Literature-to-film

adaptation analysis:
charting some new
territory
Chapter 22

 Critical approaches can be applied specifically to litto-film adaptation not only as a product but as a
process
Adamant disapproval of fidelity (comparison) studies
why not clear or questionable
Literary analysis and film analysis thrive at the cost of
lit-to-film adaptation analysis
Comparative studies (An interesting and powerful tool)
(compare and contrast both book and movie) sensible?
Where do these differences and similarities stem from
What do they mean
How they can be detected

An intertextual comparison
Julie Sanders Adaptation and Appropriation
Applicable at multiple levels

 Adaptation studies an intertextual comparison

Mikhail Bakhtins work on dialogism

(The Dialogic Imagination)

Everything means, is understood, as a part of a greater whole

there is a constant interaction between meanings, all of which
have the potential of conditioning others. Which will affect the
other, how it will do so and in what degree is what is actually
settled at the moment of utterance. (1981, 426)

Julia Kristeva first proposed and developed the concept of

intertextuality (Revolution in Poetic Language)which was based on
MBs work on dialogism

Thus, a text is not complete in itself but always bears

and leaves the imprint of and for others.
Intertextuality inescapably intrinsic and purposeful
Adaptation as a product and a process
Linda Hutcheon The Theory of Adaptation doubled
definition

Different critical intertextual

approaches

Adaptability analysis
Adaptation process analysis
Fidelity/infidelity analysis
Specificity analysis
Audience reception anxiety analysis

Adaptability analysis
Hutcheon asks
some kinds of stories and their worlds more
easily adaptable than others (2006,15)
LOTR, Hercu, Erag, Jaws, HP
(1:33:00) TIOBE

(33:30)

TDWP, ConfessOAS,

Linear novels more adaptable than experimental ones

SI, TG
2:25:00)

(9:00, 48:00, 1:19:00, 2:38:15, 3:07;00)

GWTW, W&P

(58:50,

Dickens

Adaptability analysis is the study of such concerns

Source text might be experimental in nature and not
seeming adaptable
Might seem as an easily adapted as a linearly
structured work but film adopts a different course
Dual fold identify limitations and opportunities of the
text

Adaptability analysis
Source text (questions to be asked in conjunction with the novels
adaptability )
Is the work adaptable? What are the complexities? What are the
different aspects of the work to adapt?
How many adaptations have been made? Research the adaptations and
try to follow the work closely, and those that veer away from the work?
In different adaptations how does the director adapt the work and how
does it influence the previous adaptation? (TGWTDT)
How does the film show the difficulties in adapting more faithfully? What
obstacles does the film seem to have encountered in adapting the work?
How to adapt the work keeping in mind the modern day concerns?
When we know so much about the circumstances surrounding the
writers creation, the film proves insightful in showing how a writers
creation is influenced by her/his life and at the same time influences
her/his life? What statements might this film be making about the
adaptability of the work?
What might be an example of an adaptation idea for any movie that
incorporates one of the many fascinating interpretations of the text that
have yet to be broached?

Adaptation process analysis

Adaptation process analysis looks closely
at the process by which the work was
adapted and the film made
Hutcheon explains it permits us to think
about how adaptations allow people to
tell, show, or interact with stories
(2006,22)
This analysis of the process is usually
dependent upon access to behind the
scenes information
DVDs behind-the-scene mini-documentaries

Adaptation process analysis

Recently, novelists, screen writers, and

directors more willing to reveal the process
of adaptation
DVDs give information about the process
that helps us understand and analyze the
product in a way never imaginable
We actually get to watch the process in
action
We can analyze the scenes that were
deleted and try to figure out why
People get interviewed directors, writers,
actors, producers, etc.

Adaptation process analysis

How do the contributions of the novelist, the
screenwriter, and the director affect the outcome of this
film?
What are some of the constraints the actors face, and
also the director, and how do they work around them in a
way that seems fitting for the work of an adaptation?
How does the background information on the writer help
frame a better understanding of the characters portrayal
in the film?
How does the information provided on DVD allow for a
more in-depth understanding of the film, and its
adaptation of the work?
How does this information reveal and explain the
intricacies involved in making this work into a film?
Finally, what aspects or elements of the product reflect
the vicissitudes and intricacies of the process

Fidelity/infidelity analysis
When used simply included or what was replaced, it can
result in a dreadfully dull analysis
Into the Wild - 2007 -Sean Penn - a 1996 non-fiction -Jon Krakauer -expansion of a 9,000-word article

by Krakauer onChristopher McCandlesstitled "Death of an Innocent", January 1993 issue ofOutside

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 2008 Americanromanticfantasydrama -David Fincher - 1922short
story -F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Importance of being Ernest Oscar Wilde BBC Stuart Burge 1986 drama opening - The
Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People 14 Feb 1895 );
Sin City - 2005 Americanneo-noircrimeanthology filmwritten, produced, and directed byFrank MillerandRobert
Rodriguez - Miller'sgraphic novel - aseriesofneo-noircomicsbyFrank Miller. The first story originally appeared in
"Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" (April, 1991), and continued inDark Horse Presents#5162 from May
1991 to June 1992, under the title ofSin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several other stories of variable lengths have
followed. The intertwining stories, with frequently recurring characters, take place in Basin City.

Used
To explore an understanding of why the film was made the way it
was made
Why the filmmaker adapted the work the way he did
What about the work was used to formulate the film TT
Why certain scenes might have been used in the film, but werent
in the work or why certain scenes were retained in the film and
some almost as is. What the reasoning might be behind losing
the scene as well as why one might be added, or kept

Fidelity/infidelity analysis

Some questions that can be asked of adaptations

are
How do the director and those who work with him
create the effect and why? What does this style bring
to this film?
How does the directors style compare/contrast with
writers style as an author?
The screen writer made drastic changes to the plot
and the characters. What was the effect the screen
writer/s was going for? Why might those changes have
been made taking into account the main thrust of the
film, in comparison to the main thrust of the work?
The scene in the book is towards the end, while the
scene in the film is more towards the beginning/
ending

Fidelity/infidelity analysis
How does the degree of in/fidelity influence the
outcome of the film and in what ways and why?
This analysis involves an examination of why
the filmmaker chose to make changes that
were made, or why very few changes were
made, or for what greater overarching purpose
and effect either changes or no changes were
made.
The crux of this analysis is to determine
whether
the
fidelity
or
infidelity
accomplishes a certain goal of feel in the
film, and whether or not that might have
or might not have been the desired goal.

Specificity analysis
Specificity analysis can be an intriguing way to
look at each text in its respective medium and
how each medium is used to bring out the story
it does.
This study can focus on the techniques specific
to each medium, and explore why certain
techniques were used in each medium, and
explore why certain techniques were used in each
medium.
Perhaps a tone is created in the book due to the
minimalist format of the text, and its sparseness.
The same impact is brought out through the types of
props used, or the costuming of the characters, even
their hair and makeup.

Specificity analysis
It can usually be assumed that the
director planned for the effect that
has been achieved, but the viewer
might see something in the film that
the director didnt plan for a viewer
to see.

Specificity analysis
Questions
What information so the intertexts/ texts of chapter (crucial)
provide to the reader of the book and why are they important?
How is this information revealed in the film, and what techniques
are employed to do so? How much of this information is revealed
in the film? What is excluded?
How important is this information to the film in contrast to the
book? That is, what is the main thrust of the film in comparison to
the book and how does the information fit into each text is trying
to convey to the reader/viewer?
How to incorporate the discovery of an information into the
character, especially how this information must transform chs
demeanor in ways the viewer might not expect
On another note, how does the film bring out the setting of one
particular place using different techniques from the book? The
place might seen a more dominating presence in the film than in
the book. Why might this effect have been a goal of the
filmmaker?

Audience reception anxiety analysis

Audience reception anxiety can influence the filmmaker in
both positive and negative ways.
Such an analysis would require research about the
audiences expected reception of the film.
What was predicted about how the audience might respond?
How well known is the book?
Is there a particular group that might have an expectant
concern about the outcome of the adaptation?
The anxiety might affect the feel of the film, what way the
film was made, and how the book was interpreted.
The anxiety could be attributed to the subject matter
of the book, the popularity of the book or its
popularity among a certain population or group, the
notoriety of the author, or even the authors
biographical background

Audience reception anxiety analysis

Questions
Why did the director change the character of
the book and why?
In what ways the book seems to focus less
intently on one aspect while the film portrays
it poignantly? In what ways does it focus
more on the reactions or the action?
Why the changes that were done were done?
Was the reaction of audience the main
concern?

Audience reception anxiety analysis

Although this type of analysis might seem
to rely on speculation, research and
background information on the film,
interviews with the actors, directors, etc. and
clues within the text and the screenplay used
for the film could provide more than enough
to support such an argument.
Its an important consideration to address,
since filmmakers must at times feel
burdened by their need not only to
satisfy the audience, but lure them to
the theater at least

Short story/drama to film

Too visual a description

Too detailed the dialogues
Too clear the description
Questions
What to retain?
How much to retain?
What else to add?
How to add?
What props to use to retain the original
flavour and impact

Already established critical

approaches
Although certain approaches and theories are useful
for analyzing in one medium, it doesnt necessarily
follow that these same approaches can be applied to
another medium.
auteur criticism would not be useful in applying to
literature, although biographical criticism might be
considered the parallel approach in addressing literature
from a similar perspective.

However an interesting analysis of a lit-to-film

adaptation might include a biographical approach to
the literature and a critical approach to the film that
focuses on the director or the auteur of the film.
A comparison with the previous works and their
quality can be an interesting study

Already established critical

approaches

Adaptations redistribute energies and intensities,

provide flows and displacements; the linguistic
energy of literary turns into the visual-kineticperformative energy of the adaptation, in an
amorous exchange of textual fluids. (Stam and
Raengo, 2005a, 45-6)
Critical approaches can be applied to such analyses,
depending on a plethora of factors to be considered.
It is time to move beyond personal preferences and
limited views to broaden their horizons by
expanding their understanding of both literature and
film, and how the elements of each can be used to
bring out meaning in a text of each medium.

Analysis of book cover images

before the movie and after
the movie is released

Highlight the intensity of the change

Bring out the theme more clearly
Leave a longer impact
Relate to the audience