Natalie Portman stars as Nina in the psychological thriller Black Swan. Nina lives under the control of her obsessive former ballerina mother. She is chosen to play the lead role in Swan Lake, which requires portraying both the innocent White Swan and sensual Black Swan. Nina develops a rivalry with new dancer Lily, played by Mila Kunis, as her dark side emerges. Scenes show Nina dancing alone in a dark room under a spotlight, symbolizing her innocent side amid darker impulses. Her reflection takes on a sinister appearance, representing her emerging alter ego.

1. BLACK SWAN
KURT SANCHEZ

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
Black swan is one of the best psychological thriller to be released in 2010. It stars Natalie Portman
as Nina. Nina lives in a world where dance and Ballet is everything, controlled by her obsessive
mother who was also a former professional ballerina, Nina is smothered by her mothers control.
As the parts to play the characters in the famous ballet Swan Lake, the director of the show,
Thomas Leroy makes the choices of swapping the original choice to play the main part, who was
originally meant to be played by Beth Macintyre to Nina . This part requires Nina to play the who,
represents the innocence and grace. But the new rivalry with the new dancer Lily, who is played by
Mila Kunis.
As the twisted friendship grows with Lily, Nina’s dark twisted side comes out and threatens to
destroy her and her career.

3. This longshot of Nina dancing, shows her in a
dark room, with only a spot light coming
from the top left. This scene shows the viewer
who is the main character of the shot.
The dark background along with the white
dress of the Nina, shows contrast in the shot
and symbolises that she could be innocent ins
a dark room. The spot light is only the key
lighting in this shot and she still has dark
spots on her, which could mean that with all
her innocents, she still has a dark side which
can be brought out.
This scene of Nina is a close up with a shallow
focus. The detail and focus is on Nina facial
expression as she looks petrified and uneasy.
But in the back ground the viewer can see
that she unfocused reflection of Nina is doing
something different. As the reflection
unknowingly looks at Nina, it contrasts her, as
the reflection looks sinister and acts like her
other alter ego and Nina is innocent, her
reflection is sinister.

4. This close up shot of Thomas, the director,
This scene of Nina is a close up with a shallow
focus. The detail and focus is on Nina facial
expression as she looks petrified and uneasy.
But in the back ground the viewer can see
that she unfocused reflection of Nina is doing
something different. As the reflection
unknowingly looks at Nina, it contrasts her, as
the reflection looks sinister and acts like her
other alter ego and Nina is innocent, her
reflection is sinister.

5. After Nina falls on the main stage, she goes
backstage, distressed and emotional. She
walks into her changing room and finds that
the black swan dancer is there. Surprised and
shocked, the camera shows a close up of
Nina’s face, which shows that she was in
mixed emotions and maybe pain, with her
landing on the floor. It also shows that Nina is
inferior to the black swan, this is because she
is close to wall when she is talking to
her, frigid and tense
One of the iconic scenes of black swan is the
dance of the white swan, this is the scene
where Nina is the main character. This is
portrayed to the audience by, making Nina
the centre of the shot. Also to help the
audience realise this, the spot light is aimed
towards Nina and her partner, but on the
other hand, the other dancer behind her are
also lit up by the light, but the are a lot more
darker compared to the two main characters.