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From Prose to Script: A Workshop on Adaptation UPDATED TIME



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Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:27 pm
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Elinor says...



Storytelling has been around since the beginning of humanity. We're all on this website because we've bit by the bug in some way or another, and we all have different means of satisfying it. We may write short stories, poems, song lyrics, collaborate on storybooks, or dabble in multiple genres. We all have our favorite books, stories that inspired us to start writing ourselves. And more often then not, they're adapted into other mediums, commonly movies, but also radio plays and TV shows. And often we're often disappointed - "the book is always better" is a phrase that we've often heard and maybe even uttered ourselves.

But they can also be done very effectively! With this workshop, I want to take an hour and a half and explore what it's like to bring two classic stories, namely, To Kill a Mockingbird and Farenheit 451 to life in two different mediums - radio and movies. We will do this by discussing an excerpt from each book and looking at their adaptions - Mockingbird's 1962 film and Farenheit's 1980 BBC radio drama adaptation.

Note: The passage from TKaM and the subsequent scene from the film contain mature themes and language. Please keep this in mind.

In doing so, I'm hoping we will walk away with a better understanding of how these stories are told, because it can be really fun to write them! I just graduated from film school, and my studies have definitely given me appreciation for adaptations, since it takes a lot of finesse to do right.

This workshop will occur on . Note: this will automatically show your time zone!

If you would like to attend, please reserve a space using the template below.

Code: Select all
[b]1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?[/b]
[b]2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?[/b]
[b]3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones?[/b]
[b]4. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?[/b]


Slots

Note: there are ten slots currently, but I can add more pending interest.

Spoiler! :

1. @TheSilverFox
2. @BlueAfrica
3. @Steggy
4. @bluewaterlily
5. @soundofmind
6. @Iggy
7. @DemonGoddess
8. @belvedere
9.
10


Let me know if there are any questions! I'm excited. :D
Last edited by Elinor on Sat Jan 06, 2018 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:27 pm
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BluesClues says...



Sure, why not? As long as it's not too terribly late in the evening on January 27th (my time), since I work early on Sunday mornings.

1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?
Probably more casual. I like to go to the movies fairly frequently, but I'm definitely not a movie buff. At home I'm more likely to keep watching movies I've seen before so that I can do computer stuff while I listen.

2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?

Prepare for a long one.

Spoiler! :
I'm always excited about it, but it almost always ends up being disappointing for some reason or another. I get that some changes are necessary - like cutting or combining characters - because not everything works as well in film as it does in a book, but oftentimes the changes seem to have no discernible reason for being made, unless it's to "make things more exciting." But I'm always kind of like, why did you bother adapting the book if you didn't already think it was exciting? Plus the changes are sometimes not as well-written as the adapted parts anyway.

(Hobbit, I'm looking at you.)

Like Howl's Moving Castle is a brilliant movie despite being incredibly different from the book, which I love, and the same goes for Fried Green Tomatoes. But several changes from Harry Potter annoy me - most notably when the Death Eaters come to the Burrow in Half-Blood Prince for literally no reason and then set the house on fire but don't even try to hurt/kill/capture anyone and then the Weasleys are just standing there staring at it like they're not wizards who could put out the fire no problem. Like what is even the point of that scene? It's out of character for everyone involved and serves no narrative purpose.

And then there's the Hobbit, but let's not even get me started on extra and poorly-written plot lines in those movies.

(I'm fine with the extra stuff about the Necromancer, which is what Gandalf was up to when he wasn't with the group anyway, and I know that helps tie them better to LotR. It's all the other extra plot lines: Azog, Bolg, the ridiculous love triangle. I think the writers of those movies are fantastic adapters but sucky writers, which is why all the scenes they pulled from the book are perfect, even with whatever changes they made, but all the extras are cliched or wooden or both.)


3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones?
I've listened to one episode of Welcome to Night Vale and the BBC radio broadcast of Good Omens, which was excellent. It's not my preferred medium, however. I like having visuals (but I don't like watching things online, which is the main reason I don't do podcasts). I could probably listen to them more while cleaning the house or something, but I'm more likely to turn on some music.

3. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?
I was in drama club in high school, so I did a fair amount of script-reading for that. We read the Crucible in school, as well as some Shakespeare and some Greek plays and some Tennessee Williams, and I've read Death of a Salesman on my own.

All plays, in other words.

I did once write a (too short, not very good) script for Script Frenzy back when they were still running that. Think Haunted Mansion if it was vampires instead of ghosts and darker and not for kids.

(Also not as good, but shhh.)

That was actually an idea I had for a book that for some reason I decided would work better as a script.
  





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Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:30 pm
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TheSilverFox says...



1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?
I watch a movie about every week or so, but I'm definitely more casual. Well, these days, I spend at least some time thinking about the movie itself and its qualities while I'm watching it. Still, I'm more likely to just sit back and enjoy the movie, so I'd definitely call myself a casual movie watcher.

2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?
I'd have a combination of enthusiasm at seeing my favorite book on the screen and a foreboding impression that the movie can't live up to my impressions of the book (or will vary too sharply). My inexperience with radio plays or podcasts means that I'd be curious if one of my favorite books were adapted into either format, but I wouldn't be sure what to think of it.

3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones?
I've probably listened to some podcasts (on Lumi's recommendation), but I can't remember which ones. They were interesting to listen to, though.

4. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?

I believe I adapted a short story to a play script format for one of my English classes. I've also read some play scripts, as well as the script for The Twilight Zone episode The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. Otherwise, I don't have any other experience with scripts.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





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Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:08 pm
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Steggy says...



1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?

My movie watching habits are kind of depend on if I'm feeling like a movie. I usually go with friends or my family but I haven't been to the movies in a while. Though, during summer break, I find myself binge-watching classical romance movies to pass the time. So, I guess, I'm kind of in between?

2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?

I feel that if it were being put into movie form, then I would know that it would most likely have some errors and probably begin to think about whether or not if they present the movie and if it were following the classic plot lines that are in the book. But, if it were put into a radio play or podcast, I think it would be interested in listening to the characters instead of watching. That way I can use my imagination to see how the characters look like, according to me, and not someone else.

3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones? Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?

In class, I listened to two radio plays, The Shadow and The War of the Worlds. I personally liked The Shadow more because I believe, it was the first of it's kind to be presented to the public. And in class, we took more in-depth notes about what was being presented.

As for scripts, I was in a play once. Though, I only did get a small role in it. And in another class, we read the script (and book) for Fahrenheit 451 and as we did for the podcast, took notes about that. Also, I horribly tried to write a script just for fun - it didn't turn out the way I wanted it and ended up discarding it.
You are like a blacksmith's hammer, you always forge people's happiness until the coal heating up the forge turns to ash. Then you just refuel it and start over. -Persistence (2015)

You have so much potential and love bursting in you. -Omnom
  





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Fri Jan 05, 2018 3:35 am
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bluewaterlily says...



1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?

I'd say I'm more of a casual movie watcher. I usually only see one or two of the newest movies coming out every year so I usually don't go to the theater more than once or twice and I watch movies on occasion, probably most of them being rom/com or fantasy like all the live action Disney remakes or fairytale retellings which I'm a sucker for. I might not be a movie buff but the movies I have watched have taught me a few things.
2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?
Honestly, I'd probably feel dread like the terminal disappointment I felt after seeing my favorite series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians adapted to film. I know that a movie adaptation has to condense a 300+ or more page story into two hours or less of screen time but some movie adaptations like Percy Jackson and Eragon make me want to cringe. I applaud the Divergent adaptation--another of my favorites-- for being fairly accurate and pretty good though. The Hunger Games wasn't bad either.
3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones?
I've listened to a couple podcasts like Move Forward from the American Physical Therapy Association

3. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?
I had to adapt two stories I've written to a script for an English class, although this was in middle school when I just started writing so I doubt this counts. I've also had to read several scripts for English classes over the years and have casually read scripts online of my favorite movies and TV episodes over the years.
"A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language." - W.H. Auden
  





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Fri Jan 05, 2018 7:55 pm
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Slobst says...



I'd be keen!

1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?
I'd say I'm somewhere in between. I don't watch a lot of movies necessarily but when I do sit down to watch a movie, I spend a lot of time analysing what I liked or didn't like as I have a big passion in storytelling so I try to learn from the pitfalls of other movies.


2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?
I'd feel instant dread and not because movies made from books are always bad but because there is always just "something missing" and that something is often extra detail which a movie just can't go into sometimes (or sometimes, like the Hobbit, the runtime is extended with pointless scenes that don't pay-off to anything)

However, I could probably get on board with a podcast adaption. I've never heard of any podcast based on a book so this format could maybe work. I also just really love podcasts


3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones?
I listen to a lot of podcasts. It's pretty much the main way I wind down in the afternoons. I listen to shows like Hello Internet, Dear Hank and John, Serial, Beautiful Anonymous, Heaven's Gate and Criminal
Radio shows though? Not so much, only on long road trips

3. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?
Yeah I've mostly written and read plays (as I do Theatre/Drama as a subject at school) and in the last year gotten into writing and reading screenplays.
  





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Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:35 pm
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soundofmind says...



1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?
I'm definitely a casual movie watcher, and when I do watch movies, I have a tendency to either wayyy over-analyze it (and I don't end up enjoying it) or I don't analyze it at all and just make fun of it.

Uhh clearly I have a problem. There are few movies I genuinely enjoy to the fullest.

2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?
If I learned it was going to be getting a movie or a podcast or something, I would be worried that it would be mediocre or butchered.

3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones?
Omg... I haven't. I'm so inexperienced I'm... embarrassed.

3. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?
Hi, I know nothing. The last script I wrote was in sixth grade and it was some Toy Story rip off, but I would like to get better at scripting. I think it would be really fun.
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Sat Jan 06, 2018 8:08 pm
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Iggy says...



1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between? Omg. I love watching movies and tv. I love. love. love. it. I suck because I do that more than I read most days, but yeah. I would consider myself.. somewhere in between? I mean, I care about stuff like the Oscars and Emmys but I don't care enough to watch if you feel me LOL

2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast? I would cry, partially out of fear and partially out of joy LOL they already turned two of my favorite books into movies - If I Stay by Gayle Forman and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Both were good but not great, if you feel me. Good actors, but idk I feel like they didn't quite capture everything great about the novels, like the emotions and character personalities. I'm picky haha. I'm not sure how I would feel about radio play or podcast. I'd listen, but I wouldn't get my hopes up, to be honest.

3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones? I have not.

4. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio? Nope, not really. I tried to write a script once. It was a flop. <-<
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Wed Jan 10, 2018 1:32 am
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zaminami says...



1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?

mOVIE BUFF! Whenever I start, I can't stop. Like, watching all of the LotRs type of not stopping.

2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?

O.o if Magnus Chase had a movie adaptation, I would find out when the tickets are available and buy them at exactly the first second I can, at the best seats -- the back. Then I'll buy the CD or whatever and watch it if it doesn't completely suck.

3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones?

I don't listen much, but Desert Bluffs, Welcome to Night Vale, and various crime ones are my cup of tea hot cocoa.

4. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?

I am currently writing a horror script but I need to find it in the mess I call my google drive :P
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Sun Jan 21, 2018 11:58 am
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belvedere says...



1. How would you describe your movie watching habits? Are you more of a casual movie watcher, a movie buff, or somewhere in between?

Casual movie watcher! I've always been a bit of a restless person when I'm not actively pursuing my interests, so I'm not really good at watching movies unless it's while multitasking -- and when I do, I have a tendency to overanalyse or get super invested, and then feel disoriented afterwards. However, I have an extensive to-watch list that I'm very excited about.

2. How would you feel if it was announced tomorrow that your favorite book was getting a movie adaptation? If this is something that's already happened for you, how did it feel? What about if it was adapted as a radio play or podcast?

Thrilled, but apprehensive. I admit I've always been more of a 'the book's better' sort of person, for a lot of the usual reasons. Back in my PJ phase years ago, I think the feeling was quite obvious and enduring; more recently, I didn't have particularly strong feelings about the LOTR adaptations, but then again I still (still, awful of me) haven't gotten around to finishing the series. In general, I find that books lose a bit of their magic onscreen -- the emotional connections and personal headcanons I cultivated throughout the reading process are subtly replaced, or at worst destroyed, by the new interpretations and casting decisions, and I feel that the book becomes a little less mine. Of course, that is also a consequence of giving life to a new entity, which would be fine if the final product could match the quality of the book itself. I think I'm more comfortable just accepting a book and its movie adaptation as siblings, rather than works that feed into each other.

Broadly speaking, I prefer animated adaptations -- like BlueAfrica mentioned, Howl's Moving Castle comes to mind. I like that the animated film is imbued with a bit of the artists' own styles and new colour, which in part distances the book from the movie as a separate identity, and also reimagines some of the scenes far more convincingly (and beautifully!) than CGI.

3. Have you ever listened to any radio plays or podcasts? If so, which ones?

Yes, but they've been pretty scattered and I just listen in if it piques my interest. This American Life is one, and some others include a few for French class, and Dear Sugars. I haven't listened to any radio plays, though.

4. Do you have any experience with reading or writing scripts, whether it be for plays, movies or radio?

Very limited experience; I've taken some production roles and read scripts then, as well as plays for classes, and I tried to adapt a scene of a novel into a screenplay once (not terribly successfully, I think). Lately I've been looking into the way a work interacts with different mediums and it has become very fascinating to me, though I confess I'm often more interested in the script of a movie than the movie itself.
  





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Sun Jan 21, 2018 6:53 pm
Slobst says...



Heya. Just realised that the 27th really won't work for me. So I'm sadly not going to be able to make it. So sorry! :(
  





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Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:35 am
zaminami says...



Why does this appear as not existing to me in my notifications...??
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Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:55 am
Elinor says...



It's because it's a global, @DemonGoddess. You have to go to any forum to be able to access the post. Not sure why it's like that.

@Slobst -> No problem. Thanks for keeping me posted. If you'd like, I'll keep the WFP up and I can send it when it's done.

All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.

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Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:49 am
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Elinor says...



Everyone who signed up -> please check your PMs.

Everyone else -> We are pushing this so if you're interested in joining you are certainly still able to!

All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.

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Thu Jan 25, 2018 10:42 am
Mea says...



Can I ask what the tentative new time is? If it's a few hours later in the day, I could possibly sign up depending on the day of the week. The original time was 4 am my time, which is just too early for me. I'd love to sign up if the time works. :)
We're all stories in the end.

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