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Black Swan Trailer Analysis
Frankie Roncoli
Vladimir Propp Propplan Character types Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp was a Soviet formalist scholar who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elementsPropp developed a character theory for studying media texts and productions, which indicates that there were 7 broad character types in the 100 tales he analysed, which could be applied to other media:
-The villain (struggles against the hero)-The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some -magical object)-The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)-The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)-The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil)-The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)-The hero AKA victim/seeker/paladin/winner, reacts to the donor, weds the princess
Purpose of trailer• Trailers are a key component in marketing within the film industry; designed to
make you want to see the film. To do this they employ many techniques to tantalize the viewer. They do so through music (which helps set the tone of the trailer) and in many cases star appeal as the audience can then relate the trailer to other successful films the characters have starred in.
• The overarching idea is that a trailer is there to highlight the most attractive aspects of the film, e.g. if the film were to be action the trailer would most likely include the most action packed scenes like explosions and car chases in order to attract the potential audience.
Title analysis White swans in dreams are symbolic of
cleansing and purifying ourselves and our lives. Black swans indicate deep
mysteries within us that are longing to be set free to express themselves creatively.
This is rather fitting as ballet comes under the umbrella of creative arts. The colour
black itself carries many connotations that juxtapose with ballet, black is associated
with mystery, power and death all of which contrast heavily with the elegance of ballet.
We can infer that it is a thriller/horror with the dark colours creating a feel of mystery and tension. The font is serif,
indicating this film is for an older audience again this reinforces the genre of the film. The white against the black again connotes images of good versus evil which is a theme throughout. The
title enters letter by letter creating suspense and anticipation. The title
appears to have been cut in half which ties in with the theme of cutting which
is appears often in the trailer.
Natalie Portman personifies the swan at the start she is very much delicate and elegant, she very much takes on the proppian character type of the princess as time goes on she personifies the black in the title becoming very disturbed, dark and troubled this subverts our expectations as an audience she no longer embodies a princess. Natalie Portman, a well known star who has played many lead roles in popular films appeals to the audience straight away as we recognise and associate her with these films persuading us to watch black swan.
Characters
Mila kunis, again a renown actress acts as Natalie Portman’s rival almost taking on the proppian role of the evil stepmother, although obviously not possible she embodies certain characteristics that make her very similar, e.g. the rivalry between the two makes a relationship not dissimilar to a stepmothers and daughter
Location and SettingThe location of this trailer is set mainly in a ballet studio which helps anchor the genre of the trailer; thriller. The mirrors in the trailer act as a reflection on Natalie’s character as if she is looking into her soul. Superstition also surrounds the mirrors again this reinforces the theme of horror that runs through the trailer. A ballet studio is also a place where you push yourself and are striving to achieve your best, something that the protagonist does throughout. The lighting and filters are dark and gloomy which creates an eerie atmosphere. There seems to be a blue filter used to make everything appear more washed out and sinister.
There is a scene when Natalie Portman is in the bath in which she appears incredibly vulnerable and scared this is a key setting as it shows her fear, a theme that is present throughout this trailer. Baths are symbolic of cleansing and an emotional or psychological cleaning, as if she is trying to get rid of something that wont leave (alike her mental illness)
Shots• Lengthy over-the-shoulder shots• Frequently uses a technique known as the hip-hop montage, which is a sequence
of images or actions shown in fast-motion with accompanying sound effects, usually shown to simulate a certain action, such as taking drugs.
• There are lots of close up/extreme close ups which help show the emotion on the characters faces and also help intensify them.
• There are also many fade to blacks which again intensify the trailer also the colour black bares significance to danger and things of a sinister nature.
• The pace of the shots vary this is to again to make the trailer seem more thrilling, the longer shots are used to highlight something, e.g. hurt and the faster shots are more gripping and intense.
The use of soundUse of sounds to objects that are not always seen on screen i.e., smashed glass, these are used to alert the audience and almost frighten them as the sounds are unknown and unexpected.There is a mixture of soundtracks, there is a voiceover as Natalie talks of a dream accompanied by a delicate piano which builds to a fast pace and intense crescendo as she says “she killed herself” the music gets more and more sinister. The soundtrack is rather orchestral which creates an eerie atmosphere. There is a lot of diegetic within the trailer that make the thriller more action packed and enhance to the violent themes within such as “attack it”Whispers again are rather chilling and repeating sweet girl becomes rather haunting.‘What happened to my sweet girl?’‘SHE’S GONE’ Natalie Portman shouts this as the music builds to a crescendo it symbolises the changes she has made over the course of the film, it reflects her opposite characters, at the beginning she was very sweet and innocent now she is aggressive and intimidating, this ties in with the theme of binary oppositions
Who are the audience?The audience for black swan is primarily an older audience with certificate being 15 we are made
immediately aware that there will be scenes suited to an older audience. However I believe that the majority
of the audience would be teenagers as the film is rather contemporary with themes that would attract a
younger audience e.g. sex and nudity, violence and gore, drugs and violent and intense scenes. I think females would be more inclined to watch this film rather than males as the film relates heavily with
emotions.
The director Darren Arronofsky mainly directs thrillers, so the audience have a
preconception of the genre of black swan. Often certain people are attracted to
certain genres so once made aware of the director many people will seek out Black Swan as it appeals to their taste in films.
Attracting an audience.The genre is implied in many ways, a recognised director helps imply the
nature of the film as the director is established within certain genres therefore putting him in the credits will attract a bigger audience.
How effective was the trailer?Domestic Total Gross: $106,954,678
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Release Date: December 3, 2010Genre: Drama / Thriller Runtime: 1 hrs. 43 min.MPAA Rating: R Production Budget: $13 million
I believe this trailer was extremely effective in enticing the viewer, personally the trailer was fast paced, exciting and interesting and considering I myself embody the target audience (18 year old female) I think the trailer did a great job of persuading me towards seeing the film. As you can see from the above figures the film did extremely well, and as there was no novel for the audience to base their assumptions on it was solely the trailer they had as means of advertising. This indicates
