Books vs. Movies
So, in our discussions on "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," we have brought up the fact that there are movie adaptions of this short story. Books and pieces of writing are often transformed into motion media. Does our society respect this, or is it offended when good books are mounted on motion picture? Often times, movies adapted from books are frowned upon because they did not do the book justice by some opinion. Many people become harsh critics when it comes to movie adaptions. They read amazing stories, their minds and hearts invested into the souls of the tales. When a movie comes out, they become so excited to see their favorite story come to life, but then they often leave disappointed. Sometimes this is because they had pictured it differently in their head, or the movie strayed too much from the plot of the book. Something to realize is that the mechanism of books varies immensely compared to the way a movie works. Directors must broaden the story so that all audience members, even the ones who have not read the book, can understand. A book and a movie are two completely different works, even if they are based off of the same story. Finding the differences between books and movies can even be a great literary exercise. Foster would be proud to see people connecting the dots to discover that this book over here is not exactly the same as its movie. What are some other thoughts about books versus their movies? Do you think that books should be transformed into movies? It is pointless to make a movie out of a book? Is it simply to make more money on popular stories?
Readers have such high expectation of what a movie based on their favorite novel should look like. The tricky part about novels is that every reader has a different idea about what the characters look like, what a certain scene looks like, or what the setting is like. We put so much stress on the movie directors to do the novel justice. When the novel becomes a movie, it sets a concrete image of who the characters look like. A great example is _Twilight_ (that is my underline), for me, Bella will forever look like Kristen Stewart even though that is not who I originally imagined. I think that in most occasions, novels are made into movies because they are recognized as a great pieces of work that should be seen by everybody. I do think that movie directors get too carried away with their creative license occasionally and miss the meaning of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI love how you stated, "When a novel becomes a movie, it sets a concrete image of who the characters look like." Going off of the example that you used, this was very accurate. I did not start reading the _Twilight_ series until after the first movie came out. Although I had not watched the movie before I read the book, I had still seen who Hollywood media placed as the characters. It was somewhat difficult to make my own imagery of the characters while reading the story. I also agree with what you said about directors' "creative license." Directors often have wild imaginations, which they do need for their job, but it can get them in trouble when it comes to bringing an already told story to life. They must learn how to make adaptions according to work that the public has already had access to, which gives them little space to move around. Some additions and subtractions make sense, but many will go too far when it comes to making the novel with their personal twist.
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ReplyDeleteI think that it's alright for movies to be adaptations of books. A movie is the work of a director; it is a piece of art created by an artist (or, multiple artists). A book is the work of an author, and it is also a piece of art. So… movies and books are both pieces of work, made (a lot of the time) by different people. Because of this, their works are going to be different! A director may imagine a book to be a certain way; a way different than those who have also read the book. He or she will create the movie with the ideas of how they imagine the story, and that will cause a lot of commotion because people a lot of the time want creations, movies adapted from books in particular, to be how they want it. "They should have made the movie this way instead of how they did it this way."
ReplyDeleteEveryone will have their own opinions on movie adaptations of books, but books and movies are two different arts, and therefore, will be different. Everyone has their own imagination and will imagine stories differently, movie directors included. And because everyone has the freedom to their own imagination, it's alright for artists to present works of art based off of their own interpretation of other works of art.
Mr. Pace,
DeleteFor some reason I could not get onto my school's e-mail account. The password that Ms. Thomas gave me has not worked, so I am using my own Gmail account temporarily.
Virginia, I love how you pointed out that novels and movies are "two different arts, and therefore, will be different." I had never though of it from that perspective. I also liked that you stated that "everyone has the freedom to their own imagination." It is very similar to what I said in my post. I think that every individual has their own ideas. That is what makes it so controversial when a movie comes out. It will not be exactly what someone imaged because we are all unique individuals. I do not think that this is a bad thing though. It is good for people to express their opinions.
DeleteI agree with you that it is hard to please the author and the books readers because the movie director is a different person. Each person has their own idea of what the movie should be like after reading the book. The easiest people to please with the movie adaptations are the people who have not read the book. There are just so many viewpoints to please. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and has different thoughts about the same thing. Someone may say something is "cool" while others might call it "dumb." Also in many cases movies also have to appeal to the international market.
DeleteI like how you compared both the book and the movies to works of art. This allows us to look at both of the works separately and not as one unit. We are able to realize that the movie is a different interpretation of the story outlined by the book. I do agree that it is hard to please all of the movie viewers, because they have all come up with their own ideas about the story. However, I do think that turning a book into a movie draws all the people who have read the book.
DeletePeople often have a hard time converting a popular book into a movie. Often times, the movie lover likes the movie that is based on a book. People that have read the book are usually quite disappointed because they don't follow the plot exactly. I think that most of these movies are created just for the sole purpose of making money. I believe that making a classic book can help many people familiarize themselves with the book. I imagine it must be very hard to have to pick and choose what should and should not be in a movie in order to make most people happy with the movie. This can be much easier if not as many people have read the book or have heard of it. This also has a negative effect on the sales that the movie makes though.
ReplyDeleteI agree that making a book into a movie is solely for the money. Producers wait to see what books are the most popular, and assume that they can make quick money on the movies. It's their goal to put what's most important into the movie to make it great. What they don't realize though is that it's the little details that often make the book, therefore, they make the movie.
DeleteColton, I agree with you that popular books can be made into movies just to make money. When a movie adaptation of a book is solely made to make money, either for the author or director or both, the fans of the book will usually be able to tell. In this bustling society, people scramble to make money in any way possible. Movie adaptations of popular books are a great area to target for directors seeking money and fame. You made a great point also about choosing what to leave out and put in a movie that is being made from a book. Not everyone is going to be pleased with the movie, no matter what the directors and movie makers do.
DeleteI think that I would be disappointed if books weren't adapted into movies. When I go to the theater to see a book I love I'm excited because they made something I loved into movie. It proves an internal point that the book was that fantastic. That's the happy part. It is disappointing when a movie doesn't turn out like the book. However, I 'd be more disappointed if they never tried. I think that it's worth transforming books into movies, even if it's a disappointment, because there will always be that one transformation they do right.
ReplyDeleteI like to watch movies, and I like to read books. When an adaptation of a book comes out as a movie, I am generally excited. I enjoy seeing how the directors changed the book into a film version. However, I do think that if the movie and the book share the same name, then the movie should be an accurate representation of said book. Movies that alter too much from the book they were molded after degrade the quality of that book. Also, because more people are more likely to see the movie as opposed to reading the book, the author does not get the credit they deserve as a creative thinker.
ReplyDeleteSo many people would rather just see the movie when it comes out as opposed to actually reading the novel. They would rather spend three hours at the theaters than spend a day or two actually enjoying the novel in it's entirety. They give the credit to the producers of the movies for the part they gathered from the adaptation instead of the author of the novel(s) and their ideas.
DeleteMovie directors have to make the adaptation of the novel exciting. They don't want to add every single little detail from the novel into the movie, because those that have not read the book could potentially find it boring. Also, if every page of a novel was adapted, many larger novels would end up being extremely long movies. Even with novels being split into multiple movies recently, directors still add as much action as they can into the movie that may not have been in the novel. Movie adaptations of famous novels allow those that would not normally read the novel to see and appreciate the part of the novel that was adapted. Books allow the writer to express everything, in their mind, that goes on in their story. Movies are limited in what they can do with time, so producers attempt to make the most of the time given.
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