GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Black Swan” — Characters

This week we will be analyzing the screenplay for the 2010 movie Black Swan, screenplay by Mark Heyman and Andrés Heinz and John J. McLaughlin, story by Andrés Heinz.

You may download an October 5, 2009 version of the shooting script here.

Today we discuss the script’s characters. Here is a list of the primary ones:

Nina Sayers

Erica Sayers

Lily

Thomas Leroy

Beth Macintyre

How would assess each of these characters and their respective narrative functions?

Our schedule for discussion:

Monday, October 22: General comments
Tuesday, October 23: Structure
Wednesday, October 24: Characters
Thursday, October 25: Themes
Friday, October 26: Dialogue

We will have another live TweetCast on tonight [Wednesday, October 24] at 8PM Pacific. What’s a TweetCast? Everybody lines up a DVD, Netflix, or whatever of the movie, then hits play at precisely the top of the hour. While the movie plays, we comment on it real time on Twitter.

We generally have some professional screenwriters participate including Tom Benedek and myself, and anyone is invited to drop by. It’s a lot of fun, but as you can see from the transcripts, also a great way to break down and analyze a movie. Hashtag: #swantc.

Here is a featurette about the visual effects in Black Swan:

If you know of any great behind-the-scenes videos or interviews about Black Swan, please post them in comments.

Remember: Reading scripts is one of the most important single things you can do to enhance your understanding of the craft of screenwriting. So download Black Swan and join us the last week of October to analyze the script.

For Part 1, a general discussion of the script, go here.

For Part 2 on structure, go here.

For all of the other screenplays and commentary in the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series, go here.

NOTE: THE USE OF THESE SCREENPLAYS IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

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