The connotations of the colour black are very powerful and it is often associated with evil/bad. The connotations of white are the complete apposite as it is often associated with purity and good. Although the title of the film is simple the juxtaposition is very symbolic. It represents the two sides to the protagonist: good and evil. The actual title itself is in white to highlight that the protagonist herself is not evil, she is in fact good and pure. The background is black to represent that she is being taken over by something evil, she is becoming more and more like Odile (The Black Swan) and slowly looses herself.
There is a pan shot following the subject's feet. This choice of shot puts emphasis on her graceful movements. It introduces the theme of ballet to the audience and shows clearly that the protagonist is a ballet dancer, in fact a very good one. Throughout this whole scene long takes are used to demonstrate the fluent movements of ballet. It also in the beginning makes the audience feel peaceful and calm. However when the man comes in and changes Nina into a swan, the long takes make the audience feel uncomfortable because they are forced to watch her in fear and distress.
In this shot high key lighting is used and the protagonist is shielding herself from it. It foreshadows her transition from perfect to reckless in the film but in a contrasting way as she is actually very reluctant to the transition and it drives her insane. Whereas in this shot she doesn't want the light on her which shows that she is reluctant to stay good. However her facial expression supports the idea that she wants to stay as a utopian and this change is extremely troubling for her. It makes the audience feel bad for her because they can see that she is distressed however they are passive and cannot do anything about it, they do not even know who she is and why this is happening to her.
In an over the shoulder shot, the audience can see that a man dressed in all black appears to be making his way towards Nina. It is clear straight away that the man is dystopian through his black costume which represents evil and power. This particular choice of shot makes the audience almost feel as if they are a part of the scene, perhaps a member of an audience watching the ballet dancer's performance of Swan Lake. Once the man reaches Nina, the camera changes to a medium shot of both the characters dancing with each other. This shot supports Laura Mulvey's feminist theory that, one role women are represented as is the 'virgin'. Nina is being held by the man and following his movements, showing that she is subservient to him.Supporting the dominant ideology of gender roles: men are more powerful and women live in their shadow.
This is the first time the audience sees the protagonist. Being dressed head to toe in white makes the suggestion that she is utopian because of the connotations of white being a pure, good and graceful colour. Having nobody else in the long shot suggests that she is isolated and lonely, which you later find out in the film as she is controlled by her ballet obsessed mother. It also represents her as vulnerable because she is surrounded by darkness (evil) and she is the only bit of light (good), suggesting that the evil will take over the good, foreshadowing her transition from being pure and innocent to reckless. This first shot is very similar to the title as the colours are identical, again the white being the protagonist who later becomes the black swan and she is surrounded by the darkness that is her mind.
The chiaroscuro lighting makes it quite hard for the audience to understand what is happening and who the character in the scene is. This is to make the audience really focus because people do not like unfamiliarity, therefore they will try extremely hard to figure out what they are seeing on the screen so they will have more understanding of what happens later on in the film.
At first it is unclear whether the clippings and pictures etc. is gathered evidence for a police report or not. However it is made very clear after an extreme close up of someone cutting their finger prints off that it is not an investigator, it is in fact a criminal. The audience will know by this shot that the character in the first scene will be the antagonist in the film. The antagonist is cutting off their fingerprints so that they cannot be matched to fingerprints at the scene of the crime. The use of the extreme close-up forces the audience to feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable as it will feel like they are very close to a criminal and as though they are in danger. The razor connotes the danger of this mysterious character because it is a sharp object that could be used to inflict pain, again emphasising the aura of danger that surrounds the antagonist.
Having no dialogue gives the antagonist even more mystery. The antagonist's identity is concealed in the opening scene. The audience only see the fingers of this character, nothing else. It creates a strong sense of mystery as they know nothing about the character and have no hints to link to later on in the film. For example if there was dialogue they would have a voice to identify the antagonist with.
The visual effects such as the written accounts, books and pictures give the impression that the antagonist is cunning and knows exactly what they are doing. All the information they possess highlights that they have planned out what they have done. The fact they cut of their finger prints supports this idea that they are clever as they know how to cover their tracks and avoid getting caught for whatever they have done. The fact they are writing about it and have so much gathered information suggests that what they have done has a motive behind it and was not just an impulse thing or an accident, which amplifies the sense of danger the audience gets from the antagonist because it gives the impression that they have committed a lot of crimes.
In the title sequence it is made apparent to the audience that two of the characters in the film are played by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The Two Step Flow theory can be applied to this, as fans of these big actors would see them as their 'opinion leaders' they will want to watch the film simply because Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are characters in it. The audience will automatically have high expectations because of these well respected and popular actors.
The diegetic sound in the clip is hyperbolic. The sounds of the scratching of the pen whilst the character is writing and what sounds like an out of tune radio is almost jaw-clenching. These diegetic sounds are extremely uncomfortable to listen to for the audience, which signifies events that later occur in the film as the way in which the antagonist murders his victims is incredibly twisted and the audience can empathise with how distressed the victims must of felt. The audience will also feel very distorted due to the fact that there is diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound playing at the same time. There are a lot of different sounds overlapping and some sounds are louder than others. All these different elements are very distorting and will confuse the audience as they will have no clue what they are listening to and it will be a lot to process at once.
The opening scene contains a lot of enigma codes such as:
Who is the antagonist?
What are they writing about?
What have they done?
What is their motive?
The audience will want the answers to all these questions. The only way to find out the answers will be to watch the rest of the film. The audience will instantly be engaged and focused in order to find the answers they so desperately desire.
In a wide shot of the brunette male character the audience get to see clearly the location of the scene. It appears that the characters are in a bathroom, however the audience can see it is not an ordinary bathroom as the whole place is rusty, the tiles are dirty and it is quite empty. The bathroom being dirty will instantly tell the audience that the character is in danger.
There is some dialogue between two characters during the beginning of the scene and the camera stays on a medium shot of the brunette, male character until the high-key lighting is present. Mystery is already present as the lighting is very low. The composer chose to not show the other character to amplify the mystery and to worry the audience. They have no idea who the mysterious character is, therefore they are not sure whether he is dangerous, or safe and also a victim of the unknown antagonist. When the lighting finally brightens and and the audience see a medium shot of the blonde, male character, they gain a sense of catharsis. It is clear that he is distressed and therefore is in the same position as the character introduced from the start.
Jump cuts are used when the brunette male is screaming and trying to pull the chain he is attached to off. Obviously from the screaming the audience can now see that the character is beginning to become distressed and the jump cuts emphasis this because it signifies that he is panicking and is not thinking straight.
The low-key lighting makes its it hard for the audience to see the location and the characters properly, which creates a sense of mystery. It engages to audience more as they have to try to figure out who it is and where they are, for themselves. Therefore stopping the audience from being passive and loosing attention.
A birds-eye view shot of a dead body in a pool of blood is shown. The audience can see that the dead being has a gun in their hand, making it clear that he inflicted death on himself. This enigma code makes the audience wonder; what did he went through that was so bad he wanted to end his life? The use of a gun as the prop and the blood surrounding the body, signifies danger and pain, therefore showing the audience that the characters are in danger. Sparking a panic because they will assume the two characters are about to go through what caused this dead person to kill themselves.
The title sequence for 'twisted pictures' shows barbed wires wrapped around the words and slicing them. The use of a sharp object and the letters being sliced establishes the genre before the film is even started. The audience can see that the film is going to contain a lot of weapons and these weapons being used on the characters, so the audience will know straight away that 'Saw' is part of the sub-genre:slasher.
When the lights turn on the POV shot shows the audience that the character is disorientated as the image or the lights is dissolved. When someone is in the dark for a long time and see light it feels uncomfortable to look at and it is hard to properly see. This editing technique captures that the character cannot see properly.
