AS Media Coursework

1. Black Swan analysis
Thisfilmopeningisquite vague tothe audience andsetsthe scene that theyare on a stage and that
Natalie Portman isthe maincharacter butdoesn’ttell the audience muchmore.Thishasbeendone
to keepthe audience guessingwhatwillhappenwhichisone of the keyconventions forasuspense
film.
The locationof the firstscene of thisfilmisona stage where the coloursare justblackand white,
theystay thiscolourthroughoutthe piece whichshowsthe contrastbetweenthem.Thesecolours
are usedto enhance the title ‘BlackSwan’incomparisontoa white swan.The costume of the
womenisa longwhite tutuwhich,enhancesherinnocence andvulnerabilitytothe manthatjoins
heron stage duringthisscene.Thisman wearsblackwhich,makeshimblendinonthe stage also
thiscontrast incolourson theircostumesmake eachcharacterstand out fromeach other so,the
dark blackversesthe pure white.Nearthe endof thisopeningscene the costumesof both
characters change,the women’scostume changesintoawhite shorthorizontal tuturatherthana
longflowingtutu. Thischange of costume makesherlookolderand that she haslost herinnocence
and that she has tochange andcannot returnto the pure ‘white’swan. The man’scostume changes
formblack tightsand black topto a bigboldfringed jacket,tightsandhorns.He ispresentedtobe a
‘beast’like character, thiscouldsuggestthatthere mightbe a psychological twistinthe filmbecause
‘beast’mendon’t exist.
The lightinginthisscene setsamysteriousfeeltothe piece as,itis justpitchblackwithone beamof
white lightenteringfromthe lefttopcornerat the beginning.Throughoutthispiece asthe dancers
start movingaroundand stepsinandout of thisbeamof light.Atthe start the beamof lightison
the dancersleftside butby the endthe beamof lightisonthe rightside of the dancer.When the
man entersthe stage andstarts to control the womenshe keepsreachingforthe beamof lightbut
doesn’tsucceedwhichcouldsuggestthatshe isn’tgoingtostayinnocentandvulnerableforlong.
The way she isreachingsuggeststhatshe isn’tready to change and she doesn’twantto lose her
innocence orpuritybut,she isbeingmade to.
At the beginningof the filmthe womenisinthe centre of the shot andis facingus but,by the end
she isfacing the opposite wayinthe centre of the shotenhancingtothe audience thatsomething
has changedabouther,thiscreatesanxietyforthe audience because theydon’tknow what. Also,
because she isfacingthe opposite wayitisshowinganotherside toher,a side thatcontrasts with
the innocentandvulnerable side. Whenthe womensitsdownshe hasherwhole bodyinthe light
and thiscouldtell the audience thatsomethingbadisgoingtohappenbecause she isstandingout
againstthe black andis at hermost vulnerablebecause the white lightmakesherlook naïve.
Whenthe musicchangesand whenthe man’scostumeschangeshe startsto control her,he pushes
and pullsherwhereverhe wantsthisismostlyawayfromthe spot lightandintothe dark. At firstthe
musicisall softand classical because itisjustheron stage performingherroutine.However,when
the man entersthe shotand starts to control herthe musicclashesand bigbangshappens.Thisthen
happensagainat the costumeschangesthisaddsdrama to the openingscene whichatfirstlooks
like aclassical ballet.Bythe endof the scene the musicreturnsto the classical musicbut itisn’tsoft
anymore itis bigand dramaticwhichgivesthe whole scene amore edgy feel andmakesthe
audience feelonedge.Asthere isnodialogue inthisopeningscene the musicgivesthe atmosphere
of the scene because the dramaticclashesof the musictellsthe storyratherthandialogue.
The cinematographyof thispiece starts off witha longshotof the womeninthe centre of the shot
so the audience cansee herwhole bodyandcostume tohelpthemgainan understandingof the

2. location.Asshe startsto dance the camera followswhere herfeetmove toowithaclose upof her
feet.Onlybeingable tosee herfeetcreatesmysteryandtension.Theseare other keypointsthat
thissort of genre has to considerwhenmakingthriller/suspensefilms.Anotherkeyshotisthe point
of viewshotof the man walkingontothe stage,thismeansthataudience cansee himenteringbut
not the womencannotwhichmakesthe audience feel anxiousforthe women.Atthe endof the
scene one otherkeyshotis the close upof the women’sface andthenthe zoomout fromthe
womenwiththe camerareturningtoits startingpositionwiththe womencentre of the longshotso
youcan see the difference of herstance andcostume andthe way she isfacing.
Thisopeningof the filmleavesthe audience confusedof whatwillhappennextbecause itdoesn’t
give thema lotof contextof the restof the filmbut,thisisthe whole ideaof a suspense film.The
audience shouldnotbe able toguesswhatwill happennextotherwise therewouldbe no tension,
anxietyorexcitement.ThroughoutthisfilmNatalie Portmanisonajourneychangingfroman
innocentwhite swantoa ‘BlackSwan’thissequence setsthe scene andexplainstothe audience
that there will be achange in herby the end.Thislinkstothe theoristTodorov;histheoryisthat
there isequilibriumthendisequilibriumandfinallyaresolution.Thistheoryisthe journeythat
Natalie Portmanwill take duringthisfilm.