Black Swan - Brand New Film 2011

Black Swan Official Trailer:

Nina (Natalie Portman) is a radiant ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life is devoted to dance. She lives with her mother, a former ballerina who takes control of her life. When director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace one of his own ballerinas for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is clearly his first choice. Unfortunately, Nina has competition as a new dancer; Lily (Mila Kunis) impresses Leroy as well. The production Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both roles; the white swan who is innocent and graceful as well as the black swan who conveys sensuality and danger. Everyone can see that Nina fits the role of the white swan perfectly but Lily is perfect for the role of the black swan. As the two dancers slowly change their rivalry into a perverse friendship, Nina begins to get in contact with her darker side – a carelessness which threatens to destroy her life altogether.

Distributor and tracking the distribution:

Director Darren Aronofsky proposed a detailed outline of the Black Swan to ‘Universal Pictures.’ The studio then decided to start the development of the project in 2007. The project did not come together immediately as Aronofsky had to go on and shoot ‘The Wrestler.’ After finishing ‘The Wrestler’ in 2008, he asked Mark Heyman who had worked alongside him on the film, to begin writing the Black Swan. In June 2009, Universal put the project in turnaround, gaining attention from other studios. Black Swan was originally under development by ‘Protozoa Pictures’ and ‘Overnight Productions,’ who were the latter financing for the film.

There were three separate names linked to the distribution of the Black Swan, these were:

-          French distributor = 20^th Century Fox

-          Press agent = Michel Burnstein

-          Foreign Distributor = Fox Searchlight Pictures

The main distributor for the Black Swan was ‘Fox Searchlight Pictures.’ The film was given a specific production budget of $10-12 million, and a vast amount of photography began towards the end of 2009 in New York City.

The motion picture rating was rated ‘R’ for strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use.

Box Office:

Black Swan found itself earning competitive box office revenue in many of the cinemas that consisted of most major releases. It was interesting to find out that the film was shot on a 16mm film – a standard one that is usually often used by the independent revolution. Apparently, one scene was even shot on a ‘Canon DSLR,’ a camera which is used for the amateurs who are unable to afford professional tools. The cinematographic process consisted of a digital intermediate (master format) and an HDTV (source format). In its opening weekend the film grossed $1,443,809 in the USA on the 5^th December 2010 in 18 screens and £2,762,429 in the UK on the 23^rd January 2011 in 356 screens. The film grossed $2.12 million. Black swan which was distributed by ‘Fox Searchlight Pictures,’ also posted the highest screen average over that particular weekend with $10,654. In total it had grossed $6.18 million. Its gross box office is over $100 million as of February 2011.

Release:

Black Swan had its world premiere as the opening film at the 67^th Venice film festival on the 1^st September 2010. Black Swan was one of the seven films which were nominated to be awarded for having the best “homosexual and queer themes.” Black Swan had many screenings and was presented at numerous film festivals. It had a screening at the Telluride film festival on the 5^th September 2010 and the 35^th Toronto International film festival later on in the month. It was also screened at the New Orleans and Austin film festival and lastly the BFI London film festival. The release date of the Black Swan in the United Kingdom was brought forward a month from February 2011 to the 21^st January 2011. According to reports, the film is one of the “most highly anticipated” of late 2010. In the 83^rd Academy awards Oscar Nominations 2011, it is no surprise that Black Swan has been nominated on numerous accounts. Black Swan was nominated in the following categories: best picture, best actress in a leading role, best cinematography, best film editing and director.  

To continue promoting the Black Swan, merchandise around the film (ancillary market) was sold. Companies teamed up with the distributor, fox searchlight pictures to give the public the opportunity to win a set of limited Black Swan merchandise. These included teaser posters signed by Natalie Portman, as well as a beautiful Black Swan merchandise set which consisted of a hoody, a jewellery box, a necklace and a perfume atomiser. Other companies produced Black Swan merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies and a computer mouse mat.

The film poster is exceedingly creepy and eerie. As you stare at it, you feel as though you must turn away from it instantly, as if it has some sort of control over you. The level of brightness which is portrayed on the background of the poster represents the blinding power of the spotlight and the overpowering nature of being up front. The actress’s eyes are disturbing and distressing. It's as if her eyes belong to the devil. They look on at people showing signs of hatred and fury. The more you stare into her eyes you feel as though they are being used as weapons to hypnotize you. It is definitely as creepy picture. Additionally, by mentioning respected film festival it is a way of saying, this is a serious, dark, edgy film and that they are hoping to win Oscar, Bafta awards. The film poster clearly shows that this film is only meant to be seen by people who are ages 15+ as it is alarming and unnatural. If this was shown to students younger than 15 it could frighten them emotionally and psychologically.