Analysing film opening sequences- Black Swan

Analysing film opening sequences- Black Swan

At the beginning of Black Swan, there is a long range full body shot of the the ballet dancer on her own. This is used to single her out and show that she is the main focus of the scene.  The use of lighting is prominent in the film immediately and is a key feature. The lighting appears to come from one side of the shot, which results in the light only shining on half of the dancers body, leaving the other half in the darkness. This suggests to the audiences that the dancer has two personalities, one being an innocent, pure and elegant (the side in the light), and the other personality being dark, evil but also mysterious (the side in the dark). This links to the editorial features used as well. In the beginning, when more detailed shots appear,  the subject is shown with two types of camera affects, with one to appear as a more vintage camera edit, and the other being the regular modern day image. This could connote to the audience that she can be seen in two differ ways and people have different perceptions on her. This is affective because it makes the audience wonder what this other side is and why it is "in the dark", or why it's so bad.

This lighting is also a very harsh lighting and is very bright from the audiences point of view. The use of very harsh bright lighting almost damages the sight of the audience from the visual content. Thesis leads to the audiences feel king disorientated and confused, which links back to the point that the woman is confusing and there is more to her than people can see.

The use of gender and costume (mis-en-scene) represents not only the woman in different ways but also represents men and women in different ways. After approximately 1 minute into the film an additional character is added to the scene. The is character is a male whole is dress in all black, in contrast to the woman who is dress in an all white dancing costume. By having the woman in a white, pure costume, and a man in a black, dark, enigmatic costume may signify that in this film gender has a key role. This represents that women are angelic, elegant and the good hearted characters, juxtaposed to the male who may signify the evil, death and tragedy in this  film. This makes the audience wonder who this man or figure is and why he is represented in such a negative way, and makes them continue to watch to see who he is.

The sounds in the opening sequence also represents men and women in diverse ways. The first moments of the opening sequence is filled with non-diegetic music (however could also be diegetic music that the woman is is dancing to). This non diegetic music is mellow, claiming, high pitched and has a slow rhythm. This is used to connote peace and well being. However, as the male approaches the woman, the rhythm of the music increases gradually, and eventually explodes into a low pitched, quick paced sounds that make the scene more dramatic. This could signify that the men in this film are menacing and that they should be feared. The man could also represent the mysterious, enigmatic side of the woman as well, and a male is use to emphasis the contrast of personalities in the woman. Not completely revealing the woman's two personalities make he audience desire to find out what that opposite personality is and what is it like, which makes the want to continue watch. 

The use of camera shots vary throughout the opening sequence to highlight different aspects. Various class up shots are used often during this opening sequence, during the time the is dancing. This is done to show that she is the most important person in this scene and that the audience should focus on her. The close up shots are also used to express emotions of the woman's faces whilst she is dancing.  The change in facial expression connotes that she is worried about something, or that she has something on her mind, which suggests to the audience that there is a side to the woman that they don't know about yet.

During one of these close ups, we hear the woman breathing heavily as the tempo and rhythm of the music increases. The sound of heavy breathing accompanied with the dramatic music gives the audience the impression that something is about to happen and that she is scared. This is during the part of the opening sequence wig the male, which suggests that she doesn't enjoy there presents of the male enigmatic character which connotes that he/it is evil and feared.

Referring back to the lighting of the opening sequence, it present throughout the whole of the opening two minutes.  Although this light is very bright and illuminating, the male in the black com stump is never seen clearly. The light always touches half of this face and the males face is never caught directly in the light. The doesn't allow the audience to see his face clearly and makes it difficult to establish who is, which keeps his identity covered. This adds the the enigmatically the character and m Ames the audience want to continue to watch so they can find out who he is and why he's important. Theorist Roland Barthes believes that good stories contain action codes, enigma codes and semantic codes to keep the audience intrigued. The identity Not being reviewed in the opening sequence of the film acts as an enigma code and applies to Barthes theory. It is affect because it engages the audience and entices them to earn to know how this character is.