Wednesday, 9 November 2016

Fiction Adaptation: New Poem, New Ideas


To begin the pre-production process for this new unit, I sat and read through my new poem choice a few times, and these are the ideas that are currently running through my mind.

NEW POEM, NEW IDEAS

 When I read through the poem, these are the images I see:

  • A car parked outside a dental practice, or clinical looking building.
  • A car radio
  • Somebody filing a book on a shelf with the label "Greatest Achievements of Postmodernism"
  • A helicopter flying over a city on fire
  • A car filled with memories, and looking as though someone has been living there for a while.
  • An angel flying through the car
  • Sound effects of a war zone
I have a few ideas:
  • I'd really like to attempt doing something in one shot, or making it look like one shot. I've never tried this before. I could look at using the stedi-cam for this?
  • I want to use a car, and give it a personality, as though it's telling a story by what using what it hides in its interior.
  • I have an idea where it looks as though a car crash has just happened, and the camera is using the poem to guide the audience through the aftermath.
An example of a good one shot or "oner":


Images:
http://cdn.www.floridayig.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Idea.jpg

Monday, 7 November 2016

Fiction Adaptation: Poem Change

In preparation for the fiction adaptation unit, I have been working on my animation idea. Unfortunately, after much trial and error, I have decided that, within the timeframe given, I will not be able to do what I would like to do. Because of this, I have decided to change my idea, and change my poem.

I have now changed from "Wish You Were Here" to "Poem Heard on Heart 105" by Ross Sutherland. When I read this poem, I found it easy to imagine the imagery that could match it, and so I thought it'd be a good idea to use this one, instead of the other one. My next step will be to write a script, and create a shot list for this poem.


Or you can read it below:

Sunday, 6 November 2016

Fiction Adaptation: Essay Prep

Chosen Question:

“Discuss the view that ‘with a successful adaptation, the original work is transformed into something new and different, although retaining traces of what it was formerly’ with reference to at least one text adapted for broadcast on television”

Reading/Watch List:
-       And Then There Were None (1939) by Agatha Christie (text)
-       And Then There Were None (2015) by BBC TV (TV miniseries)
-       Family Guy: And Then There Were Fewer Pt 1 (2010, S9EP1) by Fox Television (TV series)
-       And Then There Were None (1945) by Twentieth Century Fox (Film)
-       Family Guy: “Blue Harvest” (2007, S6EP1), “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side” (2010, S8EP20), “It’s A Trap” (2011, S9EP18)
-       Adaptation in Contemporary Culture: Textural Infidelities by Rachel Carroll. (Chapter 4, 9, 13, 16)
-       Adapting Detective Fiction: Crime, Englishness and the TV Detectives by Neil McCaw
-       McDougal

Outline of my aims:

I want to look at the BBC adaptation of “And Then There Were None”, as well as the Family Guy parody, entitled “And Then There Were Fewer”.

I want to explore the themes of an adaptation, and look at what qualifies as a ‘successful adaptation’.

I want to explore the idea that adapting something into animation form, brings it to a new audience, and gives you endless possibilities.

To do this I will look at other adaptations/parodies that Family Guy have created, most notably, their parody of the original Star Wars Trilogy, which maintains many traces of the original films, whilst still being a typical Family Guy episode with gags and agendas.

I want to investigate the influence the adaptor has on the adaptation. E.g. Seth MacFarlane is the producer/writer/voice actor on Family Guy, and I believe his political and social views do affect the way the show tells stories.
I also want to look at how the current social environment has affected the original story of ‘And Then There Were None’, as the original had a racist word in the title. E.g. The BBC is quite balanced; how does this affect their adaptation?

Questions I would like to answer-

-       How has the current social environment affect the original story?
-       Do the adaptors personal views affect the adaptation?
-       Does animation give you endless possibilities when adapting a piece of work, as well as the opportunity to bring it to a new audience?
-       How do the three example adaptations differ from one another? Why do they differ?
-       Do the adaptations transform the original text into something new and different, whilst still maintaining traces of what they once were?
-       How do Family Guy use their status to bring old stories to a new audience? And how do these new adaptations/parodies differ from the original stories, whilst still maintaining traces of the original?

Fiction Adaptation: Essay- Background Research

I'm using my blog as a good place to store my research for my Fiction Adaptation essay, so I don't lose it. Below is a summary of the research I carried out:

TV/Film Sources:

And Then There Were None: Series 1, Episode 1. (2015) BBC One: 26 December. 21:00hrs

And Then There Were None: Series 1, Episode 2. (2015) BBC One: 27 December. 21:00hrs

And Then There Were None: Series 1, Episode 3. (2015) BBC One: 28 December. 21:00hrs

Family Guy- And Then There Were Fewer: Series 9, Episode 1. (2010) FOX: 26 September. 22:00hrs

Family Guy- Blue Harvest: Series 6, Episode 1. (2007) FOX: 23 September. 22:00hrs

Family Guy- Something, Something, Something, Dark Side: Series 8, Episode 20. (2010) FOX: 23 May. 22:00hrs

Family Guy- It’s A Trap: Series 9, Episode 18. (2011) FOX: 22 May. 22:00hrs

Clue (1985) Directed by Jonathan Lynn [DVD] USA: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment


Online Sources:

1. Conlan, T. (2015) ‘BBC’s And Then There Were None puts a darker spin on Agatha Christie’ In: The Guardian [online] At: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/dec/13/bbc-and-then-there-were-none-agatha-christie (Accessed on 01.11.16)

2. Travis, B. (2015) ‘And Then There Were None, BBC1: four things you need to know about the Agatha Christie adaptation’ In: Evening Standard [online] At: http://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/tvfilm/and-then-there-were-none-bbc1-four-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-agatha-christie-adaptation-a3144051.html (Accessed on 01.11.16)

3. Chan, C. (s.d) 10 Things You Didn’t Know About And Then There Were None. At: http://www.agathachristie.com/watch/and-then-there-were-none/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-and-then-there-were-none (Accessed on 01.11.16)

4. SparkNotes Editors. (s.d) SparkNote on And Then There Were None: Themes, Motifs & Symbols. At: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/andthenthere/themes.html (Accessed on 01.11.16)

5. Novel Guide. (s.d) And Then There Were None: Theme Analysis. At: http://www.novelguide.com/and-then-there-were-none/theme-analysis (Accessed on 01.11.16)

6. IMDB. (s.d) And Then There Were Fewer. At: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1610751/ (Accessed on 01.11.16)

7. IMDB. (s.d) Clue. At: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088930/ (Accessed on 01.11.16)

8. Kaminska, B. (2011) Full Analysis of The Family Guy. At: http://thefamilyguyanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/normal-0-21-false-false-false-pl-x-none.html (Accessed on 01.11.16)

9. Ryan, J. (2015) Where Are Those Good Old Fashioned Values? Family Guy and Satire in Family Guy. At: http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6582&context=etd (Accessed on 01.11.16)

10. Stein, S. (2016) ‘Mystery’ In: The Paris Review [online] At: http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/02/05/mystery/ (Accessed on 01.11.16)

11. IMDB. (s.d) And Then There Were None. At: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3581932/ (Accessed on 01.11.16)

Book Sources-
Christie, Agatha (2007) And Then There Were None. UK: HarperCollins

Key Points-

1.

· To reference quotes from this text: (Phelps 2015, cited in Conlan, 2015)

· Screenwriter Sarah Phelps said “This book is genuinely terrifying … nobody is coming to save you … no dapper Belgian detective, no twinkly-eyed and steely spinster is going to arrive and unravel it”.

· Phelps says the audience should be prepared for something much darker “that gets that little vulnerable spot in your brain and goes (mimes turning something)”

· Phelps said the book, which she had not read before. “profoundly shocker” her and is more “terrifying and brutal” than she expected”.

· It is “searing” in the same way as Scandinavian dramas such as The Killing and The Bridge are, in contrast to other dramas that use death as an entertaining plot device.

· Phelps also wrote the 2011 adaptation of Great Expectations, which was celebrated.

· Phelps explains “Whenever we think of Murder She Wrote, Midsummer Murders, Poirot, Marple, [it’s] murder as entertainment – teatime entertainment – isn’t that weird? Those shows are kind of ‘Argh, I’ve been killed with a letter opener to the eye’, it’s [about] the unravelling of the plot and the life is irrelevant. In this book you take all that, murder as entertainment, and you turn it on its head [and say] ‘this is an abomination, this is the wrath of God’. What this does, and the Scandi dramas do, is they go, ‘This is what murder is. Murder is an absolutely horrific crime. You have taken a life.”

· Phelps also translated JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy to the small screen in 2014.

· She said “When I was writing I kept thinking of the Greeks, thinking of the remorselessness and the poem as actually a Greek chorus: ‘You’re not going anywhere, you’re pinned, you’re fixed, here is the eye of God, it doesn’t blink, look at you squirm.’ It’s terrifying.”

· “I think this book has a worrying purity to it because of the beauty of the plot. And there’s a real dark, murky, curious, difficult undertone which just makes you think about what it means to take a life”

· “There is something else … the most forensic examination of guilt, transgression.”

· Phelps did change the ending of The Casual Vacancy, but says it was important to stay faithful to Christie’s plot and “not do something like Big Brother”, keeping the author’s principle that death “had to mean something”.

· “You have to be faithful to Christie because she’s making you think about really important moral points”.

· She has however “ramped up” some elements: “Everyone in the book is quite polite and clipped. They’re a whole lot less so in the adaptation because I kept thinking ‘what would you do if you were on an island and people kept dying?’. I think I’d be bouncing off the walls at some point”

· She also made some changes to how characters die, or where they die, purely for plot reasons.

· And of course as per usual, the producers had some influence on the adaptation, as they would not allow her to use the word ‘cunt’ in the script, saying a producer said “Sarah, it’s Christmas. We’re not having ‘cunt’ at Christmas”.

2.

· And Then There Were None is widely regarded as one of her most ingenious works – packed with revelations, murders, and social commentary, with a puzzling mystery at its core.

· This must be one of the BBC’s best-looking series of the year – the whole production glowers as foreboding wide shots and sumptuous landscapes give the impression of very bad things to come. The atmosphere is brilliantly maintained, with the tension ramping up as you question who might be bumped off next.

3.

· Agatha Christie was compelled to write ‘And Then There Were None’ because it was such a difficult plot to write effectively that the idea fascinated her. The story line went through massive rewrites before she was ready to write it.

· As Christie worked on the stage adaptation of ATTWN, she decided to change the ending to a 'happier' one where characters survive and fall in love, because as the play was being performed during WWII, she thought that the original ending would have been far too bleak.

· ATTWN is arguably Christie's most parodied work. Some examples include a Superman comic book that borrowed heavily from Christie's plot and the animated television series Family Guy which produced a parody titled 'And Then There Were Fewer'.

· Some film adaptations have set the story on a mountaintop chalet, the Iranian desert, and on an African safari. However, the 1945 film kept the setting of an island off the coast of England.

· Voted the World’s Favourite Christie in a global vote across 100 countries in 2015.

4.

· Key themes explored by ‘And Then There Were None’:

o The Administration of Justice

o The Effects of Guilt on One’s Conscience

o The Danger of Reliance on Class Distinctions

· Motifs:

o The “Ten Little Solider Boys” Poem

o Dreams and Hallucinations

· Symbols:

o The Storm

o The Mark on Judge Wargrave’s Forehead

o Food


· This source also has some good information on the context of the book.

5.

· Other themes explored by ‘And Then There Were None’:

o Guilt

o Concealment

o Justice

o Suspicion

6.

· And Then There Were Fewer has an 8.3/10 rating on IMDB.

· It was written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong.

· It was directed by Dominic Polcino.

· Partly based on the 1985 film ‘Clue’, as well as the Agatha Christie novel ‘And Then There Were None’.

7.

· Clue has a 7.3/10 rating on IMDB.

· Directed by Jonathan Lynn

· Written by Jonathan Lynn

· Based on the board game Cluedo

8.

· Explores the key principles of transmedia in Family Guy:

o Spreadability vs. drillability

o Continuity vs. multiplicity

o Immersion vs. extractability

o Worldbuilding

o Seriality

o Subjectivity

o Performance

9.

· Looks at:

o The history of animation

o Family Guy’s anarchic essence

o Parodies & satires

10.

· The original book was released in the UK with the title ‘Ten Little Niggers’. It was later republished with the new title ‘Ten Little Indians’.

· However, in the US the original title was considered too offensive, so the book was released with the title ‘Ten Little Indians’.

11.

· The BBC adaptation of ‘And Then There Were None’ has a rating of 8.1/10 on IMDB.

· Based on the book by Agatha Christie. Adapted for screen by Sarah Phelps.

· Directed by Craig Viveiros, Basi Akpabio, Rebecca Keane.

· First major English adaptation to give the General his original surname, MacArthur. Earlier screen and stage adaptations changed it to MacKenzie or Mandrake, to avoid referencing WWII hero, General Douglas MacArthur.

· This is the first version where Anthony Marston’s victims are children, like in the book. In other versions he has also be changed to a Russian Prince (1945), a pop singer (1965), and a French crooner (1974).

· This is the first and only English adaptation of the story which follows the ending from the book. All previous productions follow the stage play version, which was a happier ending where the final two characters survive.

Saturday, 5 November 2016

Fiction Adaptation: Chosen Essay Question


As part of the Fiction Adaptation unit, we must also complete an essay about adaptation.

CHOSEN ESSAY QUESTION

 We had three essay questions to choose from, I chose question number 1:

"Discuss the view that 'with a successful adaptation, the original work is transformed into something new and different, although retaining many traces of what it was formerly" with reference to at least one text adapted for broadcast on television"


INITIAL IDEAS

I chose this question because when I first read it, I already had an television adaptation in mind that I wanted to write about and this question fit that adaptation well. I want to look at the BBC adaptation of "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie, as well as the Family Guy parody, entitled "And Then There Were Fewer". Whilst exploring the Family Guy parody, I will also look at the other books/tv shows/films that Family Guy have parodied, and use these examples to explore the view that the question proposes.

I will also explore the themes of an adaptation, and look at what qualifies as a successful adaptation. I will also look at how Family Guy has brought this Agatha Christie work to a new audience, and how the endless possibilities that animation offer, have allowed Family Guy to parody many works. I will also look at the political side of both adaptations, as the BBC is often very balanced, and Family Guy is often very Democratic, like it's creator, Seth MacFarlane. And finally I will look at how the current social environment has affected the original story, especially considering the fact that when the book was original published in 1939, it had a racist word in the title, which has been changed over the years.

NEXT STEPS

- Re-read the original text "And Then There Were None"
- Re-watch the BBC adaptation
- Re-watch the Family Guy parody
- Watch the original 1945 film adaptation
- Carry out research into adaptation, specifically, television adaptation
- Research into the history of the original text

Image:

Friday, 4 November 2016

Fiction Adaptation: Brief & Chosen Poem


FICTION ADAPTATION BRIEF

 For our second unit this year, we have been tasked with adapting a poem into a visual production, as well as producing an essay about the subject of adaptation. This unit will help me develop my filmmaking skills by allowing me to adapt somebody elses work, and by allowing me to try new filmmaking techniques.

As part of this unit, we are being encouraged to try new types of filmmaking. I decided over the summer that I wanted to attempt computer animation, to help develop my After Effects skills, and so I kept this in mind whilst choosing my poem.

We were given a list of poems to choose from, and after reading through all of them, I chose a poem called "Wish You Were Here" by Emrys Plant.


I chose this poem because as I was reading it, I found it really easy to visualise it in my head. As I was able to visualise it, it showed that I understood it, and because I can understand it, I should be able to adapt it with ease. Out of all the other poems, I think this one will make sense in an animated form.

I began to brainstorm some ideas:


I am very excited about this project, and I'm looking forward to attempting something new. I need to get started soon, as animation takes a long time.

Images: