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Books to film

smblomker

New Member
I've read many books over the years that have been turned into movies. I've been watching the previews of the book, The Host by the twilight author. Yes, I've read the book but, it looks like its been changed some.
I really hate when they change things around to make the movie more exciting. Do you think that it would be better for a book that's turned into a movie to follow the book or not?
 
I've seen some adaptations that the changes worked, Last of the Mohicans, Lord of the Rings trilogy were some of them. Other adaptations were less than stellar. The Harry Potter movies 3-6 not good. I've always thought that when the movie ventures too far from the book, such as changing the ending, the movie should be billed as "based on the book".
 
Films that do justice to the book are few and far between. With a few exceptions, if I have read or if I plan to read the book, I ignore the film. The next exception will be The Hobbit, but only when I can watch the whole movie in one sitting.
 
The problem with writing a script from a book is that the two mediums are completely different. An author must write their descriptions to draw the reader into the world, while a scriptwriter sets the bare minimum for a scene and fills it with dialogue, leaving the imaging entirely to the imagination of the director. So just there already a good % of the book just fell by the wayside.

Also you describe everything that happens in a book, while in a movie the audience can see it. And being visual a lot does not have to be said.

For example read this short extract from "One Good Knight" by Mercedes Lackey


Two of the Royal Guard were on duty at the bronze doors into the Queen’s private quarters. They let her in with a wink and a nod of encouragement, and she stepped onto the first of the many thick, brightly patterned, imported silk carpets that had been her grandmother’s dower when she came here as a foreign bride. The first chamber was a reception chamber for small audiences; softly lit by a few lightly perfumed oil lamps, it was empty of all except one of her mother’s maids. As ever with any of the Queen’s servants, the girl was flawlessly groomed, her simple linen gown spotless, not a hair out of place.

Like most natives of Ethanos, she was dark-haired and dark-eyed. Many beautiful women preferred that their servants be plain; Queen Cassiopeia had always insisted on physical attractiveness in those who waited on her, and this maid was no exception to that rule.

“Please follow me, Princess,” the maid said, without the faintly contemptuous tone her mother’s maids usually used when they saw her. Evidently this time her appearance passed inspection.

With a nod, Andie obeyed, moving through several more chambers, also barely lit, until they came to the lesser dining chamber. This one, of marble beautifully ornamented with jewel-tone mosaic wall-murals made of millions of bits of glass depicting enormous baskets of flowers and fruit, held one large table. The Queen sat at the head of it; to her left was Solon, and to her right, an empty chair. Farther down the table sat three of her more favored ladies. Andie knew two of them by name; those two were young members of the Queen’s regular Court, while the stranger was middle-aged or older. The young ones were dressed in a less elaborate version of the Queen’s gown, with formfitting bodices, low necklines, full skirts, and tiny sleeves that left most of the arms bare. The Queen’s gown was a pale blue silk with festoons of heavy lace, which suited her blond beauty. The young lady to the right, raven-haired and olive-skinned, wore cream color with a silk fringe, while the one to the left, also raven-haired but with atranslucent complexion, wore pink with garlands of tiny ribbon rosettes. The older woman wore a somber gown of dark ocher with ornaments of jet and longer sleeves that covered her arms to the wrist.

If you turned this into a script it would look like this:


SCENE 10 - INTERIOR - THE QUEEN'S APARTMENT - DAY

Two royal guards stand before the doors. Princess Andie approaches and is let in.


SCENE 11: INTERIOR- THE QUEEN'S APARTMENT- A MOMENT LATER

A maid approaches

THE MAID​
Please follow me, Princess.​
SCENE 12: INTERIOR - THE QUEEN'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

Princess Andie walks through several interconnecting chambers

SCENE 13: INTERIOR - THE QUEEN'S PRIVATE DINING ROOM

Seated at the table are The Queen, Solon and three ladies in waiting ....

_________________________________________

You can see how information from the book gets lost / changed in the process.
 
Oy! For this Faulkner lover, that was harsh on the ears. I think they may be bleeding. But very informative. Many thanks, and I think I'll stick with books and literature.
 
yeah but you see the script is just the barest bones of the story... then comes the director with his vision, the set designer, the costume designer and last but not least the actors who also have their vision of the character.
 
There is no doubt that that combination has produced many very attractive films.

What's to say? I like good films and good books, whether or not they are connected.
 
Well.....

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Couldn't resist, found it on facebook.....only it's True! for me at least.
 
I watched The Bourne Legacy last night and I simply loved it. Earlier I had read Bourne Sanction and quite enjoyed it, but I ended up more intrigued by the villain Arkadin than the hero Jason Bourne.

But, movie Legacy was all about Aaron Cross keeping him in the centre and explaining the meds and Treadstone. It is the second time that I loved a movie based on books, first time it was Godfather. So, may be movies can do justice to literary world only if the Director has a vision for it.
 
Yes a movie can be just as good or even better than the book. It is just unfortunate that such directors are far and few between.
 
Totally agree. Right now I am reading Fall of Giants and Ken Follette's superb narration has made me rethink about the war novels and movies. Was never interested in the gory battles or boring history but now I am itching to see some good movies on the subject.

At the end of the day, both are creative media and a lot depends on the creator.
 
I dose indeed, a look at Stardust a bad book (or at least I think so :) ), but a good movie. How something in made it a great facter in the end result.
 
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