Adaptation: Studying Film and Literature

by Desmond, John; Hawkes, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780072822045
• ISBN10: 007282204X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-04
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education

Summary

This concise and readable new text for courses in Film Adaptation or Film and Literature introduces students to the art of adapting works of literature for film.Adaptationdescribes the interwoven histories of literature and film, presents key analytical approaches to adaptation, and provides an in-depth overview of adaptations of novels, short stories, plays, nonfiction, and animation. The book concludes with an analysis of why adaptations sometimes fail.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(1)
Why Study Film?	1	(1)
What Is Film Adaptation?	1	(1)
The Fidelity Issue	2	(1)
Classifying Adaptations	2	(1)
Advanced Inquiries	3	(1)
Some Limitations	4	(1)
Works Cited	5	(2)
Cinema's Turn to Narrative	7	(11)
Early Cinema History	7	(5)
Audiences, Production, and Distribution	12	(2)
Why Adapt a Text?	14	(3)
Works Cited	17	(1)
Literary and Film Terms	18	(16)
Literary Terms	19	(5)
Film Terms	24	(10)
Film Adaptation: The Case of Apples and Oranges	34	(16)
Unfixed to Fixed	34	(2)
Single to Multitracks	36	(3)
Story and Discourse	39	(1)
Is It Faithful or Not?	40	(3)
Status of Literature versus Film	43	(1)
Close, Loose, and Intermediate	43	(1)
The Auteur	44	(2)
Intertextuality	46	(1)
A Method of Comparison	46	(1)
Topics for Discussion	47	(1)
Works Cited	48	(2)
A Method for Studying Film Adaptation	50	(33)
``Spade and Archer,'' Chapter 1 of The Maltese Falcon (1930), by Dashiell Hammett	51	(6)
Analysis of Narrative Elements of ``Spade and Archer,'' Chapter 1 of The Maltese Falcon (1930)	57	(3)
Opening Sequence of The Maltese Falcon (1941), Directed by John Huston	60	(1)
The Continuity Script	60	(10)
Analysis of Film's Opening Sequence	70	(9)
The First Chapter and the Opening Sequence	79	(1)
Microcosmic and Macrocosmic Analyses	80	(1)
Topics for Discussion	81	(1)
Works Cited	81	(2)
The Novel	83	(44)
Some Fundamentals of Novel Adaptation	85	(14)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1960), by Harper Lee	99	(1)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), Directed by Robert Mulligan	100	(10)
The Novella	110	(1)
A River Runs Through It (1976), by Norman Maclean	111	(1)
A River Runs Through It (1992), Directed by Robert Redford	112	(5)
Summary	117	(1)
Topics for Discussion	118	(1)
Works Cited	119	(1)
Selected Filmography of Novel Adaptations	120	(5)
Novella Adaptations	125	(2)
The Short Story	127	(31)
Three Strategies for Expanding the Short Story into a Feature Film	128	(1)
``The Killers'' (1927), by Ernest Hemingway	129	(1)
The Killers (1946), Directed by Robert Siodmak	130	(3)
``The Swimmer'' (1964), by John Cheever	133	(1)
The Swimmer (1968), Directed by Frank Perry	134	(3)
``Memento Mori'' (2001), by Jonathan Nolan	137	(11)
Memento (2001), Directed by Christopher Nolan	148	(3)
Combining Strategies	151	(2)
Summary	153	(1)
Topics for Discussion	154	(1)
Works Cited	154	(1)
Selected Filmography of Short Story Adaptations	155	(3)
The Play	158	(30)
Drama and Fiction	159	(2)
Drama and Film	161	(2)
Opening Up a Play	163	(1)
A Soldier's Play (1982), by Charles Fuller	164	(1)
A Soldier's Story (1984), Directed by Norman Jewison	165	(3)
Murder Scene from Fuller's A Soldier's Play	168	(1)
Shot Analysis of Murder Scene from A Soldier's Story	169	(3)
Degrees of Opening Up	172	(8)
The Length of a Play	180	(2)
Summary	182	(1)
Topics for Discussion	183	(1)
Works Cited	183	(1)
Selected Filmography of Drama Adaptations	184	(4)
Nonfiction	188	(21)
``Investigating the Quiz Shows'' (1988), by Richard N. Goodwin	192	(2)
Quiz Show (1994), Directed by Robert Redford	194	(7)
In Cold Blood (1966), by Truman Capote	201	(1)
In Cold Blood (1967), Directed by Richard Brooks	202	(3)
Summary	205	(1)
Topics for Discussion	206	(1)
Works Cited	207	(1)
Selected Filmography of Nonfiction Adaptations	207	(2)
Animation	209	(22)
Some Fundamentals of Animation	210	(4)
``The Raven'' (1845), by Edgar Allan Poe	214	(4)
``The Raven,'' from ``Treehouse of Horror'' Episode of The Simpsons (1990), Directed by David Silverman	218	(4)
``The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' (1820), by Washington Irving	222	(1)
The Adventures of Ichabod (1949), Directed by Jack Kinney	223	(4)
Summary	227	(1)
Topics for Discussion	228	(1)
Works Cited	228	(1)
Selected Filmography of Animation Adaptations	229	(2)
The Failed Adaptation	231	(3)
Uncinematic Texts	233	(1)
Cinematic Misjudgments	234	(10)
The Great Gatsby (1974), Directed by Jack Clayton	244	(9)
Summary	253	(1)
Topics for Discussion	253	(1)
Works Cited	254	(1)
Selected Filmography of ``Failed'' Adaptations	255
Glossary	1	(1)
Further Reading on Film Adaptation	1	(1)
Some Internet Sites	1	(1)
Credits	1	(1)
Index	1