An interesting aspect of Black Swan's production design is Thomas Leroy’s (Vincent Cassel’s character) adaptation of the Swan Lake ballet. As Leroy says in the beginning of the film, they really strip it down.

Swan Lake productions are generally very lush, filled with bystanding (and ultimately useless) characters and overflowingly rich scenarios. But production designer Therese Deprez sheds everything superflous and distracting, recreating the iconic ballet in geometric shapes and light.

Coupled with the film's generally monochromatic color palette and its crucial meaning to the story development, the production design makes a captivating minimalist statement.