Black swan analysis!

The Black Swan is a psycho-drama, it focuses on the competitive world of ballet, taking the audience into the rapid decent of the ballerinas madness.

                                         

(The music from this Youtube clip is not included in the film, however its the best clip to show the cinematography of the film)

Pitch:  BLACK SWAN follows the story of Nina (Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter's professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

Inspiration:

As you can see from the clip above and the clip in this article (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Movies/black-swan-psychiatrists-diagnose-natalie-portmans-portrayal-psychosis/story?id=12436873) 
We have been influenced heavily by the Black Swan for our film opening. I watched the Black Swan for the first time recently, I loved the darkness of the cinamatography and thought it was something we could include in our opening. Our costume ideas have also been influenced by this film, I loved how they wore black or pink to symbolise the personality of the characters.
The performance on whole (the dancing scenes) I thought were fantastic! I loved the use of spotlighting on stage during the performance, its a very easy technique to use to highlight the main protagonist and to make sure they are not lost amongst all the other dancers. I love the films simplicity in the performance scenes the colours used are predominantly white or black and again this helps the audience to differentiate between the good and the evil characters.

Sound and editing:
The dramatic classical music used throughout fits with the classical ballet theme.
Fast pace editing-this makes you feel dizzy and disorientated. It reflects the main characters (Nina) confused emotion.
The non diegetic music used in the film moves with the film as it conveys different emotion and reflects a sudden change in mood.
The non diegetic music is quite loud which makes the audience feel tense, also i think the volume seems to rise and fall in time with the dramatic story line this all helps to keep the audience captivated.

Mis en scene:
The whole of the film is very dark its filled with dark scenes with black connotations, dark costume, props, scenery, lighting etc. to help keep with the dark mysterious tone of the film.
The colour black connotes death, bleak horror and mystery whack are key themes in the film.