Black Swan Opening Sequence Analysis Video

Analysis of Lighting and Costume in the film Black Swan.

Costume/Colour Research

 Main Character (Victim):
The main character will be wearing the colour pink throughout the film. This is to connote her femininity, however the lightness of the colour connotes her innocence and purity, especially as it is often associated with little girls. It connotes love, the stalker's love for her, her love for others. More aspects of her personality, such as her charm or tenderness also come across in this colour.


Antagonist (Stalker):
The stalker will be wearing black throughout the film. This colour has connotations of power, death, evil, fear. It is often associated with the unknown (e.g. the darkness of night, black holes) and our instinctual fear of this. Often it has negative connotations.










We have decided to dress the victim in a nightgown, because it suggests a vulnerability and innocence as we are at our most vulnerable when we are asleep. It also brings in elements of the night and the unknown, also represented in the black clothing of the stalker. The mask hides their true identity which again plays on the fear of the unknown, and the idea that it is plain white suggests that they are faceless, that they have no identity and are in a way sub-human.



Some existing characters within this genre that use costume effectively:

Her femininity and innocence is shown through the use of colour in Black Swan. This is increased by the dancers in black at the end of the hallway.







In Before I Go To Sleep, the victim' s vulnerability is shown by her pale, neutral-toned dressing gown.






In Inception, Mal, the villain, is dressed in all black.