Black Swan Opening Sequence Analysis

This film is directed by Darren Aronofsky and was released on the 21st January 2011 in the UK. It feautures celebrities such as Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.

This film has a very slow opening sequence of some drawing in a black outline. There are names of directors and other associates included. Then the beginning of the dance starts and you see the first character. The first character is introduced with slow dance music. She is wearing white and appears to be very attractive. She is slim and graceful and is very skillfull. She is dressed in white which connotes that she is good and innocent. Then you see the male character in the shadows dressed in black. This connotes that he is evil. They dance and the female character appears to be trapped in this dance by the male, and this forshadows events that take place later in the film. The white and black colours are referred to throughout and are extremely important to the narrative and themes of the film.

The genre of the film is shown through the colours of the film. It is very dark and there is slow dramatic music that plays throughout. Both the characters are in shadows and there is no speech at the beginning of the film. This fits with the thriller genre because it is very dramatic.

This will influence my ideas because the use of light, slow, dramatic music really builds tension because it can become very scary and make the viewers jump if something loud happens. I can also use the idea of using the characters actions and clothing to forshadow an event that happens later on in the film, as this builds up a strong narrative that, once the audience understands it, becomes unique.