Black Swan- Opening Scene Analysis

Black Swan

Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky .

Opening Credits

Dark sinister credits are used during the opening. White, bold text is used on a dark background, allowing attention to be drawn to the writing by making it stand out, but is ironic as it is the 'Black Swan' so the audience would expect the title to be black text on a white background. The darkness is typical of opening for a thriller, and helps to draw conclusions that this is going to be a sinister, creepy and mysterious narrative.
The titles read:
Fox searchlight pictures presents
In association with
Cross Creek Pictures
A protozoa and phoenix pictures production
BLACK SWAN.

A screenshot of part of the opening credits.

Sound

The non-diegetic music is used during the beginning of this clip, when the main character is dancing. The music is high pitched with multiple stings, which isn't typical for a thriller and makes the audience wonder why the non-diegetic music isn't sinister. However, soon after, a man enters, but the music continues. Composed over the top is a deep eerie rumble which all of a sudden changes the feel of the narrative to tense, making the audience feel the suspense and adds to the narrative enigma, as it is assumed that the main ballet dancer is the protagonist, but the audience are left to wonder who the man is, and due to the change in genre of music when he is introduced, we assume him to be the antagonist which would be typical for a male antagonist in a thriller with a female protagonist.

Sinister sound is used to match the sinister costume.

Another point to note is that after the dance scene, the audience find out that this was a dream. This is shown through the main characters dialogue 'I had a dream I was the white swan last night'. However, the audience are unable to see who she is talking to. They are made to wonder if anyone is present in the room that we don't know about due to the close up camera angle of her face, or specific long shots which only show one part of the room, or made to wonder if she is being watched or possessed. All these questions add to the narrative enigma and build tension and anxiety for the audience.

Main character's dialogue is important in the extract for clues.

Mise en Scene

At the very beginning of the narrative low key lighting is used, to portray the ballet dancer (the main character). She is depicted in a dark room, but the audience don't know why she is there dancing or where in particular this scene is set. This adds to the eeriness and darkness which is a typical convention of a thriller, as the characters are less easy to identify due to the darkness, due to the limited lighting. The shadows create a spooky atmosphere keeping the audience engaged foreshadowing the dark events to come, while the bright spotlight on the dancer at the beginning suggests that she is the focal point of the narrative and is the one to carefully watch.

Low key lighting is used, but the dancer is spotlighted.

Furthermore, regarding the costume, the ballet dancer is wearing white. This is at the beginning of the clip where she is dancing. White, has connotations of innocence and peace, strongly suggesting to the audience that she is the protagonist and isn't presented as evil at the beginning of the narrative.  On the other hand, the man who appears slightly later in the dance is presented wearing in a typical antagonist costume which is black, whilst his face is strongly drawn and contoured, to which the dark shadows enhance making him appear sinister and evil in appearance. The way that he moves is also very violent and dominant of the female character which matches his costume. This suggests that the narrative will take a sinister turn.



Camera

A close up shot is used of the ballerinas feet when she is dancing, at the beginning of the narrative. This shows the quick movement of her feet, which could foreshadow that the events in the narrative will happen quickly, and that the storyline will be fast paced. The fact that the camera is completely focused on this character suggests to the audience that she is going to be the focal point, and that the narrative will revolve around her life as a ballet dancer. Due to the fact that the audience are having to watch her movement very carefully during this point of the thriller, suggests that we must watch her every move during the whole narrative. This is effective because the increased speed of her movement keeps the audience engaged, whilst adding to the narrative enigma as we wonder what her role in the narrative will be and what the significance of her dancing is.

An extreme close up shot is used to portray the ballet dancer's back to display an odd looking scratch. This extreme close up shot is very effective because it shows the details of the scratch, but the audience are made to wonder how this got there and who did it. The audience are made to question as to whether it relates to the man she was dancing with in the 'dream'. This adds to the tension in the narrative, and also keeps the audience engaged as they are made to wonder if they missed something prior to this shot being shown, which adds to the thrill of watching this particular narrative, and also suggests that she is the protagonist due to being hurt.

An extreme close up shot of the dancers back.

Editing

Shot reverse shot is used when the ballet dancer and who we assume to be her Mum are exchanging dialogue in their house in the morning, after she has had the twisted dream. This is effective editing because it builds tension as it isn't known how close their relationship is and their relationship with each other other before this scene. The fact that her mum also helps to dress her, adds to the narrative enigma as we do not know why she is being patronising, so this adds to the tense environment we already establish from their relationship.

Shot reverse shot is used to indicate a conversation.

Straight cut shots are also used to create the tension between the scene. Straight cuts are used when the ballet dancer is on the train, and she spots another girl. This shot combined with eerie, typical thriller developed music, develops a lack of understanding as to who the other girl is, and where they are both going, and what their relationship is. This makes the audience confused, adding to the narrative enigma of the narrative.

Straight cut shots are used.

The clip analysed shown below: