20 June, 2008

MTV's Adaptation Article


Wow. Did everyone see this? I feel like I should have been a consultant on this article or something! MTV released their 'Twilight Tuesday' update this week and it was all about the adaptation process, plus an interview with Greg regarding the hurdles and responsibilities involved when adapting a well-loved novel. Certainly check it out if you haven't. They reveal an added scene, publish the dialogue of that scene and discuss the reasons for the addition.


I like the point that Catherine makes in the video about one look that an actor gives another actor in the film can cover twenty-five pages of text from Stephenie Meyer. Because of this, they are able to add extra scenes and dialogue in order to develop the characters and keep us interested (i.e. not having five scenes in the Bio classroom; instead there may be three scenes there and an extra scene in a greenhouse for visual diversity). We don't have twenty-five pages of text to get to know the workings of these character's brains. Instead, we have time and observation. Much like how Edward can't get into Bella's head, we have to find other outlets to get to know these characters like extra scenes with them... because unlike the novels, we can't get into Bella's head either!


This quote from Greg really sums up my thoughts on my observations of the Twilight adaptation:


"It's very important to distinguish that we're making a separate piece of art that obviously is going to remain very, very faithful to the book," Mooradian added. "But at the same time, we have a separate responsibility to make the best movie you can make."


It shows their intents, their awareness of the novel's following, and the respect and involvement given to the author while still working towards creating a good and interesting film that doesn't fall flat because it tried to stay too close to the book (think of the first, and maybe the second Harry Potter films. They tried too hard to be true to the book and came off looking too Disney-esque and the dialogue contrived and unnatural).
That's it for now; no amazing facts or secrets to share today, I just wanted to comment on the attention being given to the adaptation process by MTV. I'm off to a remote island in Lake Michigan for a week, then to Pennsylvania for a week to see my folks, then back out to Portland for a week for some odds and ends :), then back to the Boston/New Hampshire area until I go back to Wales in September. I'm working on an article regarding Twilight's adaptation, as well as an interview with some of the game designers from the Lord of the Rings Online game. I'll keep you posted.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember how much I loved the book, Interview With a Vampire, and how crushed I was after seeing the movie. I appreciate the attention being given to the adaptation process. Thanks for reassuring all of us die-hard Twilighters. Believe me, there are times that I think, "Do I really want to ruin my images of what I've read by going to the movie?" Please keep us posted!

Marye~

Dustyn said...

Has anyone discussed the possible political or social/religious issues surrounding Twilight and some of the other texts/films that we all love? At the beginning and middle of the Harry Potter craze, many religious conservative/right groups condemned the books for "witchcraft." Any of that occurring with the Twilight phenomenon? Or did HP pave the way, so to speak, for books/films like Twilight?

Anonymous said...

As much as I have begun to understand the adaptation process (thanks to your reporting on the subject),and tried to share this understanding with other Twilighters I still worry that the film won't live up to all the hype. I see the clips and some scenes I like and others I think the characters come off corny or it doesn't meet up with how I pictured it in my head. I tell myself often that a lot of the time what we see in the trailers and the sneak peeks isn't always what ends up in the final product of the movie.