The opening scene shows three children having a tea party with dolls. The camera switches between close-up shots of the children playing, with an ominous soundtrack building tension. As the music intensifies, the children stand up and walk towards a window. The camera zooms in on a child dropping and crushing a teacup, then smashing a doll's head. It then shows the children climbing onto the window ledge and jumping out as the soundtrack reaches its peak. The camera zooms in on a doll's face as a scream of "noooo my babies" is heard, then zooms out over the shoulder of the woman in black before fading to black.
A Critique of the Proposed National Education Policy Reform
the woman in black opening sequence analysis
1. Georgia-Mae Morrell
The woman in black opening sequence
The opening scene starts with a close up shot of a small tea cup and tea pot, with a
child holding it and having a tea party. The noise of the pottery clanging of one
another is exaggerated to cause effect, the eerie soundtrack is playing in the
background but you can hardly hear it.
At 0.10 seconds the camera changes to a side
view of a doll being given tea from one of the
cups by what looks like a child.
Again at 0.13 seconds the camera changes
to the other side to another pot doll drinking
tea from a small china cup.
At 0.16 seconds the camera changed to a wide
long shot of the three children sat playing with the
dolls and cups and having what looks like a tea party.
At 0.21 seconds the camera switches to a close up of the child brushing the dolls
hair which is looking past another doll in
the front of the camera. This shows the
distance of the camera from the actual
action happening. At this point in the
opening sequence the soundtrack starts
to increase in sound and more tension is
produced.
2. At 0.24 the camera switches to another
shot of a girl touching a doll this time
being a different doll. Each shot of a doll
only lasts at least 0.04-0.02 seconds
each this produces tension for the
audience or viewer.
Then at 0.25 seconds the camera switches to
a mid-shot of two of the girls looking at the
other girl smiling.
The camera then switches to the other girl
exchanging a smile with the other two girls
and the camera follows her hand placing a cup
back onto a saucer on the floor. The
soundtrack increases intensity at this point.
Then next shot is what looks like a Point Of View Shot because it is a long shot of
the children looking in the direction of the camera which is said to be the woman in
black, the soundtrack is now quite loud
and the bass of the music creates a lot
more tension as the clip reaches its
climax.
The clip lasts 0.07 seconds and then the
camera switches as the girls look in the
direction of the windows behind them which
are long windows. There are short stings of
eerie drums that play during this. The camera shot is filmed from the ground
upwards towards their faces.
At 0.43 seconds the camera zooms towards the
three windows, this shows the view that the
children are involved with the windows
somehow. This clip lasts 0.03 seconds.
3. The camera the changed to a mid-shot of the
three children standing up and walking
towards the windows.
At 0.48 seconds the
camera quickly
changes to the close
up of the two
children’s faces standing up on the far side and then
two seconds after the clip changes to a close up of the
other girls foot of her rising up.
The clip after 1 second changes into a close up of the
left hand and in her hand she is holding a small tea
cup the shot then
shows the girl dropping the tea cup and the shot
then changes to a close up of the floor and how
the cup breaks on the floor this shot also shows
the child’s feet
and how she
then turns in
the direction of the camera. The camera then
switches angle onto the opposite side on the left
and this shows the children walking forwards
towards the windows.
The camera then zooms in towards the tea cup which is crushed by the child’s foot
this shot is repeated but from behind another child smashing a child’s dolls head.
4. The next shows the mid shot of the three
children walking towards the camera which is in
the direction of the windows and then shows
the behind of the children climbing onto the
window steps towards the window edge in
sync of each other and shows the children
through the window.
The camera then zooms onto the hand of
the child opening the window and
unlocking it. The soundtrack is now at its
highest peak. The camera shows a long
shot of the children climbing onto the
window ledge getting ready to jump.
At 1.17 seconds the camera is still at a long
shot and shows the children jumping out of the
window and a long string of what sounds like
eerie violins is blasted to show tension in the
scene. Then there is silence for 1 second and
then there is a scream that screeches’
‘nooooooooo my babies’.
The shot changes to a zoom in shot of a doll
face staring away from the camera slightly to
the right of the camera lens.
Then the shot zooms out of the room and
backwards over the shoulder of the woman in
black on the right. There is silence and the clip
fades to black.