Two Birds, One Stone: Character-Audience Connection in Black Swan

Reality and fantasy in “Black Swan” are a little hard to distinguish. For the purpose of this post, we are ignoring what is real and what is not and focusing strictly on how this film takes two approaches at developing Nina’s character: solo shots, versus shots with other characters. Both contribute to developing a connection between the characters and the audience in different ways.

Mirror, mirror on the wall- who is Nina when away from them all?: Examining Solo Shots

For those who haven’t seen this film, the plot goes as follows. An obsessive dancer in New York City lands the part of the Swan Queen for her company’s Swan Lake production. However, the Swan Queen must be able to embody both the pure, innocent white swan, and the sensual, alluring black swan. Nina is the white swan incarnate, but when she meets Lily, the embodiment of the black swan, she quite literally explores the black swan within herself and imagines metamorphosing into an actual bird.

The scenes in which Nina is alone and tries to understand who she is and whether or not the Black Swan really resides inside of her are essential to the development of this film.

The clip below is one of Nina’s first hallucinations of the Black Swan inside of her. Darkness is slowly creeping up in her.

So what does this mean for your storytelling? No, not that you need a demented subject who is suffering from an internal struggle of good and evil. Simply that in order to convey what a subject is really feeling, who they are when they are alone, you must have shots of them doing whatever it is that you are trying to explain about them. Candid moments. Inevitably, if a person talks about himself, they include their personal views on who they think they are, so it is essential to provide clips besides interviews or personal verbalizations. Candid moments allow the audience to decide for themselves who the subject is.Other moments in the film, such as where Nina makes herself vomit, or her fantasies about Lily, are actions and feelings that, were this a documentary, Nina might not admit to. (Furthermore, in this film, Nina doesn’t realize that a lot of the times when she is with Lily, she is actually alone and hallucinating). These candid moments give insight into her mind. Certainly, when doing a non-fictional piece, tapping into a subject’s mind is easier said than done. However, it is important to strive to capture scenes outside of the subject’s “performance.” If you’re doing a digital story about an actual ballerina, you won’t be able to literally capture what’s going on in their mind before a performance, but you can film them getting ready in the make-up room, perhaps psyching themselves out over the performance about to come.

Black swan versus white swan; character contrasts

Before Nina can understand the Black Swan within herself, Nina decides that Lily is the embodiment of what the Black Swan must be. Lily is sensual, free and alluring. Scenes that include the both of them are essential to  providing contrasts between the two of them. Lily displays what Nina is not, and what Nina must become in order to really be the Swan Queen.

The clip below is an odd mix of a solo scene and a group scene, because in reality, Nina is not alone- Lily is there too. But the scene is about how Nina becomes obsessed with Lily’s Black Swan-like character. The interaction here is that Nina is watching Lily dance the way the Black Swan should. Nina realizes what she is lacking via Lily. This is essential to creating contrast.

A person is not simply who they are  personally, but rather, who they are in society. It’s important to put a person in context in order to display all the different faces of that person. When doing a digital story, add elements about the subject’s relationships. Who they value, and why. This provides a better understanding of who the subject is. A nice contrast to the hypothetical documentary about a ballerina mentioned earlier would be to then show the ballerina learning with her teacher, where she is likely to not show as much anxiety and act a different way because she is in a social circumstance.

These are two ways to go about conveying a character to an audience. Experimenting with the balance of the two facets (showing more alone scenes than social scenes, vice versa) is where creativity comes in. How much and what sides do YOU want to show about your subject?

This article by the American Film Institute talks more about character development in screenplay.

500 Story-Telling Modes of Summer. Character-Development by Employment of Different Speakers (or Non-Speakers)

“500 Days of Summer” is one of my all-time favorite movies. It’s possibly the best break-up movie ever. If you’re feeling particularly bitter about a relationship, watch it and seethe.

What’s particularly great about this film is how the different methods of story telling directly play in to the character development. Each character’s story is told in a different way that directly correlates to the type of person that they are.

Telling stories through narration:

As far as the characters’ background goes, their histories are told entirely told by an omniscient narrator. We are told that Summer was extremely popular growing up, so popular in fact, that the album of the song she quoted in her senior yearbook picture completely sold out in her hometown. This is established to point out Summer’s inexplicable charm on people. This is the very charm that Tom falls for. Tom is depicted as a hopeless romantic growing up, which explains his immediate infatuation and obsession with Summer upon meeting her. In the clip below, you see an example of the anonymous, third-party narrator. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a clip where he is speaking from the film itself, but the same voice featured in this trailer is also featured in the actual performance.

The use of a narrator is great because otherwise, the history of the characters would have to be prompted in conversation, which would take away from the artsy feeling of the film. A narrator here keeps the flow of the film “natural.”

Sometimes time in a digital-story is too precious. Sometimes you have way too much information and not enough interview or visual material. Sometimes the subject doesn’t say what you need them to (like their personal histories in “500 Days”). Sometimes the subject is a potty-mouth. Sometimes you have someone speaking in a foreign language. When that’s the case, narrate. Narration, when done well, can add oodles of information to the story. But be careful not to talk too much, or use obnoxious, overdone voice inflections. A completely narrated story is overkill (Imagine this whole movie with a narrator…ickk).

In projects that are not particularly theatrically-inclined, inserting text bubbles or text-filled screens is not a bad idea. It’s a quick, modern fix and doesn’t detract from what is happening before and after the text appears. Where a narrator might sound a little cheesy, text is malleable enough to insert any kind of tone; excited, somber, neutral.

Speak for yourself! Letting the characters take the mic:

When telling a story, sometimes your subject says it all for you. No need for narration. which Summer, the leading heart-breaking lady, personally lets the audience in on her views on relationships.

Having the character’s speak for themselves is one way to approach your virtual story-telling. Try to imagine the scenario with a narrator. It would probably get a little bit excessive.

Summer is generally pretty mum on her feelings towards relationships, but these rare occasions in the film are so essential to that audience gaining insight into what kind of person Summer really is. Part of Summer’s allure is that Tom, along with the audience, are desperately trying to understand her. By the end of the movie, the audience generally feels a lot of resentment towards Summer, and it’s thanks to her heartless, mini-speeches that this is possible.

Whenever possible, have the characters or subjects speak for themselves. Let the camera roll and have them steal the show with words. Personal-verbalization is particularly ideal for documentaries where time is unlimited, and there is space to get creative. It really allows for audience-character connection.

Great video story by Brian Storm, no narration. All character voices.

More than words; Using Silence is Golden:

For particularly emotional moments, the best way to go sometimes is to just stick to visuals.

Watch as Tom’s thoughts are completely displayed, and nobody has to speak a word. Instead, a powerful ballad is played overtop. The music alone accounts for the melancholy, disappointed feeling.

This touching moment as the song strums the audience’s heart strings. There are no words to describe the feeling. In situations where there are communication issues with the subject (language barriers, emotional distance, etc.) or where the topic is particularly visually appealing, visuals with music is the way to go. Strong emotions that run deep (love, sadness, etc.) are better off seen and not heard.

In a documentary about tragedies, sometimes watching the tragedy, or the emotions that follow after, are more powerful than verbalization.

FIguring out what kind of person your character or subject is is the key in deciding what kind of voice you will give them. For mysterious subjects like Summer, tease the audience with little bits of verbalization from the character themselves. For moments where characters are overtaken with emotion, let the visuals speak for themselves and add a wicked soundtrack. And when you need to add in tidbits that the music or subjects won’t say for themselves, narrate.