Transmedia Story Creation
Module 5: Visual Narratives, Part III; Folk Tales, Part II
By Nicole Williams and Christian Franqui
Module Outline
- Narrative and Media (Fulton et al., 2005) Chs. 8-9
- Breaking the Magic Spell (Zipes, 1979) Ch. 4
Novel to Film
In this week's readings from Narrative and Media, Helen Fulton describes the novel to film adaptation and how each translation is interpreted by the individuals creating it. In a novel, the writer has full control over each detail in the narrative. In a film, however, the director, editing crew, actors, and screenwriters all play a role in the vision of the film and the novels adaptation to the screen. The readings also go into great detail the affect film can have on a novel. There is much to be gained and lost when a novel turns “Hollywood."
What works in a novel, may not work well for a film. A movie must grab the audience right away and give specific details such as the setting and time period in the opening scene. Whereas, a novel might begin with a description and insight into the main characters life. Fulton references The English Patient as an example of this adaptation. The film focuses on the main character, Almasy and his accident. While the novel by Michael Ondaatje begins with the other main character, Hana and switches back and forth between the two characters giving us insight and background of their lives.
Film vs. novel, each has their strengths, weaknesses, and critic preferences. In a film we are able to see into the lives and actions of the characters from a specific viewpoint that is determined by the film crew. In a novel, however, we are often given numerous viewpoints and allowed our own imagination to take us to the place the author has laid out for us.
The features of a narrative, either through film or novel can be found through field, tenor, mode and closure. Field in a novel uses a description of the setting to place it. In a film, mise en scene (the setting of a scene) and sound are created. Tenor in a novel relies on the modality or voice a character uses. The film industry uses camera techniques and actors to create such a feeling. The mode of a novel usually appears in chapters or parts. The shots, sequences, and editing of a film creates its mode. Closure is the point of a narrative when the audience feels satisfied with its ending. Martin McQuillan states that, “All narratives end, but not all provide closure” (McQuillian, 2000). For a narrative to truly have closure we, as the audience rely on the fact that there could be no other possible ending.
Mise en scene describes the setting of a shot in a film. We see this in a novel through a vivid description of the setting or where the characters are at any given time. When this mise en scene is being thought about by the film crew control over the lighting, props, sound, and placement of every object including the actors must be taken into careful consideration to ensure the proper atmosphere is created.
Film Narrative and Visual Cohesion
Following Fulton’s view on the structures of novels and films and how they are able to create meanings, she continues by expressing more detail on film particularly on how tenor and mode are expressed through sound, character, focalization and cohesion.
Sound contributes as a signifier that creates meaning, mood and textuality. It takes form as dialogue, sounds effects, ambient noise and music. There are two forms of sound on screen and they are identified as Diegetic sounds which are those that are "on-screen" and complement the "reality" of the film. These are easily identified as sound effects (footsteps or thunder) or as ambient noise (plane engines, traffic). The second form of sound Fulton describes is that of Non-Diegetic sounds. Respectively, this concept is the inverse of Diegetic sounds; it refers to the sounds that come from outside the filmic world. Unlike Diegetic, the characters cannot hear Non-Diegetic sounds. This particular sound takes the form of soundtrack music and voice-overs.
The Characters of a film contribute to the tenor or best described by Fulton as “the interpersonal function of the text” (Fulton, 2005). Opposed to novels where the narrator has to express internal motivations or emotions, characters in films take the role of a more social and public order because they are expressing themselves through gesture, expression or spoken dialogue.
Focalisation refers to the viewpoint from which narration is being told. The movie camera is a good example of the use of this concept in which by standing in for a “third person narrator of a novel,” (Fulton, 2005) the movie camera conveys what is being shown and what is going on.
Cohesion is understood as a way in which the narrative text is organized with its superfluous elements so that it may form a complete event. This type of organization constructs the conventions that are governing the type of text the audience takes in and how it should be appreciated. Film editing is seen as a principal strategy to create cohesion within filmic narratives. Well achieved editing serves the diegesis by maintaining interest and engagement in the audience and by transitioning smoothly from one mise-en-scene to the next.
Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales
In essence, the structure of fairy and folk tales form the basis for all cinematic stories used in today’s films. There is a particular symmetry of ideologies between films and old tales with the exception of the adoption of new technologies and the guise of modern day situations, character personalities and settings. Unfortunately, as the Hollywood industry functions we as the audience miss out on what could be considered a culturally innovative, avant-garde or fairy tale relevant films. This is largely attributed to Hollywood’s focus on regulating a film’s promotion and distribution according to its commercial success.
Novel to Film
Fulton has described the transition from novel to film as one to be welcomed, but with caution and knowledge of what is to be expected when a narrative goes through such a change. The technology we have today can create a masterpiece with the narrative from a novel. It can also take one’s vision on paper and rip it apart to become a whole new tale.
In high school I remember reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens for an English class. The modern film version (Alfonso Cuaron, 1998) came out about the same time. I watched it in hopes of this classic novel coming to life right before my eyes. These hopes quickly died down as I found that the novel had much more depth and perception into the lives of the characters. I enjoyed the visions I had created on my own of what each character looked like and the settings they were placed in. After watching the film I felt as if I was robbed of half the storyline. There were many parts taken out and things added that I could not relate to. I felt important scenes were missing and parts of their lives simply removed. For me, in this case, the vision of the film crew and the vision of the novelist were headed in two different places. On the contrary however, I have also read the Harry Potter series and feel that the films have brought the books to life exactly the way author J.K. Rowling had envisioned while she was creating them. Now, I do not personally know J.K. Rowling, but from her narratives to the narrative on screen very little is lost and the magic comes to life just as I imagine it doing so while reading them.
Whenever a narrative is transformed from one means to another, from one hand to another, from one vision to another, things will change. There is not a better version of a narrative, but there usually is a preference from one perspective to another. Just as the authors, film crew, and playwrights, each have a different outlook and idea of a narrative so too will the audiences of that narrative.
Fulton’s look at both films The English Patient and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring give an in-depth look at how Hollywood takes advantage of filmic techniques that deem the style of “Hollywood realism.” This style aspires to create seamless visuals that allow the audience to forget the presence of a camera, lights and other technical devices that contradict the very essence of the style itself. Similarly, these techniques can be traced back to the theories of film perceptual psychologist Rudolf Arnheim. Arnheim advocates that there are certain practices in filmmaking that reveal certain signified effects. Just as Fulton points out that for every signifier (camera angles, movement) there is a signified (power, distance, size). Correspondingly, Arnheim elaborates that these effects are apparent in such films as “The General Line” in which the placement of the camera stationed at a worm’s eye view expresses and projects power and authority. Referring to the image below we observe Fulton and Arnheim’s presumptions within the film “Spider Man.”
[From the film "Spider Man" - Directed by Sam Raimi]
(The use of close up in this shot portrays intimacy with an internal focalization)
Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales
Since the eighteenth century the study of folklore has expanded greatly. Especially within the German society of writers, in which there has been an interest in folklore that is undeniable. Fairy tales have always centered on social classes and economics. We see this trend inside the German culture through the rebellious nature of writing against the governments of each era.
There is also a great sense of pride within a folk tale that must be taken care of and passed along with respect. Folk and fairy tales have a lesson to be learned that can only be taken away from the listener with self understanding and realization of the morals. The storyteller also plays an important role in the life of a folk tale. Without the connection to the audience and emphasis set on the importance of the wisdom to be sent through time, a storyteller can lose their audience and tale to the winds of time.
With the advancements in technology today we see a great deal of folk and fairy tale films appearing. Most of us will immediately think of a Disney movie that we have all seen, related to, and can describe the characters and storyline in great detail. Many will argue, however, that the creation of such tales through a mass media production destroys the use of our own imagination and brain power to catch the wisdom behind the tale. Before this use of technology storytellers had to create that mental image and moral through his vocabulary and expressions. Now, children and adults are viewing these historic tales on a big screen with no personal imagination because everything is literally drawn out for us. Which leads me to wonder if too much power has been taken away from my imagination and personal reflection? Especially for younger children who have not yet created a mental image of objects, people, and places yet. Their minds could easily be corrupted to believe what they see on the movie screen and not what they create in their mind or in real life. Just because a kid names his pet fish Nemo, does not mean it’s going to have one regular sized fin and one smaller one.
Indeed science and technology has contributed to the traditions of folk and fairy tales. Popular belief might suggest that its influence has shifted society’s psychological approach to such narrative structure in the sense that mediums such as film could be restricting audiences from the elemental practices of literary imagination and mediation. Audiences are being fed with subjective visuals of what they might otherwise be able to have constructed in their minds. But at the core of the matter, the foundational roots of folk and fairy tales are still being put into practice in today’s mainstream films.
As express by Zipes, film is perhaps one of the most important revolutions that have affected folk and fairy tales. As technologically dependant and profit-driven films are, the basis of today’s most successful films are nostalgically adapted from old story tales. From old genres of Greek mythology to folklore of different cultures, films have become the evolution of storytelling. Rocky and Starwars are movies given as examples by Zipes to further promote this evolved framework. If one were to analyze further, the same observations can be expressed with other films such as Rocky IV. This movie suggests the use of biblical tales such as David and Goliath; Rocky representing David the modest underdog and Ivan Drago representing Goliath as a monstrous athlete that by default seems to be unbeatable. Simultaneously, we can observe what Zipes described as filmmakers realizing their own fantasies about social conditions in a capitalist society. Specifically, Rocky assumed the face of America and Drago was that of the Soviet Union at a time where the Cold War was at its height. Further scrutiny would reveal that other fairy and folk tale ideologies were an essential need for the film’s success. As digital media practictioners and interdisciplanary scholars, we must identify that the theories express by Zipes and Fulton are essential to lay the groundwork of successful narratives.
David and Goliath - Provided courtesy of Public Domain Images www.PDI.com From the Film "Rocky IV" Directed by Sylvester Stallone
This PBS site offers the novel (Henry James), film (Michael Hasting) and theater (Henry James), version of three scenes from The American. This site gives the exact text from the novel, film, and theater versions of this narrative. It also has a short clip from those particular scenes from the film version that can also be viewed.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/american/ntof.html
The UNC University Library offers a list of over 1,000 novels that have been turned into films. Each description offers a release date, director and format that the library has available.http://www.lib.unc.edu/house/mrc/films/genre.php?genre_id=42
Arnheim, R (1957). Film as Art. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
Murphet , J. (2005). Narrative and Media. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zipes, J. (1979). In Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.
UNC University Libraries. (Unknown) Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.lib.unc.edu/house/mrc/films/genre.php?genre_id=42
Masterpiece Theatre. (Unknown) Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/american/ntof.html
[Back to the Course Wiki]
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.