Black Swan

Black Swan- Conventions of a thriller

In scene one of the black swan camera angles are used to create suspense for the audience telling them that it is a thriller. This also brings up questions as it doesn’t give the full story line to the audience so that they don’t lose interest in what is happening in the film. One camera angle in this scene that does this is an over the shoulder mid shot which shows the girl bleeding. This raises the question on why is she bleeding? And how did it happen? This will draw the audience in more due to these questions not being answered in this scene. The way that the film shows an over the shoulder shot shows the concern on the girls face which indicates to the audience that they should be on edge on what is going to happen as there is no answers at this moment in this scene. This links to the audience being left on a cliff hanger therefore will be willing to what the rest of the film as that they find out what is going to happen. Editing is also used in the first scene to help create the sense of suspense. This is done by using a hand held camera which shows all the other girls hugging the girl. This can create the questions of what is happening. This keeps the audience in suspense as they are not sure what the film is building up to due to there is chaos. Chaos can suggest to the audience that to the girl in the film that a lot is going on at once and she isn’t sure on why it is happening. It could also mean that the girl is all over the place and has more than one thing to think about. The way that the film has used a hand held camera for editing shows that in this scene it is uncontrollable and nothing is going the way it should which could foreshadow what is going to happen in the rest of the film therefore will draw the audience in by using suspense of the first scene. The mise en scene used in the first scene shows that someone has written in red lipstick on the mirror in the bathroom ‘Whore’ this raises the question of who did this and why? Which creates suspense because this indicates to the audience that something is going to happen to the girl as it is a mystery on why someone doesn’t like her. It also suggests to the audience that more things are happening than she knows off therefore will keep the suspense within the film as the audience would only know what she knows and the fact that the girl is shown to want to know what is happening keeps the audience drawn into the film. Also another thing that the mise en scene shows is the painting all over the mothers room which indicates to the audience that the mother is obsessive over the daughter and is always watching which can create suspense due to the audience not knowing why the mother is obsessive. The sound in the first scene is used to show how controlling the mother is over the daughter. This could make the audience wonder why this is. The fact that the girl hasn’t got any control over her own life due to the mother having the control can make the audience wonder what is going on in the daughter’s life that she doesn’t know about. This can cause suspense as the audience will want to know what happens in the girls life as she hasn’t got the control over her own life due her mother so far being controlling it makes the audience wonder who else can take control. The sound shows this by adding in a ticking noise which can show something is going to happen and the ticking sound is just waiting for it to happen.

In scene two suspense is created by camera angles which in this scene is close up of her skin ripping of off her finger therefore makes the audience wonder why this is happening and what has caused it? This causes suspense for the audience as it is an uncomfortable image however the audience needs to carry on watching as they need to know what is going on in the scene to make it happen. Also this links to the audience wanting to carry on watching because they want to see what happens in the rest of the film. Another way that this film creates suspense or tension in the second scene is by using editing. This is used by using quick cut from her finger to the tap. This shows the audience the extent of the pain the girl is in. this can create tension as the audience will feel uncomfortable watching her pulling her skin off which can make the audience become on the edge of their seat. Another thing is that the audience might put their self’s into the girls situation as they may feel the pain that she is gong though which might not raise as many questions for the audience to wonder about. This may be due to the fact the audience need to know why she is doing that however they may know due to the fast editing that a lot is going on and it is a spare of the moment thing.  Mise en scene is used through the costume of the two girls. This is done by each girl wearing a black and white dress this can indicate to the audience who is good and bad within this scene and also how it links to the rest of the film. Also this is done by showing the good side or bad side of each character due which can show that the audience needs to pay attention to everything to be able to answer some of their questions about the scene. The costumes can show to the audience something that people don’t know in the film which can make the audience want to know if and when the rest of the characters find out also linking to the audience being kept on the edge of their seat.  The sound in this scene is used to create tension is kept at the same pace throughout the scene with elements of high pitches to show that something is going to happen which keeps the audience watching. The way the music goes from being the same to going high pitched once in a while indicates to the audience that the film is going to go from being a normal film and thinking that nothing is going to happen to the high pitch sound which can link to something going bad within the film. The scene shows this as it goes from a normal girl getting her dream to something going bad a bit then going back to normal until something really bad happens.

In the third scene camera angles and shots are used effectively to create tension or suspense. In this scene it uses a close up of the teacher to show what the girl is seeing. Which makes the audience wonder if the story is true as the girl is hallucinating which can make the audience want to carry on  watching to see what happens later on in  the film and if it is linked to anything else. This shot shows the girl seeing the teacher as a crow which is obvious to the audience that it isn’t true which makes the atmosphere of suspense because the audience might be wondering why the girl is seeing this. Editing is used in this scene by using a hand held camera which creates the atmosphere of tension as the audience is put into the perdition of the girl. This indicates to the audience that the girls head isn’t right and she is slowly going mental. This can make the audience wonder why all these things are happening to the girl therefore meaning that the audience wants to carry on watching. Another thing that a hand held camera creates is the tension on how fast everything is happening and how frantic the girl is becoming because it shows that the girl is running which causes the audience to realise that it is happening all at once. Therefore fitting into the convention of a thriller due to not giving the audience an exact answered on why all of this is happening so fast. As this can make the audience confused and can leaving the audience wanting to know what is happening. The mise en scene is only used a little bit to show the typical conventions of a thriller. This is done when the girl is alone on the stage. This links to how the girl feels about having the lead part. Also it tells the audience that the girl hasn’t got anyone else that is going through the same as here therefore she is isolated. This can also link to typical thriller conventions because the auid3ence knows that only the bad things happens when people are alone. Therefore this creates tension and suspense because the audience knows something is going to happen but they aren’t sure what it is so they are left waiting just like the girl is. Sound is also used to indicate to the audience that something is going to happen. This is because it also is linked to the lights going off. The film used a big bang to indicate that the lights weren’t a mistake and it was done on purpose. This links to the audience knowing that something is going to happen to her but the audience or she doesn’t know what. Linking to this it can cause suspense because the audience will begin to think and feel how the girl is during this.  

In scene four it shows the typical conventions of a thriller through the camera work which shows a long shot of her being on the floor and being surrounded. This can make the audience wonder what is happening. This is by causing tension and make the audience wonder why it is happening. The fact that the girl is on the floor can indicate that she is powerless and has given up on what she is trying to fight against therefore causing her to fall to the floor. Everyone surrounding her can represent the power of the problem that she is battling against and that it has taken over her. This links to creating tension because the audience isn’t sure what is happening to the girl which shows that the girl doesn’t anymore. Editing is used to create an atmosphere of a thriller. Fast cutting is used to show all the action that is happening in the scene so that the audience can get a sense of the atmosphere just as the girl is. By showing the audience all the things that are happening in the scene it gives the audience a chance to answer some of the questions they have about what is happening. Also the fast cutting keeps the suspense because the audience hasn’t got time to try and think about what can happen next it just happens therefore the audience is caught off guard and the tension is maintained. The fast cutting creates the atmosphere that it is manic in the film therefore the audience isn’t sure what is happening which keeps the mystery of what is happening. The mise en scene is used to try and make the audience think something has happened which hasn’t. This is done by making the audience think the girl is dead however it’s just the way they show her on the floor. This can create the feeling of suspense and tension because the film showed all this action and then all of it just stopped therefore it can make the audience wonder if it was all true or it can make the audience wonder if anything else is going to happen. This is because throughout the film it has caused the atmosphere of tension or suspense and then it drops for a bit and then picks it back up therefore the audience can be left wondering what is going to happen. Lastly sound is used to keep up the conventions of a thriller by the sound draining out. This is done to show the audience that all the action has stopped and it is serious. Also making the audience wonder what is going to happen to the girl and if any of what she was thinking and feeling was true. It also can indicate that nothing else is going to happen and can cause the tension to build when nothing is going to happen. This can make the audience want to watch until the end just in case they miss anything that they thought wasn’t going to happen.