The Woman In Black
A young lawyer travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorising the locals. (IMDB)
The film is loosely based around the 1983 Gothic horror by Susan Hill.
The mise-en-scene throughout The Woman In Black is dark, dreary and bleak creating an eerie but also intriguing atmosphere for the film.
The film was most likely set in the Edwardian era, the use of props and costume from this period only serve to add to the eerie nature of the film.
THE SET/PROPS: Eel Marsh House internal/external
The inside of the house is overcrowded with furniture, toys, papers, candles, fabric and mirrors. Each item covered in dust or cobwebs, the use of cobwebs was used not to make the house appear old (as the plot line reveals the tenant died not long before the lawyer visits) but to signify the deranged mind of the former owner of the house -Jennet Humfrye- her lack of contact with the real world is a prominent characteristic when looking at the house, it's damp and cold looking atmosphere reflects her character's mind and allows for the audience to gain an insight into her life.
The use of candles in this film is highly effective, they not only add to the Edwardian set giving little light source and still leaving the dark mis-en-scene, but also to create a tense atmosphere. The fragile, unpredictable nature of the candles allows for the scenes to remain inconsistent, and gives the only small piece of hope -the light- a transitory effect. This leaves the audience the feeling that at any point this piece of hope could vanish, whilst at the same time giving them something to hold onto and feel as though the character may be able to escape.
Most of the furniture in the film is covered with old, tattered bed sheets. This is reflective of many thriller films such as 'The Others', in which the furniture is all covered creating a hiding place for the 'ghost-children', and leaving the house looking empty and deserted.
In The Woman In Black however this serves to emphasise the abandoned mise-en-scene of the house,sheets are often used when someone is moving to protect furniture, giving it an empty feeling and leaving the audience wondering what may have happened.
The use of the children's toys scattered around the house present a motif to which many thriller films follow, such as The Orphanage. The use of the innocent objects, such as children's toys, allows for all other aspects of the films to seem 'unsafe', children's toys are an everyday object and are supposed to feel the opposite of scary, but in this situation by juxtaposing the eerie and menacing atmosphere to these toys they only serve to emphasise this mis-en-scene. The toys also help to reflect Jennet's mind, in keeping these toys around years after her son had not only left her but passed away, it reflects her feelings that he may return- her lack of acceptance over her son's death again shows her lack of contact to the outside world and leaves the audience intrigued as to why she felt this way.
The use of mirrors throughout the films adds to the confusing and chaotic nature of the film. This reflection of antagonists in mirrors is a common trait of film noir, although this film is not a film noir, this shows how many films takes varying techniques from different genres and recreate them in others. The mirrors are used through the film to give anonymity to the antagonist, the camera never really shows her face head on- often she is shown through reflections of glass such a in windows- this helps the mis-en-scene to the film, creating a distorted and slightly obscured focus on the antagonist and presents her as 'outer-worldly'. The mirrors also help the plot of the film, if a character sees the ghost of Jannet, a child is going to die. The use of mirrors helps for the camera (and therefore audience) to never fully see her ghost, keeping the audience 'safe' from her stare. This is later abolished as the ending of the film is her looking down the camera lens.
The excessive amount of letters in each room gives the film a chaotic, disorganised and claustrophobic feel to the film allowing for the audience to feel that not only themselves trapped but also the character of Arthur (the lawyer). The letters also serve again to reflect the chaotic mind of Jennet Humfrye. Many of the letters are addressed to her sister Alice and contain threatening, slightly satanic content, leaving the audience slightly scared of this character and giving leverage for the content of the film later on.
The feeling of claustrophobia is an important feature to this film, not only creating a closed space to which the character feels cannot escape but also adding to the impending isolation Arthur experiences at Eel marsh house
Photographs are a recurring motif in this film used to help the plot and also to keep the mis-en-scene eerie and vacant. The photographs of the antagonists son with his new parents, presents a scary scene. The eyes of the photograph have been scratched away. Our instinct is to look to the eyes in a photograph first, to reveal character, although here because the eyes have been scratched away it presents a metaphor for harming the people photographed.
The faded photograph also shows the antagonist inside the house behind the three people watching them, this builds suspense as the audience know that the protagonist is in that same house- the faded slightly blurred face gives an eerie feel to the character as we cannot quite recognise her as a person, making her seem almost demonic.
The outside of the house is a slight juxtaposition to the inside, with wide open space and a stretching marsh but also areas covered with thick woodland and fog.
The house itself is reflective of the cold and deserted interior. Covered with vines and built with a grey cold looking stone it gives the house a slightly spooky, empty atmosphere- the grand building also serves to emphasise the emptiness. Often films will feature large building if the desired effect of the house if to look empty, this creates a huge draughty space rather than a cosy small warm one, and therefore makes the house seem eerie.
The woodland surrounding the house creates an 'inescapable' atmosphere for the house, trapping the protagonist and creating a confusing maze of trees surrounding them. The lighting used in the woodland is often dark, using the light of the moon or lighting to guide the character through. This dark lighting casts harsh shadows and adds to the enclosing feeling of the woodland.
The thick fog is used throughout to keep the feeling of being trapped throughout, it is often used to hide the antagonist and keeps the audience feeling helpless, as though they have lost sight- this is a common thriller film technique and appears in films such as 'The Awakening'.
The house is positioned on an island off a small town, surrounded by a vast, ongoing marsh. By placing the marsh in such a remote area surrounded by nothing but marshland, the protagonist is trapped in the house with the antagonist until the tide goes out. This use of huge isolation helps to give the film that sense of inescapability and leaves the audience again feeling the protagonist is helpless, without any communications, the set allows for the plot to reveal how the protagonist deals with is situation without help. This idea of isolation is most commonly presented in 'The Shining', with the remote 'Overlook' hotel, the characters are alone against the evil they are presented with.
POSTER ANALYSIS:
