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Novel adaptations (currently 2384 views) |
mikep |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 8:23am |
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LocationNorth Carolina USA Posts238 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
Anyone else tried to adapt one of your favorite books into a screenplay?
There are all kinds of adapted material here, fan fiction and such, but the only novel I've seen adapted is a huge script based on Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. Are there any good ones on the boards here?
Anyone tried to do one? I'm working on one now and am about halfway through. It's just a writing exercise for me, to get out of my writer's block and help me pare down to a more economical writing style. |
| 13 feature scripts, 2 short subjects. One sale, 4 options. Nothing filmed. Damn.
Currently rewriting another writer's SciFi script for an indie producer in L.A.
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ABennettWriter |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 1:55pm |
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Been Around
LocationSan Francisco, CA Posts864 Posts Per Day 0.14 |
My dream project is A Density of Souls, by Christopher Rice. I think it'd make a great movie.
Unfortunately, I'm too busy working on real scripts to spend all my time on a script that I'd never get the rights to in the first place. |
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Hoody |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 5:37pm |
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LocationCanada, eh. Posts90 Posts Per Day 0.01 |
Yes, I agree that it's a great writing excercise. I don't wanna get my first adapt assignment in Hollywood and be like, "Crap, how do I turn this 300+ page novel into 110 pages?"
I, myself, have adapted a short story or two from "Last Exit To Brooklyn" and when I find the free time -- which will probably be never -- I'm gonna try and adapt a novel that's already been adapted and which I haven't seen the movie and when I'm finished, I'm gonna compare my script to their script. |
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Takeshi |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 7:15pm |
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I'm working on adapting a short story at the moment. I skimmed through it last week and jotted down a treatment, which I still want to play around with before I work what to do with the dialogue.
I'm working on one now and am about halfway through. It's just a writing exercise for me, to get out of my writer's block and help me pare down to a more economical writing style.
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Same here. I get blocked all the time, so I figure doing adaptations is a good way to keep writing until I'm inspired by an idea of my own. I have some original ideas kicking around, but the idea of fleshing them out doesn't really appeal to me at the moment. |
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ABennettWriter |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 7:29pm |
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Been Around
LocationSan Francisco, CA Posts864 Posts Per Day 0.14 |
It's a good exercise, but it seems like a huge waste of time. |
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Takeshi |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 7:40pm |
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Good exercise is never a waste of time, AB. But as I'm only adapting a short it shouldn't take up too much time.
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Hoody |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 7:44pm |
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LocationCanada, eh. Posts90 Posts Per Day 0.01 |
Quoted Text It's a good exercise, but it seems like a huge waste of time. |
Since when was improving as a writer a huge waste of time? If you're only looking to sell scripts, you could consider it a waste of time...but how do you expect to sell scripts if you're not the best writer you could be? Adapting someone elses work is a big part of writing, so it's not a bad thing to be prepared when the time comes to adapt someone elses work. Plus, it's a good sample script. |
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mikep |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 8:06pm |
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LocationNorth Carolina USA Posts238 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
For me, anytime you learn to write a bit better, improve your skills, it's not a waste of time. |
| 13 feature scripts, 2 short subjects. One sale, 4 options. Nothing filmed. Damn.
Currently rewriting another writer's SciFi script for an indie producer in L.A.
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Old Time Wesley |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 8:29pm |
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LocationOntario, Canada Posts2908 Posts Per Day 0.38 |
I was going to adapt Empire of the East (A book better than Lord of The Rings in many ways) but I just felt I could never improve on the book so i left it alone.
I also tried adapting a book I read in one night (A real page turner) but ultimately gave up because again one can never do a good book justice.
My personal opinion is that writers butcher books and make them "sell" ready and that's the sad truth about it.
Books do not deserve to be butchered by writers who don't even care for the material. |
| Practice safe lunch: Use a condiment. |
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ABennettWriter |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 8:44pm |
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Been Around
LocationSan Francisco, CA Posts864 Posts Per Day 0.14 |
There are different ways to improve than spending a lot of time on a script you can't even sell.
If you want to write for pleasure, be my guest. I want to make money. I want to write a damn good script, sell it, and then watch it on the big screen with all my friends. |
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Takeshi |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 10:11pm |
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There are different ways to improve than spending a lot of time on a script you can't even sell.
If you want to write for pleasure, be my guest. I want to make money. I want to write a damn good script, sell it, and then watch it on the big screen with all my friends. |
Andrew Dominick’s first movie was Chopper his second was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Both were adaptations. So who knows if any of our adaptations could sell or not? Either way there's always something to learn when you go through the process of writing, whether you’re writing an adaptation or an original screenplay. Ideally I'd always love to write an original, but if I don't have any original ideas I'm enthusiastic about, at a given point in time, then adapting a book is probably better than doing nothing. As long as it gets you writing it's all good. |
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ABennettWriter |
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 11:53pm |
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Been Around
LocationSan Francisco, CA Posts864 Posts Per Day 0.14 |
I guess I should've elaborated.
I'll gladly write any adaptation, if it's a commissioned script. Chances are, you won't be able to purchase the rights in the first place. You might get lucky, but it just seems like a bunch of wasted effort. |
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Old Time Wesley |
Posted: February 12th, 2008, 5:09am |
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LocationOntario, Canada Posts2908 Posts Per Day 0.38 |
I guess I should've elaborated.
I'll gladly write any adaptation, if it's a commissioned script. Chances are, you won't be able to purchase the rights in the first place. You might get lucky, but it just seems like a bunch of wasted effort. |
I think a lot of smaller books would probably be easier to get the rights. (I don't know if that's true.) If I could get the rights to The Sending which was a really good book (I read it in one night... page turner) that would make a decent film. It's a crazy story that is made to be adapted. It'd be easy to adapt page by page and then cut out about like 50 pages of filler (Yes, it has filler) and you have a good movie script. |
| Practice safe lunch: Use a condiment. |
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Takeshi |
Posted: February 12th, 2008, 7:05am |
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I guess I should've elaborated.
I'll gladly write any adaptation, if it's a commissioned script. Chances are, you won't be able to purchase the rights in the first place. You might get lucky, but it just seems like a bunch of wasted effort. |
So you think you could just hammer out a professional adaptation without having done one before?
It's a crazy story that is made to be adapted. It'd be easy to adapt page by page and then cut out about like 50 pages of filler (Yes, it has filler) and you have a good movie script.
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I don’t know, Wes. I reckon an adapted screenplay is more than just a watered down novel. You’re adapting something from a literary medium into something for a visual medium. Surely it would require more than just a good editing job. |
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mikep |
Posted: February 12th, 2008, 4:43pm |
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LocationNorth Carolina USA Posts238 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
Remember, just because you write what you think is a good feature doesn't mean someone else will. Your original scripts, any spec script, is really nothing more than a writing sample. My second option was with a producer to whom I'd submitted two scripts. He didn't like either, they were out of his preferred genre, but liked my style and ability to write action, so on that basis I wrote a screenplay for him which he optioned and we worked on for a year before he gave up trying to get all the financing in place. Writing is writing, it's all valuable if you want to be a good writer.
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| 13 feature scripts, 2 short subjects. One sale, 4 options. Nothing filmed. Damn.
Currently rewriting another writer's SciFi script for an indie producer in L.A.
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Old Time Wesley |
Posted: February 12th, 2008, 7:21pm |
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LocationOntario, Canada Posts2908 Posts Per Day 0.38 |
Quoted from Takeshi I don’t know, Wes. I reckon an adapted screenplay is more than just a watered down novel. You’re adapting something from a literary medium into something for a visual medium. Surely it would require more than just a good editing job.
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For the book in question, other than a few tweaks (Nothing major) it would go straight from the page to the screen. The first scene is perfect. Take out descriptions of feeling and such and just use the core dialogue and actions and it works perfectly. The writer of the novel did a great job describing places and settings. He doesn't describe the characters which is probably the only gripe I had about the book. |
| Practice safe lunch: Use a condiment. |
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ReaperCreeper |
Posted: February 12th, 2008, 10:49pm |
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Been Around
LocationWisconsin Posts974 Posts Per Day 0.15 |
Trying to adapt one of your favorite books/comics/manga or whatever in the blue hell you read is the BEST excercise you can do. How much story can you fit into a screenplay without rushing it or cramming it up? It helps you develop as a writer and know your limits faster. Who cares if it's not for profit? |
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padnar |
Posted: February 13th, 2008, 1:47am |
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Posts15 Posts Per Day 0.00 |
I am Padma here . I read the profile of Mrs John Bidulph Matin from a book and the I am so fascinated by the character I would like to write a script on her . she lived in 1920's . I have done some research on her but still I would like to know the names of Films during that period as I would like to know how English was spoken those days . Any views or any info I am grateful to receive it . However please dont discourage me padma |
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mikep |
Posted: February 13th, 2008, 8:06am |
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LocationNorth Carolina USA Posts238 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
Remember, just because you write what you think is a good feature doesn't mean someone else will. Your original scripts, any spec script, is really nothing more than a writing sample. My second option was with a producer to whom I'd submitted two scripts. He didn't like either, they were out of his preferred genre, but liked my style and ability to write action, so on that basis I wrote a screenplay for him which he optioned and we worked on for a year before he gave up trying to get all the financing in place. Writing is writing, it's all valuable if you want to be a good writer.
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The last part of my reply didn't make it into the above. To finish, using an adapted script as a writing sample should be as vaild as anything else. Remember what happened witb Peter Briggs - he wrote an unauthorized version of Dark Horse Comic's Aliens Vs. Predator comic and sent it to Fox as a writing sample, and that was his calling card and entry into the business. He did get in a bit of hot water since he didn't give proper credit however, but in the end run everything was resolved and that began his professional career. That's not an endoresement of his tactics, but an example that using an adaptation of a favorite work can be useful. Even as a private script, something that only be seen by yourself, a few friends, maybe the board here, how can it not be useful as it can teach you how to tell a story in the most efficient way possible? I can understand AB's motivation to just make money, I think everyone here would like to be a succesful screenwriter. But also it's probably correct that everyone here started writing because they enjoy writing, have stories they want to tell, and also want to be succesful. I do admit to being new here, just over a month in being a member and have no desire to become an outcast, I've read a number of shorts and features and posted feedback and am reading more now, also have posted several of my features for those who'd like to read them, so I'd like to speak my mind as needed. So the comment about "too busy with 'real' scripts to waste time with what you're doing" does rankle a bit. |
| 13 feature scripts, 2 short subjects. One sale, 4 options. Nothing filmed. Damn.
Currently rewriting another writer's SciFi script for an indie producer in L.A.
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Dr. McPhearson |
Posted: February 17th, 2008, 6:48pm |
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Posts76 Posts Per Day 0.01 |
There are several adaptations that I have already worked up. Unfortunately, as many of you have said, it almost feels like a huge waste of time, seeing as how I have no access to the film rights of the source materials at this point. But (1) it works well for practice, and (2) I want to make the novels that I adapted into films anyway, so if that means waiting until I am "in the industry," at which point I'll purchase the rights, then so be it. |
| PLEASE review my first SimplyScripts submission....
Re-Right (short comedy) |
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Takeshi |
Posted: February 17th, 2008, 11:08pm |
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I have to say I’ve lost interest in the short I was adapting. It felt more like copying than creating. All I was doing was writing down the bits I could use and leaving out the rest. Ah well, you live and you learn. |
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mikep |
Posted: February 18th, 2008, 10:02am |
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LocationNorth Carolina USA Posts238 Posts Per Day 0.04 |
For me it was interesting to take the book, outline it, decide what was vital to the story and what wasn't. Then rearrange certain events so the story had a more cinematic flow.
The book itself isn't any awards winner, just a pulpy horror piece and yes it's something that won't ever be prodcued ( from my script anyway) but I was able to come up with a solid draft in a decent amount of time. I enjoyed it beacuse it made me think more about what would work and what wouldn't. And I HOPE it has helped me out of writer's block which was the most important thing. If it accomplishes that, then it was worthwhile. |
| 13 feature scripts, 2 short subjects. One sale, 4 options. Nothing filmed. Damn.
Currently rewriting another writer's SciFi script for an indie producer in L.A.
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ABennettWriter |
Posted: February 18th, 2008, 11:26am |
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Been Around
LocationSan Francisco, CA Posts864 Posts Per Day 0.14 |
And I HOPE it has helped me out of writer's block which was the most important thing. |
I think an important thing is to figure out why you're having writers block (which I don't really believe in anyway) in the first place. I think the main reason for writers block is you just don't know the story or the characters as well as you should to go on. I don't see how working on an adaptation is going to help fix that. |
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stebrown |
Posted: May 8th, 2008, 7:30am |
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Been Around
LocationNewcastle, England Posts881 Posts Per Day 0.15 |
I've adapted a short story by Roald Dahl(in my sig).
Currently making enquiries about purchasing the rights before I attempt to expand on what I've already done. Got the book on order aswell, because I haven't read it for ages.
Ste |
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Gaara |
Posted: May 8th, 2008, 8:19am |
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New I had an itch on my face...so I scratched it
LocationSunderland, England Posts161 Posts Per Day 0.02 |
Like others have said, adapting a novel or short story into a script is not a waste of time. One it is good practice if you are ever asked to adapt one (if you have become famous enough as a writer to be approached) and two, lets not forget about all those books that are now in public domain. These books you can adapt and sell without any worry about copyright issues so you are home free |
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