The opening scene of The Woman in Black sets the tone of the rest of the movie. The genre of the movie is horror/thriller, which is clearly depicted in this scene through use of colour, action and sound. The scene is dingy and darkly-toned which is usually associated with horror movies. The dinginess also suggests the time period; there are no electric lights in the room, so it is assumed that the movie is set quite a long time in the past, most likely the middle-to-late 1910s.
The music - a haunting, high-pitched song - fades in gradually. Soft piano tunes are associated with little children. This association probably stems from nursery rhymes having a soft, soothing nature to send children to sleep. The idea of sending children to sleep heavily foreshadows the coming events of the scene: the three girls in question all stare at something unseen by the audience before rising to their feet and walking to the windows in unison with blank looks on their faces. They then proceed to throw themselves out of the window, killing themselves. This gives a deeper meaning to the nursery rhyme-type music.