Character deconstruction

Character deconstruction - The Woman in black

There are many features about The Women in Black that are applied to make her an effective main character. I was interested in her character particularly as I feel she incorporates the genre of a gothic horror film extremely well.

Costume-

• The woman herself is dressed completely in black. This colour is usually representative of negative elements such as death and evil, portraying her as a more sinister character.
• This colour is useful to clearly identify who the antagonist is.
• Her outfit covers her head to toe and does not reveal much of her skin apart from her face. This could arguably create a sense of mystery as little about what she actually looks like is revealed.
• The Women in Black also wears long black gloves on her hands. Again this shields her true identity and covers her human features makes you question the 'human' aspect of her.
• The entity of her outfit including the old fashioned style of clothing all correlate to produce the impression that she is a dangerous character.

Make up-

• From the few glances you see of The Woman in Black's face, you can tell she is made to look extremely pale. This implies that she is ill or suffering from something terrible and with the absence of any life, warmth or happiness.
• The whiteness of her skin could indicate death, again portraying her as a dangerous character.
• Her eyes are made to look dark and deep suggesting a sense of evil.
• Several wrinkles and dark shades are added to her face to make her look old and wasting. This implies a sense of sickness about her and  her not being a character the audience would warm to. 

Masks-

• She wears a black wedding veil over her face concealing what she looks like as well as her facial features making you question is  she is human or not.
• This also keeps her identity hidden, portraying elements of secretiveness and the unknown, in turn creating an air of mystery.  

Body language-

• There is little physical interaction between The Woman in Black and any other character. instead we just see glimpses of her staring over people. This reveals little about her personality but you can see that she isn't the type to warmly interact.