1. EmilyMorris – Pre production
Film Analysis – Black Swan (2010)Directed by Darren Afronofsky
The whole firstscene of thisfilmshowsthe maincharacterdancingwitha partner.The whole dance
has quite sinisterelementstoitwhere itoftenlooksasthoughthe protagonistisbeing chased,
trappedand restrictedwhichare all elementscommonlypresentinpsychological thrillers.The
lightingthroughoutthe scene isquite low whichaddstothe sinisterelementsbymakingthe whole
dance sequence seemquitethreatening.Bymakingthe dance seemthisway,itacts as a
foreshadowingdevice forhowdance isthe thingthat ultimatelydrivesthe protagonisttolose
control of hermind.
The costume in thisscene isalsoquite darkwithbothof the characters beinginblack.Lateron in
the film, the protagonistfailstoimpressthe directorwithherblackswandance and spendsthe
whole filmcompetingwiththe characterwhodoesplaythe blackswanwhichresultsinher
completelylosinghermind.The factthatshe is showntobe dancinginwhatcan be assumedasthe
blackswan costume reflectsthe ideathatthe blackswanwill be of greatimportance toher andvery
significantinhermental decline.
Upon the darknessof the costumesandthe low light,the camerashotsconstantlyfollow the
characters andfrequentlycuttolotsof differentangleswhichcreatesareal sense of confusion
withinthe scene.This,coupledwiththe music,makesthe scene become reallysinisterandturnsthe
simple actof dance intosomethingquite threatening.
I reallylike howthe directorhasmanagedtouse techniquessuchasuse of low light,sinistermusic
and camerashots that followthe charactersandchange angle frequentlytomake quite aninnocent
act seemominousandscary.I wouldlike tocorporate some of these elementsintomyfilm.
