The Editing Analyzing of Black Swan

A swan is the symbol of purity, dignity and elegant. It always presents beauty and freedom to human beings. There is a well-known movie named Black Swan directed by Darren Aronofsky who is intended to express his thought through his attitude towards the meaning of swan. In the film, Nina is a girl who is always pursuing perfect in doing everything. She is the potential candidate of the new play. The most difficult aspect to obtain this opportunity for the hero is to act two roles at the same time. So Nina is constantly digging her evil and dissolute characters. The film conveys the sense that human beings have two oppose aspects: white swan presents purity and beauty while the black swan is the reflection of dirty and dissolute humanity. Undoubtedly, the editing style and technique will be analyzed in this paper which is the attractive and artistic method to serve for the topic of this movie.

Primly, editing style is the whole conception of the film cutter to the post editing of the movie. It is the presentation of the understanding of the creating purpose of the director and the reflection of the content and structure. It is a recreate active for a movie and the source of artistic appeal. The director of the movie Black Swan adopts a direct different sense with other films. The whole film does not have location shooting, instead of the training hole, the gallery of the dressing room, darkness subway and stage and Nina and her mother’s home. The bright light and blue sky cannot be found through the film and the plot still controlled in the dim or even darkness from beginning to end which is the reflection of the inner world of Nina. The track-up shot is widely used by the director in this movie especially to present the hero Nina. Track-up shot is a kind of shooting method that the camera should be kept to follow the targets. It can contribute to the fluent and coherence effect and show the expression and actions of the character elaborately. The advantage of track-up shot is highlighting the main body and account for the move directions of the characters. The shooting leads the audience and to explore the characters in the film. Swaying shooting is also a particular place of this film. Panning can be divided into two parts: one is installing the camera onto the various objects, the other one is the cameraman shoulder the camera moving with the character. Obviously, the director of Black Swan most adopts the latter. This kind of shot can best reflect the order of the plot and bring audiences vivid feeling. The shots used in this film are more non-traditional coverage than others. It is not hard to find that the director selects two kinds of camera angles close shot and distance view to cover the scenes from different aspects. Sometimes these two shots are alternating appearing that can bring visual impact to audiences and increases expression tension of this film. The cameras are always moving with the actions of these characters. For example, when Nina is practicing her play in the dancing hole, the camera will be controlled turning with her. It can show her expression and actions along her dancing. Various kinds of mirrors appear in the film that is the edge tool in depicting schizo abulia. In order to enhance the color of suspenseful, the shots from mirrors are conveyed which is the reflection of the other sides of the characters. For example, Nina finds her scar on her back turning severely through her mirror on the night before perform, the place of the scar is just at the wings’ we commonly know. She pulls out a black feather from the scar under the urge of high pressure. She is scared, but that is what she expected. The cuts and changes of a few shots seem extremely incongruity. Jump cut in this field should be avoided, but it is the successful aspects of this film. The attention of audiences will be concentrated continually, and they will eager to learn what will happen to Nina. Besides the cuts, the black screens that leave time to audiences to realize what narrated are used to divide different period. However, the only one different is at last. When Nina jump off from her stage for ending her perform, she looks the bright lights and tells the director of the play that she feels perfect and the screen turn into white. The editing style of the director is so distinctive that he makes the surrealism meaning clearly for audiences. The anti-traditional method and peculiar technique of expression lead audiences to feel the deep emotion the film is intent to express.

Furthermore, editing technique is the main aspect of successful director proceeds in his artistic works. The whole movie is narrated from the point of view of the main hero Nina, the swan queen. The plot is organized only by the process of schizo abulia of Nina, who acts perfectly for the complexity changing process of her inner world. Nina regards her mate Lily as her biggest enemy, and she always thinks that Lily longs for her role with envy. Before her changing dressing hallucination emerges. Nina kills Lily. She inserts the fragment of the mirror into her stomach. When Nina realizes it is just her image, she cries as the deep pressure that she cannot hold. The topic of this film is conveyed through the changing inner world and actions of Nina. As other characters such as Nina’s mother is shown in opposition of Nina. Her mother seems control all the aspects of Nina and regards her daughter as a litter girl who will never grow up. The soft toys and all the pinks preparing for Nina are the best evidence. Every shot to Nina’s mother is close up because it can best express the thoughtful expression of her mother. However, the director of the play is shown as linked with Nina. He is the impetus factor of Nina’s changing and his guide and stimulation is a great power for her. At the beginning of this film, Nina is dancing on the stage as the hero of the Swan Lack without audiences and other mates. Just a beam of light and a partner who is a represent of evil. Moreover, then the shot turns to Nina’s room, and she gets up in the morning, the attention pays at her feet that are the most painful part of a ballet dancer. Montage an artistic presentation skill is used on this part. The pacing of the edits is in a quick rhythm. The effect of it is promoting the plot increasingly compact and conveying the topic in an artistic and concentrated way. A few of unreal time scenes are presented in the after half of this film. In the night before her perform. Nina discovers that her back is appearing black feather under the great pressure. It is the presentation of split personality, and the director applies the technique of Three Dimension to express the fear of Nina. Black Swan is arranged as the famous play Swan Lack, and Nina falls into the struggle of personality because of the play she is waiting for a long time. So a great number of symphonies are used to depict the tense atmosphere. For example, Nina impacts her mother hand severely by the door and asks her mother to go away. The director utilizes quick rhythm background music to convey the explosion of Nina’s nature. However, the background music is not applied over a conversation between characters. It is safety to say that editing technique is a significant method and a kind of silence language to express the topic of a film.

Last but not least, applying the editing style and technique in a film is not the purpose. The degree of topic Express is the target instead. The plot of Black Swan is just supported by the Nina. It seems a little barren, but the editing enhances the artistic color for the film. The director thinks that the best method to make this film is work in concert with the characters in reality and on the stage. He still uses excellent shooting language that is the particular parts to express the inner world of Nina. In the aspect of the rhythm, the director adopts numerous and reasonable transitions which in the purpose of attracting the audiences’ attention and changing between nervous and relax with the plot. The film appeals audiences’ attention increasingly for two hours until they are lead to the climax of the film at last which brings emotional reaction for audiences.

It is time to make a summary of this paper. Even though the film Black Swan does not have a complex plot, the attracting editing style and technique bring us unprecedented emotional reaction and enjoyment. The director and editor utilize track-up shooting, mirror effect and invisible stunt scenes to present the whole process of the split personality of Nina. The feeling of audiences is lead to track the plot and the final climax. The editing style and technique of this film make an excellent service for the process of the changing of Nina. She lives in the control of her mother who is a puritan, and her nature is depressed. The character of Swam Queen is what she is expecting for a long time, and she wants perfect. She is the right dancer for white swan, but she does not dissolute enough for black swan. At the lead of the director of this play and her mats Lily, she breaks out her ego and chasing for her evil inner self. The shooting language adopted by the director and editor making all the shooting and sound both have the ability to convey meaning. That is the reasons why it attracts the vast number of audiences’ attention.