Experimental Films: Fiction Adaptation

We were all given the chance to have a an experimental shoot with all of the equipment. The end result was planned to be 2 to 3 minutes and was to have the overall theme of our choosing. As my own final project will be about somebody trying to communicate with someone who isn't fully there with little success, I chose to revolve my experimental film around the feeling of despair.

When it came to filming, I wanted to use some of the techniques and experimental shots that I had tried out previously during the first day of fiction adaptation. The most noticeable is the shots that crash zooms onto on elf my character's face.

The set-up was one character, standing, looking at another who was sat on a chair. The character on the chair has a distant look and is paying no attention to the person stood in front of him, almost as if he isn't even there. For this part, I used a two-shot of the person stood up looking at the his friend while the other is looking off to the distance. I zoom this out very slightly which is something I hope to use in my film, though I should use a tripod then as I just used hand-held here and it wasn't as stable as I'd have liked.

Other experimental shots of note included where certain shots that are starting to turn upside-down, symbolising how the character's life is turning up-side down. Another shot which I tried extensively to perfect during the test shoots was used where I would crash zoom onto a character's face. I feel theses shots worked to great effect.

During the editing process, I found that I had to prolong a few shots as the film would only have lasted just under the required length of two minutes otherwise. The result of this meant that sometimes the duration of the shots felt too long.

I decided not to use any of the captured sound and instead tried to create my own sound-scape. As with the last few projects, I decided to create my own music (though this was not very developed and was a rushed job). However, I feel that the subtle piano worked well to reflect the theme of despair. I even repeated one of the piano pieces but added reverb to create a more horror themed aesthetic. Other sounds were taken from the site, 'Free-sound'. These included the sounds of wind to reflect on the emptiness of the character's mind as well as sounds that emphasise the movement of the camera.

A certain sound effect was that of the sound of bees. I had previously listened to a song by Pink Floyd called 'Hey You'. the song is about somebody whose mind is slowly eroding. It is described in the song as 'The worms got into his brain'. The sound of the worms, however, resembles the sound of bees which had the effect of moving between ear to ear, feeling like it was trying to get into the listener's head. I tried to emulate this.

Here is the final video:

Montage- Fiction Adaptation

Montage 'The cut is a magic trick'.

Kuleshov Effect
-Putting Shots before another to change meaning/ combining two things to create a third meaning.
-Audience creating their own meaning through what is seen.
Creative Geography
-Two locations filmed then put together to make it look like they are in the same space.

Intellectual Montage
-The coming together of two things creates a third meaning. Shots of a man, then a bowl of soup equals hunger.

Tonal Montage
-A series of tonally connected shots, building up an impression with a tonal continuity.

Metric Montage
-Constant rhythm/ duration of edits.

Rhythmic Montage
-Matches the cuts to music.

Overtonal Montage
-Combination of tonal, rhythmic and metric montage.

Draft Project Proposal

Andrew Ayres Project Proposal:

I have chosen to adapt this sonnet:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
By Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep: I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starshine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry:
I am not there; I did not die.

The adaptation will tackle the concept of somebody mourning the loss of their friend who has become disenchanted with society and has cut themselves off the people around him. Therefore, they are mourning who they once were as they are not truly there anymore.

Summary:

Scene 1: 

(Big, empty room except for a chair) 

We see someone watching our protagonist. The protagonist is sat in a chair with their eyes adrift, completely ignoring their girlfriend in front of them. She tries to get their attention but to no avail.

Scene 2: 

(Flashback, A living room) 

A child, a younger version of our protagonist, is being lectured by their mother, telling them that they will not amount to anything. She is becoming over-protective of her child and we visually see our protagonist becoming shrouded by protecting hands.

Scene 3: 

(Various clips) 

Various clips of protagonist growing up. School, Girlfriend. Protagonist is not good at socialising with his girlfriend.

Scene 4: 

(In a local park) 

Girlfriend is seen having a friendly conversation with another man. Protagonist gets jealous, jumps to the wrong conclusions. Various voices are heard of people from their past reciting various vicious comment about him.

Scene 5:

(Bathroom) 

Protagonist is seen falling into a bath. While he is under- visually losing touch with reality.

Scene 6: 

(Back to the empty room) 

Girlfriend is still trying to talk to protagonist in the chair. Still no response.

Scene 7: 

(Graveyard) 

Transitions to girlfriend standing by a grave- metaphor for her loss.

Visual Statement:

Picture:
The colour palette will include a lot of red as the protagonist descends into madness, trying to visualise what it is like to be in the mind of someone who is becoming more cut-off from the rest of the world.

Camera angles will be more experimental with the camera even turning upside down to visualise the character’s life turning upside down. I want to give the project a ‘B-Movie’ type of look.

Sound:
I have already experimented with some music myself. I have used some synthesisers and have managed to create some foreboding sounds to reflection the times of loss and madness. I wanted to give the project this sound to create my own type of creative style.
There will also be various sound effects to reflect on the themes of the subject matter as well.

Actors:
I have already been in touch with an actor who has willingly agreed to star as the protagonist. I just need to find others to fill in the rest of the roles. The actor is somebody I know personally and I know they have a lot of acting experience.

Lecture: Classic Adaptation

CLASSICS IN FICTION ADAPTATION:

What is the appeal of the Classics?
-Adaptations of Classics can be seen as an exercise in ‘nostalgia’ – “Adaptations of classic texts enable contemporary audiences to re- visit the past; as such they can be situated within the broader context of postmodern appropriations of history” (Carrol,
R: 2009: 2)
-Continued appeal of classics means they are frequently part of TV schedules...

Dickens on film
-Most adapted author of all time.
-All his novels have been adapted to some degree.
-There are around 100 silent films made of his works, of which around a third still exist.
-His publications featured illustrations of his stories which again brought them to a wider audience and have subsequently given adaptors a guiding hand in bringing the stories to the screen.

Dickens – mass appeal
-Dickens original works were always intended for ‘the masses’.
-It’s literary form has become more elitist in recent times, however the screen adaptations continue to appeal to a wide audience, thus continuing Dickens’ original aim.
-There were a number of events to commemorate the bi- centenary in 2012, including a Film and Tv Retrospective at the BFI and a raft of new adaptations for the big and small screen –
-Great Expectations and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Authors Adapted
-Dickens has become a ‘character’ to be utilised in drama and his ideas taken into new series (e.g. Carlton’s ‘Micawber’ 2001).
-Dickens popular source for TV adaptations.

Classics & Public Service Role
-Broadcasters may utilise classics as a source of adaptation to satisfy the public service remit.
-“[recent TV adaptations are a ] combination of classic author and innovative style [which is increasingly important] ... in a television environment in which the role of public service broadcasting is...questioned and under threat” (Carroll, R:2009:113)
-But with this comes an additional pressure – the need to be ‘faithful’ as
-“there are often pre-existing expectations and knowledge which need to be negotiated, while at the same time .... [keeping] the material fresh and meaningful...the existence of multiple versions...makes it possible to trace changes and transformations over time” (Caroll, R : 2009:111)

Dickens - ‘Serials’ & ‘Soaps’
-Dickens work was produced in serials – editions were published weekly or monthly and regularly featured cliff hangers.
-Maybe it is this which has made the material so perfect for adaptation on television, just like modern day soap operas they tell the story in episodes.
-Contemporary adaptations have utilised ‘soap- like narratives and editing – e.g. Andrew Davies’ 2005 version of Bleak House for the BBC
-This moved away from more ‘traditional’ approaches and used dramatic methods more in the style of other dramas of the time, such as Spooks. (Carroll, R : 2009:115)

Enduring Social Concerns
-They are able to fit into modern treatments and approaches – universality of themes.
-Just like modern dramas and soaps (Eastenders etc), he sought to bring the social ills of Victorian Britain to the notice of his readers.
-He did so through stories involving caricatures of the people he sought to bring to book
-2013 – the first full stage version of Great Expectations at the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End with some of the profits going to a charity set up by Dickens’ great-great-great granddaughter to help with causes such as prison reform, adoption and literacy.
-It’s producer Bruce Athol MacKinnon noted that “Dickens was very keen on access to education and literature” (Evening Standard, 6 February 2013)

The challenges of adapting a classic novel
To take it from the page or stage to the screen involves a series of deeply personal decisions influenced by factors such as :
-Class, culture, religion, politics and personal taste
-It is almost impossible to produce a piece of work which does not in some way “subvert” it from the original text.
-“They not only interpret that work but in so doing they also take a position on it” (Hucheon 2006: 92)

The tone of adaptations can take a number of slants such as:
-Reverential
-Critical
-Satirical
-Contemporary
-Subversive/challenging

Nicholl’s take on Great Expectations
-New film version released 2012.
-Adapted by David Nicholls (author of ‘One Day’ - previously adapted Tess of the D’Urbevilles and Much Ado about Nothing).
-Nicholls described the scenes in the new film in which Pip meets Miss Haversham as “a bit like going to see Hannibal Lector”.
-The film approached "like a thriller".
-The heartbreaker Estelle will be a "femme fatale" and, most contentiously, Nicholls revealed that he has “come up with an ending that isn’t in the book".

New beginnings, new endings
-Most controversially he wrote a new ending for Great Expectations – Dickens himself wrote different endings –
-1st was bleak and unforgiving - Estelle ends up leading a "most unhappy life" having been treated "with great cruelty by two husbands".
-Pip meets her by chance and takes satisfaction in seeing how she has suffered.
-Dickens thought his public would not like such a dark conclusion and re-wrote the book to have the pair meet in a "tranquil light" in which Pip saw "no shadow of another parting from her".

Nicholls’ New Ending
-Nicholls explains:
-"Dickens came up with two endings - one which is incredibly bleak and one which is unrealistically romantic and sentimental. Neither are quite satisfactory and we've come up with an ending that isn't in the book - and is somewhere in between. It draws on events in the book but takes them in a slightly different direction, but is in no way sacrilegious”

Tampering with perfection?
-In attempting to adapt a classic you are inevitably facing a loyal if not fanatical fan base.
-The reception to it is thus affected by whether the audience is what Hutcheon refers to as either ‘knowing’ or ‘unknowing’ i.e. To ‘experience’ the film as a classic you need to have recognition of it being a classic novel.
-If you are unfamiliar with the original text your experience is not affected by memories of the text and therefore it is read in a manner which is unfettered by prior expectations.
-As Christopher Columbus, who directed Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone explained:
-“People would have crucified me if I hadn’t been faithful to the books” (originally quoted in Whipp 2002:H4)

INTERTEXTUALITY : David Lean’s Great Expectations – the definitive adaptation?
-David Lean’s adaptation of ‘Great Expectations’ was named number 1 in a list of the 25 Best Book adaptations of all time by The Telegraph (Dec 2011)
-It’s iconic opening sequence brings to life the bleak marshes visualised in Dickens’ novel.
-It tells the story of a young boy, Pip, growing up with his Sister and her husband, Joe Gargery, who is feted by a local.
-Is it so ‘definitive’ that all adaptations which followed pay ‘homage’ to and reference it, even inadvertently ? (INTERTEXTUAL ADAPTATION OCCURS)

INTERTEXTUALITY EXPLORED : ‘Inspired’ adaptations
-On occasion the original text is no more than the inspiration for a double-entendre be it the title of the film (e.g. The poem “The Night Before Christmas” becomes “The Nightmare Before Christmas” )
-Alternatively it’s plot merely inspires a new story (e.g. Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew inspired Cole Porter’s musical Kiss Me Kate and the recent film 10 things I hate about you)
-Either way, the stories often tap into a shared cultural appreciation and experience of the classics from which they take their inspiration – this is true of many classic works, such as that of Dickens. They are the ‘reference’ point.
-This shared experience is part of the reason for the continuing popularity of classics on screen – THEY ‘REFERENCE’ A COMMON UNDERSTANDING AND EXPERIENCE – PRODUCING COMMONALITY OF RESPONSE

CASE STUDY IN INFIDELITY: Jane Austen -Pride and Prejudice
-A popular choice for adaptors -
-Adapted in 1940 starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson - the ending changed so dramatically that the tone of the film was affected and it was criticised for this (it changes the book’s storyling about Darcy’s aunt so that she eventually believes she is an “excellent match” – this is not the case in the book where she does not change her opinion)
-More recently the 2005 adaptation starring Keira Knightly and Matthew McFadyen was given two endings – one closer to the text (for the British audience) and another deemed more appropriately ‘smoochy’ for the US audience!

Inspired by Austen
Several very loose adaptations inspired by the book including:
-Bridget Jones Diary (2001), Bride and Prejudice (2004 Bollywood version) and Lost in Austen(2008) for television.
-‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ (2016) is a notable departure from the original!
-Distinctly post-modern approach to the adaption - it parodies the original book and brings together two very different genres - luke-warm critical reception
-A spin off novel - ‘Longbourn’ sold to US and UK publishers early February 2013.
-It tells the story of the servants at the Bennet’s home and runs a love story, between a housemaid and a new footman, in parallel with the story of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy.
-It is already in the hands of the film distributor behind the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. James Schamus from the Focus Features explained their interest:
-"By compellingly exploring new avenues in the world of Pride and Prejudice, she has fashioned a tale of a calibre that film-makers dream about.”
-“Austenland” (2013) – INTERTEXTUAL ADAPTATION - comedy about a girl’s obsession with the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Lecture: Creative Meaning: Intertextuality and Authenticity

Creating Meaning
-Study of media explores it’s ability to not only create a ‘meaning’ from the images it puts together, but how it helps the audience understand themselves and the world around them.
-Media’s impact on society in terms of of ability to frame, inform and influence: culture, economic and ideological ideals in society
-However, the media “forms” themselves are reference points in the creation of meaning – Ie combining together and referring to one another to construct more subtle readings which work across a range of media products – AN INTERTEXTUAL RELATIONSHIP HAS EVOLVED...

Intertextuality- Influencing Meanings:
-Julia Kristeva (1966 “Word, Dialogue, Novel’ and ‘The Bounded Text”) first used this term “INTERTEXTUALITY” to suggest that texts do not exist in isolation, but instead are naturally influenced by other works –
-Thus any work is a process of REPETITION and TR ANSFORM ATION.
-“any text is the absorption and transformation of another” (Kristeva, 1986, 37).
 -Therefore there are TRACES of other works always present in any “new” work.
-It may include overt references in a new piece of work (ie ‘homage’) or more subtle references (eg influenced by a prior director or writer) or it may refer to the conventions of that particular form of media (eg classic novel adaptations referring to one another, or news programmes "CNN-isation" etc) - it can include genre conventions...

Genre and Intertextuality
-This is also true of the genre into which we place a piece of work.
-This is because it necessitates us to understand those ‘genre conventions’ in order to understand the meanings the piece of work holds. E.G horror, Sci fi etc
-Therefore this could include pastiche.
-As genres evolve and “hybridise” - eg Comedy-horror
-So this ‘intertextual’ relationship can be exploited – the ‘reader’ is able to understand not just the narrative, but the CONVENTIONS which it uses to tell that narrative which in themselves contain other references and meanings.

Intertextuality and Reading:
-This creates a far more complex and dynamic relationship between the audience and the media text.
-What does this say about :
-OUR UNDERSTANDING OF NEWS CONTENT ? What intertextual relationships are exploited?
-Equally what about OUR RELATIONSHIP TO TELEVISION ADAPTATIONS? What televisual “benchmarks” exist which inform adaptations and later iterations of novels and texts?

Authenticity and Fact:
-Much of the debate surrounding both fiction adaptation and news content revolves around AUTHENTICITY AND FACT, how RELIABLE are they?
-How ACCURATE is the media product to the original material?
-NEWS – themes such as ethics, representation and legality are at the fore
-FICTION ADAPTATION –can include these same themes, but does fiction adaptation face another more insurmountable challenge. ie it is a story which has never existed in 3D, or even necessarily in the ‘real world’, but rather in the head of the writer and then in those of the reader.

THEMES TO EXPLORE IN ADAPTING/TRANSLATING FICTION AND FACT FOR TV:
-Truth and accuracy } Taste and decency. } Historical accuracy } Factual accuracy
-Realism

TRUTH AND ACCURACY IN FICTION:
-This is a consideration in factual and fictional storytelling :
-When story has its roots in real events, places and people e.g. BBC Four biographical dramas (Biopics) ‘The Long Walk to Finchley’ about Margaret Thatcher or ‘La Vie En Rose’ about Edith Piaf.
-When dealing with contentious or sensitive storylines e.g Eastenders and cot death/baby swap storyline

How do you ensure you are accurate and truthful?
-Typically rely upon –
-Research and use of relevant experts/consultants
-However, is this really effective? Is that all it takes?

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:
-When translating a historic event or person into a story for the big or small screen there is a potential conflict between the needs of storytelling, constraints of time on screen and commercial demands.
-Difficult path to tread between storytelling and RE- PRESENTING real events
-Even Shakespeare used ‘artistic licence’ in his writing – misnaming characters or changing their known attributes e.g Henry IV – contains alterations to attributes, ages and names of characters.
-But consider also – ALL HISTORY IS SUBJECTIVE STORYTELLING

Historical accuracy - A most unusual case
-GARROWS LAW – drama derived from real cases from archives about a pioneering 18th century barrister - William Garrow.
-Produced by Twenty Twenty – production company better known for factual programming.
-Decided to adapt into drama rather than present as a documentary (produced in conjunction with Shed Media Scotland)
-Quote from writer Tony Marchant
-“We want to be historically accurate but dramatically compelling at the same time. The cases we dramatise all come from real events, real trials but we have necessarily used dramatic licence, using Garrow as a lightning rod through which to illuminate such cases”

Garrow’s Law – truth & accuracy
-Employed a consultant on legal and historical matters to ensure accuracy.
-However, dramatic interventions were necessary on many occasions – such as inventing the sentence in the case regarding slavery, but it took inspiration from other cases where Garrow prosecuted someone who was transported and where someone tried to commit insurance fraud.
-They also placed the case in the Old Bailey and made it a criminal rather than a civil case.
-Characters were also merged for simplicity in storytelling.
-Series won prestigious Royal Television Society award for best history programme in 2010 – "The jury were very impressed by the accessible telling of such a good ‘unknown’ dramatic story based on strong historical research".

NEWS AND ACCURACY/FACT :
-Similarly storytelling in news and constrictions of time (both in terms of pre/production/post and time on screen) mean that information is FILTERED and RE- TOLD – what is the impact of this on TRUTH and TRUST?
-Are traditional broadcasters necessarily the best people to be given this responsibility?
-What are the implications of a world where social media allows all of us to tell the world our TRUTH?

Representing reality and the law:
-Both news journalism and fiction can be subject to legal action for inaccuracies.
-Misrepresentation, slander and libel are potential charges which could result.
-The simple fact is that audiences are potentially educated as much by fictional representations as by factual ones.
-But does the media have an even greater responsibility beyond factual accuracy - how about CHALLENGING widely held notions?
-Is it all about re-telling existing stories and what does that say about fiction adaptation, which necessarily returns time and time again to the same source material – can that CHALLENGE the original (what examples can you find for your own work where an adaptation has actively sought to do something different with a piece of work)

CHECKS, CHEQUES AND BALANCES:
-In a market-driven media economy, where there is always an audience to chase and a financial backer to pay, what are the implications for both RELIABLE, DIVERSE & NEW content in broadcast journalism and fiction adaptation?
-In what feels like a era of ‘niche’ markets, where individualism is king – does a system where global, mass- media still dominates really allow for something NEW let alone reliable and diverse?

Re-cap:
Storytelling may necessitate minor or even major changes to facts, but such changes should be made with caution and due diligence to the law regarding defamation, slander and libel.
Accuracy and authenticity are always challenging, whether in factual broadcast or fiction. Art might be able to mirror life, but somewhere it will always re-create it rather than accurately reflect it.

7th November 2017 Camera Movement Workshop

Today we started our first workshop for the fiction adaption course. I am quite excited about this course as we have been given the freedom of our own creativity when we adapt our chosen sonnets. As mentioned in a previous blog post, I have already chosen my sonnet and have continued to brainstorm ideas for this, building upon those which I had listed previously.

The workshop was primarily based around camera movement and how it can be used to visually tell a story without any sort of exposition. I found this very interesting seeing as many of the listed techniques such as the framing of certain characters to show their emotion or status were very creative and I feel I would want to emulate similar techniques.

We were then given some time to get some footage using various piece of equipment. Firstly, I used the 'fig-rig' as well as using the camera hand-held. This was to get some shots that resemble a crash zoom onto a person's face. This type of zoom was heavily inspired by the types seen in films such as those directed by Sam Raimi. I tried getting some experimental shots due to my ideas for the piece being about someone whose life was turned upside down. My aim to to present this metaphorically through my camera movement. The fig-rig footage worked well when keeping the camera stable but I found having the camera hand-held allowed for a much faster and urgent movement. I had some trouble with the focus at first, with it going out of focus as I zoomed on the person's face but I was able to overcome it by focusing on the close-up first and then pulling back.

Next I had a go on the track. My shots mostly consisted of the camera pulling away from a person sat in a chair and the camera following the person walking side-on. On particular shot of this type I liked was when I had the camera follow just behind the person as they were walking and then stop and pan as the person carries on their path.

Other shots I tried involved a crash zoom on the face as somebody turns around.

Here is a video showing some of the shots I had achieved:

Fiction Adaptation: Chosen Sonnet

Here is the sonnet I have chosen to adapt for the Fiction Adaptation project:


Do not stand at my grave and weep
By Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep: I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starshine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry:
I am not there; I did not die.

An initial idea I have had for adapting this features somebody mourning the loss of someone, while still present, has changed for the worse. Therefore they are mourning the person that they used to be. 

This could be related to someone who might have had dementia or some other type of disability.

Talking about a disability might be a hard subject to tackle and needs to be respectful to those who actually have experienced these disabilities.

Another possible direction this could take is if the person is question had become disenchanted with society, thus secluding themselves within their own mind and ignoring those who care for them the most, causing them to mourn who they once were.

I shall think about this further. No doubt some of the lectures that I'll be attending shall be informative enough to allow me to make my decision.