Narrative Strategies

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Short 10 minute writing exercise based on 'The Carew Murder Case'

The night is dark as I walk through the fog creating a pathway behind me. I see a stranger before me. An old man with ashy hair hanging limply over his wrinkled, decrepit face. As I move towards his wiry frame his identity becomes apparent, Sir Danver Canew stands before me, his face contorted with confusion, showing the beginnings of fear. I take this twist of fate into my own hands and allow my shadow to engulf his. His grey eyes fill with fear.  I strike the blow. And again. And again. The force of my cane leaves my hand stinging, tickling my skin. I cease to see the bounty of my hard work.  The old man lays flat on his back, arms outstretched. This feels like a warning from God. I spit on him, my saliva thick from the smell of blood. I strike him again, leaving his body in the fetal position. Let this be my warning to God.

Notes from short piece
Positive
Like the religious aspects
good use of language in areas
Like the mystery at the beginning of the scene - Hyde doesn't know who his victim is.

Negative
I want my work to be more sensory, more emphasis on how things look, taste, feel and sound to the character.
More metaphorical language
Writing style and narrative could be more subtle
Use of colour to make point and for more interesting read.

More focus of tone of piece, parts are quite lazily written.

DUALITY OF MAN

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/duality-in-robert-louis-stevensons-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jekyll/themes.html



Modern cases of duality in media
I thought it would be interesting to look at modern interpretations of Duality of Man and see how they are represented in new media

Breaking Bad:2008-2013

Like Jekyll, Walter White struggles with his own morality. He tries to keep his family and his growing drug trade separate but finds this difficult as the seasons go on. It is when he creates the persona 'Heisenberg' that attitude changes drastically, giving him two separate personalities. Walter, the good natured push over and Heisenberg the manipulative, arrogant and selfish drug manufacturer.

By the last season, like Jekyll, the two merge in to one and the Walter we met in the first season is completely erased from the character. His dark side becomes more prominent and this ultimately leads to his downfall.

Fight Club: 1999

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Club

 Fight Club is famous for it's theme of duality.  The two main characters could not be more different

but Tyler the alter-ego is everything Edward Norton's unnamed character wished he could be. The twist ending sows them to in fact be the same person as Norton's character struggles with split personality disorder in order to deal with his own issues.

HOW COLOUR IS USED IN BOOK

London experienced terrible, thick, poisonous fogs throughout the second half of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries, caused by air pollution. Stevenson uses the fog to make the setting particularly sinister. In reality, the fog did provide cover for criminals, including Jack the Ripper (the ‘Whitechapel Murderer’), who killed at least five women two years after the publication of Jekyll and Hyde. The fog is described as a ‘chocolate-coloured pall’ (p. 22) and‘as brown as umber’ (p. 23). As it comes and goes, there is an eerie sense of what is unseen. When there are breaks in the fog, ‘a district of some city in a nightmare’ is revealed (p. 22).

WHAT DIFFERENT COLOURS REPRESENT

Red

¨      Red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.

¨      Red is a very emotionally intense colour. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure.

¨      It has very high visibility that’s why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red.

¨      In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage. It is the colour found in many national flags.

¨      Red is widely used to indicate danger (high voltage signs, traffic lights).

¨      This colour is also commonly associated with energy

Light red represents joy, passion, sensitivity, and love.
Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.
Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.
Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.
Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

White

¨      White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, and purity.

¨      It is considered to be the colour of perfection.

¨      White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation.

¨      White can represent a successful beginning.

¨      In heraldry, white depicts faith and purity.

¨      Angels are usually imagined wearing white clothes.

¨      White is associated with hospitals, doctors, and sterility

These are the two colours which I want to concentrate on in my own piece.

OTHER NOVELS OF THIS TIME PERIOD

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/themes/the-gothic

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/mary-shelley-frankenstein-and-the-villa-diodati

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/Dracula

Sweeney Todd
https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-story-behind-the-legend-of-sweeney-todd

AMERICAN LITERATURE THEMES

https://prezi.com/nmkv3p7wpqvo/major-themes-in-american-literature/

http://teacherweb.com/CA/WestlakeHighSchool/Schlehner/American-Themes.pdf

http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm

http://lzmarieauthor.com/seasons-in-literature/

https://www.britannica.com/art/American-literature

Story Plan

First Paragraph:

Jekyll wakes up , not knowing where he is, he is covered in blood.

Scarf missing and heads to nearest street.

Second Paragraph:

Finds newspaper on floor, give him potential clue of Hyde's activities from the night before.

Heads to new destination,

hears people speak of hyde

Third Paragraph:

Gets to crime scene, sees scarf used as murder weapon,

goes and sits in park,

loses all hope.

 

1st Draft of short story. 

I woke in the cold dawn of day in a dark, unfamiliar alleyway. The scurrying of rats was the first noise my startled senses had come to notice. It is at this moment that I snap back in to my own reality. I look down on the clothes, belonging to Mr Hyde; his doused, white shirt fits snugly on my larger frame. Then I see it. Red. From the torn sleeves to the bottom of his dishevelled trouser leg, there was only red. Panic hits. I have no recollection of taking the potion that made me into the creature not so unlike the rats at my feet. What did Hyde do last night to leave me in such a state of disarray? I search for something to cover myself and found my coat on the floor beside me, scuffed, but inconspicuous. The scarf given to me by my mother on the year of my twenty-first birthday was missing.  I wrap the coat around myself to cover what’s hiding beneath and stagger down the alleyway and into the nearest street, keeping out of sight of passers by. As I limp slowly back to my own, safe home, a newspaper of today’s date lying flat in a puddle stops me in my tracks: ‘Horror at Local Brothel!’ the rest on the information distorted by murky, stagnant water. This is bad. As much as I could hope it had nothing to do with Hyde, something inside me said otherwise. I stagger through the streets as fast as I can to my new destination. Common people whisper about how a small man with indescribably evil features had haunted their street last night with shrieks of laughter. Paranoia hits me like one liquor too many. I’m drunk with guilt. The same people who gazed upon the honourable Dr Jekyll with holy grandeur now gorge themselves on the tales of the revolting Mr Hyde.  He had been here; my body knew I wasn’t far from the horrors ahead of me now.  I move forward, knowing where to go from vague memories, which had never belonged to me. A crowd of intrigued spectators are gathered up ahead. What are they looking at? I see now. A woman brought out under a pearlescent, white sheet enveloping her tiny frame. But there it is again. Red. Sullying her now unimpeachable, pure body. Something familiar pokes awkwardly out from under the sheet. My mother’s scarf clenched around the girls throat. I stumble away. My saliva becomes thick with sickness and guilt. My senses betraying me, I move through tunnel vision. A bench appears up ahead and I sit listening to the birds sing telling me spring is here. The warmth of the sun hits me through the trees and dries the wet ground below me. The irony is revolting. My head collapses into my hands. I whisper to God “What have I become? What have I become?

Notes on short story first draft.

American Literature references

Story telling devices
Duality

Religion VS Class

Tone of piece

Story Telling Devices

I found this short story quite difficult to start as I wasn't really sure what aspect of the novella I wanted to concentrate on. I knew I was interested in the language of the book and the detective aspects in the narrative. I wrote this entire piece in one sitting, it took about an hour to get it all down. Parts could definitely be better and some of the language is a bit sloppy in areas.

I knew I wanted to have Jekyll wake up and retrace his steps but I wasn't quite sure how I would make it work. I originally was thinking of having him find a ticket to the brothel (or something like that) in his pocket but I thought that would be a bit obvious. I  preferred the idea of subtly throwing details in to the story as he re-traces his steps so we learn plot devices as he does. 

I liked the idea of using a personal item of Jekyll's, this example being the the scarf. It was a personal object to Jekyll which hyde had used to kill someone. The innocence of J receiving this scarf from his loving mother to celebrate him turning 21 made it's usage as a murder weapon all the more brutal and more of a blow to J. I wrote about it very subtly at the start of the piece to make its existence clear to the ready but made the fact it was missing not seem too important to the narrative.

I also thought leaving the newspaper open ended left more of an air of mystery around the case. I didn't want it to be too blatant or for the reader to figure everything out too quickly.

I also wanted there to be connecting elements to the beginning and end of this piece as I prefer this type of narrative. I also feel that it is in keeping with the mystery genre as the reader has to read in between the lines in areas of the writing. 

I wanted to make a direct connection between Jekyll at the beginning of the piece with the girl at the end.  To do this I chose to make a comparison between the way Jekyll awakes (white shirt doused with blood etc) to the girl covered in a sheet (again white and red) 

Connection to the Book

Links to Chapters
Chapter 4 : The Carew Murder Case
Chapter 8: The Last Night.
Chapter 10: Henry Jekyll's Statement of Events

I wanted my short writing piece to have as many subtle connections to the book as possible. This made me consider the language used in the book. I analysed the way Jekyll talks in the book, especially in the last chapter where he explains himself and tried to mimic it in my own writing.
I wanted it to be similar while still being slightly more relaxed; educated and articulate, while also seeming to be from Jekyll's own head. Sentences such as "on the year of my 21st birthday" are very close to the tone of the novella as well as others of it's time period.

I also looked into Chapter 8, The Last Night, which focuses particularly on the colour red and decided to also use this in my own work. I wanted to use this colour to emphasise the loss of innocence in Jekyll.  He's wearing a white which symbolises purity but is also covered in red, tarnishing that purity. Symbolic metaphors are so important in Jekyll and Hyde

American Literature 

 American literature is my favourite genre of writing and I couldn't help nut notice that Jekyll and Hyde shares some of the same themes. 

Often in American Literature the protagonist starts off being innocent but the evil in society brings them to a state of disarray and weakness. I believe Jekyll's transformation into Hyde was something that the rigid society he lived in pushed upon him. He was expected to behave a certain way as a member of high society which made the idea of Hyde all the more attractive.

I also wanted to use Spring in my own piece as in American Literature, spring  is the the season that represents hope and opportunities.  

Religious Language/ Imagery

 In in the novella, religion and class are placed closely to one another which is evident in chapters such as  Chapter 4, The Carew Murder Case, where a politician is described like a holy being by a lowly servant girl. This inspired me to make a close comparison between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in my own piece through the line "the same people who gazed upon the honourable Dr. Jekyll with holy grandeur now gorge themselves on the tales of the revolting Mr. Hyde." The point being that if you take away Jekyll's place in high society, you also remove his 'holy grandeur'.

Feedback meeting: 

I really struggled with the tensing of this piece going between past and present frequently. After a meeting with Lynsey, I found that this may be because when we speak out loud we go in between tenses all the time and I hadn't even realised I was doing it.

Lynsey also said I should paragraph my piece, again, something that hadn't even occurred to me. 

She also said that the 'new destination' that Jekyll goes to wasn't clear enough and I should think of a better way of putting it.

She also told me to get rid of the line "The irony was revolting". I had been more subtle throughout the rest of the piece and this was a bit blatant.

Second draft, Short Story

I awake in the cold dawn of day in a dark, unfamiliar alleyway. The scurrying of rats is the first noise my startled senses come to notice. I snap back to my own reality. I look down at myself and see the clothes, belonging to Mr. Hyde; his sodden, white shirt stretched snugly over my larger frame. Red. From the torn sleeves to the bottom of his disheveled trouser leg, there was only red. Panic hits. I have no recollection of taking the potion that made me into the creature not so unlike the rats at my feet. What did Hyde do last night to leave me in such a state of disarray? My head is as foggy as the streets in winter.  I search for something to cover myself, finding my coat on the floor beside me, scuffed, but inconspicuous. The scarf given to me by my mother on the year of my twenty-first birthday was missing. It’s a shame, but not something to consider at this moment.

 I wrap the coat around myself to cover what’s hiding beneath and stagger down the alleyway and into the nearest street, keeping out of sight of passersby. As I limp slowly back to my own, safe home, a newspaper of today’s date lying flat in a puddle stops me in my tracks: ‘Horror at Local Brothel!’ the rest of the information distorted by murky, stagnant water. This is bad. As much as I could hope it had nothing to do with Hyde, something inside me said otherwise. I stagger through the streets as fast as I can to witness, with my own eyes, this headlined ‘horror’.

Local common people gossip about how a small man with indescribably evil features had haunted their street with shrieks of laughter the night before.  Paranoia hits me like one liquor too many. I’m drunk with guilt. The same people who gazed upon the honourable Dr. Jekyll with holy grandeur now gorge themselves on the tales of the revolting Mr. Hyde.  He had been here; my body knows I’m not far from the horrors ahead of me now.

 I move forward, knowing where to go from vague memories, which had never belonged to me. A crowd of intrigued spectators are gathered up ahead. What are they looking at? I see now. A woman brought out under a pearlescent, white sheet enveloping her tiny frame. But there it is again. Red. Sullying her now unimpeachable, pure body. Something familiar pokes awkwardly out from under the sheet. My mother’s scarf, now clenched firmly around the girl’s throat. I stumble away. My saliva thickens with sickness and sin. My senses betraying me, I move through tunnel vision. A bench appears up ahead and I sit listening to the birds sing telling me spring is here. The warmth of the sun engulfs me as it flickers through the trees and evaporates the puddles from the damp ground below me. My head collapses into my hands. I whisper to God “What have I become? What have I become?”

Notes on Final Short Story

All the parts in orange are the changes I made to this version. I took on board everything that Lynsey had to say about my first draft and also asked several of my peers to read it through to help me with the tensing of my work.

There weren't too many changes made but there are areas where I improved the language or added some words to add to the effect I was trying to make.

I added some urban gothic context at the start with the comparison to the winter streets. I felt this was something I hadn't touched upon yet but wanted to at some point in my piece so I just put in a small line early on to bring context to the piece.

I also put more emphasis on his reaction to the scarf being missing, making it clear that the loss doesn't seem to be of huge importance to the character.

With Lynsey's feedback, I made it more clear where the character is heading "headlined horror" I also prefer how this sounds in the essay.

HYBRID ANIMATIONS - HOW THEY ARE USED

https://www.creativefreedom.co.uk/icon-designers-blog/advantages-of-hybrid-animation/

That is a case of each part being a separate sequence.  I also believe there have been shorts where a 3d puppet moves in a 2d set, and also perhaps a 2 1/2 D set - like kitchen cupboards that were 3d boxes, but the surface details and handles were all drawn on.  I think the opposite has been done too, a 2d animated character moving in a 3d model set.  Sometimes a set of replacement card cutouts, sometimes composited in afterwards, with the 3d set simply acting as a background image, much like a photo of a real world location.

Stop Motions

Madame Tutli Putli

I really love the way that CG and stop motion are used in this piece, the faces show emotion so well and helps the audience understand the character better.

Making of Madame Tutli Putli.

Street of Crocodiles

The music in this piece is really chilling and effective in achieving the gothic horror vibe of this animation. 

2D Segment

The Corpse Bride Concept Art

This is the style of art work I would like my 2D segment to be in, I want it to fit in with the gothic undertones of Jekyll and Hyde and I think the colour palette and art style is really good in these concept pieces for The Corpse Bride.