Adaption Assignment: Choose a book, film, or play that you think would make a good contemporary film.

Description

I suggested God Father, but up to you.

Adaptation assignment – Choose from 1 of the 2 options for your Analysis

This assignment is a continuation of your “prep for adaptation” and is worth 120 points. Please address the questions, and your paper should be 2-3 pages in length.

Option 1

Choose a book, film, or play that you think would make a good contemporary film.

Tell me about it:

1. Who are the characters and what are their unique attributes (background, goal, role in the story). Remember, you can combine characters from source material, invent new characters, or drop people from the story. List the main characters with a few sentences describing him/her. If you added, combined, or removed characters from the original, let me know why. (40 points)

2. What is your story?  Beginning, middle end. Include the goal your protagonist is pursuing, obstacles, allies, mentor (if there is one) and antagonist. What is your character’s arc? (40 points)

3. Why will this adaptation be a good film? Explain visual aspects of the film, big events that occur in the story that make for good cinema, and why is this film relevant in today’s society (especially important if you choose a remake)? (40 points)

Option 2

Think of a real-life character with a story that lends itself to cinema. “Just Mercy” is an example of a story that revolves around a civil rights lawyer and a prisoner on death row who he exonerated. There are many examples in film of real-life characters – Ghandi, Malcolm X, Bohemian Rhapsody, Judy, etc.

In choosing your character, tell me why this would make a good film using the following criteria:

1) Is there a singular event with a beginning, middle and, end that you can structure the story around? ie. Bohemian Rhapsody opened and closed on Live Aid. Judy follows Garland at the end of her life looking back. What is the event you’ll cover in your film, specifically the beginning, middle and end.  (40 points)

2)Why is it cinematic/visual – why is it a bigger story than a novel or podcast. What are we seeing that’s important and/or compelling. Describe the shooting and editing style of your film using descriptions and/or comparisons to other films. (40 points)

3) Why is it current? How does this pertain to current society. What current issues make this a film that appeals to the “universal consciousness” at this particular point in time, i.e. stories in the news, highlighting societal issues, bringing a spotlight to an important issue, or it can be as simple as providing humor or escape. (40 points)