Topic ID: 15000
|
View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Cpt. Smurf
Victory is mine!
Master of the Forum
Gender: 
Age: 16
Joined: 04 Dec 2006
Posts: 1760
Reviews: 79
Country: UK
312 Points
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:38 pm Post subject: Book to Screen...? |
 |
|
Here's a question that just hit me while thinking of the imminent release of The Golden Compass in December:
You're a successful writer. Your book has become the next Harry Potter/Da Vinci Code bestseller. The movie studios are begging to transfer it from paper to film. What do you do?
It just got me wondering, if you were the next big thing, would you want to allow the book to be adapted for the silver screen, or would you consider that an insult, or something that would cause the work to lose it's original meaning? |
_________________
There's always been a lot of tension between Lois and me, and it's not so much that I want to kill her, it's just, I want her to not be alive anymore.
~Stewie Griffin |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
McMourning
Juggling school, work, and writing
Novelist
Gender: 
Age: 14
Joined: 20 Feb 2007
Posts: 356
Reviews: 42
300 Points
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm not sure if this is truly what you're looking for, but...
I'd take it as a compliment that someone wants my work to be a movie. Think about it...only great works become movies. The people who pick which become movies know what they're looking for, and know what will be popular. They are not going to pick a lame story. They're going to pick something with the "wow-power." So, if they picked my work, it means they think my work can wow audiences. |
_________________
"One voice can be stronger than a thousand voices, " Captain Kathryn Janeway |
|
| Back to top |
|
Merlin34
Novice
Gender:
Age: 15
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 13
Reviews: 0
300 Points
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I would say yes, but I would want to oversee the production so they don't make it too far derived from the book! |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Writersdomain
Oh, YAY!
Master of the Forum
Gender:
Age: 17
Joined: 01 Mar 2005
Posts: 1376
Reviews: 441
Country: Oceanstone
300 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I have often thought of this and wondered what I would do.
Honestly, I don't think I would want anything of mine made into a movei unless I positively trusted the director. Authors rarely supervise the movies made about their books, and I would rather anything of mine not be known publicly than have to watch my story slaughtered and twisted upon the screen.
So, no. |
_________________
~ WD
"For I shall make thy screams a song
And thy sorrows a fortress
Thy tears a shield of glass."
~MatteSPEW can see you! |
|
| Back to top |
|
TL G-Wooster
one-eyed, one-horned flyin' purple people eater
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 16
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
Posts: 3426
Reviews: 809
Country: in Bavaria where the sheep seldom wear spectacles
504 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'd love it! Especially if it was Peter Jackson, or George Lucas directing! I might take a chance with Jerry Bruckheimer, cos he did Pirates of the Caribbean, which was fab - but on the other hand, he did Pearl Harbour, which was dreadful.
I'd like to have a thing written into the contract (alongside the payment for £90000000000000  ) that said they wouldn't vary too far from the original storyline, allowing dramatic embellishments. I think that could happen - after all, Arthur Lowe had a thing in his contract that said he'd never be seen without his trousers, so anything's possible!
-ShadowTwit |
_________________
Doc Hopper: Remember, Max, we're looking for a frog and a bear in a tan Studebaker.
Max: Gee, Doc, all I can see is a frog and a bear in a rainbow-colored Studebaker |
|
| Back to top |
|
Sureal
(i are RITER!!!)
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 19
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 3042
Reviews: 447
Country: England
327 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 10:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Sure. At the very least, the money you make from it - especially if the movie's successful - will allow you to write full time if aren't already.
I wouldn't mind having a bit of a say in the movie, but as I don't really know how to make one, it's no big loss if I don't.
I wouldn't want them to stick exactly to the book though (I can hear a bunch of people gasping ). Whatever I write, I write for the medium of a novel. Changes would HAVE to be made for it to be a decent movie. |
_________________
The Broken.
-- Chapter One
-- Chapter Two |
|
| Back to top |
|
Fan
*Insert random comment*
Speaker of the Forum
Gender:
Age: 16
Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Posts: 580
Reviews: 159
Country: Britain. Yep, that thing that sits on top of Europe
300 Points
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 12:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I would love for one of my books to become a movie because it means that someone big out there thinks that people will like it. However, I wouldn't like it if it swrved heavily off the path of my orginal story. And I'm not sure it would work with longer pieces due to the fact most movies last only 100-40 mins which might make the movie nothing more then a this happens, then this happens sort of movie. It might lose the magic of the story. |
_________________
"A short journey completed is better than a long journey started but never finished."
Was Fantasyartist, changed to Fan. Now comes four syllables shorter! |
|
| Back to top |
|
Meep
♥less
Master of the Forum
Gender:
Age: 19
Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Posts: 1852
Reviews: 209
Country: Nutopia
300 Points
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 1:49 am Post subject: |
|
|
Actually, it would probably result in violence. First, I'm the pickiest person you'll ever meet, so, even assuming I did allow it, I would constantly be at odds with everyone involved in production. Plus, I'd be afraid of pissing off my fans with a bad adaption. I've been let down too many times.
Second, where are they going to find actors who really do look just like Glory, Mariel, Savior, Athanasius, Ian & Michtell? They're not, so I'd probably veto everyone who auditioned. ("No, no, no, maybe - wait, never mind, no...")
Plus, if it was already a phenomenal bestseller, it's not like I'd be hurting for cash.  |
_________________
「… the closer you get to the light // the greater your shadow becomes …」
» temporary hiatus while I go back to school and get settled in again
» enter the "fangirl project" competition & win fabulous(?) prizes! |
|
| Back to top |
|
Goldenheart
Aure entuluva
Novelist
Gender:
Age: 16
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 330
Reviews: 56
Country: Somewhere 'twixt the ceiling and the floor
300 Points
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 2:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
I don't know. I'd be torn between the two, most likely.
First of all, I am distressed over the growing number of people who refuse to read books because they can just watch the movie. I'd want people to experience the book. However, I find that a movie would let more people know the story. I don't know....
I have just succeeded in saying exactly nothing. Oh well.
Goldie |
_________________
"I hate the word 'Truce'. It means 'Fun's over'." ~My little sister |
|
| Back to top |
|
JCobsesed
*Ask me for critiques!
Speaker of the Forum
Gender:
Age: 17
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 976
Reviews: 456
Country: In the depths of insomnia
300 Points
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 4:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I don't know if I would like that. Especially if they butchered the story beyond repair. But depending on the type of story and who was working on it. Stuff like that. But if I knew that they were going to F it up. Then I wouldn't let them. Though it would be cool to have somebody think your story was that amazing. Plus your sales would go through the roof. |
_________________
God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.
-Voltaire |
|
| Back to top |
|
Areida
Not-So-Official But Totally Essential Princess Ari
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 18
Joined: 14 Feb 2005
Posts: 4799
Reviews: 697
Country: no, not really. I don't have a hick accent or anything.
300 Points
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 9:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I think I would. I agree with Sureal; changes would have to be made because screenplay is a different medium than the novel, so for it to be a good movie, it'd have to differ, at least in some degree, from the original book.
Plus I find it slightly irritating when authors get really snobbish about their works, like certain people who won't allow fanfiction to be written about their books. It's a compliment, geez!  |
_________________
Got YWS? |
|
| Back to top |
|
Roaming Shadow
Novelist
Gender:
Age: 20
Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 362
Reviews: 50
Country: Wherever my stories take place.
300 Points
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 10:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I would do it, under certain conditions.
A) I oversaw the project in some fashion (not as much as a director, but I want to be informed)
B) I had a good say as to the direction of the project
Those are the two main things. Sure, I know parts would be cut out and others altered, but I would have an impact as to what is cut and how scenes are altered. In the end, it's the directors call, but I need to know that my word has some weight to it. Adaptations have tried and failed in the past, both game and book, and I do not want my work to be hashed. The Lord Of the Rings was a good adaptation, even if quite a bit needed to be cut or fiddled with; Eragon could have been done much better, though I've seen worse; I-Robot was good, but that wasn't based off a singe story (as Asimov's book of the same title was a collection of shorts), and I haven't read the book; as far as I can tell the original spider-man movie was a good adaptation; and that's all I can think of.
So, yeah, I would enjoy seeing my book made into a movie, as long as my vision of the work and the directors vision are close enough to be at least compatible |
_________________
"In a fair fight I would have killed you."
"Well that's not much insentive for me to fight fair now is it?" (PotC: TCftBP)
I'm probably dead already, but that doesn't mean I can't take a few scumbags with me. ~Jak |
|
| Back to top |
|
HeadInTheClouds
a touch of destiny
Novelist
Gender:
Age: 15
Joined: 06 Jan 2007
Posts: 381
Reviews: 34
Country: USA
300 Points
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
| McMourning wrote: |
| Think about it...only great works become movies. |
Well, not all the time. coughcougheragoncoughcough.
I think it would be awesome to have a book of mine made into a movie, but i'd only let a director I trusted do it. And i'd want to overview most of it and help cast the actors. I'd probably annoy the heck out of everyone. |
_________________
If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad. ~Lord Byron
Captain Jack is back May 25! |
|
| Back to top |
|
Cpt. Smurf
Victory is mine!
Master of the Forum
Gender:
Age: 16
Joined: 04 Dec 2006
Posts: 1760
Reviews: 79
Country: UK
312 Points
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Areida wrote: |
| Plus I find it slightly irritating when authors get really snobbish about their works, like certain people who won't allow fanfiction to be written about their books. It's a compliment, geez! |
I totally agree with that. Personally, I'd take it as a great compliment that someone would want to take the characters and world that I myself have created, and try to re-create my style and everything. I don't understand authors who have forums such as this one delete all fan-fics that use their stuff.
| HeadInTheClouds wrote: |
| McMourning wrote: |
Think about it...only great works become movies. |
Well, not all the time. coughcougheragoncoughcough. |
Lol, I was thinking exactly the same thing!
Personally, I would be quite pleased if someone wanted to turn my book into a movie. I would, however, like to look at the final script before shooting begins, to oversee just the plot aspect, in case there were completely absurd changes (we've seen how way-off Da Vinci Code went towards the end) and to make sure that, in the case of a series that hadn't been completed yet (eg. Harry Potter) they didn't change vital plot elements. Otherwise, I'd be quite happy to let them do with it as they want, as long as they stuck true to the characters. And, also, I can't deny the royalties would be fun! |
_________________
There's always been a lot of tension between Lois and me, and it's not so much that I want to kill her, it's just, I want her to not be alive anymore.
~Stewie Griffin |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
nerdpony
Novice
Gender:
Age: 18
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 10
Reviews: 0
Country: die vereinigten staaten
300 Points
|
| Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 1:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'd be fine with it, as long as I'd have some degree of control over the finished process and production process.
JKR, for example, reads over the screenplay before it's filmed so she can make sure nothing will screw up stuff to be revealed in future books, etc. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
