The trailer begins with two production company names (Momentum Pictures and Hammer), with smoke appearing behind the text. We hear a non diagetic sound of what seems to be a train horn which overlays and sets up the first scene, which as the audience, we now know will be a moving train. It then fades to a train with smoke coming out of the top. The smoke behind the production company title helps to tie these two shots together and which also create a mysterious and eerie feel to the trailer from the start, setting the theme of the trailer/film for the audience in the first few seconds on screen.

Inevitably from the Ident sequence, the beginning of the trailer at 0.05 is an extreme long shot and also establishing shot of a moving dated steam train. As the film is set in the Edwardian era around 1916-1917, this consolidates the era and theme/feel of the trailer, so we can expect to see reinforcement of this antique looking mise-en-scene throughout the trailer. The shot uses diagetic sounds of a train as it appears on screen with an overlay of ambient music which creates a peaceful atmosphere, a stark juxtaposition from the dark, smokey and mysterious Ident background.

The shot fades to black and displays a close-up to allow us to see the main protagonist’s (renowned actor Daniel Radcliffe) emotion and body language which seems to be vacant and slouched against the train window. The train lights flash on to his face, casting a reflection in the window. This may have connotations of two sides to his personality, one more dark than the other, or foreshadowing that dark and unpleasant things may happen in the rest of the trailer. There also seems to be a green filter applied in this shot which has connotations of supernatural themes, reiterating the main horror theme/genre of the trailer. There is also a non diagetic sound of a what seems to be a middle aged man’s voice ask the question “So… you’re from London?”. This allows us to gain more information about the protagonist and where he is from, letting us as the audience, know that he is travelling away from his home (London), and makes the audience question where he is travelling to.

There is next a jump cut and fade at 0.09 that answers our previous questions as an establishing long shot of a baroque style mansion seemingly hidden within woodland is shown. This is a typical convention of a horror film, an isolated desolate mansion, that once seemed a thriving happy home, that now looks like no one has visited in years. There is a light fog that surrounds the house which creates an eerie feeling. It adheres to Roland Barthe’s Enigma code, where the setting denotes mystery and almost Todorov’s equilibrium stage before the disruption of his Narrative theory. This shot sets up the expectations of being spooked and the cinematography alone creates a sense of fear in the audience. Also importantly in this shot, a voiceover of the same man’s voice asks “Trying to sell Eel Marsh house?” This lets the audience know the protagonists occupation and also his aim for travelling. The voiceover and shot of the house being mentioned ties the setting together for where the majority of the film will take place.

The next shot after this is the first time we put together the voice of the man with a visual. The almost peaceful ambient music still overlay’s all of these shots, making the audience uneasy but not yet fearful. The mise-en-scene in this shot really reiterates the era style here, from the highly suited characters in waistcoats and high collared shirts with era styled hair style to the train interior. We can clearly tell the era setting from the interior as it displays old, worn and dated wooden benches and walls with low lighting. The who’s identity is still unknown as a character alongside the protagonist says “You won’t find a local buyer”. This further reinstates the fact that there is something not quite right and mysterious about the house that no one is willing to invest in it due to it’s history that is still unknown, which makes the audience fear more for the protagonist who is travelling to such a secluded and unwanted place.

Next, there are a series of shots showing the next stage of travel to his destination of Eel Marshe house which seems to be really far out of the way of normal civilization. First, we see a long shot followed by an extreme long shot, of the protagonist and the unknown local man riding through an expanse of deserted wetland in a horse and carriage, which again, reinforces the mode of transport of the set era. We then see a medium long shot of just one stand alone wooden cross in the ground as a tombstone signifying death which is entailed by a medium shot of the protagonist facial expression showing his worried and confused emotions.

The ambient music still runs throughout, however low booms now accompany specific shots adding more drama to the frames. More dialogue reveals an unnerving truth about the house as the man states “The sooner the house is sold… the sooner people can move on”. This leaves a bevel of questions for the audience such as, move on from what? And what does the house have to do with not allowing people to move on? All of the shots here are dull and colourless with slight mist casting over the sky connoting mystery as more information is revealed. Also, isolation is a common convention of a horror film as it means the characters are more vulnerable, adding to the fear.

At 0.21, an establishing shot shows the protagonist (Daniel Radcliffe) walking towards Eel Marsh house which is completely derelict and surrounded by uncontrollable shrubery and mist. This combination of mise-en-scene and conventions are typical of the horror genre which depict mystery and fear of the unknown. This shot may also strike fear into the audience and build suspense and tension that he is entering a house that is so feared and unwanted. Also it creates this mood and sets the tone for the upcoming dark events.

The next scene begins with a high angle shot from what looks like the top of the stairs in the house showing the interior style of the protagonist enters through the door down below. This high angle shot is used to show the vulnerability of the main character by making him appear small and inferior entering the house. As the door opens with a loud diagetic creaking sound, the ambient and peaceful music stops and a chilling, low rumbling tone is played. The shift In music signifies a change of atmosphere into a darker place and lets the audience know that dark themes from this point are inevitable. The interior of the house is completely covered in cobwebs and dust, as you would expect of a house that is untouched and abandoned and has an antique baroque styling, typical of the Edwardian era.

The camera pans around the room to a close up of the protagonist scanning the room, displaying his worried expression. The camera tracks him with medium and close up shots as he walks through dark hallways with a lantern as he explores the house. This series of close up shots and silhouetted medium shots paired with suspense building soundtrack creates a tension within the audience as they are very voyeuristic and so as the audience, you feel like you are experiencing roaming the dark unknown hallways with the protagonist. The close up shots also allow the audience to see his facial expressions and connect with how he is feeling by what he is expressing on the outside through his body language. In the frame where he is holding the lantern, the warm toned light is cast across his face, however it appears more clinical and looks to have a green filter overlaid. This could connote supernatural presences or a side to his personality that is yet unknown.

At 0.32, a medium long shot is shown of the protagonist spinning a zoetrope. There is a very low suspenseful rumbling played with the diagetic clicking sound of the zoetrope spinning. The sudden dip in the volume of the soundtrack creates a more authentic and real situation which is a very intense again voyeuristic scene. He looks into the zoetrope to see the spinning image to which there is very loud shrill/screech sound as a ghostly woman’s face appears trough the gaps of the spinning zoetrope. The face appearing combined with the loud chilling shrill instantly resonates fear and shock into the audience. A medium long shot is then quickly shown on screen with nothing behind it, confusing the audience and signifying a supernatural presence.

Then, a close up of a cup of alcohol being poured by a very shaking hand is shown, followed by a medium-long shot of the protagonist sitting opposite a woman who poured the drinks. The lighting in these shots are warmer showing innocence and peace, however still slightly clinical. The woman begs the him “Please… Don’t go back to the house”. This signifies that by her shaking hands concerned tone of voice that there is something terrifying and unnatural in the house that could be potentially dangerous by warning him. A short jump cut interrupts the scene with another quick flash of the face within the zoetrope gaps, which, by this shot following the line the woman just said, could be a sign that the woman who’s face appeared in the zoetrope is the danger and the protagonist came face to face with her. There is a diagetic sound in these shots of the bottles clinking from the woman’s shaking hand and the drink pouring into the glass while the music is a very low rumble with a few louder quick beats.

A significant shot follows this with a close up of the protagonist, however in the background we can see a woman dressed in black, blurred out, turn and face towards him. Overlaid is a ticking sound with a transition to a medium shot of the protagonist turning around abruptly with a fearful facial expression. This shot also seems to have a blue filter, connoting a cold and clinical atmosphere, typical of the horror genre. At that moment there is a quick jump transition to which the music suddenly pauses for a second or two on a black screen. In this moment with the black screen, we hear what we assume to be the woman the protagonist was talking to previously say “She’s there”. Following the previous clip, we again, assume the woman is talking about the woman in black who just appeared in the background of the previous shot. By warning him not to go back to the house because ‘she’ is there, signifies that she must be dangerous and that he is to fear her.

The shot of darkness and the woman’s concerned warning, is followed by a close up of some child’s figurines where we can see the protagonist in the background, which is then closely followed by a jump cut of a medium shot of a crow in the house, landing significantly on a piece of woman’s furniture. This is combined with the diagetic noise of the crow squawking and it’s wings flapping viscously. Crows symbolically represent/signify death and fear. This suggests that death is a theme and that the film is obscure and gothic.

There is then a series of jump cuts starting at 0.47, where the music builds and shocking images are shown. First, we see a young lady being held back by what looks to be her parents as she screams (diagetic) franticly. We see smoke in the background, however we only realise what from in the next shot of two very young boys emerging from a smoke engulfed house, signifying fire and death. The last short frame we see if of the protagonist and the local man from earlier in the trailer, looking on at the horrific scene from an antique automobile. This is a medium close up where we can see their horrified expressions. The montage of jump cuts ends at 0.49, only lasting 2 seconds, however the music is tense and fear filled and the use of fast jump cuts capture the audience’s attention immediately and may even frighten them. The montage ends quickly with another 1 second of just a plain black screen.

At 0.51, there is a straight cut to a a title screen that is predominantly black with a small amount of smoke in the background. The text, displayed in white to contrast the background and stand out to the audience, reads ‘The most chilling ghost story of our time”. The text is very simplistic to begin with, with no effects added to it, however as the text starts to fade out, it almost disintegrates and cracks away, which looks a lot more effective. Also the use of black space allows the audience to consider the film and the enigmas it proposes. Furthermore, the wording of the title lures the audience in as it is a statement, which presumes it is fact, making the audience want to see the film to see if this is true.

Close ups of children are shown next. First, a little girl’s foot standing on one of her dolls’ head and smashing it, then a close up track of three little girls walking forward with blank expressions, almost looking possessed/ and finally a long shot of the tree girls stood at windows and opening them. The use of the young children in these shots is to display the defenselessness and innocence of the victims within this movie. As children/young girls are vulnerable, Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory can be applied here, as the audience feels sympathy for the young girls and mothers watching the movie will relate to the feeling of having a child and may be moved by this compilation of shots. The young girls head towards the windows not caring about the destruction of their possessions and the juxtaposition of using children is a trope of the genre. To accompany these shots, there is a green filter, which again connotes supernatural presences are controlling them to act in this way. A building suspenseful soundtrack begins to play.

At 0.56, a medium shot of the three young girls shown previously in the trailer are seen amongst the woodland during a violent thunder storm. We now know from this that the young girls are no longer living and that supernatural presences are apparent in the film. Sympathetic fallacy is used here, as the low key lighting and dark weather matches the mood of the sequence. Again, the forest/woodland is a typical location of this horror genre. Again, the low key lighting and a blue filter provides a cold and eerie feeling. Accompanying this shot is shrilling almost squealing sounds and diagetic sounds of the heavy storm.

The sequencing of these two shots allows the audience to see what is happening from a different viewpoint. The extreme nature of these shots is enhanced b the use of cantered angles. The high angle shot is used to make the protagonist look vulnerable and inferior which is matched with a now very loud booming soundtrack. The footsteps are indexical evidence of a supernatural form, which seems to be a child from the small sizes bloody footprints across the cemented floor. The face that it is a child haunting the house is a typical convention of the horror genre and adds an eeriness to the shots. There isn’t much high key lighting which therefore makes the sequence of shots to come more sinister.

The next sequence of straight cuts are driven by a voice over of the woman seen earlier in the trailer having a conversation with the protagonist who says “You said you have a son?”. The dialogue is heard in conjunction with a visual on screen of a medium close up of the central protagonist reaching for a hug with a young boy. This shot is moving and increases our knowledge about the protagonist who we know little about up until this point and lets us know that he is a family man. The tense music builds to a high pitch as a medium shot of the protagonist is shown revealing a small section of wallpaper where something is written underneath. The next few shots are displayed with jump cuts, showing the teary eyed, emotional woman in a close up and medium shots of the protagonist ripping off the wallpaper, with a close up of his face to show his frustration from his expression. Over this series of fast paced cuts, the woman continues by saying “Go home to him”.

The music continues to build as a medium long shot of the protagonist is shown stepping back from the wall where we can see written in blood ‘You could have saved him’. At this point we don’t know who the message is referring to, but it makes the audience ask questions and be engaged in the scene. The music climaxes with a loud booming sound as we see a small figure quickly jolt across the screen and the scene ends abruptly to a black screen. Before a straight cut transition to the next shot at 1.08, we hear a match being struck which starts non diagetic as we cannot see anything however the transition reveals a shot of the protagonist striking a match which then makes the crackling sound of the fire diagetic to the shot. Abruptly there is a jump cut as the camera pans up to an over the shoulder shot of a small boy covered in mud screaming (diagetic) in a close up. This is frightening to the audience capturing their attention while the following shots are long shots of the protagonist trying to get away through a series of jump cuts, fades an loud booming soundtrack that creates a lot of tension and fear.

The music becomes very loud and booms echo as we hear loud no diagetic whispering, which is a typical convention of a horror film. As this soundtrack and noises are being heard , a title screen appears with “Daniel Radcliffe” displayed on it in the same style and font as the previous. By using Daniel Radcliffe as the main role and displaying is name prominently in the trailer will play a huge part of promotion for the film as Daniel is renowned for his role in the world wide phenomenon Harry Potter franchise. People of all generations respect him as an actor and would massively entice them to go and see the film purely because he is the lead role. This film aims to counteract his iconoclastic baggage and this is demonstrated by the clothes he wears, the way he acts in the film and the role as a whole couldn’t be further from his previous roles and younger demographic.

The title screen fades as the music continues to build tension and a close up shot of the protagonist, who looks to be exhausted but terrified, is shown with a blue filter to reflect his mood. The following shots are close up frames of ripped, scratched up and worn down photographs that are aged from the previous house owner. They show a family with a face scratched out, and the second being of a window with a faded face in it that the camera slowly zooms into. The dialogue voice over of this sequence of frames reveals the name of the protagonist. A male’s voice, that sounds to be the local man from the beginning of the trailer says in sinister voice “Don’t go chasing shadows Arthur”.

Sinister music overlays an extreme long shot of the secluded and isolated island where the house lies followed by Arthur, as a passenger, driving away looking back over his shoulder in a medium shot. Both of these shots have a white filter that feels clinical, cold and mysterious, all words that connote and are associated with the horror genre. Fastly paced jump cuts separate these shots and at 1.17, we see a medium close up of Arthur’s facial expression which displays terror followed quickly by a close up of the diagetic sound of a door handle jiggling to be opened which is seen on screen, a small child looking hand against a pane of glass in a door which abruptly disappears and finally a horrified looking Arthur lurching forward frantically which suddenly transitions with a jump cut.

The high angle of the nest shot allows the audience to see clearly, the surroundings the protagonist is in and that he has clearly unearthed a terrifying skeleton of whom we aren’t told in the trailer. This may entice the audience to go and see the film to find out what ‘shadows’ Arthur is chasing and why he is unearthing the bodies of people he doesn’t know. A jump cut then reveals Arthur frantically running through woodland as the music continues to build signifying his desperation to escape. The location of him running through a woodland shows how isolated and secluded he is and that it is difficult for him to escape. As themes, these are conventional of the genre. Blue filters also continue to be used to depict a cold and mysterious feel to the trailer.

To break up the previous shots, a series of title sequences are revealed in the space of around 5 seconds appearing quickly amongst the fast paced montage. This creates tension and rapid shots intrigue the audience and capture their attention to try and make out everything that is passing so quickly on and off the screen, showing the film has a lot to offer, which would attract the audience to see the film. All of the title screens appear in the same white font as every other on the same black and smoke filled background. The first title says “FEAR” , followed by clips of the film until the second that reads “HER”, with more clips of the film and then finally the last title says “CURSE”. By doing this, the audience are encouraged to actively get involved with the trailer by putting these words together and creating a sense of fear and anticipation.

A close up shot of a little boy’s feet walking towards what looks to be a train track is shown with a train approaching can be seen in the background by a headlight. This is shortly followed by the shocked face of Arthur’s male antagonist throughout the trailer who seems to be looking through the windows of the train second later. These scenes are separated with jump cuts and the title screens previously mentioned followed by quickly paced scenes of a house engulfed in flames with Arthur on fire inside. This is shocking to the audience as it all goes by quickly and they don’t have time to think what has happened. It makes the audience question why he is in a situation were he is surrounded by fire and smoke. These are the final shots before the climactic ending of the trailer.

The final sequence of quickly paced jump cuts begin at 1.24, which displays Arthur surrounded by fog in a long shot and the camera quickly transitions a medium shot in the same location, showing his confused and vulnerable expression as he spins around trying to escape. He is also trying to find the source of a child’s non diagetic scream of “now” amongst the mist. These two joined shots have a slightly whitish blue filter, again to connote a cold and eerie feeling. The jump cuts take the audience to the end of the trailer in a few seconds showing scenes of a frantic Arthur running, a long shot of a low key lighting room with a rocking chair rocking violently on its own and finally a medium shot of Arthur walking slowly forward with a lit candle in one hand and an axe in the other. This is a very dramatic way to end the trailer and the fast paced climax gets the audience thinking, alert and excited before the music loudly ends with a huge booming sound that echoes out. A low sinister tone carries the fade transition to the final two shots.

Every title in the trailer follows the same theme of a black background and white text; very generic of horror films. The black background also adds to the sense of suspicion and the thought of the unknown, subconsciously grabbing the audience’s attention.There is a fade to a title screen that displays the actual title of the film “The Woman In Black”, which is half hidden by smoke but then fades to reveal the title name. To make this more dramatic, following the previous scenes of the trailer, there is a non diagetic sound of a creaking rocking chair which creates a creepy and eerie atmosphere. As the title screen fades out a woman’s voice echoes “She’s always there”.

These title screens then fade into the final scenes from the film at 1.32. This is an over the shoulder shot of Arthur raising his hand up towards a misted window with a hand print pressed against the glass. He touches the glass where the hand print is as a low booming tone sets the scene for tension. As he does this, there are a couple of rapid jump cuts which abruptly and suddenly show the face of a screaming woman on the other side of the glass with the diagetic very loud screeching noise. This is a final and unexpected jump scare which is very effective in re-capturing the audience’s attention just after they had lost attention with the title screen, they are made alert by a final shot, striking a fear before the end title screen.

The trailer ends with a final fade to the same themed title screen seen throughout, that displays “February 2012”, informing the audience of when the film will be released. At the bottom of the screen, the production company names are reiterated before both the music and the frame fade out to bring the trailer to a close.