Black Swan - Opening Title Sequence

Camera

There is a tracking shot used in the opening sequence which mainly shows the hand as it draws with the chalk, this tracking shot is used following the slow movement of the camera which creates a sense of elegance

The close up of the protagonist's hand and the lines of chalk create a sense of mystery. This is because we cannot see the full image she is drawing.

Sound

At the beginning, it starts of with non-diegetic sound of an instrument which is a piano. It starts of by playing angelic and calm sounds.

After this, the sound increases which builds tension in the opening sequence. This contrasts with the classical piano music that is played before as it suggests that there is a more sinister feel to the movie that the audience do not know about just yet.

The piano then gets louder and stronger which shows the build up to the climatic sound in this opening sequence. The sound builds to a crescendo as the character is drawing lines across the page with the black chalk frantically.

Lastly, the sound of glass shattering is used on top of the sound of the piano which may give away to the audience that a sense of pain happens as the film progresses.

Typography

The typography of "BLACK SWAN" is a white san serif font. This font slowly fades in and out. The title 'Black Swan' being the last text to appear, bolder and centralized showing how it should be the audiences main attention as that is what the film is called. This font also makes it look modern.

Editing

The titles fade in as the the black chalk is being drawn across the page.

The slow movement of the camera is also in sync with the slow tempo of the non diegetic.

At the end, a fade to black effect is used which could signify a death within the film.

Mise-en-scene

• We do not actually see the person who is using the chalk however from their fingers and finger nails, we can identify that the person is a female.

• The dark lighting creates a mysterious atmosphere in the opening sequence and makes the audience feel at unease since this is a psychological thriller and the audience already knows that something bad will happen.