If the Black Swan Had Different Sets....
Design Eye on the Oscars: What If Nina Had More Symmetry and Better Light?
When I saw The Black Swan I could not stop trying to memorize the sets. It's brilliant when talented set designers know the characters so well that their designs add to what we know about them and to the plot. This ideabook is just for fun and is probably only for those who have seen the movie. I'm thinking about how perhaps Nina could have kept from going insane if only her surroundings had been designed her with mental health in mind. You probably won't want to read this if you haven't seen the movie, heck, you might not want to if you have, but I thought the film was a bit campy, so I'm going in that direction myself.
Nina struggles to be perfect in a large rehearsal room by piano. Perhaps if that place had more natural light, like this room, she could have held on to her sanity.
Nina is sexually harassed by the ballet director as he tries to get her to seduce the black swan part out of her soul. Perhaps if his office had had more symmetry like this room, Nina could have maintained her mental balance.
We start off meeting Nina, a young woman who has dedicated her life to ballet, in the depressing apartment she shares with her batty mother. Her room is bright and cheerful and full of stuffed animals, and reflects the fact that Nina seemed to stop maturing at age 12.
Perhaps if Nina's room had grown up a little bit she could have too. This room is still filled with pink but is a bit more appropriate for a young woman.
This room is the chic version of Nina's batty mother's bi-polar portrait painting room. Barbara Hershey was a bit of brilliant casting, BTW!
As Nina's mental state worsens, she needs to stay far, far away from staircases like these.
As the dark side takes over, Nina struggles to hang on and keeps striving for absolute perfection.
However, the darker it gets, the more she loses her grip on reality.
In the whole movie, all she eats is half a grapefruit, some icing off her mother's finger, and a hit of Ecstasy. Perhaps if they'd had a more inviting kitchen and she'd eaten some food, the delusions would have abated.
This seems like a dressing room fit for a Swan Queen, though we'd need to remove the mirror in order to Nina-proof it.
In fact, Nina should have had a dressing room with only soft surfaces like these, and absolutely NO MIRRORS!
There's an Alice in Wonderland quality to this space. Don't you wonder what's behind doors number one and three?
These steps would be perfect for the White Swan's final ascent.
If Nina had moved out on her own, she could have had a nice open space for rehearsing that was mostly white, with just an underscore of black to keep her in line.
Perhaps a nice long soak in a dark-walled bathroom, without being able to look at her hangnails would have refreshed Nina a bit.
Next:
Design Eye on the Oscars: True Grit style
Design Eye on the Oscars: The King's Speech
Design Eye on the Oscars: The Kids Are All Right
Next:
Design Eye on the Oscars: True Grit style
Design Eye on the Oscars: The King's Speech
Design Eye on the Oscars: The Kids Are All Right