Independent Study- How does the camerawork create tension in The Women In Black?

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In a horror thriller, as The Women In Black is, it is important tension and suspense to draw the audience in before using methods of jump cuts, and dark narrative to provide a narrative hook for the audience. The general conventions of horror thrillers are that gore, jump cuts and ghosts, or murders and this sort of relevant to the story of the The Woman In Black. In order to create tension, horror films use many methods, like J cuts, or through the use of sound and editing to make an eerie underscore which builds up to a sudden piece of music that scares the audience. With editing, it can be used to make the scene a quicker pace through match on action, or short cuts to make the scene more frantic, but what about camera work? Is that used to create tension in a horror thriller? Using this montage here, I will analyse how camerawork is used to create tension.

The first piece of camerawork is a piece of movement that surveys the scene. The pan is used because not only does it survey the scene and set the scene, but it also provide connotations that there is something that is lurking in the space off camera, for the audience, it adds tension as the audience are waiting to be shocked and surprised by a moment of scare or horror, and instead, the action cuts to a mid shot of Daniel Radcliffe's character Arthur Kipps enters the room with a candle, and so this moment built up from the slow paced pan complimented with the underscore of a jack in the box creates an eerie atmosphere but this shot shows an anti climatic moment, which engages the audience as they are waiting for a moment of horror or to be made to jump by the action of screen and that is not present at this moment. The next piece of camera work is a close up on a doll, which is agreeing with the connotations of the horror thriller sub genre as a whole, so this shot is summing up the genre and also making this instantly recognisable to the audience that The Women In Black is enticing to consume the film, so it connotes the natural conventions of horror as a subgenre. The doll also foreshadows the youth that are going to be killed by The Woman In Black, as dolls are a toy but in this shot, it stands independently and is lonely, so that's a metaphorical shot foreshadowing the conclusion of the film. An overhead shot follows and shows Arthur Kipps entering the room with a candle, as an audience, we get a wider perspective of the film, and also to show at this point, there is nothing behind Arthur Kipps, so there is nothing to be to be afraid of, although for the audience, this shot lures them into a false sense of security and many may be more tense due to a moment of scaring being imminent. The next moment is a close up of the mirror, with an out of focus black figure to the right of the mirror, this is evidently a moment of high suspense, as the figure wasn't present when we saw an overhead shot with a birds eye view of the room, also, the shot is short and complimented with a sharp, sudden piece of music to build the tension further as the pace of the shot doesn't allow the audience to see this figure in any detail. The music that matches this shot is of a higher volume and this scares the audience, the movement of the figure only builds the tension further as the audience  see the figurine move away from the mirror which connotes the moment that Arthur Kipps feeling of security and safety leaves him as this figure dances away in a fashion that is fearful to the audience. The shots then cut back to the overhead shot seen previously, but this time, the black figure is present with in it, this shows her as a spirt with in the film as she jumps and hangs herself. The darkness and height of the shot shows the distance between the two characters due to the difference of humanity and spirit and how the relationship is distanced and the close up of the hanging shortly after blames humanity for the spirits being left behind on a planet in which they don't belong. Next we see a series of fast paced shots show the frantic mental state that Kipps experiences due to this altercation and also maintains the tension being experienced by the audience as The Women In Black is seen multiple times within a short period which is scary and shocking for the audience which is the objective of the character, also, it is a character seen by bothe the audience and Kipps, so there is a realtion of shared feelings such as anxiousness and feeling fearful regarding the situation. The closing scene goes back to the doll but this time in a change of position to provide the message that things aren't always as they seem, but the close provides intimacy and closeness that is awkward and uncomfortable but also shows the movement in an inanimate object which provides tension as it is clearly being orchestrated by The Woman In Black, which in itself provides tension as it shows power and magical essence. The transition of longer, wider shots into more intimate shots provides the impression that something is brewing and the close ups provide an intimacy with the protagonist.

In the second clip, we start with a mid shot of a bloody Arthur Kipps surveying the scene looking for something/someone, the cuts on his face show the physical suffering he has gone through in this fire, but also the mental torture that The Woman Of Black is putting him through during the film. This cuts to a POV shot, which puts us in the shoes of Arthur Kipps, as the audience, the pan of the camera allows us as an audience to see the scene from the characters perspective, and the tension is unbearable as we already know that there is a girl present in the building, so when we finally get a glimpse of her as the camera pans, that's a tense moment for us an an audience as the fire is blocking Kipps and the young girl, which is a distance being placed by the ghostly figure of The Woman In Black, so for the audience, the tension being built is as we discover the girl and the camera movement allows the location of the girl at the same time as the main character. The series of shot-reverse shot that follows builds tension as the possessed girl looks set to inigite the fire further, much to the agony of Kipps, and this series of shots is a close up to Kipps, to provide intimacy and show emotions are more detailed and interaction with the audience is in a closer proximity than the girl, who is further away in camerawork and this connotes how possessed she is but also how decisive she is in her decision making, this is tense for the audience, as the young girl is vulnerable and The Woman In Black is taking a young girls life and already the deed is already done, the guilt the audience feels is strong due a child being possessed and killed by a spiritual thing.

The third scene starts once more with a close up of Kipps, approaching a corridor of darkness, as is made evident to us as an audience by the POV shot that follows this, and for the audience, this is tense as we think The Woman In Black is lurking around the audience waiting to make us jump and scare the audience, so the tension builds higher and higher the more the camera moves around the corner, the darkness is foreshadowing the conclusion of the film, as no matter how much you face her or fight her, ultimately she will take your life, and that's being shown with the inclusion and emphasis on the dark space with in this shot. As we see the corridor in its entirety, this only cranks up the tension more, as The Woman In Black is nowhere to be seen, so where is she? For the audience this is a very tense moment created by a POV shot complimented with a pan movement. The same shot is kept as a darkness accelerates down the hall, but this time the shot is kept still and motionless, this is symbolic to how Kipps can't stop The Woman In Black getting what she wants, which is the death of children. The close up that follows provides further exclusivity of emotions and adds detail and texture to the sequence, as the lights turn off, only one thing is evitable. The next shot we see is a mid shot, but it complies with the rule of thirds, as Kipps is to left of the picture, and The Woman In Black to the right. With Kipps, although the shadow makes him look scary and intimidating, the fact his human features are visible means the audience don't fear him, as he is mearly mortal, however, The Woman In Black is in the corner and blends in with the darkness with hidden features, with is more intimidating and provides the connotations that her features aren't mortal or human like, it distances her from the audience which adds tension as we are already capable of her she operates and this, with her 1 on 1 in a room with Kipps, seems a sense of definity about it, particularly when she screams and floats towards Kipps, her features become visible and provide tension as she looks to hurt Kipps and enviably bring him to her form. Finally, the close up of Kipps eyes shows the mental torture and strain she is placing on him as a character as he ducks from the spirit, we then cut to a mid shot with the doll iun focus and the background being out of focus, the motif of the doll shows how The Woman In Black wants to capture youth and have it to herself.

To summarise, The Woman In Black uses a variety of shots and movement but ultimately, the shots comply with the conventions mentioned in the opening paragraph of this blog, and that makes it really obvious that horror thriller is the genre of this film and that makes it evident to the audience. In terms of how it creates tension, I think the use of fast editing, underscore and camera work all interlink to create tension and are like clockwork in the sense they all come together to create something greater. I will look to use some of the shots such as POV or close up to capture tension and create it, as we are aiming to create a Psychological Thriller, which is something wherethe creation of tension is vital.