The Woman in Black Opening Scene

In the opening scene of woman in black, we are first introduced to a close up shot of children playing with tea cups alongside some nondiegetic sound which portrays an eerie and slow feel, giving this scene a sinister mood. The camera then continues to cut 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 children  then stand up together looking towards the window, as they stand up the camera then cuts to an extreme close up a girl who drops her tea cup on the floor. This then cuts to the smashing of the cup. This is an effective shot as it shows the audience that the girls are oblivious to their surroundings as they continue to stare into thin air in the direction of the window, this infers that something out of the ordinary will happen. The camera continues filming their feet. As they walk towards the window we see the tea cups smash beneath their feet as they walk over them, this suggests that they are in some sort of trance powered by a supernatural being or spirit 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, their facial expressions are shown blank due to being in a trance. The camera cuts back to a long shot filming them from the back as the girls step towards the balcony and open the window. This builds up tension for the audience as it gives a feeling of them about to jump out. The girls then jump out of the window together, the music suddenly hits a high note which emphasises this scene. This is then quickly followed by  nondiegetic sound of a scream in a women's voice along with the dialogue  "my babies". The camera then cuts to an extreme close up of one of the china dolls face, this contrasts the horrific scene having an object like a childrens doll which initially is intended for children and to connote innocence and fun. This scene then ends with an over the shoulder shot of a figure in black veils standing in the corner of the room. The use of the black veil implies mystery and an eerie atmosphere as we can not identify who this is and the colour black suggests danger and fear  and evil, this being an object of fear to the audience, the scene then is faded out.