Comparison and Relation Essay

Let the right one compared to Within Temptation - Hand of Sorrow

Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal/rock band founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerhol. Their music is described by many as symphonic metal and Gothic metal

I have decided to compare the song 'Hand of Sorrow' with the play 'Let the right one in' as I believe there is a good relation between the two. The song 'Hand of Sorrow' is about a man who without a name that both swore love and also sworn allegiance to some higher hierarchical figure, possibly a king and had only the orders to kill without mercy. As a result the man is tortured by his honor and his love, he could not choose between both because he was denied it by the hand of fate. The man regrets what he has done but cannot go back to undo what he has done. The lyrics themselves hold different meanings and interpretations which can be seen in many ways. I believe the main meaning is that a person cannot have both but most always come to a point where he or she must choose between two paths. The relation of the song to the play is the fact that Oskar must choose between his life or Eli; Oskar is in love with Eli but at the same he knows that Eli is a vampire that kills people in order to live and this makes him reconsider his feelings for her and also makes him reconsider what she truly is - he doesn't know if she is even a bit human or a complete monster. The song closely relates to the play as at the beginning it says 'The child without a name grew up to be the hand'. This relates to Eli being a vampire as initially she was not a vampire to begin with but was turned into one and as a result she has had to come to terms with it and grow up. The part that says 'without a name' could possibly relate to Eli having a different name from when she was born as in the play she mentions that her name was short for Elias and the fact that Oskar is confused because the name would be commonly associated with the male gender - It makes a person consider if Eli is probably secretly a boy at birth but changed his or her's identity because of her being a vampire. The 'hand' is the hand of sorrow which I believe would relate to Eli as she is causing sorrow for any person she meets - she makes Hakan continuously kill for her and since Hakan complies with this we can understand that he has given up on his humanity as humanity would mean that he feels pain for what he does. It is unknown if Eli has been with many men like Hakan and has caused them sorrow too by making them give up their life. The line that says 'kill on demand' I believe relates to Eli because as Eli is a vampire, she has all the characteristics of a vampire including the urge to drink blood therefore she has to 'kill on demand', the 'demand' bit refers to her urge meaning that when she has the urge to kill, it means that her body is demanding blood and as a result she has to kill in order to obtain the blood needed, this is exemplified by when she kills Jocke while he was carrying her because she was in need of blood in act 1 scene 11.
The main part which I believe relates to Oskar is the part in the song where the vocalist Sharon Den Adel says 'He's torn between his honor and the true love of his life. He prayed for both but was denied'. Oskar, which within the play is exemplified by the different scenes in which they spend time together and by the kiss, is in love with Eli and would do anything for her however as seen in act 2 scene 4 and his conversation in Act 2 Scene 7 , Oskar becomes somewhat fearful of Eli as he finds out she is a vampire and has to think about what will happen to him and his mum and everyone else (If they will be killed as well by Eli). The honor is Oskar's life like his school, family, friends and so on. Anybody in Oskar's situation would be torn apart by the decision that has to be made. If Oskar was to choose Eli he will not be able to live a normal life meaning he gives up his honor and if he chooses his honor he will not be able to be with Eli and will have to completely separate from her. Ultimately, he does choose Eli in the end. The part in the song that says 'He prayed for both but was denied' relates to Oskar wanting to be with Eli and live a normal life but cannot because she is a vampire, Oskar would probably have to become the new Hakan meaning that he would have to kill people in order to ensure Eli's survival, he is denied from having both by the hand of fate (The hand that determines a person's outcomes and events - fate caused Oskar to choose between either Eli or his own normal life, fate makes it impossible for him to have both). In the song it says 'The curse of his power tormented his life' I believe this relates to Eli as being a vampire can be closely similar to being cursed as being cursed means you can't escape what has been placed on you, Eli cannot escape her vampire characteristics like the urge to drink blood and kill people, the curse of being doomed to die if she steps in sunlight and the fact that she cannot go inside a building without being invited in first - this to me seems like a curse as she can't escape what she is.
Finally, the last verses -
'Please forgive me for the sorrow, for leaving you in fear
For the dreams we had to silence, that's all they'll ever be
Still I'll be the hand that serves you
Though you'll not see that it is me'
The final verse I believe can in the point of Eli and Hakan seem like Eli asking Hakan for forgiveness for what she has made him to do, she has made him kill so many times that Hakan cannot redeem his humanity in the face of God. The 'please forgive me for the sorrow, for leaving you in fear' relates to when Eli becomes more closer with Oskar than Hakan and Hakan becomes repeatedly fearful of losing her since he knows that he cannot fulfill her needs anymore. (He has been caught by the police and therefore he won't be able to kill inconspicuously anymore which means he won't be able to get blood for Eli)
Overall, The song is essentially and entirely about sorrow and having to choose between two very important and needed pathways even if both paths lead to a path of misery and sadness, Oskar has to choose between Eli and his own life (honor), in the play he picks Eli, which is seen to happen in act 2 scene 18 where they are both on the train traveling away so that they can be together again. To Oskar this may seem as a joyous thing however we, the audience, saw what happened to Hakan, he died at the hands of Eli , this makes us think what if Eli does the exact same thing to Oskar when he grows old and is not needed by her anymore, he would have to live a life of killing and misery because of his love for Eli and in the end be disposed of. This just reiterates the fact that Eli is (In relation to the song) the 'hand of sorrow'.
Steve Bodumde

Rehearsal update 25/11/14 - 28/11/14

On Tuesday we set up the climbing frame which Oskar and Eli use within most of the scenes, the presence of the climbing frame helps us understand the scenes better which focus mainly on Eli and Oskar. We also marked the spaces of where the trees are going to be, the reason for setting up the trees in that way is so that we can have spacial awareness of where the characters are able to move within and where the characters are not allowed to move within. Accuracy is a key factor for when perfecting plays therefore by knowing the space in which our movements can happen, we can attain accuracy in the positions of the characters during the various movement pieces. after fully setting up the scene, we continued with normal rehearsals, we continue rehearsing scene one and finished at around scene 10.

What went well: I am confident that I know my lines for my characters and the rehearsals have allowed me to gain a more thorough understanding of my lines and what is expected of my characters.

Improvements: An improvement would be to work on the scenes in which the dialogue is not well known and to finish all props and things needed for the performance.

On Wednesday: We started the run through for act 2 and managed to succeed up until around act 6, same as before - gave me more understanding of the play itself. During the second part of the lesson we were given the liberty to do our on individual work and I decided to continue further work on my coursework and research into my target.

What went well: We were able to further rehearse act 2 which gives us good time to see where we need to improve on and whether or not we are ready to perform.

Improvements: To learn my lines more thoroughly to the point in which I have no further use for the script.

On Friday: We spent time on this day doing coursework within the computer room and I conducted research into the play, though the findings that I have attained are very limited and is only very minimal in detail. The understanding however I have gained is of tremendous assistance to my character development, the use of the information I have found allows me to analyse the characters in different perspective especially Janne and his relationship with Erik. For the second part of the lesson we continued with rehearsals starting from act one, we managed to get up to scene 9, the rehearsal periods are really helping me to learn my lines as well help the other actors around learn their lines too. Knowing our lines is the final important stage in mastering the play as mastering our lines will allows us to perform the play with fluency and accuracy. As I have stated before accuracy is a key to making a successful and good play.

What went well: I am still confident in my lines and I feel as though I know them very well, I believe I am able to now perform a full run through without having to stop and ask for my current line. Furthermore our movement pieces are becoming very fluent and detailed.

Improvements: My improvements would be to be look over my lines for Jimmy - to make sure that I have my lines fully memorised in my head. More research to be conducted on the play.

Writing in role - 3 for each character

Janne feelings towards Oskar

I swear that kid Oskar is nothing but trouble for Erik, he constantly does nothing but cause trouble. It would be a blessing if he could just stay with his mum, at least that way he won't annoy me and Erik. I try to get along with him but he doesn't seem to try and make the effort. I even tried playing droughts with him but he just rejected me. Well if he does not like me then I don't like him and I couldn't care less if he thinks i'm a nuisance. Erik would be much better of without Oskar in his life. All Erik needs is me, we could go out and do stuff together like we used to, all the fun stuff and all the drinking, those were the good times before Oskar came and interfered in it for no reason.
I don't see why Erik won't just leave him with his mother, he stays there most of the time anyway, he might as well just stay there forever and stay out of Erik's life.
I also think he should cut his hair, its grown way too long.


Jimmy's thoughts on Oskar hurting Jonny

So Jonny went to school and got himself hurt, he's such a weakling, how can he let some kid hurt him like that, I never knew I have such a weakling of a brother. That kid, i'm gonna get him, nobody hurts family and disrespects us. when I see him i'm gonna fucking cut him in the face and leave a fucking scar on his cheek and eye, maybe i'll cut of his ear that way him and Jonny will be even. Tomorrow i'm gonna cut his face but first i'm gonna toy with him and make him pee his pants. Jonny needs to grow some balls, that little **** keeps on going on about only wanting to hurt him a little bit. Why is he acting like such a ****, does he not know what that kid did to him, i'm gonna make that kid regret he ever did what he did. Hope that stupid teacher Mr Avila is not there though, if he is there then I won't be able to do anything.
Jonny needs to man up or else i'm gonna hit it myself and cause him more than just ear damage.


Torkel's terrified thoughts during the Hakan killing scene

Before:

Damn, i must have had too much to drink, I can barely walk straight. The wife is gonna be so angry that I have had so much to drink, she's probably gonna kill me. Damn, I can't walk straight. To be honest, I needed that drink with the baby and the whole unemployment thing, I don't think I can cope much longer. What the hell there's some guy looking at me strangely, I wonder what he wants, he just keeps on staring at me. Oh he just wants to know the time, wait, what the fuc............

During:

Ahh ahh damn my head hurts so much, where the hell am I? Whoah what the fuck, why am I upside down and why the hell does he have a sharp knife. Oh my God Oh my God, he wants to kill me, someone please help me before this lunatic kills me, no why why, I have a baby at home, I can't die now. Please God Please God I don't wanna die now. NO! NO! NO! Fuck Fuck ahhhh........

  

Rehearsal update (Last Week)

Rehearsal update last week

Tuesday: On this day we created a new movement piece happens during Oskar’s dream, in the dream he recollects some past events he has experience such as the bullying and him seeing the dead bodies; the dead bodies are symbolism of Hakan’s approach since he kills for Eli. The sequence starts with everyone moving around in order to show that the whole town is asleep. Next everyone stands up in sequence and move towards Oskar with a fighting stance then Oskar is thrown up into the air and the sequence continues with Hakan dragging the body of Torkel off stage. Eli appears after that and controls Oskar, Hakan also appears seconds afterwards and takes Eli away. Oskar is carried into bed at the end of the movement. Throughout the whole movement piece the song used is fall out boy – My songs know what you did in the dark (Light ‘em up).

What went well: The movement piece was successfully completed and it truly shows the recollection of past events that have happened throughout the play.

Improvements: Our next target to aim for is to rehearse the scenes and movement pieces in order to further grasp understanding and near perfection.

Wednesday: On Wednesday, we started the constructing the trees, we split up into 2 groups. One group consisting of Connor, Alistair and I, our main task was to collect recycled paper in order to stuff the trees and the other group’s task was to stuff the trees and start the basic construction of the tree. We had succeeded in basic construction of the four trees and moved them to C5.

What Went Well: We made the basic construction of all four trees needed for the play. This will allow us to know our boundaries in which we can move within. 

Improvements: Now our next target is to begin further completion of the trees by finally covering the trees with mod rock which will allow us to paint the trees with brown paint in order to make it look more genuine.

Friday: On Friday, for the first part of lesson continued with rehearsals, we continued the scenes involving mainly Eli and Oskar. We continued with the construction of the trees in the second part of the lesson and we covered the trees in mod rock however we were not able to complete the tree fully due to time constraint.

What went well: We have been able to cover most of the tree with mod rock.

Improvements: Next target is to cover the rest of the tree with the mod rock and start the painting as soon as possible.

 

Research into my target

Being sadistic and nasty

In order to achieve my target I have taken the liberty of doing some research into it:

According to the internet, the definition for sadistic is:

To derive pleasure or enjoyment from another's pain. Whether physical or emotional.

This means that a sadistic person gains pleasure from the suffering of others in painful or sad situations therefore in order to acquire my target, my character needs to be believed to be enjoying the fact that Oskar is scared and fearful of Jimmy.

http://www.manipulative-people.com/demeaning-as-a-lifestyle-the-sadistic-aggressive/

The above shows another persons view on the sadistic type of behaviour, it states on how there are styles associated with sadism in which emphasises a person's aggressive and sadistic side. It also gives a personal account on that persons confrontation with a sadistic person.


Further reseach that I have conducted is into the methods of a nasty person:

1. They love to make people feel small and worthless and they do this by continual mocking. They have no regard for other people's feelings.

2. They love to keep people uncertain, this means that they show to have clear motives but honestly have hidden motives in which makes it uncertain of what they are really after. For example no one knows when that nasty person will actually explode in rage.

3. They are very judgmental in the sense that they continuously judge others.

4. They often use manipulation in order to feel as though they have control and dominion over other people.

The link to the information is stated below:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/10-methods-nasty-people-use-and-how-avoid-them.html


http://www.deviantart.com/art/Sadistic-Gentleman-110964729

This is an art drawing which I have found on the internet which shows an artists impression of a sadistic looking person. From what can be taken into account from this art is the way that the person is smiling in order to show enjoyment and complete calmness and the way he is looking straight at us in order to instill a feeling of discomfort.

Rehearsal update - Whats been going on so far

This is an update on the rehearsals of Let the right one in

In rehearsals so far we have continued to rehearse our lines and our scenes with movement pieces, gradually everyone is beginning to learn their lines and I as well have begun to learn my lines. I have the learnt my lines for Torkel and of Janne. Now I just need to improve on my lines with Jimmy and then I am complete.

As a group we have fully utilised our rehearsal periods and have perfected many of our movement pieces such as the knife movement piece with Oskar and the snowball scene. Recently trhe movement piece we practiced was the Eli killing scene in which Eli kills my character Jimmy and the other two characters, Jonny and Micke.

Each of us in the group have been given targets in which we must work on. The target that has been set for me is to develop the sadistic and nasty side of Jimmy. The scene in which Jimmy talks to Mr Avila and then afterwards Oskar needs to fully incorporate a vicious and nasty undertone of Jimmy in order to acquire this I have planned to look at a series of videos which demonstrate the proper way to develop a nasty character and to conduct some research into the whole sadistic behaviour as well.

Character Profile for Jimmy

Jimmy

Name: Jimmy
Age: 16-17
Gender: Male
Occupation: Unemployed youth
Traits: Foul-mouthed, Aggressive, impolite
Likes: Anti-social behavior
Dislikes: People getting in his way

Detail: Our first impression of Jimmy is a foul-mouthed delinquent with no bright future. He is the older brother of Jonny and a former student of Mr Avila. Jimmy is prone to anti-social behavior shown by the way he deliberately headbutts and hits Mr Avila without worrying for the consequences of his actions. Jimmy is shown to abuse his brother when he hits him in the damaged ear, giving us the impression that he regularly bullies Jonny at home. Jimmy hints that he is has a step-father which means that his parents are divorced. Like most of the other characters such as Micke, Jonny and Oskar, Jimmy posses a pocket knife.

 

Jimmy

Character Profile for Janne

Janne

Name: Janne
Age: late 40s
Gender: Male
Occupation: Unknown
Traits: friendly, Up-beat
Likes: Oskar's Dad, Drinking
Dislikes: Oskar

Detail: Janne is knwon to be a close friend of Oskar's dad and likes to casually hang around with him. The initial impression of their relationship is either close friends or possible lovers. We know that Janne dislikes Oskar however the reason behind it is unclear, a possible reason is due to the fact that Oskar stands as a barrier between Janne and Oskar's dad becoming more than just friends. Janne interacts with Oskar in a different manner compared to his interaction with Oskar's dad. Janne becomes more cold towards Oskar when they are left alone. However, within the dad's pressences becomes more up-beat and kinder to Oskar.


Janne

Character Profile for Torkel

Torkel

Name: Torkel
Age: between 38 - 43
Gender: Male
Occupation: Unknown
Traits: Heavy drinker, Married, Casual appearance
Likes: Drinking
Dislikes: Unknown

Detail: Not much is known about Torkel other than the fact that he is married and is a heavy drinker. The fact that he is a heavy drinker possibly suggests that he may have trouble in his marriage or trouble with his job. we know that he has a watch meaning his is another casual possible business man who is earning a moderate wage. We know that he has a baby with his wife which gives us the impression that he is in his late 30s or early 40s. All in all, he is made out to be an average Swedish working man who drinks.


Torkel

The 2 films and play of Let the right one in

The whole play is based on a novel and partly of the Swedish movie also titled Let the right one in. Below are three synopsis on the two film adaption, play adaption:

Let the right one in - film synopsis

In the suburb of Blackeberg in Stockholm, the twelve year-old Oskar is a lonely and outcast boy bullied in school by Conny and two other classroom mates; at home, Oskar dreams on revenging the trio of bullies. He befriends his twelve year-old next door neighbour Eli that only appears during the night in the playground of their building. Meanwhile, Eli's father is a serial-killer who drains the blood of his victims to supply Eli, so she doesn't have to kill. Eli advises Oskar to react to Conny fighting back; however, he soon discovers that she is a vampire and he feels fear and love for the girl.

Let me in - film synopsis

In Los Alamos, New Mexico, the twelve year-old Owen is a lonely and outcast boy bullied in school by Kenny and two other classmates; at home, Owen dreams of avenging himself against the trio of bullies. He befriends his twelve-year-old next door neighbour, Abby, who only appears during the night in the playground of their building. Meanwhile, Abby's father is a wanted serial-killer who drains the blood of his victims to supply Abby, who is actually an ancient vampire. Abby advises Owen to fight Kenny; however, soon he discovers that she is a vampire, and he feels fear and love for the girl. Meanwhile a police officer is investigating the murder cases, believing that it is a satanic cult.

Let the right one in novel – Plot synopsis

The story centers on the relationship between a 12-year-old boy, Oskar, and a centuries-old vampire child, Eli. It takes place in Blackeberg, a working class suburb of Stockholm, in the early 1980s. The book focuses on the darker side of humanity, dealing with issues such as existential anxiety, fatherlessness, alcoholism, school bullying, pedophilia, child transgenderism, and murder.

Day 5 + 6

Day 5 & 6

Summary: We continued on with rehearsals as scheduled and practised the movement pieces such as the now fight, the tree movement with Oskar and many more. On day 6 we created a mind map of individual characters and tried to distinguish the links between the characters. We also looked into the character mind-set and came up with possible reasons for each characters motive and behaviour e.g. Eli’s relationship with Oskar is questionable due to the fact that she seems to like him but at the same time it seems as though she is manipulating him. This leaves further questioning into the behaviour and motive of Eli.

What went well: We fully completed the snow fight scene and the tree movement piece everyone is more in time than before and more in synch, I was also in time and in synch with the whole movement piece. The mind map has allowed us to further develop our characters and character relation with one another.

Improvements: We need to rehearse more on the script and complete some scenes such as the mum and Oskar scenes.

Short Day 4

Day 4

Summary: We continued with rehearsals and got up to the part at which Oskar and Eli lie in bed together and Eli becomes Oskar’s girlfriend, we also got to the scene in which Hakan dies by Eli’s hand, we also had time to create a movement piece to suit the snowball scene in which Oskar’s injures Jonny by hitting him with a stick. The movement is duck, scoop, stand, pull back and throw, at this point other people join in and then on the third sequence everyone joins in.

What wen well: We created a movement piece for the snowball scene however it is far from perfect and only needs minimal work, rehearsals went fluently and uninterrupted.

Improvements: The snowball movement scene needs minimal work with everyone’s timing needing improvement and possibly changing a few things, accent still needs some improvement.

Day 3 - Video included

Day 3

Summary: On this day we continued rehearsals and worked on the scene between Oskar and Eli in which they finally have their first proper conversation, we continued this on for the whole lesson. During this time I busied myself by looking at videos of Scottish accents and how to acquire Scottish accents.

 What Went Well: We continued on with our rehearsals fluently and constructively and I have improved on my accent from before.

Improvement: The accent is never complete and therefore I need to strive harder in order to accomplish the accent.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mALkCGVA2BU

The link presented shows a professional voice coach who teaches people how to acquire a Scottish accent.

Detail to pay attention for in this video is the way the 'r' sounds are tapped and not rolled as well as a few keywords that helps to develop Scottish accents even better.

Day 2

Day 2

Summary: On the second day we continued with rehearsals as planned and have so far completed the scene with Oskar and the tree, the sequence is: Thrust, duck, Right hook stab, pull out, slice across, pull back and repeat. During the first sequence only a few are on stage, during the second sequence more people join on stage and on the third sequence everyone joins on stage, the ending move is the right hook stab where everyone disappears off stage. We further continued with the rehearsals and practised the whole sequence numerous times. We have now come to the part which focuses on Oskar and Eli relationship.

What went well: We have completed the whole part with Oskar and the tree and rehearsals went well except for a few high tensions at the beginning between some actors but other than that the rehearsals are progressing nicely. I have improved on my Scottish accent a little bit from before and plan to continue improving.

Improvement: I believe that my Scottish accent is far from complete and a lot of work is need to be done, as a result I am looking into video which try to help acquire the Scottish accent.



A artists rendition of Oskar and Eli

Day 1

Performing arts diary for Let the right one in

Day 1

Summary: On the first day, we acquired our roles for let the right one in; the character I have been giving the liberty of portraying are Torkel, Janne and Jimmy, Torkel is the first victim of death in the pay and suffers a brutal death by Hakan as he is hung by his legs and his throat is sliced and the blood is collected, Janne is a long-time friend to Oskar’s dad, the relationship between the two characters is unknown, some portray them to be just friends while other’s perceive the two as having a more deeper connection than that, Jimmy is Jonny’s older brother. During the lesson while practising the roles, we came upon a problem, in which we had to deliberate the best method of hanging me upside down by the feet, at first we suggested using pole to hang me upside down in the performance but we soon retracted the idea due to the fact that it won’t be able to support human weight, we decided on trying a tower which we haven’t put this method into practice yet but are looking into the idea. We continued on with practice and ended on the Oskar scene in which Oskar is slicing at a tree with a knife with the rest of the group joining the movement piece, we came across some complications in the timing of the actions and looking into better methods.

What went well: I believe so far that I have grasped the lines a bit better and have some little understanding of what the character Torkel experiences, this is going to help further develop my accent and my character of Janne as well, we as a group have also completed the first scene and have an understanding of what the other scenes have in store for us.

Improvement: I have reviewed my performance so far and I believe I need to improve my Scottish accent more fluently in order to portray the role of both Torkel and Janne better as well as practising the whole movement piece with Oskar and improving timing.