The theme of this scene is neighbor's suspicion and Oskar's protectiveness. There are three characters here, the neighbor, Oskar and Eli. The neighbor understands that there are sinister forces involved in what is happening in the town, and he does not understand that, while Oskar wants to protect the girl he loves. She is a monster for other people, but he develops a special connection with her. They are the same age, at least physically. The music is dramatic and creates mystery. There is also no music during some shots. The setting is adequate being in an empty apartment. Even a stranger can enter. The lights are on, but the windows are covered with paper to keep the daylight from coming in. The costumes are their everyday clothes. The man is dressed as usual, casually, Eli is dressed for sleeping, but she wears the same clothes all the time. She is a vampire, so she does not get cold. Eli can go out lightly dressed. Oskar is dressed like every day. He wears neutral colors, so they all bend in the dull atmosphere of winter. It gets dark early in Sweden in winter. Eli sometimes wears vibrant colors, like red.
First, we see the man in Eli's bathroom from the bird's eye view. There is no music, which suggests that something bad is going to happen. It adds up to the tension. As the man is uncovering her in the bathtub, we start hearing the music, and we hear it until the rest of the scene. We see a man's face and Oskar behind him. Eli is sleeping, which we see from the high angle. There is a squeaking sound which creates mystery and horror. There is more of a mystery in this scene than horror, because the audience already sympathizes with Eli and does not want the man to hurt her. Next, we see the man's knife in a close-up as he tries to let the daylight in to make her burn. There is a tilt as Oskar pulls out his knife to defend Eli. We see many close-ups of their faces and high angles. As the man is in the bathroom, struggling for his life, we hear sounds of him dying because we know that he does not have a chance against a vampire, being a common man.
There are many close-ups of the parts of their bodies. As Oskar drops the knife, we see that his hand is shaking in the close-up, as well. There are also close-ups of their heads as she approaches him from behind. There is no music, and we hear the neighbors shouting. We see Oskar's face in close-up again.
Eli and Oskar are looking at each other directly, and we see it in over-the shoulder shots. We hear romantic music as Oskar thanks Eli, and she kisses him, although she is covered in blood. There are extreme close-ups of their faces.
The corpse is shot from behind and from the high angle. Again, we see Eli's face in a close-up shot.
There is an emotional moment when Eli and Oskar are not looking at each other. They are at the angle of 90 degrees. Eli is aware that being a vampire is not usual for common people and Oskar is trying to understand his own feelings. This angle between them is chosen so that we can see that there is a difference between them.
The music gets more dramatic as Oskar enters his apartment and his mother is shouting at him. She is very angry, and we see them in medium shot. There is a pan shot as Oskar goes to his room, and the music is sad which adds up to the mystery. He is arranging his cars, so that we can see that he is still a child in spite of murders occurring around him. The newspaper with an article about murders shot from a high angle, there is a pan on Oskar's face, and we see his reflection in the mirror. Mirrors are always a part of horror and mystery. We see his face in close-up shots many times.
Pool massacre scene
At the beginning of the scene the music if for a workout in the swimming pool. There is long shot as the boys approach as well as a pan on the right. We see a knife in a close-up shot. A knife is an element of horror.
The older brother of the main bully is shot from behind, and there are many tilts and pans so that it creates tension. There is also a hand-held shot of the older boy. We see Oskar in the over-the shoulder shot and a close-up from a high angle because he is in a swimming pool. The older brother is shot from a low angle, so that we see that he is ready to terrorize Oskar.
There are close-ups of hand and eyes, high angles and low angles. The underwater sound creates a feeling of horror as well as the tilt of Oskar's drowning body. A close-up of the clock suggests that the time is running out for Oskar and that he may drown. Everyone is nervous. There is no music apart from the sounds of water in the swimming pool, and that is scary.
We hear sounds of crashing, screams and body parts are falling into the water. There is blood everywhere, which makes a good horror scene. What we see next is an extreme close-up of Eli's eyes, and they create mystery as well as a feeling of safety.
Works Cited:
Let the right one in - Bathroom and Eli's kissing scenes, Youtube, Gromit2012, 3 Nov. 2010., web, Date of access 14 Apr. 2014., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaZf8nQLDyk
Let the right one in Favorite Scene, Youtube, Nobunaga Oda, 24 May 2009., web, Date of access 14 Apr. 2014., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ6qh0z48Uk
