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Fiction Adaptation Term 1 Essay 1

Vittorio Falcucci

Fiction Adaptation Essay 1

In adapting a novel the adapter inevitably infringes the integrity of the
original text discuss with reference to at least one text adapted for
broadcast on television.

Vittorio Falcucci
Television Production Year 2
November 4th 2014
Word count: 1,040
UCA ID: 1205591
Kath Abiker

Contents Page

IntroductionPage 3
Main BodyPage 3
ConclusionPage 3 - 4
BibliographyPage 4

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In adapting a novel the adapter inevitably infringes the integrity of the original text discuss with
reference to at least one text adapted for broadcast on television.

Intro
In this essay I will discuss adaptation, what it is and how its used in the TV industry. Looking at adaptation I will find out
how adaptation works and what different ways people choose to adapt novels. Furthermore I will look into how people
adapt novels and transfer them to the screen and what form of adaptation they use; transposition, commentary or
analogue. I will also discuss how the TV shows; Dexter and Game on Thrones have been adapted from their original novels
and how they differ or are similar. In addition I will look at postmodernism and how it is portrayed in Dexter and Game of
Thrones and look into some of the features of what makes a text postmodern.

Main Body
What is adaptation? Adaptation is when a novel or a written work is transferred into a film or TV show, Nick Van Vugt said
that, Adaptations are necessarily extensions or interpretations of the original story. (1) (Vugt, 2011:0 1) from this you can
see that an adaptation is either an exact transformation of the original text to film or ideas of the original text is taken and
the build around a new and different film. Therefore they are different ways to adapt a text, and it all depends on what
way you want the adaptation to be like. One way of adapting a text is transposition; this is when the adapter strictly sticks
to the story and ideas of the text and doesnt stray from or change it in any way, thus being faithful to the original text. This
is good and bad for a couple of reasons; as it doesnt stray from the original story, and when readers watch it they wont be
disappointed with the film or TV show, or feel that it was unfaithful to the original text, which would ruin their image of the
story and image of the characters. Alternatively this could be bad because, if a novel has long parts of just descriptions and
not much happening this will appear boring to the viewers and force them to watch something else. Another type of
adaptation is commentary; this is when you purposefully alter the text when transferring it to film, to fit certain needs. This
could be if at the end of a text the ending it too dark or sad, the adapters might change it and make it less sad or happier to
fit the acceptation of viewers when they come to watch the film, so that they can leave on a happy beat or not in shock.
Also this keeps the illusion of the cinematic experience of a good time, as in people want to have a good time at the cinema
and if a film is too dark or sad then that breaks that experience. Another way it could be purposely changed is by changing
the era in which the story is based in, like with Sherlock Homes the made it more modern, in which the people act and
dress. This helps the viewers the relate more with the film or TV show and make it more interesting for them to watch. This
is good and bad; the good part is that, a text can be made better and more entertaining for the viewers to watch as they
can make it more relatable which will add more interest for the audience. The bad part is that this could upset the readers
of the original text, as they will expect to see what they have read and this will disappoint them and ruin the story for
them. Finally another way of adapting is Analogue; this is when you keep one particular thing from the novel and change
the rest e.g. you keep the story line but add in extra story plots or change some characters personalities or add in new
characters. This is good if you want to bring something new or a twist to an original story, thus making it more interesting
for viewers.
The TV show Dexter was adapted from the novels Darkly Dreamy Dexter in 2006. The TV show was adapted with a
mixture of both transposition and analogue styles as the overall story is faithful to the original text, however with many
things changed and adjusted to make the show more active and interesting. The part which is faithful is the main story of
Dexter working at the Miami police department and them chasing the Ice Truck Killer. The main differences are with the
subplots such as the Carlos Guerrero case and extra victims such as Matt Chambers, these were added in to the show to
make it more active with more things happening and to keep viewers interest. Another similarity is that Dexter is very
psychologically damaged and out of touch with normal human emotions. However another big change from novel to TV
show, in the novel, Dexters urges to kill isnt very high and only kills 2 people throughout the first book, but in the adapted
version his urge to kill is very higher and kills a huge amount people throughout the show. Another similarity is that
Dexters boss Maria LaGuerta has a very high sexual interest in him and makes it very clear throughout the novel and TV
show.

Discuss how game of thrones was adapted and what type of adaption it is
Discuss the differences between the show and book
Compare it to Dexter
Discuss how postmodernism is used in the game of thrones
Do a conclusion

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Bibliography
(1) FILM ADAPTATION, ALTERNATIVE CINEMA AND LYNCHIAN MOMENTS OF TRANSPOSITION, Nick Van Vugt (2011)
At: http://www.nickvanvugt.com/NickvanVugt-MRP.pdf
(2) Adaptation Revisited Television and Classic Novels, Sarah Cardwell (2002) At:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HKkb5LGC4JEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=TV+adaptation&hl=en&sa=X&ei=j
b5XVNHxN8LisASUgoHYBw&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=TV%20adaptation&f=false
(3) Postmodern Blog (2009) A list of postmodernism characteristics [Online Blog] At:
http://postmodernblog.tumblr.com/post/106532710/a-list-of-postmodern-characteristics (Accessed on
03/11/2014)