Homework 2 (DYM)- Film Still Analysis

This is a still from the psychological thriller, Black Swan (2010).

Character Description
Nina (Natalie Portman) is the protagonist and is in this particular still. The character has been placed off-centre, which seems distorted and odd. However, this has been done deliberately to confuse the audience and also to portray Nina's twisted mind. Nina is conventionally beautiful and perhaps the most striking feature of this photo is her eyes. They are a very prominent red colour, and the colour has several connotations, such as love, lust and anger, emotions that all feature in this film. The character has purposely been dressed in white feathers, which suggest innocence and purity (she is to play a character with such qualities in a production of Swan Lake), as this strongly juxtaposes her terrifying facial features.

Technical Codes
This shot has been framed as a mid-shot/medium close-up, in order to allow the audience to see both her expression and her costume. Furthermore, this is an over-the-shoulder shot, as she is looking into a broken mirror/shards of glass; the audience are therefore seeing from Nina's perspective, and feel even more helpless that they are unable to change the circumstances in any way. The broken glass also distorts the shot and causes more confusion. Not only does this reflect the character's thoughts, but it also reinforces the genre of the psychological thriller.
Nina's surroundings are all very dark- tones of grey and black are used for the bricks and walls, which further highlights the fact that she is out-of-place and perhaps also again reflects the darkness of her thoughts.  The light source is to the side of her face, and it is high-key lighting, which connotes exposure or positivity.

Why I chose this still

• The way the shot has been framed is really interesting. The shards of glass cut through the straight lines of the bricks, which gives the whole still a distorted image.
• I like how the framing, lighting, costumes and colouring of the shot all reflect the character and her thoughts.
• This still is bound to raise questions for the audience, both of what happened and what is still to come. Why is the glass broken? Why are her eyes red? What is she going to do now?