Black Swan - Final Scene Analysis

Straight away in the final scene of Black Swan we see Portman dressed in black descending down the stairs in contrast to the many white swans ascending up the stairs. This tells the audience that Portman's mental state is destabilising. This fits into all the conventions of a modern psychological thriller, showing the main characters poor, negative state of mind through miss-en-scene. The use of a handheld camera down the stairs obscures the shot, it allows the audience to feel like they are there with Portman, it gives a sense that she doesn't want to go, she's confused, distressed. As she enters her dressing room the camera slowly pans around the floor showing a broken mirror and a seeping pool of blood, again adding to the sense that something negative has happened in that room, as Portman isn't shocked we assume she knows what happened adding to the sense of her psychological state being unstable. The cut then fades out and she is dressed in white and applying white face make-up, this represents innocence and purity, she is trying to cover up the negative and evil inside her and the act that she has committed. A knock on the door from Mila Kunis and a series of close up shots throughout the conversation show the raw emotion on the actress’s faces.  The rough, raw grey bricked wall gives the audience an uneasy feeling of unwelcomness in the room. The rule of thirds is also used with Portman’s head in the door and then the door and frame either side, making a perfect, even shot. The blackness of the door and frame makes it look like the darkness is consuming Portman, representing the storyline of the film, the role of the black swan taking over a dancer. Whilst Portman is in her dressing room, a black crown is always in the shot, this use of mise-en-scene expresses to the audience that what Portman is after is success, she wants to win, she needs to be the best but as the crown is black that colour comes with negative connotations just like her success will has come with negative after effects. When Portman realises she has stabbed herself & not her opposition the camera zooms in on a small blood stain on her white costume, the wound pulsates like a heart, this could be related to passion, it mimics the pain Portman is feeling both physically and emotionally. Something else that adds to the mise-en-scene of this scene is the fact that her white tutu looks like bandages, especially when zoomed in on the wound.2.
The next shot is the big finale dance, a variety of shots are used here including low angle wide shots to show the technicalities of the ballet dancers feet. We then see the camera follow Portman up the stairs, as she runs up towards the sun the lights go up to, this could represent her going up to heaven allowing the audience to assume the inevitable; her death.  The camera gradually zooms in onto her and then further onto her wound, as the camera zooms in the blood stain increases, showing the severity of the situations increasing. The sun behind her head makes her look angelic, like a halo and the a close up shows the raw emotion on her face, using the shot reverse shot technique between Portman and Hershey (her on screen mother) they pull the exact same facial expression, allows the audience to realise both characters are aware of what’s about to happen this adds to the tension of the scene. As Portman falls to the mat the choreographer runs over to her, as he leans over to congratulate her, the camera goes up into a high angle shot; he is covering the blood stain and all the other dancers are surrounding her. This looks like the choreographer is protecting her but his black suit in contrast to her white tutu could suggest to the audience that it’s the negativity consuming her, like he is to blame for what she has done. We then see the stage lights get brighter and fade out to the end credits, allowing the audience to assume she has died, but telling us she has done what she set out to be ‘perfect’.
All the way through the clip the non diegetic music follows the action, so when things get intense the music goes into a crescendo and builds tension for the audience, it then turns into diegetic music as she goes on stage and dances. It then fades out and leaves the audience with the soft tinkling melody as she dies.  The diegetic sounds of applause and cheering contrasts to what’s actually happening off stage and her last breath is then heard in time with the final cut of the scene finishing the clip beautifully.