Black Swan
Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky. It stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, and Mila Kunis. Its plot revolves around a production of Swan Lake by a prestigious New York City ballet company. It was distributed by Fox Searchlight pictures. Grossing $143,561,708 at the box office, and received very positive views from the critics. Within the thriller genre there are hybrid thrillers, which are a mixer of two different genres. 'Black Swan' is a hybrid as it is a mixer of a thriller and the drama genre. By creating a hybrid, more conventions can be displayed and it can add to the atmosphere of the sequence.
In the opening sequence of 'Black Swan' (Darren Aronofsky 2010) Mise-en-scene, editing, camera and sound is used widely throughout this sequence. All of these techniques are very important when creating a thriller, as they help build up tension and create an unknown atmosphere. A large range of editing decisions have been made in order to create a thrill and build up tension towards the audience, the editing decisions that have been made are extremely important as what we see is critical to building up tension for the audience to see. The first shot we see is an establishing shot of the dancer, this sets the scene as to what is going to happen later on in the sequence and gives us an insight of what the film is about. An establishing shot shows the audience who the main characters or characters are in the film from this establishing shot we can assume that the dancer is going to be a main character in this film. As the dancer begins to dancer to camera pans up her body, from the camera doing this we get an actual view of the character. There is a shadow of the female dancer, which is reflected due to the strong artificial light which is beaning down on the dancer, by having the light reflecting to create a shadow it makes it seem as if it is her normal day to day life and nothing is going to happen. Also by having a shadow it builds up tension as it creates a mysterious atmosphere, and seems as if it is unbelievable. The lighting in the opening sequence is very dark but we see a spot light shine on the dancer, this draws all the attention to the dancer and the audience knows straight away who the main character is. When the dancer has been introduced, the next shot we see is a blank screen which shows the audience the film title and the distributor of the film, the shot then fades to a high angle shot of a number of dancers and the dancer teachers. After the audience has seen the dancers from a high angle shot, the camera shows a close up of each of the dancers this shows the audience their facial expressions and from these shots the audience can see how much dancing means to them and it is their dream. Throughout the whole of the opening sequence the titles are displayed between regular intervals, and the shot then goes to different parts of the film to give the audience an insight what is going to happen later on. From the short, quick clips we see we can assume that something bad or negative is going to happen in this film. Throughout the whole of the opening sequences quick, jump cuts are used this assumes that the actors life is like this and their always in a rush and on the go for most of the day. Also in this opening sequence a lot of the shots are done in close ups, this shows each of the characters emotions and the intimacy between each of the characters and from these shots we can see that each of the dancers are in competition with one another. Throughout the rest of the sequence very important editing decisions are used, which are predominately rapid cuts these decisions are extremely important as they are done so that the audience does not have enough time to relate to the character which is in this sequence but the audience knows enough to assume what there day to day lives are like.
Within the opening sequence of ‘Black Swan’ many of the camera shots and camera angles which are used are very similar, and are predominately close ups and eye line matches. There are close ups and each of the dancers to show their facial expressions and the emotion that they have, from these shots we can see how they are feeling and the competition they have between each other. Although within the opening scene we do not see the whole story and why the tension exist we can assume that it is because of relationships or dancing, this adds to the tension as we are consisting waiting to found out what actually happens. As there are quick, jump cuts the audience does not have enough time to relate to the actors but we can see their facial expressions displayed. From the camera shots and camera angles we can assume we are being introduced to what lies further into the sequence. Throughout this sequence as shots are done in quick concession the images are subliminal as the audience does not have enough time to register what the images are of but the audience can see that they are going to be a danger.
Within the opening sequence of ‘Black Swan’ mise-en-scene is used widely, from the smart suits worn by the male characters to the impressive dance outfits worn by the female dancers. The mise-en-scene which is used doesn’t give the characters their own identity as they are all dressed in the same dancing outfits, later on in the opening sequence each of the characters are in different outfits to one another and this allows the audience to relate to them a lot more, as the appearance of people is how we judge one another. From the opening sequence we can see that the location the film is set in is a dark dance hall, although the first shot we see in the opening sequence is dark, colour is represented later on as more lighting is introduced to uplift the sequence. Throughout film mise-en-scene is used to create representations and help the audience to establish relationships with the characters, from the mise-en-scene we can judge each character by their appearance and from the location we know definitely what the film is about.
Within the opening sequence of ‘Black Swan’ sound is used throughout the sequence and adds tension and is an important factor of the sequence. When creating films, sound is usually the last thing we think about but in fact it is the most important part as it is what creates the tension and suspense mainly. At the beginning of the opening sequence, a voice over is used to give the audience an introduction of what the film is about. For the first 30 seconds we do not see any of the characters speaking, as this is done by a voice over and is done from the girl’s perspective. A slow instrumental music is played in the background to add to the effect of the sequence, this music is played throughout the whole sequence and is played over the characters voices. Gunshot sound effects are used near the end of the sequence, from the director doing this it draws the attention to the film and the tempo of the film from this point is increased significantly.
Throughout this sequence, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and camera are how the sequence is built up and the way in which it keeps the audience’s attention. Although some of these techniques are not used to a large extent it still conveys the techniques.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/
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