adaptingclassics-blog

[adaptingclassics-blog]

           The filmic adaptation of Heart of Darkness was definitely a stretch from its source text. Apocalypse Now contained many differences from the story the biggest one being the perspective in which it was told. The novel was written from the point of view of an external character who narrated what he heard on the steamboat. However, the movie explicitly only showed Marlow’s story leaving out any other perspectives or ideas from other people. The movie also graphically showed terrifying images of Kurtz’s tribe which were more subtly described in the novel. For example, Conrad mentions the knobs at the end of stakes were actually human skulls. This realization is nothing in comparison to seeing hanging bodies and decapitated heads in the film. Although it was gruesome, it made the viewer very aware of the magnitude of what Marlow was dealing with. It was much harder to understand the risk and danger involved with Marlow’s mission by simply reading the story. Similarities were definitely found in the way that women were treated. Both in the film and the novel, they are objectified and treated as if they were inferior to men. In Apocalypse Now, women were brought overseas solely to perform a provocative dance for the men fighting. That was one of the only times women are shown in the film besides seeing the submissive women in the Kurtz’s cult.  

-SA

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Tragedy

One way that we have seen films adapt over the years if through their use of tragedy. People feel tragedy because we sympathize with those that were affected and could possibly envision ourselves in their position. One such example of a great use of tragedy is in the nominee for Best Picture of 2016, Manchester by the Sea. Here we first get used to and accustomed to a man before learning of his tragedy.  Then after we are taught of his tragedy our view of the character changes. Casey Affleck’s character goes from being a unsocial man who is just simply going through the motions, to a man who is dead inside and no longer has any ambitions. Throughout the movie we see how his tragedy had brought him to that state, but also see how another tragedy of his brother dying is forcing him to change back to wanting to live. He is now given a reason to live in his nephew. Through this movie we are able to see a man get destroyed and resurrected by tragedy.

BVS

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Don’t Hate, Appreciate

This is a post that is going to have you, the reader question yourself and everything around you. We take things for granted because we’ve become immune to them. But do you ever stop and think to yourself, what would life be like if there was no such thing as adaptations? If everything stood at it’s original state? Is that even possible? What if Disney was never a thing since adaptation was never a thing too? It is questions like these that make you appreciate adaptation for the true art form that it is. So the next time you are watching a Disney movie, see it more than a movie because it is way more than that. 

-GC

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Rewriting

One of Joseph Harris’ moves for adaptation that I would like to focus on is rewriting. This one is very important as many people can accidentally rewrite a story without even knowing it. For example, if a man were to be out traveling the world and heard a story, then when he came back home and retold the story, it would be told slightly differently. This would be because of the people hearing the story being from a different demographic, so the storyteller would slightly change the story so the listeners would best be able to understand it.  This is also similar to the idea of code-switching, as it is very similar to a person changing the way that they would talk when place around people of a different demographic.

BVS

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Disney is definitely a classic example of adaptation. Throughout our lifespan we watch, hear, see and even feel adaptations without even realizing it. Before I took this course I never realized how often adaptation occurs. As the years go by, more and more adaptations are going to happen and honestly I can not wait till they do! I love to see how other people interpret things, must be the reason why I am minoring in Psychology and majoring in Human Development and Family Studies. Maybe I am just speaking for myself but Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast is going to forever be a piece of my childhood that I am grateful for. 

-GC

Adaptations Never Stop

Adaptations are a never ending part of the world.  People will never cease to find new ways to add to a story, or change a story.  In particular, fairy tales are stories that are adapted time and time again as they are timeless pieces of literature.  Disney is the main source for these fairy tale adaptations.  They have not only adapted the original “Beauty and the Beast” multiple times, with one coming out last month of 2017, they also have used the popular characters and animations they have developed to create a whole new element to the “Beauty and the Beast” story.  As depicted above, they have created a movie that is holiday themed in the context of Christmas.  This adaptation is one that is unique and shows how there are infinite possibilities when adapting stories, as there are so many different contexts that the story can be put into.

BR

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Can’t Handle the Tension

HAMM: I once knew a madman who thought the end of the world had come. He was a painted –and engraver. I had a great fondness for him. I used to go and see him, in the asylum. I’d take him by the hand and drag him to the window. Look! There! All that rising corn! And there! Look! The sails of the herring fleet! All the loveliness!

[Pause.] (pg.122)

He’d snatch away his hand and go back into his corner. Appalled. All he had seen was ashes.

[Pause.]

He alone had been spared.

[Pause.]

Forgotten.

In this dialogue, Hamm constantly pauses which creates more dimension and curiosity to arise from the audience. The pauses are more for effect and drama so tension can also be created. With the tension that has been built from the pauses, audiences are given more wiggle room to imagine what is going to be said next. For example, most television series or movie series end the episode/movie in a climax so the audience can guess what is going to happens when the next episode is aired or movie comes out. The tension created is just unbearable!

-GC

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Introduction to Rewriting

After reading The Introduction to Rewriting I noticed that many of the tools Harris describes have been present in my writing. While I do not believe I have been properly utilizing every tool, one that I think I am proficient at is countering.  As a person I love to debate, so countering comes fairly natural to me in my writing. I believe that if you cannot properly assess the flaws of someone else’s writing and the counter if successfully, then there is no real ground or basis for you to stand. From this you will not be able to support as to why your idea is better than the other writers. Another important aspect from this introduction is the act of forwarding. I really like this idea, as it helps both you and your readers to clearly see the difference between your writing and the text you are rewriting. I wish to implement this more in my writing, because I believe that me being able to clearly see the difference in my writing and the original text would be beneficial. Easily seeing this difference would allow me to know exactly the topic of my change in writing and to focus more on the topic. Harris introduces some very interesting and beneficial methods on rewriting.

BVS

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Do You Feel What I Feel

William Shakespeare’s play King Lear, is an example of tragedy in the dramatic sense. Tragedy in the dramatic sense is a branch of drama that shows terrible events in a serious manner. Shakespeare’s play King Lear would be an example of tragedy in the dramatic sense because he wrote, “O you mighty gods! / This world I do renounce, and in your sights / Shake patiently my great affliction off. / If I could bear it longer and not fall / To quarrel with your great opposeless wills, / My snuff and loathed part of nature should / Burn itself out. If Edgar live, oh, bless him! / Now, fellow, fare thee well.” (Shakespeare 4.6.34-41). This primary source quote demonstrates a heroic individual who goes through horrific events because of an overpowering force which is the definition of tragedy in the dramatic sense. Another example that King Lear is a tragedy in the dramatic sense would be, “[…] Henceforth I’ll bear / Affliction till it do cry out itself / ‘Enough, enough,’ and die. […]” (Shakespeare 4.6.75-77). Even though all of Shakespeare’s plays have deadly endings, it doesn’t make it a tragedy in the dramatic sense. His endings do contribute to the dramatic aspect but not the tragedy which can be confusing but it is important to know that his plays are tragedy in the dramatic sense because it is not necessarily a tragedy in the experiential sense which could be losing a close family member to cancer but it is a somber themed dramatic work. In Jan Kott’s King Lear or Endgame, he wrote, “In the final instance tragedy is an appraisal of human fate, a measure of the absolute. The grotesque is a criticism of the absolute in the name of frail human experience. That is why tragedy bring catharsis, while grotesque offers no consolation whatsoever.” Shakespeare’s horrific endings is what makes the audiences feel relief by expressing their feelings (Kott 92).

-GC

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Absolutely love this post because my essay now is on adapting unique forms of mediums, such as, songs and poems. Even though we did discuss the adaptation of short stories to film, we never dabbled into other forms. Needless to say, I’m glad that someone finally addressed the adaptation of songs. I was reading a fascinating article on songs that have been adapted into films. However, I can’t really say that it was a credible source because it seemed like it was a website that anyone could publish on. It’s always good to appreciate the classics because without it, we wouldn’t have what we have now. 

-GC

To me, the most interesting form of adaptation is the adaptation of song. One particular song can stay alive and relevant for decades through covers, remakes, samples, and remixes. A lot of the time, people are not even aware that their favorite song isn’t even an original but instead a song repurposed with an artist’s original spin, or that a song borrows very small details from another. For example, at first listen, people familiar with the Beatles could listen to Frank Ocean’s “White Ferrari” and be unaware that it pays homage to their song “Here, There, and Everywhere,” because just as when a story is rewritten or transformed into film, every element of the story isn’t necessarily carried over-sometimes it’s just the style or the theme or the roots of the plot-and the fact that it’s an adaptation is therefore just not as obvious. 

-NL

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Oh what a tragedy?

Adaptation and appropriation of tragedy shape the way we understand tragic plays/literature, the concept of “tragedy” and/or the lived experience of tragedy. It does so by adapting to different time periods making it more relevant to the audience. The modernization of tragedies make it easier to understand plays/literature, the concept of “tragedy” and/or the lived experience of tragedy because everything around us is consistently changing and the way tragedy has been evolved is a prime example of this. In “King Lear: The Dream of Sublimity” by Marjorie Garber, she constructively contrasts William Shakespeare play “King Lear” to Edward Bond’s rewrite of the play to show the adaptation and appropriation of tragedy that shapes how we understand tragic plays/literature, the concept of “tragedy” and/or the lived experience of tragedy.

-GC

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Lets All Adapt, “How Bout Dat”

In Jack Zipes first chapter of “The Enchanted Screen”, he goes in depth of adaptation related to fairy-tale films. On page 10, Zipes wrote, “As human beings have sought to adapt to changing environments over the centuries, they have adapted their tales.” which was interesting because in the mini assignment I had also used human adaptation as a reference, making it easier for me to connect to this text. I could do so by using Joseph Harris’s technique from his book “How to do Things with Texts”, revising terms and/or phrases from a text and personalizing it without losing the author’s meaning.

-GC

[adaptingclassics-blog]

Coming to Terms

In “Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts” by Joseph Harris he provides useful moves on how to simplify complex texts. Texts can vary from a novel to a movie if the user employed meaning to it. A move that was new to me that I found interesting and useful was what Harris wrote, “One way of coming to terms with a text is to make a list of its key terms and concepts and then to try to define them in your own words.” (pg.10) I found this beneficial because once the user adapts the text in their own way, it’s easier to understand and explain. For example, in my Art History course last semester, it took massive chunks of time to memorize paintings because we were required to remember the composer, commission dates and the titles. However, if I were to have applied Harris’s move of making the text my own I could have easily converted the composer’s names to something more relatable or humorous.

-GC

[adaptingclassics-blog]

A lot is put into the hands of the creators of a film, whether it is an adaptation of some sort, or an original piece. They have to choose wisely of what to adapt, which things to keep, which things to add, and what I believe is a very important piece, which actors to include. So many times, even before we watch movies, we’ll watch the entirety of the trailer and when we are done watching it, we won't even remember or understand what the movie is going to be about. The only thing that we remember was whether or not their were great actors’ names in the film. But once we hear and see these big actors, immediately we want to see the movie. Now does mean that every great movie, has the greatest and most well-known actors? No. However, I believe that which actors are included in your film, makes a huge impact on who will be immediately drawn to seeing your movie. 

NP

[adaptingclassics-blog]

I think that both of your statements are very true and very accurate as well. What is interesting about music, that we did not cover much in class, is that you are adapting within the same medium. So somebody could hear a song and really like the beat or a phrase that they hear, and now when they adapt it, they either take this beat or phrase and turn it into another song of their own. But what we mainly focused on in class is the idea of adapting to different mediums. For the most part, we took a text, whether it was a fairytale, a novel or  short story, and tried to analyze the film that was adapted from it, which is a different medium. Rarely, if at all, did we take a text and look at another text that was adapted from it. I think this would be a very interesting idea and topic to touch upon and talk about, the idea of adapting from within the same medium. 

NP

To me, the most interesting form of adaptation is the adaptation of song. One particular song can stay alive and relevant for decades through covers, remakes, samples, and remixes. A lot of the time, people are not even aware that their favorite song isn’t even an original but instead a song repurposed with an artist’s original spin, or that a song borrows very small details from another. For example, at first listen, people familiar with the Beatles could listen to Frank Ocean’s “White Ferrari” and be unaware that it pays homage to their song “Here, There, and Everywhere,” because just as when a story is rewritten or transformed into film, every element of the story isn’t necessarily carried over-sometimes it’s just the style or the theme or the roots of the plot-and the fact that it’s an adaptation is therefore just not as obvious. 

-NL

[adaptingclassics-blog]

There are many movies that we watch in our lives, that are old and a lot of the content and situations that are being seen are not always relatable to the people of our generation. If you are adapting or even creating a movie from scratch, I think the way that you will be most successful in creating an amazing piece is by revolving the movie around a time period that is relatable to your audience. So creating a movie that is geared towards an audience of teenagers, then an event that occurred in the early 1900′s may not be the most intriguing to them. What would intrigue them would be something that is relevant to our daily lives because now we can relate to what is going on and we will have that emotional connection that you, the creator, are looking for us to have. Choosing an appropriate setting for your audience, is the key to creating a very successful piece of work. 

NP

[adaptingclassics-blog]

The director of Sherlock does a very good job bringing the classic story into modern times. This just shows the strength adaptation has. The story of Sherlock Homes is an old one and many of the acts shown in Sherlock, such as homosexuality and women’s rights, were not seen as acceptable when it was written. However, through adaptation these ideas can be applied to the old characters and motifs of the original. The show has updated the story for modern day viewers and has done a great job doing that. In doing so, it has kept many aspects of the original story the same, such as Sherlock’s often abrasive attitude and lack of interest in social matters. Sherlock is a great example of how adaptation can be used to convey modern ideas through a classic story.

-CB

Sherlock

   Every aspect of the TV show, Sherlock, was relevant to today’s society and culture in order to attract the audience.  The culture for the TV show in specific discussed politics through its mentioning of terrorism.  It also portrayed the role of women as strong and significant through Irene Adler.  She was not judged for her character which displays society’s acceptance of some promiscuity today.  For technology, the use of cell phones containing photos in which many people were interested shows that the director was attempting to amplify culture today into the work of the TV show.  The affair of a woman with another woman also shows acceptance of society today.  We see that the director makes use of marketing entertainment and targets a less conservative audience which he sees as the widest range of Netflix viewers today.  It is a successful show, so obviously the director made a wise choice in targeting this audience and incorporating our culture and views on society today into his TV Series.  

-MMD

[adaptingclassics-blog]

This is a very interesting idea that was not touched on in class. I would argue that the adaptation of music is one of the largest and most widespread practices today. It is done in all genres and circles. Covers are very popular with bands looking to start out, as well as established artists. Many hip hop artists practice ‘sampling’ which is taking a part of another song and including in their own. Many other artists use older songs as inspiration for new ones, which may not sound the same but can carry the same ideas. Some artists even draw inspiration from other artists without realizing it. There have been several court cases for plagiarism where the defendant has said that they did not intentionally use elements of the prosecutor’s music and may have simply used them without realizing it. What makes this form of adaptation so interesting is the relationship we have with music. Music is not something that we often analyze and parse, but something we experience and feel. Music is something so primal that its evolution and reference to other music feels natural and is easily looked over.

-CB

To me, the most interesting form of adaptation is the adaptation of song. One particular song can stay alive and relevant for decades through covers, remakes, samples, and remixes. A lot of the time, people are not even aware that their favorite song isn’t even an original but instead a song repurposed with an artist’s original spin, or that a song borrows very small details from another. For example, at first listen, people familiar with the Beatles could listen to Frank Ocean’s “White Ferrari” and be unaware that it pays homage to their song “Here, There, and Everywhere,” because just as when a story is rewritten or transformed into film, every element of the story isn’t necessarily carried over-sometimes it’s just the style or the theme or the roots of the plot-and the fact that it’s an adaptation is therefore just not as obvious. 

-NL