I think Natalie deserves the Oscar, but Sarah Lane should've been recognized more as well. I blame the producers and the director, and the stupid Academy and the way the Oscar race is set up for Sarah's lack of recognition. If more fuss had been made about Natalie having a body double, she might've missed out on the Oscar -- not because her acting wasn't good enough. It was. But because the Oscars like to reward "impossible" transformations (See: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron's wins).
Record will show: Terry Leonard; for Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, John Wayne. Billy Morts; for Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise. Gary Powell; for Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan. Simon Crane; for Angelina Jolie. Jeannie Epper; for Lynda Carter. Zoe Bell; for Lucy Lawless. Lou Ferrigno; for Bill Bixby. IMDb and Wikipediea says; Body Double Sarah who? - No Sara Lane stunt-butt in Hollywood, sorry. So I wonder - how is her name known? @DreamySerenade - did you read the name in credits?
Of course they create a facade. It's a double, whatelse do you create with them? And for @TastySorrow, I didn't hear any actor ever mentioning their stunt doubles in their oscar speech. Wth? Why is this any different than other movies. Why do I know the name of Sarah Lane if I don't know it of any other doubles. Right, because this girl doesn't know what being a doube means. It means you lend your body to someone else. So please don't try to get your 15 minutes and tell anyone what you did.
Okay, seriously. Any dancer knows that it is impossible to become truly skilled in the art form of dance in just a year of training. Thankfully, the directors of this film understood this and used visual effects to make up for what Natalie physically lacked. She still did an amazing job and I believe she deserves every bit of her Oscar that she won for her PERFORMANCE (NOT dancing ability) in Black Swan.
Okay, seriously. Any dancer knows that it is impossible to become truly skilled in the art form of dance in just a year of training. Thankfully, the directors of this film understood this and used visual effects to make up for what Natalie physically lacked. She still did an amazing job and I believe she deserves every bit of her Oscar that she won for her PERFORMANCE (NOT dancing ability) in Black Swan.
Hilarious, Natalie Portman was awesome in the movie, I didnt watch the movie for the ballet nor did i remember any of the ballet steps lmfao.. As i was watching the first time i Knew those shots werent Natalie Duhhh its a movie..
She thanked everyone in OSCARS,makeup artist,stylist,cameramen,etc.W/ full names including those w/c are hard to pronounce.But she cant thank her double?W/ a very simple name,Sarah Lane?THat's odd.Esp.when Sarah gave life to her character.Atleast she couldve mentioned her stunt,even w/o the name.I dont get her dialogues either,its like shes mumbling.I cant understand her,esp.in"THe other Boleyn Girl".She speaks clearly in her early age with the film"Leon".But her natural speaking voice is clear.
Like any stunt person, SL should have been credited for her work. NP should have come out straight with the facts, and the crew should have not tried to hide the stunt work. (effects..) SL may have known beforehand abut some things, ok, but she must have thought that she would have got more credit for her work. As for the acting... one can learn that in 2 months. You don't need 1.5 year to learn how to express oneself as a dancer. You've either got it in you or not. Correct close-ups helped lots
@sylviekaja Right on the money. Camera and lighting very effective- I think the guys concerned got full credit unlike the deliberately-crafted attempt at the obliteration of the ballerinas' full and REAL contribution! Even the elegant arms during the creepy skin transformation weren't NP's, but SL's. So where else were SL's arms used on NP's torso, I ask? You or I could have been cast as the Lady in the lane - why a ballerina for THAT unless she had to triple pirouette down the lane?!!.
Very neat; looked for this just to see how it was done (good software).
Heh controversy: SL never believed she was anything more than a stunt double. All movies use others' expertise, be it a stunt double that makes it look like a 90lb actress is a martial artist who can leap on moving trains to battle 300lb men, or a screenwriter who writes the lines for an actor to play a brilliant doctor. Trust, the awards ppl do NOT believe an actor suddenly has a new career; they're judging his/her ACTING.
People aren't getting it. Dance is something takes a lot of time and dedication to even become remotely good at it. You literally have to retrain your body to do something that it wasn't originally meant to do. That takes lots of time. So for someone to get poory credited for mastering something as brutal as dance, it hurts. Yeah NP did an incredible acting job, but let's be real. She's not a dancer. Put her in a real dance class. See how long she lasts then.
@lifeirresponsibly Of course she isn't a dancer, she never claimed to have turned into a ballerina overnight, that isn't possible, her body isn't used to the physically demanding work ballet dancers do, but in the short time she was given she did a really good job. I don't understand why people have go their tutu's in a twist over it. Lane must have been given a contract before she did the film, if she didn't agree with it why did she do the film?!
@BalletBeauty88 The whole problem is NP is getting fake credit. SL isn't getting the correct credit. I do agree that the work NP did as far as the dancing go was pretty good considering the circumstances. But SL didn't sign up for having it look like NP turned into a professional dancer in a year. They told SL not to do any interviews until after the oscars because it would look bad for NP. oscar voters wouldn't have even voted for NP if they knew she didn't do all of the dancing.
@lifeirresponsibly as far as i'm aware the Oscars are for actresses/actors not for dancers. If the voters really throught Natalie had done all he dancing in the film, i.e the fouettes, then they really are stupid. Plus Natalie herself said in an interview that she had a dance double, infact she had 2 dance doubles, the other dance double hasn't said anything about a cover up, neither have any of the other pros that danced in this movie, everyone who worked on the film has defended Natalie.
@BalletBeauty88 Well as far as I know, Sarah was the main dance double. The only credit she got in the film was "the lady in the lane" nothing about being a double. Yeah the oscars are for acting. But based upon what i've heard, Natalie only won the oscar because people thought she did most of the dancing, which isn't true. But this is just turning into another pointless SL vs NP argument. So agree to disagree.
Waist-up shots of stiff neck & arms aren't dancing, even if DA etc think they are, they are just posing, not excatly the most difficult thing to do! Still ppl don't understand that far too many white lies were told about NP's alleged training & abilities & to produce just posturing after a year is laughable. Are non-dancers aware of the massive strength & technique needed by the pro. to repeat the fouettes, for example during takeson set? NP should have admitted to being incapable & just acted!
Sarah Lane did the scenes when pointe work was needed, and those were very few scenes. The rest of the dancing scenes where from the waist up, so those, natalie danced it. And, the head of natalie was digitaly attached to Sarah Lane's body only to give cohesion, and to make the movie believable.
Sarah Lane can't nail fouettes en pointe while giving the performance of the year. It's obvious from the behind the scenes footage that NP learned what she needed to in a spectacularly short space of time. The sabotaging of this footage doesn't diminish her credibility as an actress, just a distribution company's intellectual credibility. Would you expect anything less from Fox? (And yes, I know I mean the entertainment division. Not that there's a difference.)
SL already a star with ABT and was entitled to get pissy after she was seriously misled - lied to - about her credit. The downright lies masquerading as hype and the studio wanting her to be quiet until after the Oscars says all you need to know about H'wood's attitude to any other performing art , esp. one which requires yrs of fulltime training like ballet.. We wouldn't be here if they had played it straight, but they just had to pretend NP is a ballet dancer after a yr!
@MrKLT1945 I'm sorry but if Lane felt wronged, she should have spoken up before for not being credited properly. I do ballet and if I were her I too would be pissed that I wasn't getting credit for something i'd done. But what has always made me suspect her story is that Lane only spoke after the Oscars. Why didn't she speak up as soon as she realised there was this "conspiracy." If I were in her position I would have hired a lawyer and demanded that I was properly credited.
@BalletBeauty88 She was asked to keep her mouth shut so as not affect Oscar chances,that's why! I think some ppl know now how the studio, DA, NP et al were happy to connive with stupid overhype & lies to get that Oscar. Did SL feel humiliated by the crap (why the crap amateur prom vds, if not to make it appear NP mastered ballet?) Never trust anyone in Lala land should have been her first thought, but wasn't. American lawyers cost and us prof. ballet dancers certainly don't dance for the money!
@MrKLT1945 well she was abit stupid to "keep her mouth shut" doesn't she have a mind of her own, she could have said something. There were no "lies," even before award season was underway Natalie said that she had stunt doubles (yes Lane wasn't the only one!) I even read in a review that Natalie didn't do the complicated footwork, i.e the fouettes, the focus was more on her upper body. From a dancers standpoint I think she did a wonderful job, I liked her beautiful fluid arm work.
@BalletBeauty88 Yes, SL should have ignored their order to keep quiet pre-Osacr. Ridiculous hype ( incl. even DA claiming HE knows what it takes to be a prima ballerina) became lies the moment NP used the very clever interview techniques of not finishing sentences thererby choosing to give so many fans the clear impression she actually ALMOST got to prima status (aged 28) in a year! We'll have to disagree on her arms - shoulders, elbows, chin, neck all stiff & wrong for classical ballet.......
@BalletBeauty88 .....con'td. None of the work that is ballet - Cambre, 'simple' or advanced pointe work, turnout et etc was NP. Even the first distance shot of the 'lift' in the BS grand entrance is not NP- and that didn't involve footwork. SL should be thanked for NOT spoiling the Oscar chance by having a hissy fit pre- Award ceremony which would have led to this debate before the judges made any decision. What if that had happened? Would Benning have won?
@MrKLT1945 So you are saying that Natalie trained for a year and did none of the ballet, that sounds ridiculous! Natalie would still have won the Oscar, Why? Because her ACTING was incredible, she acted her arse off and she was recognised for. Lane even said in an interview that she completely deserved the Oscar, she said she enjoyed working with her. Lane's issues have been with Darren Aronofsky and the crew, not with Natalie, she didn't edit the film.
@BalletBeauty88 What I mean is that the 'moves' and posing NP did cannot be the result of a year's private and intensive training, nor is the very bad stuff on view in BS promo vds. NONE of it would have taken more than a couple of months even in an amateur adult class full of ungifted but enthusaistic amateurs. I have only ever written about the dumb ballet hype of which NP was a willing participant. Never commented on the acting.
I don't care if she had a double or not. There really is not a lot of full body dancing in the movie. Most are head shots. Sounds like Sarah is jealous that she was not the star. I could care less about the dance double. Doubles are used in many many movies, body doubles, stunt doubles etc... Get over it Sarah.
i wonder how natalie portman felt about having a dance double and having to hide it . also she did traning ballet but could never do all the things from the movie as hard as she trained all of her danceing is unrealistic
Knowing the effects reel was doctored w/ Natalie's face on Sarah's body for promotional reasons ticks me off, not because it's Natalie Portman, but because of how underhanded movie companies get when Oscar season comes knocking. Knowing how much actually goes into getting that Oscar nom and not actually earning it makes me not want to watch the Awards ceremony anymore. This movie was pushed and pushed for the Oscars like you wouldn't imagine. (Not that it wasn't good or anything, but still...)
Aronofsky could've gone the "Center Stage" route and used a real dancer as the lead actress but then the premise of a person that is mentally degenerating wouldn't simply not been very good/effective if the film didn't have an accomplished actress like Portman.
And when Lane called Aronofsky on that 90% did you folks REALLY expect Aronofsky to just own up that he "exaggerated"?
I KNOW Natalie didn't do any of the pointe work, but for crying out loud, the dancers all KNEW that!! The girl, Lane is it?, knew her work in the movie was for a dance double before they even started filming. Quit griping about it after the fact. The movie is about the STORY, not who did the real fouettes...
@1marycelt Was SL told (and had it written into her contract) she would actually only be billed as stunt double etc? I doubt that any ballerina would have acquiesed to that! Bit more to ballet than 'stunts'. I think the studio played fast and loose with the truth with her. She knows now H'wood is full of shitty ppl.
@1marycelt Lane representing professional ballet dancers around the world... she is upset because the audience is mislead into thinking portman achieved a LIFETIME worth of work after just one year, when it's really impossible- and it does a disservice to REAL ballet dancers.
When you said "arm flapping" I stopped watching. Being a dancer, I know those little movements are the hardest. The smallest muscles are so important. This has nothing to do with the vid. Just don't call ballet "arm flapping" please.
good job on the vid. natalie portman should not have won the oscar if the judges were also considering her dancing regimen. you can tell in the "official" black swan dance scene that she is not a real professional ballerina, even though only her arms are shown. That part with her partner is quite awkward, and the movement is mostly due to the clever camera panning around her. It's true her swan arm poise is pretty creepy and graceful.
Those who matter in the ballet world will not give a damn about BS. Promotion at any pro ballet company depends mostly on talent/suitability for certain roles, company style etc. Any debates on YT will have no input whatsoever. As for NP's acting - I'm not convinced it was worthy of an Oscar, but that's a different debate. Coming from the ballet world as I do I don't pretend to be an expert on film acting. I've seen a lot more films than NP fans have seen ballet but THEY are the ballet experts!
Natalie Portmans achievement for this movie is still incredible. Sarah Lane is a wonderful dancer and will surely get the attention she deserves in the ballet world. I don't think anyone will do her career a favor by going on about her participation in Black Swan. Natalie Portman deservedly got her Oscar for her dedication and her excellent acting in this movie. Anyone wanna count the percentage of closeups to her face?
Welcome to the age of complete fraud. Your Oscars are awarded for fraud, the silver in your pocket change is clad base metal, FRAUD, your children are bombing camel jockeys out of existence instead of making their own way towards energy independence (FRAUD!), your bank owns you because of no doc loan FRAUD, the world on the edge of real bankruptcy because of real estate derivative FRAUD! Social Security funds stolen and given to banks and Wall Street-FRAUD.
What passes for dancing from NP is just bad amateur stuff & does NOT take a yr to 'master'. No turnout, no ballet technique/physique at all, no muscle tone, stiff torso & neck, jerky arms moved from stiff shoulder girdle, totally unballetic sickle feet and a few poorly done turns in baby shoes do not a ballet dancer make, nor the 'appearance' of one. Dramatic weightloss, cgi, hype & lots of clever camera work keeps ppl ignorant. Why else try to keep SL quiet? From a retired RB dancer & teacher
I can see what you're trying to point out in this video that Sarah Lane did the full body shots of dancing, and yes I give her credit for that as ballet is such a complex dance to master, but you got to remember that you don't just dance through your feet, you also express it through your hands, arms, hips and face. You look at other dance movies, you will see that there are above-the-waist shots in there too, there's a reason for that. Remember, dancing is not just expressed through your feet.
@cabinthewoods90 no they werent they are actually not that bad. why are you trying so hard to discredit her. do u have something against her? jealous maybe ;)? not as good a dancer a she is. maybe u just suck at dancing is that it?
@DaKurlz1 well of course, if I think she did a bad job then I must be jealous, because there's no way people can have different tastes and opinions, right? of course not, if marketing says she is Svetlana Zakharova combined with Mery Streep, you all believe it. Anyway, believe what you like and what makes you happy.
@cabinthewoods90 Any jealousy felt must reside with NP - her ego dictated that as she did some low-level kids' dance classes for a while then as a H'wood film star knocking on 30, playing ballerina catch-up would have been a walk in the park! Reality of it must have been quite a shock to her et al. But all fans who believe NP/DA 's half-witted claims re. her 'ballet' must, logically, know ALL about ballet technique and training! Ignorance is not only bliss, it's always right - esp for NP fans.
@MrKLT1945 totally agree, the whole thing was a big fat lie and fans seem to have been brainwashed. But that's what being a fan is, I guess, being a fanatic, as the word says.
@cabinthewoods90 Yes. It shows how easy it is for any organisation/group/individual to fool a lot of the ppl all of the time. Worrying how easy it is to manipulate ppl, (some of who must be adults) who would no doubt feel deeply insulted if anyone actually said 'You are a brainless idiot & you will believe all I say as true. You will have no knowledge but that which I choose to give you & you must destroy all non-believers'. Fortunately for us the method of destruction is just childish insults.
@3223amazinga where did you hear that? people can say anything, but it doesn't mean it's true. She looked beautiful to me, she's not Margot Fonteyn but still beautiful.
@anitastevensmakeuptv Apologies - meant to respond generally, not to you in particular, pointing out no-one can look like a ballerina (i.e. a pro dancer) unless the punishingly hard training has been undertaken - assuming the natural gifts of physique & talent are there! I too would love to know the title of background music.
@anitastevensmakeuptv We R not mad at use of a double (stunt double as SL was credited!) but at all the pre-Oscar lies & misinformation/superhype which made it clear that as far as H'wood/NP/DA were concerned actors CAN get up to ballerina standard in a flash, and at an advanced (almost 30!) age. Add on all the foul rubbish from ballet-ignorant worshippers of H'wood & film stars aimed at ballet fans & ppl who danced prof. but who know NP cannot dance ... no wonder ballet lovers R pissed-off.
@MrKLT1945 I didn't said anything about black swan or natalies dancing.... I just wanted to know what is the title of the song and who is it by, as I love it and would like to download it!
PS: Being a NP fan myself, of course I know she can't dance like that - but she had to undergo the intensive ballet training if she's going to play the role of a professional ballerina dancer - I mean she has to look the part AT LEAST regardless of the dancing!! Now, does anyone know who this song is by???
OK, an actor cannot just learn how to do ballet like that! Don't get mad at someone for using a double! Ballerinas train for YEARS, sometimes DECADES before they are "good", and expecting someone who's main talent isn't dancing to learn that in such a short period of time is just stupid.
Why do people even really care. She's an actor. She acts. Shes good at acting. So what if she can't dance. She's not a dancer. I think its wrong for them to claim she did most of it if she really didn't but oh well, welcome to Hollywood.
The cleverly orchestratred pre-Oscar hype & interviews manipulated many ppl into believing wildly extravagant claims from ALL concerned with BS re NP's 'ballet' and was designed to maximise Oscar chances, so for them the ballet WAS important. We had NP's crap dancing, crap choreography & our intelligence insulted (even DA saying he knows what makes a prima ballerina!) wiith NP/DA's lying by omission - a neat trick employed often by politicians. Publicity is one thing, but this beats all.
People are so stupid. If they actually believed that Natalie, even though she said they used a double. And that scene is not a deleted scene, it was put in the behind the scenes of the movie. Everybody knew, and Portman never said otherwise, that for pointe she was not really dancing, but it was somebody else. She never claimed to be a ballet dancer, and she won her Oscar for acting so well. In this movie ballet is secondary, and everybody makes it's so important they miss the real point of it.
I also heard that many 'real' ballet dancers scoff at the dancing in this movie. So if it's not that good, why all the fuss. Fact is Natalie got her Oscar for her acting, not her dancing. If people would get Oscars for that the dancers in Step up 2 would all have one.
Sure enough, they should've been open and honest about it from the beginning, putting Sarah Lane in the credits and keeping the visual effects reel the way it originally was. That said, the way Sarah Lane handled this whole thing was less than graceful. They should have hired a dancer who isn't so bitter.
this is a very common practice in film making. the same thing was done for the film "flash dance", "footloose", so on and so forth. the opening scene in "pretty women" is a body double.
In the 1940s "they" had no choice but to have to go and get a Moira Shearer but with the "photoshopping" available to a 7 year-old the Moira Shearers and Sarah Lanes are nothing more than parts for the "INDUSTRY".......
Since the 1910s, filmmaking has involved "ilusion" and the BIG winners were ALWAYS the actors while the HUGE BEHIND THE CAMERA "crew" was given their "guaranteed" payment..... while the actors went on to become gatrilloinaires........
So why do you think "Black Swan" would be any different?
The "average" movie viewer is not aware that a scene can be made involving two - OR MORE - persons where those persons appear to be "interacting"...... where in FACT that whole "scene" could've had each of those persons being filmed in differnet CONTINENTS..... the difference is *EDITING* each "take" can be put together to make IT APPEAR they're "in the same scene".......
I understand the complaints of Sarah Lane and perhaps Aronofsky could've done a "and a special thanks to Sarah Lane for her work"....... but the HUGE average movie viewing audience simply doesn't understand the movie *INDUSTRY*.......
The problem is that the movie audience masses don't have a clue of movie making and that it literally is all about "illusion" that the stage only can dream about...... perhaps "movie making 101" should be mandatory in grade school....
It is extremely frusterating to see how fake Hollywood has become. Sarah Lane should have gotten the credit and recognition she deserves. She is standing up for ballet, something that she has been perfecting ever since she was four. It takes years to become as good as Sarah was, as demonstrated in the movie, not a year. Sure, Natalie Portman danced as a child, but that's nowhere near the amount that Sarah has danced. If Hollywood had just left this video alone, they could have avoided this chaos
@crushesonlycrushyou if they left the video alone there would be no point in hiring Natalie, and i can not see sarah doing the rest of this movie, people go see the movie because of natalie portman not sarah lane
Her 5% or 10 % participation on the movie she agreed to do this part without tending to be famous or get any credit...NOW SHE IS YELLING EVERYONE OVER STEP NATALIE....GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE Sarah!!! stop hanging on her win,freaky jelous!
also, if you watch more of the featurettes, you see natalie dancing in regular soft ballet slippers not pointe. meaning to say that it's plausible she danced most of the movie herself, with sarah lane's pointe works and fouettes etc being used.
@xsexyminxyx One can see nothing but low-grade amateur stuff inc; a couple of waltz steps(!), no turnout, no flexibilty, sickle etc from NP in featurettes & in BS. Adult beginners do just as well after a few months with no 'intensive training from an expensive 'teacher', who I wouldn't employ'. NOT a testament to NP & teacher. All & any real ballet (NOT posing & flapping) was done by pros, which would not be a problem but for the near-lunatic claims by DA/NP/BM/Studio at different times.
I think you should all just stop criticizing her. I am a ballet dancer and I know how hard it is dancing ballet, i know how much effort, strength and flexibility is needed to be able to progress and pointe is a very hard thing to master. Sure, Natalie Portman may not have dance half those scenes, but I doubt she learned nothing in those 6 months of intensive training. She was picked for this role as an ACTRESS, not a dancer. So calm down.
@olirs55 CGI can make ANYONE do ANYTHING! Dance en pointe?! Ha! No doubt she tried, like the Ugly Sisters tried in Cinderella. In BS the Fairy Godmother was cgi guy. What next? Perhaps the traumatic abuse suffered by some gymnasts on their way to Olympic gold would make a great schlock-horror mysogonistic movie for an arrogant, pseudo-intellectual director and a self-important late 20's actress who could not cut the gymnastic mustard but would still claim otherwise in the run-up to Oscars!.
C'mon now. Everyone who are ballet dancers, fanatics or balletomane KNOWs she was doubled. I could tell from the first time that I saw the promo picture. When the controversy broke I was like "Duh...she was doubled!!!" No one can do a 32 fouettés in a year in a half of ballet training. My problem with this was she was promoted like she did 90% of the dancing and only the pointe shots were made by her double. I'm glad that Sarah Lane spoke out. The same thing happened for the costumes. Fake promo
@sweetaliena This ex-ballet dancer hopes you are not now subjected to the lunatic vitriol some of us have experienced following your post which does NOT acknowledge the greatness of NP's alleged dancing! For many, there is no truth but Hollywood's. LOL
@sweetaliena I didn't know she was doubled. That's because for all I knew, Natalie was an experienced ballet dancer (which can mean so many things, but for these purposes, she knew enough to do the movie). This reel totally opened my eyes. I don't see why they'd lie, though. And then defend that lie. That's the issue here.
@RLviddy I don't blame you. It was the purpose of the movie, to make the audience believe that she was an accomplish ballerina. But they lied about her dancing while promoting the movie in order to push her "candidacy" for the Oscars and it worked. If we knew then what we know now, she wouldn't won that Oscar.
@sweetaliena In Britain some months back RB dancers were invited to watch BS (minus credits) without being told Lane & Prosa were involved at all. They were impressed with NP's alleged pointework, which they were led to believe was ALL Portman and no-one BUT Portman throughout the entire film (but damned her use of arms). How's that for desperate, lying hype?
@ravegods Quite right, it is amazing! - and you diasagree with them (film/NP fans) at your peril. Not having worked in a ballet company & not trained to a professional level in ballet doesn't stop any of them from being experts on ballet and spouting received wisdom, usually mixed with bile when all else fails 'cos that's all they know. It's their equivalent of shouting, and he who shouts loudest MUST be right, of course. Possibly some of them work for the studio/DA?
@MrKLT1945 I suppose it's just ignorance at its finest. I am a ballet dancer myself, and I can assure anyone that the skill and strength required to do it well (especially pointework) is unfortunately not something that can be rushed. It is very painstakingly and patiently earned bit by bit over a very long span of time. There are of course the occasional very gifted individuals (ex. Patricia Zhou) but this is rare at best. Fouettes en pointe in 18 months = LOL
@ravegods Fully agree with you. I was only ever good enough to be in corps but was happy to be able to work in my chosen profession and be onstage with great dancers including Nureyev - yes I'm that old! We can't all be Darcey Bussell. Some ignorant ppl possibly assume that physical expertise (so easily acquired in a flash if you are an actress!) is all there to it and you are a failure if you are not 'famous'.
NP did recreational (i.e. low standard, no pressure) AMATEUR classes for a while like millions of girls do. Her talent lay in acting, so she sensibly switched. Not sure if ppl have condemned her acting simply 'cos her own ballet offerings in BS were so bad. A year of private lessons aged almost 30 does not do it! It is impossibel & all she shows after a year is rank amateur stuff that can, as said before, be done by any amateur after a few months, without the benefit of costly private tuition.
natalie portman had danced ballet as a child and teenager and she had done a year of intense practice sessions. Sure she had a double but the double is a double, like a stunt man is a stuntman. they don't act, all they do is dance (or hurt themselves). I don't think there is any reason to say that Portman's acting is illegitimate just because of a double. Lane did a great job dancing, ok. buy she's just trying to feed some ego she has. Artist cares about the art, not the credit.
@adventerer Millions of girls take dance lessons as kids. It's nothing, just like taking piano lessons as a child wouldn't enable you to learn to do it as a professional later on. Those who become professional ballet dancers do continuous training for several hours a day on most days since a very early age, and they never stop. Sarah Lane cares that someone claims that it's possible to learn to dance like a professional (and a soloist in a top ballet company in the US) in 18 months.
@ArroyoSebastian Hate is a strong emotion. You are so obsessed about a movie star that you are willing to hate someone who's not hurt you personally? In reality neither Sarah Lane nor Natalie Portman care about you at all. Also, Sarah Lane hasn't told anything about what you supposed to think when you watch the movie. The only reason Sarah Lane spoke up is because the producers claimed NP did most of her dancing. This was a deliberate lie and an insult to the art of ballet.
No cgi of Prosa's feet, eh? NP can dance 'en pointe' but can't even walk onstage in pointe shoes?! Yeah, right.. Presumably she sat down, put pointe shos on, went straight up en pointe from seated onto the set, then reversed the process (not being able to master walking in pointes) after 'dancing' - possibly after the first take, as repeated takes would mean involve great strength in ballet-developed feet, legs & torso, a balletic which NP clearly does not have.
Why does is matter? Natalie was amazing in Black Swan. If you watch the opening scene, Natalie dances the entire thing and leaves en pointe. Of course she didn't do all of the dancing and the studio shouldn't have covered up Lane's contribution to the film, but what Lane did was based entirely on petty revenge. If anyone is in the wrong here, its Lane. She could have revealed this info much more professionally and gotten people on her side but instead she chose to do it out of spite.
@turkeyandbagels There was also Prosa whose footwork was used for some of the other scenes. Also, it's not the issue of petty revenge. Any professional who's spent years mastering his or her craft would be upset if someone claimed that an actor learned the same thing in 18 months. Ballet is one of the most difficult things there is, it requries continues serious training from a very early age, sacrifice and pain. To claim that one can learn it in 18 months is insulting to the art.
@jewelmarkess Yes, and that is something some fans cannot/won't understand! BM spent 10 years training, but his getting-on-in years-beloved took less under 2 years to get to grips with it! Why do NP fans refrain form asking just WHY why pro.ballet dancers training takes so damn long but an actor takes no time at all! Alas, logic & truth not a strong point for H'wood and many film fans when it comes to another art form! Message clear - want 2 B a ballerina? Be a film star first.
@MrKLT1945 Mother told me that back in post war St Petersburg (then Leningrad), Vaganova students were getting worker's rations because the government felt they were working as hard as factory workers doing hard physical labor. My mother was accepted even though she was one year older than their normal age, but after the war they couldn't find enough suitable kids. Her father wouldn't let her do it, one of the reason was that he thought it's too hard. She wouldn't that great anyway.
@jewelmarkess Amazing to have that as part of yr family background! A good friend, a university head of sport before retiring, once spent a month in Moscow & Leningrad. Her counterpart took her to both ballet academies 2 C, as the Russian put it, 'Children with perfect ballet physiques undergoing training much more demanding than any sportsman can imagine'. My friend, until then, had assumed ballet was easy, because ballet dancers must never show any effort as it is art, not sport.
@MrKLT1945 It's not that exciting - it was my mom not me, and she ended up becoming an engineer; she said she was grateful to her father because she didn't think ballet was for her. I was right after the war and they looked at older kids because they had trouble finding suitable kids then. Given how her body developed after puberty, she was probably right. I knew it was hard but didn't appreciate how hard until I watched some programs about ballet training.
The DVD contains extra footage "the metamorphosis of the Black Swan" and Sarah Lane and the face change IS included. Doesn't seem like the filmmakers are trying to hide anything...
Think logical.. they should know that NP can't dance like that.. omg.. lame.. fighting for pointless reason. Honestly there's not much REAL dance scenes in the movie. I as a dancer was disappointed when I watched Black Swan, thought it will have lotsa proper dance shots in it, most of the shots was just from the upper back onwards. NP is a good actress, the way she plays both characters and also manage to pull off the ballet look.
Geoffrey Rush was his own hand double in the movie Shine. He took up piano lessons that he had stopped at 14 to prepare for scenes where filming David's (Rush) hands at the piano were needed. But we didn't HEAR Geoffrey Rush PLAYING THE PIANO!!! He simply mimed the movements. If he were to actually play the Rach 3 it would have been a disaster of a movie. Rush got an Oscar for Best Actor. He was brilliant. Natalie Portman was brilliant in Black Swan.
It's funny how people complain about Natalie Portman's dancing not being a good in the movie. I guess they are criticizing a professional dancer then.
@ic33penguin No, those who know ballet criticise NP's contribution which is bad & amateurish as 2 B laughable. Also, most of us have not passd criticism on the acting, yet still R villified for daring 2 voice an opinion based on knowledge acquired - in my case, by years & years of full-time ballet training followed by by a career in dance, then re-training as a teacher! Somehow that is elitist & therefore wrong. R Oscar winners members of the film elite? All praise to CGI technicians
Had NP stuck to acting only with the occasional pose (in the wings and so on) & not tried to con ppl into believing (at her age!) she became almost a real prima ballerina in a blink of an eye despite the evidence of her pathetic, thoroughly bad amateur offerings allied to the ridiculous, almost lunatic claims by those with a vested interest, then the furore would never have kicked in.
But then the Oscar might have gone elsewhere........
SARAH LANE is a soloist from the American Ballet Theatre,
Filmakers used digital effects to put Natalie Portman's face on SARAL LANE's body.She has gone on record stating she "did 95% of the dancing."Furthermore, she claims that the studio covered it up to make Portman's performance seem more impressive.
atleast she does the 5% full body shots, rather than edited it all with sarah's body and natalie's face... To be a professional dancer takes a lot of time in the case of ballet i say "you start as a kid and continue it upto 20's something THEN your a professional ballerina".... I'm not against Natalie nor Sarah, all i'm against is those who COUNTS who does who to think everybody plays their part on this FILM, and Natalie deserves the award 'coz ACTING means people are convince of wat u did.
@helloanniegirl what are you talking about . this video just proved that most of the dancing was done by natalie portman. you can never ask anything from a dance double because they will just say it was all them because they are looking for the attenion and the credit and fame. didnt u see when they asked her she said (oh it was all me).....why didnt the producers say that from the begining.(oh they were trying to keep me quiet im the true dancer besides natalie only did 5%) LIES SARAH LANE LIED
Why do some ppl post this 'jealous' thing? It makes NO SENSE, unless those who are not praising NP's every move are actually actresses who audiitoned for the role and were turned down! Then there is possibility the green-eyed monster is posting. Other than that, ex-dancers & teachers ((in my case, very old too!) & anyone interested in films can criticise - it's called free speech, at least in my country. I was only corps member behind the likes of Georgina Parkinson, btw.
Well, that's what happens when you don't read the contract.. When I saw PARTS of this low budget film, the first thing that came to my head was.. there is no way in HELL that Natalie Portman is the one dancing... Even if she had a year or 2 of training.. It takes a life time to dance like that.. And to Sarah Lane well it happens.. But you are the real star of this film... Keep ur head up..:-)
and secondly yes everyone deserves credit i see where your coming from... but we can't say anything unless we were really there. but one positive thing... it was a nice video break down.
So let me say something that has bothered the hell out of me.
Why is everyone trying to sabotage natalie portman etc. in her dancing?
look there are videos on Youtube with her dance trainer about her vigorous hours of dance training for this video. sure perhaps only they will know which dances she needed help in but she learned most of those dances. and yes every movie has editing... for example you can't just leave a camera man there in the scenes ... what do you expect.
Finally... I have no idea where you've gotten your info (besides the shot counts that you from news stories), but you know very very little about this, considering how much of your time you've given to this. If you knew the facts, you'd be surprised. Some entities have taken the high road and in doing so, prevented you and others from embarrassment.
Newsflash...The Director. Producer. Studio. No one owes you anything. Does Sarah deserve the respect? Sure. However, all those decision makers can do whatever they want, whenever they want... and however they want. If you don't like it, simply don't choose to be part of it. And if you are part of it, make sure you are clear what is important to you as far as recognition. Ms Lane has representation... she is just as guilty for not ensuring they take care of her.
@vfxvfxvfx1 I think SL definitely an ingenue in H'wood. She either either assumed she would be credited as 'dance double' or didn't ask the right questions, which as we all know left the door wide open for ppl to play fast & loose with their version of truth. Had she asked 'Will I be fully credited as dance double?' & reply was 'NO, hand double ' etc she could have made a pre-emptive strike; but then this furore would not have happened! Now if the contract actually stated 'Dance Double'.......!
Sallygo (or whoever you are... Sarah herself, the editor of that dance magazine, whoever...)
You clearly state it at the end of your piece... Sarah sees as one way, and Darren sees it as another. Wow... thats genius. You just unlocked the equivalent of The Da Vinci Code. Differing people have differing opinions.
Could Sarah been credited differently? Perhaps. But your continuance in posting and commenting says you think Sarah should have gotten equal billing...
sallygo1234 I appreciate totally the points you are making. So many ppl work with 'Received Wisdom' and anyone wanting to use obvious facts/truth instead has to be shouted down, often with abuse. The "Eat horse-shit, 10 million flies cant be wrong" mentality all to prevalent in many areas of life, unfortunately.
@sallygo1234 No problem! Another thing that intrigues me is that ppl on the Osacr awarding panel are apparently allowed to use THEIR critical faculties to decide winners but knowledgeable film fans are supposed to check theirs in at the box-office & tow the party line. And they say communism is dead! The Tnought Police are out there & hell hath no fury like a film fanatic (for whom H'wood is God) who senses non-believers are still alive and kicking!
@Jewelmarkess I AM a professional performer, and honestly I would not be bothered if I had signed on to be a double and the actor claimed to do the art I did. A double is not supposed to take the credit but make the actor look good and take the paycheck! If I wanted to be recognized I would not be a double on a film. And I know how long it took me to master my art and what is involved. I would not care at all if people thought you could become an overnight sensation--not possible.
Bottom line: Nobody can learn to be a ballerina of the calibre portrayed by Portman in this film. Therefore, Portman did not do all that much of the actual dancing.
Classical ballet techniques can't be learned & stored in 'muscle memory' nor 'line' & body developed in the very short time span allowed to NP, despite attempts by devoted fans to claim otherwise. The lack of basic technique in the film is glaringly obvious & could so easily have been avoided if they hadn't gone down the 'She can dance just like a ballerina' road and just stuck to close-ups in ballet gear. NP could have carried the film by acting + ballerina 'Mannerisms,' yes or no?
Sarah Lane, you applied for a job as DOUBLE, not movie star. You're a ballerina, not an actress. I don't understand what's the fuss all about: your job was to dance and Natalie's was to act. Simple, isn't it?
@ultimomelao I heard she didn't apply for the job, but was approached. The fuss as I understand it based on Sarah's interview is they mislead the viewers about the amount of dancing Natalie did. Also, that they are insulting all the ballet dancers by claiming one can learn to dance like a professional ballerina in a year an a half, when it's impossible to even learn to do a simple move like one. (My understanding of the issue - I am not a ballerina, just like ballet).
@jewelmarkess Quite right! Insulting to ballet/dancers to say the least. We all know film stars can be made in a flash (looks, for young females, more important than talent!) but ballerinas have to have 8 yrs + full-time training even if they are Helen of Troy! Looks, lighting, costumes alone will not make anyone a ballerina. Possibly some film fans trust H'wood just a tad too much?
@MrKLT1945 Never underestimate the stupidity of general public. I read somewhere that some people even called the Royal Opera asking when they are going to hire NP to dance the Black Swan. Not sure if it's true... could have been a joke.
@jewelmarkess No, it was NOT a joke! There is now another actress to add to the list of dumb, arrogant actors who can master another art form requiring, in the real world, years of training & talent. She is playing Velda to Winslet's Mildred Pierce in the remake of thE Joan Crawford pot-boiler. This young actress tells us she MASTERED the piano in a 'FEW MONTHS' for the role. Message clear:- actors find ballet & music a walk in the park they are so gifted, unlike pro ballerinas & musicians.
I think Natalie deserves the Oscar, but Sarah Lane should've been recognized more as well. I blame the producers and the director, and the stupid Academy and the way the Oscar race is set up for Sarah's lack of recognition. If more fuss had been made about Natalie having a body double, she might've missed out on the Oscar -- not because her acting wasn't good enough. It was. But because the Oscars like to reward "impossible" transformations (See: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron's wins).
acinom13 1 month ago in playlist More videos from drak800
thespiritcoyote 1 month ago
I don't care who did most dancing but Natalie did a great job in the movie. She deserves the Oscar. As for Sarah, she is just plain jealous!
singleyedzi 2 months ago
Of course they create a facade. It's a double, whatelse do you create with them? And for @TastySorrow, I didn't hear any actor ever mentioning their stunt doubles in their oscar speech. Wth? Why is this any different than other movies. Why do I know the name of Sarah Lane if I don't know it of any other doubles. Right, because this girl doesn't know what being a doube means. It means you lend your body to someone else. So please don't try to get your 15 minutes and tell anyone what you did.
DreamySerenade 2 months ago
Well, I share the opinion that Lane should have gotten a more credit for her work. Natalie deserves the Oscar, just like any other nominee!
Ballet is all about keeping up a silhouette, showing off perfection is incredibly important.
Natalie put so much effort into her character, into dancing, into making everything vivid & so did anybody else INCLUDING Sarah Lane.
JanaStrmnns 2 months ago
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Okay, seriously. Any dancer knows that it is impossible to become truly skilled in the art form of dance in just a year of training. Thankfully, the directors of this film understood this and used visual effects to make up for what Natalie physically lacked. She still did an amazing job and I believe she deserves every bit of her Oscar that she won for her PERFORMANCE (NOT dancing ability) in Black Swan.
ooerme 2 months ago
Okay, seriously. Any dancer knows that it is impossible to become truly skilled in the art form of dance in just a year of training. Thankfully, the directors of this film understood this and used visual effects to make up for what Natalie physically lacked. She still did an amazing job and I believe she deserves every bit of her Oscar that she won for her PERFORMANCE (NOT dancing ability) in Black Swan.
ooerme 2 months ago
Stop your damn belly aching Sarah! You got paid didn't you?
HinajikuDumpling 3 months ago
Hilarious, Natalie Portman was awesome in the movie, I didnt watch the movie for the ballet nor did i remember any of the ballet steps lmfao.. As i was watching the first time i Knew those shots werent Natalie Duhhh its a movie..
JRN2222 3 months ago 2
She thanked everyone in OSCARS,makeup artist,stylist,cameramen,etc.W/ full names including those w/c are hard to pronounce.But she cant thank her double?W/ a very simple name,Sarah Lane?THat's odd.Esp.when Sarah gave life to her character.Atleast she couldve mentioned her stunt,even w/o the name.I dont get her dialogues either,its like shes mumbling.I cant understand her,esp.in"THe other Boleyn Girl".She speaks clearly in her early age with the film"Leon".But her natural speaking voice is clear.
TastySorrow 3 months ago
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TastySorrow 3 months ago
Like any stunt person, SL should have been credited for her work. NP should have come out straight with the facts, and the crew should have not tried to hide the stunt work. (effects..) SL may have known beforehand abut some things, ok, but she must have thought that she would have got more credit for her work. As for the acting... one can learn that in 2 months. You don't need 1.5 year to learn how to express oneself as a dancer. You've either got it in you or not. Correct close-ups helped lots
sylviekaja 3 months ago
@sylviekaja Right on the money. Camera and lighting very effective- I think the guys concerned got full credit unlike the deliberately-crafted attempt at the obliteration of the ballerinas' full and REAL contribution! Even the elegant arms during the creepy skin transformation weren't NP's, but SL's. So where else were SL's arms used on NP's torso, I ask? You or I could have been cast as the Lady in the lane - why a ballerina for THAT unless she had to triple pirouette down the lane?!!.
MrKLT1945 3 months ago
Very neat; looked for this just to see how it was done (good software).
Heh controversy: SL never believed she was anything more than a stunt double. All movies use others' expertise, be it a stunt double that makes it look like a 90lb actress is a martial artist who can leap on moving trains to battle 300lb men, or a screenwriter who writes the lines for an actor to play a brilliant doctor. Trust, the awards ppl do NOT believe an actor suddenly has a new career; they're judging his/her ACTING.
Tracey081 3 months ago
Natalie Portman should have brought her up on stage when she won.
yournightlight 3 months ago
IT WAS A MOVIE & THIS HAS BEEN DONE FOR DECADES! LOL THE DOUBLE IS TRASHING AN ACTRESS TO GET HER NAME OUT. THE ACTING MADE THE MOVIE. SAD...
pnpink248 4 months ago
People aren't getting it. Dance is something takes a lot of time and dedication to even become remotely good at it. You literally have to retrain your body to do something that it wasn't originally meant to do. That takes lots of time. So for someone to get poory credited for mastering something as brutal as dance, it hurts. Yeah NP did an incredible acting job, but let's be real. She's not a dancer. Put her in a real dance class. See how long she lasts then.
lifeirresponsibly 4 months ago
@lifeirresponsibly Of course she isn't a dancer, she never claimed to have turned into a ballerina overnight, that isn't possible, her body isn't used to the physically demanding work ballet dancers do, but in the short time she was given she did a really good job. I don't understand why people have go their tutu's in a twist over it. Lane must have been given a contract before she did the film, if she didn't agree with it why did she do the film?!
BalletBeauty88 4 months ago
@BalletBeauty88 The whole problem is NP is getting fake credit. SL isn't getting the correct credit. I do agree that the work NP did as far as the dancing go was pretty good considering the circumstances. But SL didn't sign up for having it look like NP turned into a professional dancer in a year. They told SL not to do any interviews until after the oscars because it would look bad for NP. oscar voters wouldn't have even voted for NP if they knew she didn't do all of the dancing.
lifeirresponsibly 4 months ago
@lifeirresponsibly as far as i'm aware the Oscars are for actresses/actors not for dancers. If the voters really throught Natalie had done all he dancing in the film, i.e the fouettes, then they really are stupid. Plus Natalie herself said in an interview that she had a dance double, infact she had 2 dance doubles, the other dance double hasn't said anything about a cover up, neither have any of the other pros that danced in this movie, everyone who worked on the film has defended Natalie.
BalletBeauty88 4 months ago
@BalletBeauty88 Well as far as I know, Sarah was the main dance double. The only credit she got in the film was "the lady in the lane" nothing about being a double. Yeah the oscars are for acting. But based upon what i've heard, Natalie only won the oscar because people thought she did most of the dancing, which isn't true. But this is just turning into another pointless SL vs NP argument. So agree to disagree.
lifeirresponsibly 4 months ago
Waist-up shots of stiff neck & arms aren't dancing, even if DA etc think they are, they are just posing, not excatly the most difficult thing to do! Still ppl don't understand that far too many white lies were told about NP's alleged training & abilities & to produce just posturing after a year is laughable. Are non-dancers aware of the massive strength & technique needed by the pro. to repeat the fouettes, for example during takeson set? NP should have admitted to being incapable & just acted!
MrKLT1945 4 months ago 2
Sarah Lane did the scenes when pointe work was needed, and those were very few scenes. The rest of the dancing scenes where from the waist up, so those, natalie danced it. And, the head of natalie was digitaly attached to Sarah Lane's body only to give cohesion, and to make the movie believable.
iamtheladyofsorrows 4 months ago
Sarah Lane can't nail fouettes en pointe while giving the performance of the year. It's obvious from the behind the scenes footage that NP learned what she needed to in a spectacularly short space of time. The sabotaging of this footage doesn't diminish her credibility as an actress, just a distribution company's intellectual credibility. Would you expect anything less from Fox? (And yes, I know I mean the entertainment division. Not that there's a difference.)
darrylglass5102 4 months ago
SL already a star with ABT and was entitled to get pissy after she was seriously misled - lied to - about her credit. The downright lies masquerading as hype and the studio wanting her to be quiet until after the Oscars says all you need to know about H'wood's attitude to any other performing art , esp. one which requires yrs of fulltime training like ballet.. We wouldn't be here if they had played it straight, but they just had to pretend NP is a ballet dancer after a yr!
MrKLT1945 5 months ago
@MrKLT1945 I'm sorry but if Lane felt wronged, she should have spoken up before for not being credited properly. I do ballet and if I were her I too would be pissed that I wasn't getting credit for something i'd done. But what has always made me suspect her story is that Lane only spoke after the Oscars. Why didn't she speak up as soon as she realised there was this "conspiracy." If I were in her position I would have hired a lawyer and demanded that I was properly credited.
BalletBeauty88 4 months ago
@BalletBeauty88 She was asked to keep her mouth shut so as not affect Oscar chances,that's why! I think some ppl know now how the studio, DA, NP et al were happy to connive with stupid overhype & lies to get that Oscar. Did SL feel humiliated by the crap (why the crap amateur prom vds, if not to make it appear NP mastered ballet?) Never trust anyone in Lala land should have been her first thought, but wasn't. American lawyers cost and us prof. ballet dancers certainly don't dance for the money!
MrKLT1945 4 months ago
@MrKLT1945 well she was abit stupid to "keep her mouth shut" doesn't she have a mind of her own, she could have said something. There were no "lies," even before award season was underway Natalie said that she had stunt doubles (yes Lane wasn't the only one!) I even read in a review that Natalie didn't do the complicated footwork, i.e the fouettes, the focus was more on her upper body. From a dancers standpoint I think she did a wonderful job, I liked her beautiful fluid arm work.
BalletBeauty88 4 months ago
@BalletBeauty88 Yes, SL should have ignored their order to keep quiet pre-Osacr. Ridiculous hype ( incl. even DA claiming HE knows what it takes to be a prima ballerina) became lies the moment NP used the very clever interview techniques of not finishing sentences thererby choosing to give so many fans the clear impression she actually ALMOST got to prima status (aged 28) in a year! We'll have to disagree on her arms - shoulders, elbows, chin, neck all stiff & wrong for classical ballet.......
MrKLT1945 4 months ago
@BalletBeauty88 .....con'td. None of the work that is ballet - Cambre, 'simple' or advanced pointe work, turnout et etc was NP. Even the first distance shot of the 'lift' in the BS grand entrance is not NP- and that didn't involve footwork. SL should be thanked for NOT spoiling the Oscar chance by having a hissy fit pre- Award ceremony which would have led to this debate before the judges made any decision. What if that had happened? Would Benning have won?
MrKLT1945 4 months ago
@MrKLT1945 So you are saying that Natalie trained for a year and did none of the ballet, that sounds ridiculous! Natalie would still have won the Oscar, Why? Because her ACTING was incredible, she acted her arse off and she was recognised for. Lane even said in an interview that she completely deserved the Oscar, she said she enjoyed working with her. Lane's issues have been with Darren Aronofsky and the crew, not with Natalie, she didn't edit the film.
BalletBeauty88 4 months ago
@BalletBeauty88 What I mean is that the 'moves' and posing NP did cannot be the result of a year's private and intensive training, nor is the very bad stuff on view in BS promo vds. NONE of it would have taken more than a couple of months even in an amateur adult class full of ungifted but enthusaistic amateurs. I have only ever written about the dumb ballet hype of which NP was a willing participant. Never commented on the acting.
MrKLT1945 4 months ago
I don't care if she had a double or not. There really is not a lot of full body dancing in the movie. Most are head shots. Sounds like Sarah is jealous that she was not the star. I could care less about the dance double. Doubles are used in many many movies, body doubles, stunt doubles etc... Get over it Sarah.
The3gooddogs 5 months ago
i wonder how natalie portman felt about having a dance double and having to hide it . also she did traning ballet but could never do all the things from the movie as hard as she trained all of her danceing is unrealistic
horwselover15 5 months ago
I have the itunes version and this is all shown in the extras.
ChelsScantland 5 months ago
Knowing the effects reel was doctored w/ Natalie's face on Sarah's body for promotional reasons ticks me off, not because it's Natalie Portman, but because of how underhanded movie companies get when Oscar season comes knocking. Knowing how much actually goes into getting that Oscar nom and not actually earning it makes me not want to watch the Awards ceremony anymore. This movie was pushed and pushed for the Oscars like you wouldn't imagine. (Not that it wasn't good or anything, but still...)
holbrooke7 5 months ago
Aronofsky could've gone the "Center Stage" route and used a real dancer as the lead actress but then the premise of a person that is mentally degenerating wouldn't simply not been very good/effective if the film didn't have an accomplished actress like Portman.
And when Lane called Aronofsky on that 90% did you folks REALLY expect Aronofsky to just own up that he "exaggerated"?
lukebccb 5 months ago
Of course it's just a marketing strategy, to say that Natalie did almost all the shots.
Not that I care. Great movie. Definitely worths it.
amandikaloka 5 months ago
I KNOW Natalie didn't do any of the pointe work, but for crying out loud, the dancers all KNEW that!! The girl, Lane is it?, knew her work in the movie was for a dance double before they even started filming. Quit griping about it after the fact. The movie is about the STORY, not who did the real fouettes...
1marycelt 5 months ago 41
@1marycelt Was SL told (and had it written into her contract) she would actually only be billed as stunt double etc? I doubt that any ballerina would have acquiesed to that! Bit more to ballet than 'stunts'. I think the studio played fast and loose with the truth with her. She knows now H'wood is full of shitty ppl.
MrKLT1945 5 months ago
@1marycelt Lane representing professional ballet dancers around the world... she is upset because the audience is mislead into thinking portman achieved a LIFETIME worth of work after just one year, when it's really impossible- and it does a disservice to REAL ballet dancers.
NinjaTree6 1 month ago
@NinjaTree6 one of the best perspectives I have seen, well said!
I suppose that is why they have Body Double guilds - to help "protect" the professional image on all sides of the illusion.
Wouldn't it be nice if everyone was just a little less "image conscious" in Hollywood?
Some fans do follow the stunties more than the actors, so it is unfair on all sides - really.
Deserve the Oscar? Yes! For the performance as actress.
Deserve credit for "attaining a skill by CGI & Proxy"? No not likely.
thespiritcoyote 1 month ago
Well, on a higher note, the visual effects team did a stunning job. Kudos to them!
LynnisaMystery 5 months ago
When you said "arm flapping" I stopped watching. Being a dancer, I know those little movements are the hardest. The smallest muscles are so important. This has nothing to do with the vid. Just don't call ballet "arm flapping" please.
Disneyballerina 5 months ago
good job on the vid. natalie portman should not have won the oscar if the judges were also considering her dancing regimen. you can tell in the "official" black swan dance scene that she is not a real professional ballerina, even though only her arms are shown. That part with her partner is quite awkward, and the movement is mostly due to the clever camera panning around her. It's true her swan arm poise is pretty creepy and graceful.
falalala125 5 months ago
Those who matter in the ballet world will not give a damn about BS. Promotion at any pro ballet company depends mostly on talent/suitability for certain roles, company style etc. Any debates on YT will have no input whatsoever. As for NP's acting - I'm not convinced it was worthy of an Oscar, but that's a different debate. Coming from the ballet world as I do I don't pretend to be an expert on film acting. I've seen a lot more films than NP fans have seen ballet but THEY are the ballet experts!
MrKLT1945 5 months ago
Natalie Portmans achievement for this movie is still incredible. Sarah Lane is a wonderful dancer and will surely get the attention she deserves in the ballet world. I don't think anyone will do her career a favor by going on about her participation in Black Swan. Natalie Portman deservedly got her Oscar for her dedication and her excellent acting in this movie. Anyone wanna count the percentage of closeups to her face?
gordongesatzki 6 months ago
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Does anyone know the title of this song please??????????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
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Does anyone know the title of this song please??????????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
Does anyone know the title of this song please??????????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
Welcome to the age of complete fraud. Your Oscars are awarded for fraud, the silver in your pocket change is clad base metal, FRAUD, your children are bombing camel jockeys out of existence instead of making their own way towards energy independence (FRAUD!), your bank owns you because of no doc loan FRAUD, the world on the edge of real bankruptcy because of real estate derivative FRAUD! Social Security funds stolen and given to banks and Wall Street-FRAUD.
Why is this any different?
Yourdeadmeat69 6 months ago
Oh, by the way, the visual effects in this film rule SO MUCH that they even deserved a nomination in themselves.
Augusto210 6 months ago
What passes for dancing from NP is just bad amateur stuff & does NOT take a yr to 'master'. No turnout, no ballet technique/physique at all, no muscle tone, stiff torso & neck, jerky arms moved from stiff shoulder girdle, totally unballetic sickle feet and a few poorly done turns in baby shoes do not a ballet dancer make, nor the 'appearance' of one. Dramatic weightloss, cgi, hype & lots of clever camera work keeps ppl ignorant. Why else try to keep SL quiet? From a retired RB dancer & teacher
MrKLT1945 6 months ago
I can see what you're trying to point out in this video that Sarah Lane did the full body shots of dancing, and yes I give her credit for that as ballet is such a complex dance to master, but you got to remember that you don't just dance through your feet, you also express it through your hands, arms, hips and face. You look at other dance movies, you will see that there are above-the-waist shots in there too, there's a reason for that. Remember, dancing is not just expressed through your feet.
3223amazinga 6 months ago
@3223amazinga but Portman's arms and above-the-waist shots were awful as well
cabinthewoods90 6 months ago
@cabinthewoods90 no they werent they are actually not that bad. why are you trying so hard to discredit her. do u have something against her? jealous maybe ;)? not as good a dancer a she is. maybe u just suck at dancing is that it?
DaKurlz1 6 months ago 6
@DaKurlz1 well of course, if I think she did a bad job then I must be jealous, because there's no way people can have different tastes and opinions, right? of course not, if marketing says she is Svetlana Zakharova combined with Mery Streep, you all believe it. Anyway, believe what you like and what makes you happy.
cabinthewoods90 6 months ago
@cabinthewoods90 Any jealousy felt must reside with NP - her ego dictated that as she did some low-level kids' dance classes for a while then as a H'wood film star knocking on 30, playing ballerina catch-up would have been a walk in the park! Reality of it must have been quite a shock to her et al. But all fans who believe NP/DA 's half-witted claims re. her 'ballet' must, logically, know ALL about ballet technique and training! Ignorance is not only bliss, it's always right - esp for NP fans.
MrKLT1945 6 months ago
@MrKLT1945 totally agree, the whole thing was a big fat lie and fans seem to have been brainwashed. But that's what being a fan is, I guess, being a fanatic, as the word says.
cabinthewoods90 6 months ago
@cabinthewoods90 Yes. It shows how easy it is for any organisation/group/individual to fool a lot of the ppl all of the time. Worrying how easy it is to manipulate ppl, (some of who must be adults) who would no doubt feel deeply insulted if anyone actually said 'You are a brainless idiot & you will believe all I say as true. You will have no knowledge but that which I choose to give you & you must destroy all non-believers'. Fortunately for us the method of destruction is just childish insults.
MrKLT1945 6 months ago
@cabinthewoods90 Well I heard that the full body shots that Sarah did was pretty rubbish too, so...? Anyway, that's not my point!
3223amazinga 6 months ago
@3223amazinga where did you hear that? people can say anything, but it doesn't mean it's true. She looked beautiful to me, she's not Margot Fonteyn but still beautiful.
cabinthewoods90 6 months ago
@cabinthewoods90 Well I thought they were captivating and creepy but in a beautiful way, which represents this movie very well
3223amazinga 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
DRAK800 - can you please tell us the title of this song or who its by????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
DRAK800 - can you please tell us the title of this song or who its by????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
DRAK800 - can you please tell us the title of this song or who its by????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
DRAK800 - can you please tell us the title of this song or who its by????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
it's obvious natalie portman didn't do the dance scenes, it's obvious they had to use professional dancers, who the fuck cares?
this is one of the most passionate movies i've ever seen, and her acting is just raw, out of the heart, pure emotion.
what were they supposed to do anyway? leave sarah lane's face in the movie?
this is idiotic
manuelsanrio 6 months ago
@manuelsanrio ur comment is very ignorant and stupid considering that natalie portman did more dancing than sarah lane.
DaKurlz1 6 months ago
I hate this film, and seeing this just makes me hate it even more.
CoiledRose 6 months ago
Does anyone know the title of this song or who is it by????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
@anitastevensmakeuptv Apologies - meant to respond generally, not to you in particular, pointing out no-one can look like a ballerina (i.e. a pro dancer) unless the punishingly hard training has been undertaken - assuming the natural gifts of physique & talent are there! I too would love to know the title of background music.
Can drake800 help?
MrKLT1945 6 months ago
Does anyone know the title of this song please????????????????
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
@anitastevensmakeuptv We R not mad at use of a double (stunt double as SL was credited!) but at all the pre-Oscar lies & misinformation/superhype which made it clear that as far as H'wood/NP/DA were concerned actors CAN get up to ballerina standard in a flash, and at an advanced (almost 30!) age. Add on all the foul rubbish from ballet-ignorant worshippers of H'wood & film stars aimed at ballet fans & ppl who danced prof. but who know NP cannot dance ... no wonder ballet lovers R pissed-off.
MrKLT1945 6 months ago
@MrKLT1945 I didn't said anything about black swan or natalies dancing.... I just wanted to know what is the title of the song and who is it by, as I love it and would like to download it!
PS: Being a NP fan myself, of course I know she can't dance like that - but she had to undergo the intensive ballet training if she's going to play the role of a professional ballerina dancer - I mean she has to look the part AT LEAST regardless of the dancing!! Now, does anyone know who this song is by???
anitastevensmakeuptv 6 months ago
OK, an actor cannot just learn how to do ballet like that! Don't get mad at someone for using a double! Ballerinas train for YEARS, sometimes DECADES before they are "good", and expecting someone who's main talent isn't dancing to learn that in such a short period of time is just stupid.
TheEpicBudgie 6 months ago
Why do people even really care. She's an actor. She acts. Shes good at acting. So what if she can't dance. She's not a dancer. I think its wrong for them to claim she did most of it if she really didn't but oh well, welcome to Hollywood.
rockfilmers 6 months ago 2
I need the title of the song!!!!!!
ShuKieCortez 6 months ago
Can u place tell me what music u used for this video, I loved it!!!!
Iambexijay 7 months ago
The cleverly orchestratred pre-Oscar hype & interviews manipulated many ppl into believing wildly extravagant claims from ALL concerned with BS re NP's 'ballet' and was designed to maximise Oscar chances, so for them the ballet WAS important. We had NP's crap dancing, crap choreography & our intelligence insulted (even DA saying he knows what makes a prima ballerina!) wiith NP/DA's lying by omission - a neat trick employed often by politicians. Publicity is one thing, but this beats all.
MrKLT1945 7 months ago 2
People are so stupid. If they actually believed that Natalie, even though she said they used a double. And that scene is not a deleted scene, it was put in the behind the scenes of the movie. Everybody knew, and Portman never said otherwise, that for pointe she was not really dancing, but it was somebody else. She never claimed to be a ballet dancer, and she won her Oscar for acting so well. In this movie ballet is secondary, and everybody makes it's so important they miss the real point of it.
akissy 7 months ago
I also heard that many 'real' ballet dancers scoff at the dancing in this movie. So if it's not that good, why all the fuss. Fact is Natalie got her Oscar for her acting, not her dancing. If people would get Oscars for that the dancers in Step up 2 would all have one.
maverick494 7 months ago 24
Sure enough, they should've been open and honest about it from the beginning, putting Sarah Lane in the credits and keeping the visual effects reel the way it originally was. That said, the way Sarah Lane handled this whole thing was less than graceful. They should have hired a dancer who isn't so bitter.
maverick494 7 months ago
this is a very common practice in film making. the same thing was done for the film "flash dance", "footloose", so on and so forth. the opening scene in "pretty women" is a body double.
benarddor 7 months ago
In the 1940s "they" had no choice but to have to go and get a Moira Shearer but with the "photoshopping" available to a 7 year-old the Moira Shearers and Sarah Lanes are nothing more than parts for the "INDUSTRY".......
lukebccb 7 months ago
Since the 1910s, filmmaking has involved "ilusion" and the BIG winners were ALWAYS the actors while the HUGE BEHIND THE CAMERA "crew" was given their "guaranteed" payment..... while the actors went on to become gatrilloinaires........
So why do you think "Black Swan" would be any different?
lukebccb 7 months ago
The "average" movie viewer is not aware that a scene can be made involving two - OR MORE - persons where those persons appear to be "interacting"...... where in FACT that whole "scene" could've had each of those persons being filmed in differnet CONTINENTS..... the difference is *EDITING* each "take" can be put together to make IT APPEAR they're "in the same scene".......
lukebccb 7 months ago
I understand the complaints of Sarah Lane and perhaps Aronofsky could've done a "and a special thanks to Sarah Lane for her work"....... but the HUGE average movie viewing audience simply doesn't understand the movie *INDUSTRY*.......
The problem is that the movie audience masses don't have a clue of movie making and that it literally is all about "illusion" that the stage only can dream about...... perhaps "movie making 101" should be mandatory in grade school....
(cont.)
lukebccb 7 months ago
It is extremely frusterating to see how fake Hollywood has become. Sarah Lane should have gotten the credit and recognition she deserves. She is standing up for ballet, something that she has been perfecting ever since she was four. It takes years to become as good as Sarah was, as demonstrated in the movie, not a year. Sure, Natalie Portman danced as a child, but that's nowhere near the amount that Sarah has danced. If Hollywood had just left this video alone, they could have avoided this chaos
crushesonlycrushyou 7 months ago
@crushesonlycrushyou if they left the video alone there would be no point in hiring Natalie, and i can not see sarah doing the rest of this movie, people go see the movie because of natalie portman not sarah lane
Anaf326 6 months ago
Her 5% or 10 % participation on the movie she agreed to do this part without tending to be famous or get any credit...NOW SHE IS YELLING EVERYONE OVER STEP NATALIE....GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE Sarah!!! stop hanging on her win,freaky jelous!
nakatsu2008 7 months ago
@drak800 whats the name of the music playing in this video.. please?
jay8950 8 months ago
This is a stupid video. It's as if Hollywood hasn't been fooling you for years and you're just discovering how Hollywood magic works.
im3ngs 8 months ago
also, if you watch more of the featurettes, you see natalie dancing in regular soft ballet slippers not pointe. meaning to say that it's plausible she danced most of the movie herself, with sarah lane's pointe works and fouettes etc being used.
xsexyminxyx 8 months ago
@xsexyminxyx One can see nothing but low-grade amateur stuff inc; a couple of waltz steps(!), no turnout, no flexibilty, sickle etc from NP in featurettes & in BS. Adult beginners do just as well after a few months with no 'intensive training from an expensive 'teacher', who I wouldn't employ'. NOT a testament to NP & teacher. All & any real ballet (NOT posing & flapping) was done by pros, which would not be a problem but for the near-lunatic claims by DA/NP/BM/Studio at different times.
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
I think you should all just stop criticizing her. I am a ballet dancer and I know how hard it is dancing ballet, i know how much effort, strength and flexibility is needed to be able to progress and pointe is a very hard thing to master. Sure, Natalie Portman may not have dance half those scenes, but I doubt she learned nothing in those 6 months of intensive training. She was picked for this role as an ACTRESS, not a dancer. So calm down.
xsexyminxyx 8 months ago 3
did NP danced on pointes?
olirs55 8 months ago
@olirs55 CGI can make ANYONE do ANYTHING! Dance en pointe?! Ha! No doubt she tried, like the Ugly Sisters tried in Cinderella. In BS the Fairy Godmother was cgi guy. What next? Perhaps the traumatic abuse suffered by some gymnasts on their way to Olympic gold would make a great schlock-horror mysogonistic movie for an arrogant, pseudo-intellectual director and a self-important late 20's actress who could not cut the gymnastic mustard but would still claim otherwise in the run-up to Oscars!.
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
Nothing controversial at all lol they used this same method for Cate Blanchett in Curious Case of Benjamin Button about 2 years ago.
openEYEstudios 8 months ago
Comment removed
sseag123 8 months ago
C'mon now. Everyone who are ballet dancers, fanatics or balletomane KNOWs she was doubled. I could tell from the first time that I saw the promo picture. When the controversy broke I was like "Duh...she was doubled!!!" No one can do a 32 fouettés in a year in a half of ballet training. My problem with this was she was promoted like she did 90% of the dancing and only the pointe shots were made by her double. I'm glad that Sarah Lane spoke out. The same thing happened for the costumes. Fake promo
sweetaliena 8 months ago
@sweetaliena This ex-ballet dancer hopes you are not now subjected to the lunatic vitriol some of us have experienced following your post which does NOT acknowledge the greatness of NP's alleged dancing! For many, there is no truth but Hollywood's. LOL
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
@MrKLT1945 I'm good for now. But I'll be prepared when they come. LOL
sweetaliena 8 months ago
@sweetaliena I didn't know she was doubled. That's because for all I knew, Natalie was an experienced ballet dancer (which can mean so many things, but for these purposes, she knew enough to do the movie). This reel totally opened my eyes. I don't see why they'd lie, though. And then defend that lie. That's the issue here.
RLviddy 7 months ago
@RLviddy I don't blame you. It was the purpose of the movie, to make the audience believe that she was an accomplish ballerina. But they lied about her dancing while promoting the movie in order to push her "candidacy" for the Oscars and it worked. If we knew then what we know now, she wouldn't won that Oscar.
sweetaliena 7 months ago
@sweetaliena In Britain some months back RB dancers were invited to watch BS (minus credits) without being told Lane & Prosa were involved at all. They were impressed with NP's alleged pointework, which they were led to believe was ALL Portman and no-one BUT Portman throughout the entire film (but damned her use of arms). How's that for desperate, lying hype?
MrKLT1945 7 months ago
There are people who actually think natalie portman did all the dancing in the film? Laughable! XD
ravegods 8 months ago
@ravegods Quite right, it is amazing! - and you diasagree with them (film/NP fans) at your peril. Not having worked in a ballet company & not trained to a professional level in ballet doesn't stop any of them from being experts on ballet and spouting received wisdom, usually mixed with bile when all else fails 'cos that's all they know. It's their equivalent of shouting, and he who shouts loudest MUST be right, of course. Possibly some of them work for the studio/DA?
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
@MrKLT1945 I suppose it's just ignorance at its finest. I am a ballet dancer myself, and I can assure anyone that the skill and strength required to do it well (especially pointework) is unfortunately not something that can be rushed. It is very painstakingly and patiently earned bit by bit over a very long span of time. There are of course the occasional very gifted individuals (ex. Patricia Zhou) but this is rare at best. Fouettes en pointe in 18 months = LOL
ravegods 8 months ago 22
@ravegods Fully agree with you. I was only ever good enough to be in corps but was happy to be able to work in my chosen profession and be onstage with great dancers including Nureyev - yes I'm that old! We can't all be Darcey Bussell. Some ignorant ppl possibly assume that physical expertise (so easily acquired in a flash if you are an actress!) is all there to it and you are a failure if you are not 'famous'.
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
@ravegods ignorance moves the world, unfortunately
cabinthewoods90 6 months ago
NP did recreational (i.e. low standard, no pressure) AMATEUR classes for a while like millions of girls do. Her talent lay in acting, so she sensibly switched. Not sure if ppl have condemned her acting simply 'cos her own ballet offerings in BS were so bad. A year of private lessons aged almost 30 does not do it! It is impossibel & all she shows after a year is rank amateur stuff that can, as said before, be done by any amateur after a few months, without the benefit of costly private tuition.
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
natalie portman had danced ballet as a child and teenager and she had done a year of intense practice sessions. Sure she had a double but the double is a double, like a stunt man is a stuntman. they don't act, all they do is dance (or hurt themselves). I don't think there is any reason to say that Portman's acting is illegitimate just because of a double. Lane did a great job dancing, ok. buy she's just trying to feed some ego she has. Artist cares about the art, not the credit.
adventerer 8 months ago
@adventerer Millions of girls take dance lessons as kids. It's nothing, just like taking piano lessons as a child wouldn't enable you to learn to do it as a professional later on. Those who become professional ballet dancers do continuous training for several hours a day on most days since a very early age, and they never stop. Sarah Lane cares that someone claims that it's possible to learn to dance like a professional (and a soloist in a top ballet company in the US) in 18 months.
jewelmarkess 8 months ago
Comment removed
ArroyoSebastian 8 months ago
@ArroyoSebastian Hate is a strong emotion. You are so obsessed about a movie star that you are willing to hate someone who's not hurt you personally? In reality neither Sarah Lane nor Natalie Portman care about you at all. Also, Sarah Lane hasn't told anything about what you supposed to think when you watch the movie. The only reason Sarah Lane spoke up is because the producers claimed NP did most of her dancing. This was a deliberate lie and an insult to the art of ballet.
jewelmarkess 8 months ago
No cgi of Prosa's feet, eh? NP can dance 'en pointe' but can't even walk onstage in pointe shoes?! Yeah, right.. Presumably she sat down, put pointe shos on, went straight up en pointe from seated onto the set, then reversed the process (not being able to master walking in pointes) after 'dancing' - possibly after the first take, as repeated takes would mean involve great strength in ballet-developed feet, legs & torso, a balletic which NP clearly does not have.
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
i did not care about the dace, i cared about the story and Ninas terror and fear.
herogna 8 months ago
poor sarah lane u.u somebody ripped her off bad. NOT!
robbiedruko 8 months ago
Why does is matter? Natalie was amazing in Black Swan. If you watch the opening scene, Natalie dances the entire thing and leaves en pointe. Of course she didn't do all of the dancing and the studio shouldn't have covered up Lane's contribution to the film, but what Lane did was based entirely on petty revenge. If anyone is in the wrong here, its Lane. She could have revealed this info much more professionally and gotten people on her side but instead she chose to do it out of spite.
turkeyandbagels 8 months ago
@turkeyandbagels There was also Prosa whose footwork was used for some of the other scenes. Also, it's not the issue of petty revenge. Any professional who's spent years mastering his or her craft would be upset if someone claimed that an actor learned the same thing in 18 months. Ballet is one of the most difficult things there is, it requries continues serious training from a very early age, sacrifice and pain. To claim that one can learn it in 18 months is insulting to the art.
jewelmarkess 8 months ago
@jewelmarkess Yes, and that is something some fans cannot/won't understand! BM spent 10 years training, but his getting-on-in years-beloved took less under 2 years to get to grips with it! Why do NP fans refrain form asking just WHY why pro.ballet dancers training takes so damn long but an actor takes no time at all! Alas, logic & truth not a strong point for H'wood and many film fans when it comes to another art form! Message clear - want 2 B a ballerina? Be a film star first.
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
@MrKLT1945 Mother told me that back in post war St Petersburg (then Leningrad), Vaganova students were getting worker's rations because the government felt they were working as hard as factory workers doing hard physical labor. My mother was accepted even though she was one year older than their normal age, but after the war they couldn't find enough suitable kids. Her father wouldn't let her do it, one of the reason was that he thought it's too hard. She wouldn't that great anyway.
jewelmarkess 8 months ago
@jewelmarkess Amazing to have that as part of yr family background! A good friend, a university head of sport before retiring, once spent a month in Moscow & Leningrad. Her counterpart took her to both ballet academies 2 C, as the Russian put it, 'Children with perfect ballet physiques undergoing training much more demanding than any sportsman can imagine'. My friend, until then, had assumed ballet was easy, because ballet dancers must never show any effort as it is art, not sport.
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
@MrKLT1945 It's not that exciting - it was my mom not me, and she ended up becoming an engineer; she said she was grateful to her father because she didn't think ballet was for her. I was right after the war and they looked at older kids because they had trouble finding suitable kids then. Given how her body developed after puberty, she was probably right. I knew it was hard but didn't appreciate how hard until I watched some programs about ballet training.
jewelmarkess 8 months ago
The DVD contains extra footage "the metamorphosis of the Black Swan" and Sarah Lane and the face change IS included. Doesn't seem like the filmmakers are trying to hide anything...
el8am 8 months ago
Think logical.. they should know that NP can't dance like that.. omg.. lame.. fighting for pointless reason. Honestly there's not much REAL dance scenes in the movie. I as a dancer was disappointed when I watched Black Swan, thought it will have lotsa proper dance shots in it, most of the shots was just from the upper back onwards. NP is a good actress, the way she plays both characters and also manage to pull off the ballet look.
jumitsuhana 8 months ago
Geoffrey Rush was his own hand double in the movie Shine. He took up piano lessons that he had stopped at 14 to prepare for scenes where filming David's (Rush) hands at the piano were needed. But we didn't HEAR Geoffrey Rush PLAYING THE PIANO!!! He simply mimed the movements. If he were to actually play the Rach 3 it would have been a disaster of a movie. Rush got an Oscar for Best Actor. He was brilliant. Natalie Portman was brilliant in Black Swan.
trumpetier17 9 months ago
It's funny how people complain about Natalie Portman's dancing not being a good in the movie. I guess they are criticizing a professional dancer then.
ic33penguin 9 months ago 2
@ic33penguin No, those who know ballet criticise NP's contribution which is bad & amateurish as 2 B laughable. Also, most of us have not passd criticism on the acting, yet still R villified for daring 2 voice an opinion based on knowledge acquired - in my case, by years & years of full-time ballet training followed by by a career in dance, then re-training as a teacher! Somehow that is elitist & therefore wrong. R Oscar winners members of the film elite? All praise to CGI technicians
MrKLT1945 9 months ago
Had NP stuck to acting only with the occasional pose (in the wings and so on) & not tried to con ppl into believing (at her age!) she became almost a real prima ballerina in a blink of an eye despite the evidence of her pathetic, thoroughly bad amateur offerings allied to the ridiculous, almost lunatic claims by those with a vested interest, then the furore would never have kicked in.
But then the Oscar might have gone elsewhere........
MrKLT1945 9 months ago
The bottom line is Natalie Portman is an actress not a ballerina! People need to get that through their heads!
rayrayq93 9 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
SARAH LANE is a soloist from the American Ballet Theatre,
Filmakers used digital effects to put Natalie Portman's face on SARAL LANE's body.She has gone on record stating she "did 95% of the dancing."Furthermore, she claims that the studio covered it up to make Portman's performance seem more impressive.
BRAVO SARAH LANE!!
.
Giavannanow 9 months ago
Comment removed
Giavannanow 9 months ago
atleast she does the 5% full body shots, rather than edited it all with sarah's body and natalie's face... To be a professional dancer takes a lot of time in the case of ballet i say "you start as a kid and continue it upto 20's something THEN your a professional ballerina".... I'm not against Natalie nor Sarah, all i'm against is those who COUNTS who does who to think everybody plays their part on this FILM, and Natalie deserves the award 'coz ACTING means people are convince of wat u did.
JohnGreeko 9 months ago
i believe 80 percent dance shots is Natalie Portman (movie)))
20 percent full body shots is Sarah Lane (dancer)
HideKoYuky 9 months ago
the public is so naiive to believe that natalie could dance actual ballet
helloanniegirl 9 months ago 43
@helloanniegirl what are you talking about . this video just proved that most of the dancing was done by natalie portman. you can never ask anything from a dance double because they will just say it was all them because they are looking for the attenion and the credit and fame. didnt u see when they asked her she said (oh it was all me).....why didnt the producers say that from the begining.(oh they were trying to keep me quiet im the true dancer besides natalie only did 5%) LIES SARAH LANE LIED
DaKurlz1 6 months ago
Why do some ppl post this 'jealous' thing? It makes NO SENSE, unless those who are not praising NP's every move are actually actresses who audiitoned for the role and were turned down! Then there is possibility the green-eyed monster is posting. Other than that, ex-dancers & teachers ((in my case, very old too!) & anyone interested in films can criticise - it's called free speech, at least in my country. I was only corps member behind the likes of Georgina Parkinson, btw.
MrKLT1945 9 months ago
Well, that's what happens when you don't read the contract.. When I saw PARTS of this low budget film, the first thing that came to my head was.. there is no way in HELL that Natalie Portman is the one dancing... Even if she had a year or 2 of training.. It takes a life time to dance like that.. And to Sarah Lane well it happens.. But you are the real star of this film... Keep ur head up..:-)
DANCE DOUBLE: SARAH LANE
fauxhawkmullet 9 months ago
jealousy. that's all. i think that Nataile Portam did an EXCELENT JOB.
marciia13 9 months ago
It's also insulting to the team that did the head replacement. That couldn't have been easy.
TheBookfan 9 months ago
and secondly yes everyone deserves credit i see where your coming from... but we can't say anything unless we were really there. but one positive thing... it was a nice video break down.
tbbumblebi 9 months ago
So let me say something that has bothered the hell out of me.
Why is everyone trying to sabotage natalie portman etc. in her dancing?
look there are videos on Youtube with her dance trainer about her vigorous hours of dance training for this video. sure perhaps only they will know which dances she needed help in but she learned most of those dances. and yes every movie has editing... for example you can't just leave a camera man there in the scenes ... what do you expect.
tbbumblebi 9 months ago
Finally... I have no idea where you've gotten your info (besides the shot counts that you from news stories), but you know very very little about this, considering how much of your time you've given to this. If you knew the facts, you'd be surprised. Some entities have taken the high road and in doing so, prevented you and others from embarrassment.
vfxvfxvfx1 9 months ago
Newsflash...The Director. Producer. Studio. No one owes you anything. Does Sarah deserve the respect? Sure. However, all those decision makers can do whatever they want, whenever they want... and however they want. If you don't like it, simply don't choose to be part of it. And if you are part of it, make sure you are clear what is important to you as far as recognition. Ms Lane has representation... she is just as guilty for not ensuring they take care of her.
vfxvfxvfx1 9 months ago
@vfxvfxvfx1 I think SL definitely an ingenue in H'wood. She either either assumed she would be credited as 'dance double' or didn't ask the right questions, which as we all know left the door wide open for ppl to play fast & loose with their version of truth. Had she asked 'Will I be fully credited as dance double?' & reply was 'NO, hand double ' etc she could have made a pre-emptive strike; but then this furore would not have happened! Now if the contract actually stated 'Dance Double'.......!
MrKLT1945 9 months ago
Sallygo (or whoever you are... Sarah herself, the editor of that dance magazine, whoever...)
You clearly state it at the end of your piece... Sarah sees as one way, and Darren sees it as another. Wow... thats genius. You just unlocked the equivalent of The Da Vinci Code. Differing people have differing opinions.
Could Sarah been credited differently? Perhaps. But your continuance in posting and commenting says you think Sarah should have gotten equal billing...
vfxvfxvfx1 9 months ago
sallygo1234 I appreciate totally the points you are making. So many ppl work with 'Received Wisdom' and anyone wanting to use obvious facts/truth instead has to be shouted down, often with abuse. The "Eat horse-shit, 10 million flies cant be wrong" mentality all to prevalent in many areas of life, unfortunately.
MrKLT1945 10 months ago
@MrKLT1945 Hey thanks for the supportive comments :)
If critical thinking ever became fashionable civilization would undoubtedly collapse overnight....
..... the misconceptions are the only thing holding it all together!
(Hmmmmm tasty cowpats!)
sallygo1234 10 months ago
@sallygo1234 No problem! Another thing that intrigues me is that ppl on the Osacr awarding panel are apparently allowed to use THEIR critical faculties to decide winners but knowledgeable film fans are supposed to check theirs in at the box-office & tow the party line. And they say communism is dead! The Tnought Police are out there & hell hath no fury like a film fanatic (for whom H'wood is God) who senses non-believers are still alive and kicking!
MrKLT1945 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@Jewelmarkess I AM a professional performer, and honestly I would not be bothered if I had signed on to be a double and the actor claimed to do the art I did. A double is not supposed to take the credit but make the actor look good and take the paycheck! If I wanted to be recognized I would not be a double on a film. And I know how long it took me to master my art and what is involved. I would not care at all if people thought you could become an overnight sensation--not possible.
luceroblanco 10 months ago
Comment removed
luceroblanco 10 months ago
Bottom line: Nobody can learn to be a ballerina of the calibre portrayed by Portman in this film. Therefore, Portman did not do all that much of the actual dancing.
arpeggio1358 10 months ago
Classical ballet techniques can't be learned & stored in 'muscle memory' nor 'line' & body developed in the very short time span allowed to NP, despite attempts by devoted fans to claim otherwise. The lack of basic technique in the film is glaringly obvious & could so easily have been avoided if they hadn't gone down the 'She can dance just like a ballerina' road and just stuck to close-ups in ballet gear. NP could have carried the film by acting + ballerina 'Mannerisms,' yes or no?
MrKLT1945 10 months ago
the Oscar was for acting not dancing so ... ^^
AnDr35V3gA 10 months ago
Sarah Lane, you applied for a job as DOUBLE, not movie star. You're a ballerina, not an actress. I don't understand what's the fuss all about: your job was to dance and Natalie's was to act. Simple, isn't it?
ultimomelao 10 months ago
@ultimomelao I heard she didn't apply for the job, but was approached. The fuss as I understand it based on Sarah's interview is they mislead the viewers about the amount of dancing Natalie did. Also, that they are insulting all the ballet dancers by claiming one can learn to dance like a professional ballerina in a year an a half, when it's impossible to even learn to do a simple move like one. (My understanding of the issue - I am not a ballerina, just like ballet).
jewelmarkess 10 months ago 9
@jewelmarkess Quite right! Insulting to ballet/dancers to say the least. We all know film stars can be made in a flash (looks, for young females, more important than talent!) but ballerinas have to have 8 yrs + full-time training even if they are Helen of Troy! Looks, lighting, costumes alone will not make anyone a ballerina. Possibly some film fans trust H'wood just a tad too much?
MrKLT1945 8 months ago
@MrKLT1945 Never underestimate the stupidity of general public. I read somewhere that some people even called the Royal Opera asking when they are going to hire NP to dance the Black Swan. Not sure if it's true... could have been a joke.
jewelmarkess 8 months ago
@jewelmarkess No, it was NOT a joke! There is now another actress to add to the list of dumb, arrogant actors who can master another art form requiring, in the real world, years of training & talent. She is playing Velda to Winslet's Mildred Pierce in the remake of thE Joan Crawford pot-boiler. This young actress tells us she MASTERED the piano in a 'FEW MONTHS' for the role. Message clear:- actors find ballet & music a walk in the park they are so gifted, unlike pro ballerinas & musicians.
MrKLT1945 8 months ago