Greg jenkins, one of the authors of kubrick and the art of adaptation. Value of fidelity in adaptation the british journal of aesthetics. Exploring film adaptation theory through an analysis of the. Adaptation movie true story the real susan orlean, charlie kaufman, and the orchid thief john laroche at ctf. Successfully adapting a nostorythere novel to screenplay form is a daunting task. Dec 06, 2012 in the case of the contemporary american film industry, they clearly believe that literature is at least twostage and in some cases, even more when there exists an adaptation of an adaptation. Most books on film adaptationthe relation between films and their literary sourcesfocus on a series of close onetoone comparisons between specific films and canonical novels.
Thomas leitch, film adaptation and its discontents. Mar 20, 2020 the netflix film lost girls tells the story of the investigation into the long island serial killer, but what really happened with the mysterious murderer. The main characters include kenneth branagh who starred as prince hamlet, kate winslet as ophelia, derek jacobi as king claudius, julie christie as queen gertrude, richard briers as polonius. Sep 22, 2014 it defines the story concept or log line of the film, it will give the audience a clear idea of exactly what theyre rooting for the heroes to achieve, and it tells us exactly what will represent success for the hero at the end of the film. A film adaptation of a true story 1174 words 5 pages. The film stars nicolas cage as kaufman and his fictional twin brother donald, meryl streep as susan orlean, and chris cooper as john laroche, with cara seymour, brian cox, tilda swinton, ron livingston, and maggie gyllenhaal in supporting roles. The rare feature film entitled adaptation is not only an adaptation, but also. Leitchs work provides a much needed model during this time of change in film. Similarly, george bluestone, whose 1957 study, novels into film has long been recognized as the basis for much film adaptation study, separates the experience of reading and watching as passive and active endeavors, clearly favoring the active. Adaptation, history, historical novel, historical film, sources, origin story, tracy. Beginning with an examination of why adaptation study has so often supported the. No, the true story reveals that in real life susan orlean did not develop any sort of intimate relationship with the orchid thief, john laroche.
Linda hutcheon develops a theory of adaptation through a range of media, from film and opera, to video games, pop music and theme parks, analysing the breadth, scope and creative possibilities within each. The course is designed to look into the relationship between literature and film since the onset of this new medium. From gone with the wind to the passion of christ, thomas leitch identifies a split between adaptation theory and film studies. The most famous film admittedly, it may also be the only film directly concerned with the translation of literature into cinema must be charlie kaufmans adaptation. The kart adaptation or mash up as the producers call it, certainly requires the context of the game and the movie drive to evoke its humor. Even though, jenkinss statement is in accordance with the theory. And buried deep within that history there actually is a. The first is the infamous series of murders committed by the manson family in 1969, particularly the home invasion and killing of actress sharon tate. Film adaptation and its discontents was published in 2007 during a move in adaptation studies from the limiting approach of fidelity discourse a discourse concerning an adaptations fidelity to the orignial source to newer approaches that attempt to avoid the pitfalls of the prevailing approach of the field. Why based on a true story movies repeatedly unravel. This is presumably a somewhat true story, as charlie kaufman is the real life screenwriter of adaptation. However, recent trends in adaptation theory have moved away from the dichotomy of film and literature and toward a focus on multidirectional flows across a transmedia model, concentrating less on what has been lost by a text during the process of adaptation, and more on what the text has gained by taking on a new form or variation. An altered or amended version of a text, musical composition, etc.
The film deviates completely from the original source materials story structure. The main concern of this paper is to present the concepts and assumptions about komiksto film adaptation that will constitute the proposed filipino film adaptation theory. A more controversial application of adaptation theory is that of the nonsanctioned adaptation of content which is protected under law. Just as evaluating both eating experiences is determined by taste, need, and quality, so is evaluating two interpretations of a story. While there thankfully arent a trio of killers in masks going around slaughtering whoever happens to be home, the film does have some true inspirations. The 20 film adaptation of jay gatsby, a man who rose from poverty as a child to being a millionaire with all the makings, enormous house, servants, hundreds of friends. Exploring film adaptation theory through an analysis of. Based on a true story is one of those unfortunate catchphrases that usually has the opposite effect in courting a producers enthusiasm than most writers assume. Compare and contrast using the venn diagram, 3 circles printout. Exploring hollywood feature films as well as small studio productions, adaptation theory and criticism explores the intertextuality of a dozen films through a series of case studies introduced through discussions of postmodern methodology and practice. For example, use the pbs version of great expectations and compare it to another production. In the book, todd grows to a place where he chooses a different approach.
Adapted from shakespeares play hamlet,the film hamlet was produced in 1996. In his book, theory of film he says that the redemption of physical reality is the only true purpose of cinema an examination of the. Second, not only telling, but also retelling a story, passing it on, can be. Films are visual, aural, and they are consumed passively in a collective environmentusually in a theatre with an audience, but also in the home, often in the presence of friends and family. In his book, theory of film he says that the redemption of physical reality is the only true purpose of cinema an examination of the psychological state of emma bovary has no. Successful short story adaptations articles narrative first. A comparitive analysis on the film adaptation of life of. The netflix film lost girls tells the story of the investigation into the long island serial killer, but what really happened with the mysterious murderer. In the film, he simply soldiers on, shooting that dark scowl he had almost from the beginning. The adaptation of literary works into films has been almost completely. A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film. The dc extended universe starting in 20 uses the same model for dc comics.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. When theres a bad interpretation, or film adaptation, were tempted to ask if we even read the same book as the directors, screenwriters, and producers. All film making, and all storytelling, has one primary objective. A film may be inspired by a novel, but it utilizes a different vehicle through which to tell its story. We observe that the word symbols in written language must be translated into images of things, feelings and concepts through the process of thought. Most popular film adaptation of literature these are some of the most famous and memorable film adaptations and some are the best films of any century. Linda hutcheon develops a theory of adaptation through a range of media, from film and opera, to video games, pop music and theme parks, analysing the breadth, scope and creative possibilities within.
Oct 27, 2010 the most famous film admittedly, it may also be the only film directly concerned with the translation of literature into cinema must be charlie kaufmans adaptation. S eliots seminal poem, the waste land 1922 was chosen as an explorative text to acquire an understanding of my interpretation methods for my practicebased phd, which culminated in a collection of photographic and video. Three novels, three films, considers adaptation as a presence that is woven into the very fabric of film culture jenkins 8. Film adaptation and its discontents adaptations wiki. The basis of all good myths, legends, epic poems, fairy tales, plays, operas, short stories, true stories, novels, screenplays, tv episodes, movies and harry chapin. A theory of adaptation explores the continuous development of creative adaptation, and argues that the practice of adapting is central to the storytelling imagination. Summary notes plus some short source reading material will be provided.
A film adaptation of a true story 1174 words 5 pages the 2010 critically acclaimed film the kings speech aimed to showcase the struggles of king george vi as he dealt with his stammer and becoming king. The true story that inspired the horror movie on the bright side, that actually happening isnt too likely, but its the potential reality of movies like the strangers that makes them remembered by fans. The following thoughts on adaptation come from my personal experience of adapting the novel the metal girl into the film project metal girl. The aim is to discover how the differences between the original novel and the film can be effectively explained using film adaptation theories. What makes dexter, in my opinion, so brilliantly done is how the camera will draw out the story in itself. The main concern of this paper is to present the concepts and assumptions about komikstofilm adaptation that will constitute the proposed filipino film adaptation theory. In april 2003 oxford university held a conference, reading screens. A theory of adaptation audiences literaturefilm quarterly. Narrative construction intersemiotic translations theories of adaptations selected literary texts ad their adaptations history of literature through the masterpieces interpretation of the literarycinematic texts and expression of opinions.
Literature has always been an inspiration for filmmakers, and concurrently, film and the cinema business becomes increasingly significant method of popularizing literature. Every single episode concludes with a delay in the story and almost every television drama will continuously draw out the end of the story. The coen brothers pay homage to the book by retaining much of the story. This criticism can come from a belief that other readers will have formed the same interpretation of the book as we did, but this is rarely completely true, as a turn to the filmic. Nov 27, 2017 while i also write original screenplays, i decided to adapt a novel i wrote into a screenplay for a film that i will also direct. See pics of the real susan orlean, charlie kaufman, and john laroche of adaptation.
Oct 15, 2012 the director consistently creates something much like maccabes argument that branigan describes. The film stars nicolas cage as kaufman and his fictional twin brother donald, meryl streep as susan orlean, and chris cooper as john laroche, with cara seymour, brian cox, tilda swinton, ron livingston, and maggie gyllenhaal in supporting roles it is based both on orleans nonfiction. I n the opening scene of robert altmans the player 1992adapted from the 1988 michael tolkin novel of the same namestudio executive griffin mill tim robbins hears two pitches. Hutcheon eventually goes on to suggest the reasons behind the insistence of constantly making adaptations, remakes, etc. Pdf adaptation as an adaptation a study of the movie adaptation. Instead, the filmmaker has to refashion the spirit of the story with his or her own vision and tools. A critical history of film adaptation chapman university. Reallife crimes that inspired the movie according to writer and director bryan bertino, the strangers is primarily based on three different events. Adaptation movie true story the real susan orlean and.
Analyze how the story changed from the storyboard to the completed film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as robert stam as a dialogic process. Traditional critics of film adaptation generally assumed a that the written text is better than the film adaptation because the plot is more intricate and the language richer when pictorial images do not intrude. Adaptation, as defined by the oxford english dictionary, has a plurality of meanings and applications, most of which allude to the process of changing to suit an alternative purpose, function, or environment. Although the new a star is born is not based on a true story, it can trace its history through nearly a century of hollywood productions. The adaptation can therefore be classified as one which borrows i. The words inspired by a true story, adapted from the novel by or based on the short stories of in a films opening credits immediately raise questions about that films authorship in the mind of the viewer.
This is the challenge if youre writing an adaptation. This dissertation will explore film adaptation theory through an analysis of the lord of the rings. In terms of the history of modern true crime and unsolved murders, few cases have fascinated and baffled the authorities and public at large quite like the case of the long island serial killer. The first, from a pair of screenwriters, revolves around a t. View film adaptation theory research papers on academia. One approach is to move away from direct adaptation toward, story based upon. And, because the film adaptation is often based on a novel whose quality and universality has stood some test of time, it has somewhat large shoes to fill. Mar 01, 2009 beginning with an examination of why adaptation study has so often supported the institution of literature rather than fostering the practice of literacy, thomas leitch considers how the creators of short silent films attempted to give them the weight of literature, what sorts of fidelity are possible in an adaptation of sacred scripture, what.
This objective is achieved with only three basic elements, which form the foundation of all story. Literary adaptation is the adapting of a literary source e. In order to discuss the relationship between book and film in adaptations and the reasons behind the controversy of that relation, it is important to first look at the history of adaptations in order to understand the background surrounding that industry. But the theory of adaptation is a large question in academia.
Use the brilliant background and characters created by the original author as a platform from which to launch a screen story. The films composer, leon coward, stated, you can try to be as true to vonneguts material as possible, but at the end of the day also youre. The representation of historical events in movies is as old as cinema. The latter, he explains, judges filmic adaptations of literary texts in terms of their fidelity to the.
The hobbit meets film adaptation theory inciting sparks. Should an adaptation be true to the original the fidelity question. Adaptation movie true story the real susan orlean and john. Kaufman himself nicolas cage, a screenwriter struggling to adapt the orchid thief, susan orleans nonfiction meditation on flowers, obsession and darwinian theory. The course aims at presenting the selected aspects of history of the worlds literature through the film adaptations as well as the films from the point of view of. Through an analysis of the lord of the rings2011 10,000 words.
Jun 18, 20 in order to discuss the relationship between book and film in adaptations and the reasons behind the controversy of that relation, it is important to first look at the history of adaptations in order to understand the background surrounding that industry. Jason smith kaufman is struggling with the arduous task of adapting the orchid thief, by susan orlean, which doesnt have an obvious dramatic line it is essentially a book about orchids. Some theorists such as linda hutcheon, consider fan fiction, parodies, and other unofficial texts to be outside the realm of adaptation theory 21. A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Oct 03, 2018 although the new a star is born is not based on a true story, it can trace its history through nearly a century of hollywood productions. This volume identifies and investigates a far wider array of problems posed by the process of adaptation. The director consistently creates something much like maccabes argument that branigan describes. Analyzing film adaptations from literature english. Although this movie is just a film adaptation of a true story, it is still able to show the viewer a lot about british culture during the 1920s, which has even carried into the modern. But just because a classic novel has been adapted once or multiple times into a film does not determine the value of either the novel or the film.
From text to film, tv and new media which raised the following questions. According to kracauer, if an adaptation fails, the fault lies not in the film but in their sources, which are considered either cinematic or uncinematic. View academics in film adaptation theory on academia. A comparitive analysis on the film adaptation of life of pi. Adaptation for film online bookings and course catalogue. The faithfulness view has by and large disappeared, and intertextuality is now a generally received notion, but the field still lacks studies with a postmodern methodology and lens. Feb 20, 2017 when theres a bad interpretation, or film adaptation, were tempted to ask if we even read the same book as the directors, screenwriters, and producers.