SH: Film Opening Research

                               

Black Swan (Aronofsky 2010)
Film Language
Mise-en-scéne-

• In the opening the costume used to convey meaning to the audience, shows firstly, a young female in a balet uniform dancing. This is something which usual would be protrayed as very innocent however, in the context of the film with the low key lighting which causes a shadow on one side of the dancers body and dust filled, empty room it becomes very unnerving and adds a very strong sense of mystery.
• The shots that follow this are of a similar feeling, their is a slightly old fashioned bedroom, an old, posh hall and an old and posh dining room. These are all slightly low key lit with shadows being cast from the characters' bodies. This adds further to the sense of mystery in the opening sequence.

Camera-

• The first shot is an establishing/long shot showing the dancer in the middle of the empty room. It is used to add context to the action and convey the mystery of the scene. If it were just a close up of the dancer it would not allow any mystery to be felt.
• There is then an extreme close up of the dancers feet perfoming intricut steps. This portrays a slight feel of attention to detail and precision about the dancing as it seems to be very neat. This doesn't seem to ass to the mystery of the sequence, however it does enhance the character, making her seem more on the side of the viewer as they are straight away positioned with her performing this tricky sequence.

Sound-

• The non-diegetic sound certainly adds to the sense of mystery, it is a piece of orchestral music using mostly strings and piano. It matches the ballet theme very well so it is very subtle to the audience. However, it is a high pitched piece of music and is a very slow tempo.

Dialogue and non verbal language-

• The first example of diegetic sound we here is the female narrator, talking about the ballet dancer. However the end of this speech is what conveys the shocking part of the story to the audience, "...She kills herself". This line is said with a pause so it creates suspense. Also the non diegetic sound seems to fade away to be less prominent, again making that particular line more prominent.
• After this the narrator seems to be speaking as the main character telling the story to the audience. But there is a kind of montage of a different group of voices all talking over the music so that what they're saying is portrayed to be very important to the audience.

Media Audiences
Target audience-

• The target audience for the film is, as the film is certificated at 15, 15+ but more specifically it is targeted at 15-29 year olds. The main character and other essential characters in the film are all female, this makes the primary audience to the film 15-29 females. This is also influenced by the setting or the story being revolving around ballet.
• The graph shows the average rating of the film (according to IMDB) dropping after the age of 29. However it is not considered slolely a female film as males gave very high ratings also due to the thriller nature of the film.

Readings-

• Being a male teenager, I am inside the parameters of the target audience as it includes both males and females. The film is a psychological thriller so it is very popular with many teenagers who are often targeted for thriller/horror films. Male teenagers are likely to follow the general readings of the film and are most lilkely to follow the subjective view as opposed to the older range of the audience who are likely to follow a more objective view.
• By being obvjective viewers in this case, many adults are more likely to be drawn into the storyline of the film rather than the psychological aspect of the film.

Institutional Context
Stars- Stars included were:

• Natalie Portman- Who has been in previously well known films such as: 'V for Vendetta' and 'The Other Boleyn'. 'V for Vendetta' also being a thriller movie with a similar target audience.
• Winoner Ryder- Who has appeared in 'Edward Scissorhands' a well known film with a wide fan base, this will help to attract an audience to watch 'Black Swan'.
• Mila Kunis- Who is a very famous actor and is thought to have helped bring in a wider male fan base.

 

Studio production- The film was produced by Fox Searchlight studios, so was an industrial released film
Marketing- Black Swan included all the usual marketing strategies- Tv ads, bus adverts, and online adverts. But it was well known for its well designed striking posters which created some 'buz' about the film. (example on right)