Black Swan Analysis

'Black Swan' information

When we began planning our thriller not only did we look at previous thrillers but we also wanted to see what was a successful psychological thriller in the current market. The obvious choice was the critically acclaimed 'Black Swan' an American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, and Mila Kunis.  The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company. The production requires a ballerina to play both the innocent White Swan and the sensual Black Swan. One dancer, Nina (Portman), is a perfect fit for the White Swan, while Lily (Kunis) has a personality that matches the Black Swan. When the two compete for the parts, Nina finds a dark side to herself.

The film itself has grossed over 100 million pounds, lots of positive reviews and has gained Natalie Portman her first Oscar for best actress. But what is it about this film that makes it so compelling? Is it the explicit themes of the film, the realistic acting or the storytelling from Darren Aronofsky? I believe it to be a combination of all three.

Themes of 'Black Swan' how they are conveyed through the acting and Aronofskys storytelling

Darren Aronofsky who's previous films include 'Requiem for a dream' and 'The Wrestler' usually focus on the destructive nature of obsession.  'Black Swan' is no different as we see the main character Nina
push herself to unbearable measures to achieve her dream of playing the lead in 'Swan Lake'. Her need for perfection drives her to insanity and eventually to suicide. Aronofsky captures Nina's borderline personality disorder through the metaphor of the Black and White swan. Usually people coping with this disorder see the world in Black and White. Though Aronofsky filmed 'Black Swan' in a muted palate with a light graininess effect, the contrasting colours of the black and white come through clearly. Aronofsky also captures the image and identity crisis Nina is facing through his use of reflection not just through mirrors but illusions that Nina sees of herself. Another symptom of BPD is destroying relationships with friends, family and colleagues. Aronofsky shows this through Nina's paranoia of fellow dancer Lily stealing her role, and eventual paranoia that her own mother wants to destroy her. This film is in no way meant to be realistic though it is of the psychological thriller genre, it is also a melodrama. However Aronofsky makes it all seem somehow natural, he does this through a crescendo of hysteria from Nina's character.  He starts the film with Nina seeming as though she is just a hard working ballet dancer, luring the audience into false security that this film is just a biography of a stressed dancer. By the end you realise that it is more then that, it is a journey of sexual discovery and a battle between the rational ego and the hedonistic id.

Themes of our film and how they will be conveyed through acting and our storytelling

Watching 'Black Swan' a film much like our own in the way it focuses on a female protagonist with a disturbed mental state, definitely did influence some of our decisions.  We had already decided before we watched 'Black Swan' that we wanted to use mirrors as a way of expressing Megan's (our lead character) split personality. However from watching 'Black Swan' we had a clearer idea of exactly how we wanted it come across on screen. Unlike 'Black Swan' we didn't want our quality of film to be glossy, were not showing a high culture art like ballet, we are showing real everyday mundane life. However we liked the muted colours used and look forward to experimenting with that in our editing of the film. The way the film shows BPD in an over sensationalised way is appropriate to the mise en scene of the competitive dance world but to the gritty mise en scene of our film, it would incongruent.  Our lead character isn't obsessive or a perfectionist, she is passive and a realist. Instead of showing frantic episodes like 'Black Swan' our main character would go in a downward spiral much slower and with more self control. From the beginning the audience will know our lead character isnt normal, it will be up to the audience to throughout the film pinpoint exactly is wrong with her.

Meet our actors

As soon as we came up with the pitch for our Thriller, I had two actresses in mind for the parts. The main girl Megan needed to look innocent and naieve which would make it more dramatic for later on in the film when she goes mad. The audience need to empathise with the character and her situation. In order to play this character, the actress needs suffecient experience to bring out all the different layers of her personality. The person I  thought of immediatly is Reanna Calvert a 17 year old London based actress. She attended The Sylvia Young Theatre School between the ages of 9 and 16, during her time at the school she starred in musicals including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Billy Elliot. Since leaving Sylvia Young she is working as a full time dance teacher, and is still on the audition circuit.

Megan has just the natural look were going for. We want her to appear uncomplicated and normal, to surpise the audience later on. Her clothing will mostly consist of jeans and tshrits, shes concious of her body and never wears anything too feminine. You could say that she is more of a tomboy. Her make up is also very natural and fresh.

In our opening Megan is accompanied by her friend Jemma in moving into her new flat. I wanted the two characters to be contrasting. Jemmas character is far more bold and daring, she is not shy like Megan. This means she takes risk in her style and grooming as well. The girl playing Jemma needs to be someone who is confident and able to make the character fun. There is no one better for this part then 16 year old Jemma

Mckenzie Brown. Originally from Hull and moved down at the age of 12 to attend the Sylvia Young Theatre School. She has starred in TV shows such as 'The Amazing Mrs Pritchard' and M.I high. And at the age of 13 won the coveted role of Tiara Gold in High School Musical 3, beating thousands of hopefuls. Having now left Sylvia Young she is currently in a developing band under the watch of some of the industrys biggest names.

Jemma is perfect to play the role as she has an edgy look that is right for the roles vibrant personality. She is Megans main support system in the film and is the one who always lightens the mood. Her clothes will reflect this by being bright bold colours, she never wears trousers only skirts and dresses. Her look is inspired by people like Fearne Cotton and Alexa Chung.



Introduction to Psychological Thriller

When we first decided that we wanted our film to be of the Psychological Thriller genre we had to really study what that meant. We already knew that Thrillers tend to focus on plot over character, and emphasise intense and physical action instead of developing the characters mind. Psychological thrillers do not totally comply to this in the way they emphasise the characters and plot equally, if perhaps with even more focus on the characters mind. As the word Psychological means, elements that are related to the mind or processes of the mind. 

The suspense in this genre comes from within one solitary character who's character must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them.  Or the suspense comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds. By playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.You don't see Characters rely on physical strength to overcome their enemies, like in action based thrillers, but instead they rely on their mental resources.

A recent film where this has been used to good effect is Black Swan where the lead character ( a ballerina) in convinced that another dancer in the company is trying to destroy her both professionally and mentally. At the end of the film you discover that the only person trying to destroy her is actually her own mind. This fits the conventions of psychological thriller in an interesting and new way. We want our film to be similar to Black Swan in the way it plays with reality and fantasy.Sometimes the suspense doesn't just come from a battle within one persons mental battle but can come from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds. By playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.


The way a psychological thriller is usually told is through a first person narrative, making direct involvement with the characters which makes the audience able to understand the mechanics of the characters mind. We see a stream of consciousness where the narrative tries to make clear the characters mind through words, descriptions and visuals. Often in thrillers you can start the film with the history behind the story which deepens the psychological aspect of the story as the watcher is able to fully understand why the character is how they are today.

Our Thriller Pitch

Thriller Pitch

A girl Megan who is 18 is moving up to London to go to university to study crime and criminal justice. She is moving into a flat near central London with the help of her friend Jemma. It is the first time she has lived on her own. Once moved in she keeps seeing a strange man hanging around the flats. She suspects he is stalking her. One of her neighbours tells her the girl who lived there three years previous was found dead in the flat. After she is told this Megan sees writing in her flat on the wall saying ‘you’re next’ and receives mutilated pictures of herself. She naturally thinks the stalker is after her. However it turns out he is just her social worker who is keeping an eye on her, as she has suffered in the past with schizophrenic episodes. Eventually she is admitted to a mental institution but the audience is left to wonder whether the story actually happened or if she has always been in the ward, and imagined it.

The first 2 minutes of the film

We see location shots of London, not your typical tourist attractions. We want to show churches, statues, alleyways and bridges as they relate to how Megan is feeling about London, she is scared and vulnerable. We see Megan stood outside the flat with her friend Jemma holding a box. Cut to them inside the flat, Megan goes into her new room and picks up a mirror off the side table and looks at her reflection. Her friend Jemma asks ‘Are you ok?’ She gets no response from Megan who is intently looking at herself in the mirror. Jemma opens the wardrobe and the last tenants clothes are still there, she says ‘ this is strange, the last girls clothes are still here’ Megan then goes to the window still holding the mirror, sees a dark figure outside and drops it. Jemma goes over to reassure her and Megan says ‘There’s someone watching me’ Jemma also looks out the window, sees there nobody there and says ‘There’s no one there meg’
-Holly

preliminary exercise