This document summarizes and analyzes 5 different shot types from the film "Women in Black". SHOT 1 is a wide establishing shot showing three innocent children playing that sets a sense of security but hints at horror conventions by emphasizing innocence. SHOT 2 is a close-up of a child brushing a doll's hair that adds historical context and creepiness. SHOT 3 shows the children looking off-camera with unhappy expressions, putting the audience on edge to see what they see. SHOT 4 is a close-up of a child disrupting things as she moves towards the window, representing disrupted innocence and curiosity. SHOT 5 is a wide shot of the children about to jump from a window after all innocence

1. SHOT TYPES
Women in Black

2. SHOT 1
This wide, establishing shot is
showing three children during the
late nineteenth century who are
simply playing together with dolls
and the furniture. The impact of
this shot is that it shows the
audience the innocence of the
children and the high key lighting
gives the audience a sense of
security and safety. However, this
contradicts horror conventions as
stereotypically there tends to be
a lot of low key lighting and a
serious lack of innocence. In
horror, however, children are
quite often the victims as a result
of their innocence which is
emphasised by the fact that they
are playing. The fact that all three
of the characters are girls could
also be significant as it
stereotypically females are more
vulnerable.
This type of shot could be used in my film
because it gives the audience quite a lot of
context into what is happening and the
high key lighting which gives the audience
a false sense of security and so is even
more surprising when something bad
happens.

3. SHOT 2
This shot type is that of a close
up and it gives us more context
into what is happening. It gives
the audience more specifics into
what the children are doing. For
example, this particular child is
brushing her dolls hair. This again
makes the situation look quite
safe and the audience isn’t
particularly on edge at the
moment. The pale colours in the
shot also emphasise the time
period as there wouldn’t have
been much access to colourful
resources at the time and this is
probably what the director was
thinking about when he added in
the shot because it gives the
audience a sense of realism and
historical context to the film. The
use of the doll also adds to the
affect because it’s quite, in my
opinion, a creepy doll which
emphasises that this is a scary,
horror movie.
This close up, depending on the story line,
is something that I could use in my film
opening. It could be altered, however, to a
characters face perhaps, rather than an
object. This could emphasise a characters
emotion and cause empathy amongst the
audience.

4. SHOT 3
This next shot is quite a loose
frame and is at a slightly high
angle. It shows all of the children
looking at something off-camera
with facial expressions that aren’t
particularly happy, immediately
causing the audience to
immediately become tense,
especially seeing as the audience
is still not sure as to what is
happening. This can put them on
edge put also intrigue them to
carry on watching to find out
exactly what is happening. This
shot is a lot wider than the first
and so it also, to some extend,
gives us more context as to
where the children are. Whereas
before, we could only see that
they were playing in a room,
indicated by the bed, we now
know that it is a bedroom.
Again, it is possible that this could be used
in my film. But with all the children looking
at the camera, this is something that is very
specific to the plot and storyline of woman
in black.

5. SHOT 4
This fourth shot shows a close up
of one of the children, as she
makes her way towards the
window breaking things in her
path. This could represent the
disruption of innocence of the
children. The effect this could
have on the audience could be
that they feel tense as to what is
going to happen next and it also
can make them feel quite curious
and urge them to continue
watching the film. Again, referring
to the previous shot, it can make
them wonder what was behind
them that urged them to get up
and start walking. In terms of
using this in my film opening, a
close up could be good because
it quite often shows what a
character is thinking and how
they feel about something. This
therefore could influence the way
the audience shapes their opinion
on that character. However, this
close
up is of a doll being crushed and again is
very specific to the storyline. However, a
close up on an object may also be a good
idea. This is also a strong contrast to how
innocent was saw them in previous shots as
they are now destructive.

6. SHOT 5
This last shot is a wide shot of the
three children about to jump out
of a window. By this point, the
audience are no especially
curious as to what happened off
camera previously. This can have
a huge impact on the audience
because by this point all
innocence has be wiped from
these children and the audience
look at them in a different light
from how they were viewed at
the beginning of the film. In
terms of using this in my film, the
wide shot can be very useful
because it allows the audience to
get a wider perspective on the
situation at hand. For example,
this shot allows us to see that the
children are stood on a window
ledge, whereas if it were a close
up we wouldn’t be able to see
what is going on.