| Multiple Mirror Effects in Movies | ||
Black Swan (2010) |
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| Spoiler Alert ! Some of these pictures and descriptions may give away plot details that you might not want to know before watching the film. |
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| In this multiple Academy Award-nominated arthouse meets grindhouse film, Natalie Portman gives an Oscar-winning performance as Nina, a repressed ballerina who is pressured by her director to get in touch with her wild side for a starring role in Swan Lake. There are lots of great mirror shots throughout the film, including several with more than one mirror as Nina's preparation for dancing the role of the Black Swan brings about startling body dysmorphia and hallucinations of reality-defying reflections of herself in mirrors, using the horror movie evil doppelganger trope with the reflection moving independently of the character to show us the duality of the white swan and the black swan. |
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| Beginning at approximately 117 minutes, when Nina she is being measured for a costume in front of a mirror with another mirror behind her, Nina sees one of the reflections move her arm. The camera then moves over to her left side as Nina tilts her body over to the right and we see that reflection does not tilt to the right and she is scratching her back where Nina has irritated skin (and where later a wing grows out of her back.) Then even more disturbingly, the reflection turns to look at Nina. |
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| A few minutes later, beginning at approximately 119:30 minutes, we see Nina in a rehearsal studio preparing for her big debut, and as she dances to a stop, the reflection continues for a moment longer. When she raises her right arm up, the reflection does not raise the arm. Seeing this Nina backs up in shock and as she turns around to look at the mirror behind her, that reflection also does not accurately reflect her movement. |
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