audience wonder what he is looking at.



39. The close up of the door handle moving makes the audience wonder who is behind the door and is turning the handle - All of these shots build up and make the audience continuously ask questions about the trailer, edging them to go and see the whole film.




40. I especially like the concept around this shot, whilst it doesn't give a lot of way, the fact that all the audience can see is a hand immediately gives you the chills. We see this shot for less than a second and it jumps straight away to the same shot but without the hand, making it almost seem ghostly.



41. This birds eye view of the main character opening up a coffin makes it seem like he is being watched, the shots are less than a second meaning the audience only just gets to take in the previous one before they are introduced to more meaningful shots.

42. At this point the low pitched music is getting much more louder and tense, this is to show the build up and the fact that more things are happening. This shot is three shots of the main character running, it does not give much away as the audience fail to see who or what he is running from.

43. This shot is one of the favourites, especially the scenery they have chosen and the soundtrack that accompanies it. The shot is a mid shot that jumps to different view of him as he looks around with a misty background. The sound is diegetic and appears to be a woman saying something very high pitched, adding to the tension.

At this point the main non diegetic sound track ends and we then see a title screen that says 'The Woman In Black', I like how the writing looks like it is in the sky and they are surrounded by the mist.