HB: Title Sequence Analysis - The Woman In Black (Watkins, 2012)

The Woman In Black, horror film opening

• There are many close ups on the dolls which both emphasises the youth of the girls and makes the scene more creepy as old dolls typically connote fear
• The representation of youth is also clearly presented through the long shot showing the 3 girls playing surrounded by toys (props)
• The use of costume presents the time period to the audience immediately as all 3 girls have old fashioned dresses on. This is accentuates the creepy atmosphere of the scene as old houses are commonly seen as scary
• This is further highlighted by the setting, an attic is a setting often used in horror films as they give a sense of claustrophobia and therefore holds a connotation of fear
• Sound has an important role in this clip, there is no speech which makes the eerie music more focused 
• This backing music changes when the girls notice the presence of the woman in black, this informs the audience they should be afraid of this character, presenting her as the antagonist immediately
• There is also use of ambient sound, when the girls crush the mugs and dolls there is a close up on their feet and you can hear them break/smash
• The worm's-eye view on the girls feet causes the audience to feel smaller creating a sense of oppression 
• The POV shot from the woman in blacks position allows the audience to witness the scene from her perspective and also increases the fear because the awareness that she is there remains yet she still hasn't been shown by the camera 
• There is then a zoom on the windows showing that there is 3 of them matching the number of girls. This causes the audience to know what is going to happen before it does increasing the suspense 
• The use of tracking shot to follow the girls to the window also creates fear as the audience know what they have to witness but there's nothing they are able to do to control it reflecting how the 3 girls are also unable to
• Following the girls jumping out the windows simultaneously there is an aural signifier of a woman screaming which is commonly linked with horror
• Finally the scene ends with a zoom out on the whole room to present the woman standing in the corner, this use of character blocking causes the audience's attention to be drawn to the woman