adaptation of scene to movie
For your second paper, look at one adapted scene closely. Chose one scene (several pages) from one of the texts that we have studied (Cyrano de bergerac,) Then look closely at how that scene was adapted in one of the movie versions Roxanne 1987 Some important notes: You should not just be making a list of differences. You should be trying to isolate some differences you think are significant and examining those differences. Think about why the changes you have chosen might have been made. In some cases, change is simply a function of translating a work from one medium to another (text to film); in other cases it might be a question of marketing or of accommodating modern audience expectations. Think about how the changes affect you as an audience member. Do they convey a new meaning? Change your perspective? Make a character more or less sympathetic? Make the scene seem more or less realistic? Change the emotional tone of the scene? You do not need to be exhaustive — you don’t have to look at every frame of film. But here are some aspects you might consider (you would only choose a few): casting camera technique editing mise-en-scene sound pacing editing/changing of dialogue addition or subtraction of characters You DO need to make specific comparisons between the page and the screen. You can’t just use the film and avoid reading the text. A direct comparison between what you read and what you see. Think of the comparison that Robert Stam makes between that paragraph from The Grapes of Wrath and the corresponding scene in the film that I showed the first day. That is a good starting point. The difference is that you will be commenting on the scene that you choose from the text, and that you will be explaining what effect you think the additions/changes onscreen have. Stam doesn’t comment on the specific postcards or newspaper clippings that the director John Ford chose for Ma Joad to look at, and he doesn’t theorize about what it means that Ma tries on the earrings. But you would comment and theorize on such things in your paper. Work small and deep rather than large and broad.
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