Black Swan
Analysis by Hope Newton & Ethan Delaney
Analysis by Hope Newton & Ethan Delaney
Opening with a forward tracking shot as though the camera is a handheld, Aronofsky instantaneously conjured feelings of disorientation within us, whereby the warped movements inside of the shots reflect the protagonist's blurred separation of reality and surreality. Furthermore, a theme of jaggedness appears within the Mise en scene throughout the clip; for example, the props and setting enhances a motif of mirrors, and a close-up shot of a piece of a mirror stabbed into her highlights the importance of this symbol, whilst also created shock inside of us. We therefore perceived that the mirror symbolism reflects the way in which the protagonist is mirroring and transforming into the black swan, supported by the white costumes of the surrounding characters in the film's opening ten seconds, which contrast against the black of her clothing that connotes her loss of purity.
Additionally, an over the shoulder two-shot demonstrating the protagonist looking into her reflection reinforces this imagery, whilst also shows her make-up now half finished and white. These two split colours further imply her split identity of her disorientated innocence, and this splitting and jaggedness appears again within close-ups of the protagonist speaking to the other dancer. As her worried face is trapped between a black wall and door, it is suggested that this innocence is gradually being stripped away, and so we felt confused by who the protagonist now is and how we were being deceived.
This disorientation again surfaced within us as the camera focuses upon the protagonist's emotions and dancing. An array of close-ups of her feet and her face dominate the shots as opposed to the very few long shots of her whole body, emphasising how we found her feelings more important than her dancing as only we were conscious of her injury. Although one shot doesn't cut for twenty five seconds, the scene is fast paced due to the high movement within the shot and the handheld style of the camera, as though we were dancing on the stage with the protagonist which further emphasised our feelings of dizziness. The low key lighting and flashes of both red and green throughout her performance connote danger, death and her monstrous lust to be "perfect."
Throughout the clip, the non-diegetic music became significant to us as it reflected the mood of the scenes. For example, the music begins when the protagonist realises her killing the other dancer wasn't reality. It begins with low dynamics to show the process of her final transformation, and becomes louder to make us more tense as the action unfolds. Furthermore, the music is entirely orchestral with somewhat soft notes and instruments which contrasts against the dark and disturbing themes of the film, yet the quick and high pitched notes of the string section created a sense of chaos for us to overall illustrate the perversion of being put in the spotlight.
Additionally, an over the shoulder two-shot demonstrating the protagonist looking into her reflection reinforces this imagery, whilst also shows her make-up now half finished and white. These two split colours further imply her split identity of her disorientated innocence, and this splitting and jaggedness appears again within close-ups of the protagonist speaking to the other dancer. As her worried face is trapped between a black wall and door, it is suggested that this innocence is gradually being stripped away, and so we felt confused by who the protagonist now is and how we were being deceived.
This disorientation again surfaced within us as the camera focuses upon the protagonist's emotions and dancing. An array of close-ups of her feet and her face dominate the shots as opposed to the very few long shots of her whole body, emphasising how we found her feelings more important than her dancing as only we were conscious of her injury. Although one shot doesn't cut for twenty five seconds, the scene is fast paced due to the high movement within the shot and the handheld style of the camera, as though we were dancing on the stage with the protagonist which further emphasised our feelings of dizziness. The low key lighting and flashes of both red and green throughout her performance connote danger, death and her monstrous lust to be "perfect."
Throughout the clip, the non-diegetic music became significant to us as it reflected the mood of the scenes. For example, the music begins when the protagonist realises her killing the other dancer wasn't reality. It begins with low dynamics to show the process of her final transformation, and becomes louder to make us more tense as the action unfolds. Furthermore, the music is entirely orchestral with somewhat soft notes and instruments which contrasts against the dark and disturbing themes of the film, yet the quick and high pitched notes of the string section created a sense of chaos for us to overall illustrate the perversion of being put in the spotlight.
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