BLACK SWAN

Acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan includes some key scenes which are worthy of close textual analysis. To do this I shall give a short summary of the plot, followed by an examination of elements contained in these scenes such as camera shots, lighting, mise-en-scene and sound.

Black Swan is the story of a young ballerina named Nina, played by Natalie Portman, whose life is solely dedicated to her dancing profession to the point where she is being driven mad with paranoia and hallucinations. When the director of her the dance company Nina belongs to decides to stage a new production, an updated version of Swan Lake, Nina is desperate to play the lead role of the swan queen. However this role demands the chosen dancer to have the ability to embody the white swan whilst also dancing the part of the black swan. Her director, Thomas, insistently tells Nina that she is perfect for the role of the white swan but to enable her to capture the essence of the black swan she must ‘lose herself’ in the role, something she finds extremely hard to do due to her shy and oppressed nature. Although Nina finally proves herself worthy of the role, she has competition from a new dancer. Lily is free-spirited and sensual, the perfect fit for to dance the black swan. Lily eventually helps to bring out the dark side in Nina, but Nina tortures herself over the fear that she could be replaced. As her personality becomes darker, and her mental problems escalate, she stabs herself in the stomach with a piece of shattered glass during her a break in her opening performance, having mistaken her own reflection for Lily. Whilst being applauded for her sensational final performance of the evening, Nina falls to her death, her last words being: “I’m perfect.”

The first scene which I shall analyse occurs roughly fifteen minutes into the film. Nina is at home where she lives with her mother, Erica, who is consoling Nina in her bedroom after she performed badly at an audition then cut her toes practicing. It is clear from the narrative that Erica is an extremely controlling and suffocating mother, herself a failed ballerina, and this is the first scene in the film which points to the fact that the reasoning behind Nina’s paranoid nature is due to her mother’s attitude. This is also emphasised through the mise-en-scene, which Timothy J. Corrigan refers to as “All those properties of a cinematic image that exist independently of camera position, camera movement and editing…Mise-en-scene includes lighting, costumes, sets, the quality of the acting, and other shapes and characters in the scene.” These elements are an important factor in this scene as the setting of Nina’s bedroom gives us an insight into this way in which her mother controls her. The entire room is co-ordinated in pale pink and white, a symbol of the fragile, virginal character Nina is. The walls are covered in pink and white butterflies, the bed sheets are also pink, Nina wears white pyjamas and the room is full of pink and white teddy bears. While stroking her daughter’s hair, Erica also opens a musical jewellery box which contains a spinning ballerina to the music of Swan Lake. This soft music again hints towards the need for perfection Nina feels. Nina also lies facing away from her mother as she speaks, as further confirmation of her feelings of repression.

The second scene which will undergo exploration occurs when Lily arrives at Nina’s door and invites her out, to which Nina agrees, in continuation from the previous scene mentioned, as an act of rebellion against Erica. The two go to a bar, where Lily puts a pill into Nina’s drink, lowering her inhibitions, and gives the viewer their first glimpse of Nina’s dark side, that of the black swan. As the pair dance in a darkened nightclub, red strobe lights flash, a stark contrast to the pale colours which are such a large part of Nina’s life. These flashes are interspersed with a few quick shots of the image of the black swan, a sign that she is undergoing a transformation. The music playing in the background is loud techno music, which also contradicts the music used throughout the rest of the film, which is scored by Clint Mansell and includes work from the original Swan Lake, but with the addition of Mansell’s signature string instrumentals. These sounds create suspense, tension and a heightened sense of fear to the film, however the inclusion of these contradicting sounds in the club highlight the different side to Nina. As she dances her movements are much more relaxed than the tense posture we are used to seeing, another indicator of her metamorphosis, and again another contrast to the Nina we have come to know. Also in this scene, Erica is constantly calling her phone, although she does not answer, but the fact is that her ringtone is, again, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake theme. Whether or not this ringtone is specifically assigned to her mother is unknown, but it can be viewed as a reference to her home life, and how far away she is from that at this moment.

The technical elements employed by Aronofsky in these scenes have helped him achieve an artistically driven masterpiece, so much so that it has received recognition in the form of many Academy Award nominations, in categories such as best picture and best achievement in direction, as well as a best actress nomination for Natalie Portman. This is well deserved as Portman has taken on a tasking role and created something wonderful. Jeremy G. Butler comments that in previous decades audiences have perceived actors and actresses as “simply the body that held the character’s place on screen. It was the character’s position within a narrative structure that mattered, not the star’s embodiment of the character.” In this case I find this statement to be false, as it would be difficult to imagine this film without her, and is a perfect fit for a film which relies so heavily on the embodiment of one character.

Therefore, in the above analysis, techniques such as editing, sound, lighting and mise-en-scene have been examined to show how these specific scenes inaugurate and conclude uncertainty in the narrative of the Hollywood film Black Swan.

Famiglia: The Sopranos and family values

Only three weeks ago I first watched David Chase's critically lauded drama,The Sopranos. I was hooked from the beginning, but the concluding episode's final scene really cemented the sheer artistic brilliance of this series for me. It proved that although the focus of the narrative seemed to revolve around the lifestyle of an Italian American Mafia boss, the true underlying theme was the importance of family.

In the previous few episodes we witnessed Tony and crew gearing up for war, however after many suspenseful scenes this plot was tied up in a quick, run-of-the-mill, shooting of Phil Leotardo. This left viewers wondering how the series could now possibly end, and the ending we were giving somehow managed initially shock, but after further thought summed up the essence of what the show had been from the beginning. After all, the title is The Sopranos, and from that alone we can gather this important theme.

As for the scene itself: the first aspect worth mentioning is, as Tony sits in a diner waiting for his family, a woman enters who bears an extremely uncanny resemblance to his sister Janice. This hints towards the paranoia Tony is feeling, as the audience views most of the scene from his point of view.
After Carmella joins him, a man wearing a cap comes through the front door followed closely behind by A.J. Notice that every time another customer walks through that diner door, a bell rings and Tony looks towards it, which again adds to the heightened sense of paranoia as he is clearly expecting something.
The amount of time it takes Meadow to park her car creates an element of suspense as we, the viewer, are aware now of Tony's fears. Just before Meadow finally walks through that door, the camera cuts to the man in the cap going to the bathroom. Then, just as Meadow enters, the screen cuts to black.

Whether this mysterious man shoots Tony, or whether Tony's concerns lie elsewhere, this is an intense scene, made more so by his jukebox choice of The Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin', a song ultimately cheesy, but a perfect fit for these last few moments as the family join together for possibly the last time.

The series ended in the way it always should have. Carmella, A.J and Meadow have always been essential to the show, and this finale emphasises the values which remain of major significance to Italian Americans, as have been shown throughout film history, and Chase deserves commendation for embedding in our minds the boss spending his (or at least our) last few moments with his blood family and not of his Mafia.

The Rise of the Hollywood Star

These days it comes as no surprise to associate a film's merit to its leading actor or actress rather than it's director or writer, but a century ago, as the medium of film began it's ascent to become one of the worlds greatest art forms, this was not the case.

Up until around 1910, there was no star system in Hollywood, for as critic Jeremy G. Butler writes on the subject, "they viewed the actor, instead, as simply the body of work that held the character's place on screen. It was the character's position within a narrative structure that mattered, not the star's embodiment of that character." It is notable that up until these times, often an actor's name was not even mentioned in a movie's credits as their role in the production was considered so insignificant.

An example of one of the first major 'stars' to emerge from Hollywood in this early period, was Charlie Chaplin. 'The Circus' was released in 1928 which brought to audience's attention his character known as 'The Tramp', a persona who's trials and tribulations people could relate to.

This was when film makers began to base their work around a star's 'persona', and this included using an actor's image to sell merchandise products and was the beginnings of film fanzines and the like. Magazines no longer merely based their stories around film summaries, but also started to run features on the off-screen lives of the actors, in publications such as 'The Motion Picture Story Magazine' and 'Photoplay'.In recent times, it is probably justifiable to say that the off-screen lives are now of more interest to the casual movie-goer than the performances themselves.

Hollywood actors and actresses are now such an important part of the media and press that they are as previously mentioned, now able to carry a motion picture on their own shoulders. Take tom Cruise for example, still one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood. It is fair to say that we would consider, or at least speak of Mission Impossible as a "Tom Cruise film" rather than a Brian De Palma movie.

However, a figure in the acting world can only be considered a true star once they have established themselves in a number of acting roles. Butler also comments, "if an actor is only known for his or her character - as with many soap opera actors - then he or she has no intertextuality and is not truly a star. A star must appear in numerous texts, which play off one another. Thus, one could say that a star is defined by his or her intertextuality, by the ability to correlate various media texts."

Although we are used to seeing actors and actresses mentioned again and again in the press, there are few who we can definitely say are defined by their intertextuality. Recent, upcoming stars such as Seth Rogen and Michael Cera have built careers out of playing the same roles time in and time out. On the other hand, Johnny Depp has gone from one extreme to another, playing humorous characters such as Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Carribean frachise, to taking on more taxing and serious roles in film's such as Blow and Public Enemies, to the extremely odd, as witnessed in Edward Scissorhands and his portrayal of Hunter S. Thomson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

It is these personas who continue to surprise and delight, who will remain as 'stars' in our minds long after they're gone.

Auteurism: the 'Whedonverse'

Auteurism refers to the creative characteristics which define a film maker's work. Director, screenwriter and producer Joss Whedon is a prime example of an artist who's work can be identified by a number of traits. From his breakthrough hit television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, right through to smaller ventures such as Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Whedon persistently displays the following five elements:


1. STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS: as seen in Buffy, Firefly, Serenity and Dollhouse. Whedon notably created the character of Buffy to contradict the role of the young, blonde female who was so used to being quickly killed off in your typical teenage slasher movie. In Firefly and Serenity, River is a more skilled fighter than any other crew member; and Dollhouse's Echo has strength and power that her creators can only dream of.

2. ACTORS: Joss is constantly using the same actors and actresses in his work. Most apparant are Nathan Fillion, who appeared in Buffy, Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog; and Eliza Dushku, who was first seen in Buffy and Angel before being given the lead role in Dollhouse.

3. REDEMPTIVE VILLAINS: Although most of his creations are based around plots which usually will include a villain, many of these characters end up changing their ways in the end. A prime example of this would be 'The Operative' from Serenity, a man who had no qualms about declaring he would happily murder children, but eventually saw the error of his ways. Another character is Spike, a vampire with a soul. Unlike his rival Angel, who had his soul returned to him as a result of a gypsy curse, Spike went through hell and back himself to regain his soul and win Buffy's love.

4. POP CULTURE: Popular culture references are rife in the Whedonverse. A season four episode of Buffy titled 'The Yoko Factor' referred to the possibility that Yoko Ono was the contributing factor to the split of the Beatles, a theme which tied in with this episode. In another, Spike says to Angel: "You were my sire man, you were my Yoda."

5. MUSIC!: Whedon clearly displays a passion for musicals, having composed the Emmy nominated Buffy episode 'Once More With Feeling', as well as the three part mini-series Dr. Horrible. Most recently, he directed an episode of hit musical show Glee (which his episode, by the way, starred Neil Patrick Harris - ie. Dr. Horrible).

Classic Scene 2: Blade Runner's opening scene:

Tim Dirks says of Ridley Scott’s 1982 feature, ‘The film is set in the industrial wasteland of Los Angeles in the year 2019, on an Earth that is in physical and psychological decay - without a trace of nature’. The introductory scene from the movie depicts the city as futuristic, and sound, visuals and camerawork have all been used to create dramatic effect.

The first opening minute of the film depicts Los Angeles as dark, bleak, cold and depressing, and displays the kind of images usually seen in Cyberpunk cinema. The city is in total darkness as the city is so filled with pollution that there is no longer any sunlight. This is a city devoid of nature or any kind of animal life other than that which is manufactured.

Andrew Milner says of the film: “the post-catastrophic dystopia that is the Los Angeles of November 2019, a city soaked in acid rain and choking on pollution, where animal life has already become virtually extinct and most healthy humans have already moved ‘off-world’.” This statement backs up the fact that the city is in psychological decay as well as physical, as the city has descended into so much chaos that most have chosen to move to the ‘off-world colonies’.

The opening scene shows the diminishing city through camerawork by slowly zooming in on the city whilst cutting back and forth from an image of an eye reflecting in it the lights of the huge buildings. Josh Conterio says of this: “One is struck by the overwhelming force of symbolism within this film. The reoccurring focus on the eye plays off the saying that this organ is the window to the soul.” The occurrence of this during this first minute sets the viewer up well for the rest of the film as the film constantly delves into the idea of human nature and what makes a person human, and continually questions whether it is the humans or the replicants who displays more signs of empathy and who we should feel sympathy for.

The shot of the eye is also important as it shows in it a reflection of the metropolis. The eye is filled with specks of light and flames, which in one sense could be described as alluring but really exhibits the “dystopian regressions into a used-up world.”

The main images we see during this scene are as follows. It begins with far away, almost indistinguishable shots of small, bright lights shining in the darkness. We then see mass amounts of fire shooting up into the air, a sign of the damage pollution has caused the city. Finally we reach a massive, Egyptian style building, which Milner comments on by saying: “The Los Angelean cityscape is dominated by the Tyrell Corporation building, a gleaming glass pyramid reaching so far above street level as to be lit by natural sunlight….this is a recognisable extrapolation from the great corporate towers that cluster at the centre of most contemporary cities.” It is notable that the largest building we see is the Tyrell building, Tyrell being the creator of the replicants, and can lead us to believe that this building is the reasoning behind the city’s physical and psychological demise.

The Blade Runner score was composed by Vangelis and the sound used in this scene is eerie and dreamlike. It also uses synthesisers combined with classical music which gives the viewer a sense of an old world being replaced with the futuristic. The score manages to sound bleak but also hopeful at times, and the sounds here replicate the visuals of the technological, polluted wasteland.

To summarise, the sounds, visuals and camerawork displayed in the opening shots of Scott Ridley’s film all add to the creation of an industrial wasteland, while also giving us an idea that this film will contain physical and psychological deterioration. Milner, again, sums up that “it is commerce, then, that has finally driven humankind to an impasse.”

Use of colour in Frank Miller's 'The Dark Knight Returns':

Lynn Varley’s deft use of colour in The Dark Knight Returns has been much praised as contributing to a new emotional ambience for superhero literature. This can be considered effective for a number of reasons. The superhero Batman first appeared thanks to Bob Kane during the 1930s, and The Dark Knight Returns was written by acclaimed writer Frank Miller and published during the 1980s.

Along with Batman, Superman was also first published during the 1930s. The two characters each offer a very different perspective of the world, and the main differences between the two ‘heroes’ are that while Superman works alongside the government, Batman is a vigilante; Batman is merely a human with no actual superpowers and he does not adhere to the traditional family values image that is associated with Superman. The colours which are used to bring each individual to life are also a stark contrast. On the one hand, the colour scheme in Batman is very dark, which is a reflection of the tone and mood of the character. On the other hand, Superman contains mainly bright and unrealistic colours, which are thought to be uplifting and patriotic, but are also exaggerated and childish.

The Dark Knight Returns contains a mixture of dark and bright colours to set the mood of the scene. Lynn Varley uses an extensive colour palette which was not only considered a revelation for the Batman series but for comic books as a whole.

Batman himself is a lot of the time only seen as a black figure in the shadows, and the primary colours are often reserved for more light-hearted scenes including his side-kick, Robin, or scenes involving the much more honourable Superman. The darker colours are also used when Batman, or Bruce, is re-living a traumatic experience from his childhood, such as in Book I, p.10-11 where a young Bruce falls into a bat cave and thus begins his great terror of the creatures. These two pages both mainly consist of only a black, white, and grey colour scheme, which shows the reader how awful an experience this was for the boy as the only images which are coloured are the bats, depicted in a bright and fiery red. One panel contains only a pair of red eyes in the darkness of the cave, and another of the same, demonic bat breathing fire. These images are surely a figment of the child’s imagination and the contrasting colours highlight the trauma that has led to his future madness. The same pages also contain a splash panel showing an adult Bruce standing unclothed in his darkened bat cave, with only Robin’s costume in colour. This tells us that Robin is a more hopeful and optimistic character in comparison to the brooding Batman.

The graphic novel also displays a number of outstanding splash pages, meaning a panel which takes up a full page. An example of this is a page in Book II which shows Batman in full costume holding in his arms the general completely covered by an American flag apart from a gun hanging down at his side. This image and colouring is triumphant as the bright colours of the flag are seen as a symbol of freedom which is a contrast to the suicidal general and shows how far Gotham City has descended into darkness. Although Batman is meant to be the hero he is still depicted in Black, as is the general’s gun, a sign of evil and destruction.

A similar yet contrasting page shows a splash page of Superman holding a military tank above his head. This page contains a very similar image to the one previously mentioned, but it differs as Superman is seen in a fully coloured costume, compared to the shadowed Batman. As well as this, the tank and surrounding army men are coloured in browns and blacks, and this again emphasises how Superman is a symbol of hope and peace, and is considered the opposite of Batman. It also displays Superman’s strength, fact that he has superpowers and is not merely a man. Even the speech balloon is written in black against a bright blue, and contains the words “We must not remind them that giants walk the earth,” which adds to the confirmation of what Superman symbolises.

Another example of Varley’s vast colouring is a page containing this time Clark Kent instead of Superman. In this he is standing in a statuesque stance, looking muscular and almost comical as he is surrounded by colourful butterflies and flowers. This page also contains panels along the bottom, as well as a panel showing the “Good Morning Gotham” television screen which plays a large role in the text. In this page the screen has a bright yellow and orange image of the sun behind the newsreader, whereas usually this would be a picture of the Bat Signal or just a plain blue. This whole page again gives the reader an idea of Clark/Superman’s wholesome, family image, and tells us that he is admired rather than viewed as a criminal. When we see Bruce without his bat costume on, he is usually again coloured in dark shades, proving again the dark and bitterness associated with him.

To conclude, the colour palette constructed by Lynn Varley for The Dark Knight Returns is deserved of praise as it is unpredictable and daring. Until this graphic novel was released colour schemes such as this was almost unheard of and the use of splash pages and bleeding, where an image runs of the page, gave ‘a new emotional ambience to superhero literature’. It can be seen from the examples mentioned previously that dark shades have been used to great effect to show the angry, bitter and weaker state of the ageing Batman, and that more powerful primary colours are used to show the power, strength and likeability of his rival Superman. Each of the four books contained in the text continue to surprise, and differing colour schemes are used in each. Certain colours are designated to particular characters and plotlines, which make them instantly recognisable when they disappear and reappear, shown in characters such as the Mutants and the Joker. The novels lasting impact can be seen on how it influenced later novels such as Alan Moore’s other superhero tale, Watchmen.