Google Project Entry 4

Notes from readings: (yes real books)

Note: focusing on Dialogue adaptation, not imagery because imagery always translates as setting, how accurate imagery is depends on the set designer.

Principles of Adaptation for Film and Television: Ben Brady

From chapter 8 "Dialogue" This chapter talks about dialogue as an element of film.

• "The principal aim of good dialogue is to convey clearly and succinctly the information that the audience must know in order to be continually involved in the story. But, far more important, these utterances must reveal the characters' feelings, both apparent and hidden."
• "Dialogue is genuine only when it grows out of the emotions of the situation itself. In short, dialogue should present not the situation itself, but rather the situation as it is felt by the characters who are experiencing it." (56)
• "Good dialogue must (A) sound conversational, (B) suit the characters, (C) reveal their values and traits, and (D) advance the plot...with the most economical, minimal choice of words." (57)
• "If a character's speech can be delivered by a character other than the one from whom it was was written, that dialogue is defective." (57)
• "Always exclude excessive words, phrases, and speeches that go beyond dramatic need (that is giving the play meaning)
• "Authors often attempt to indicate the pronunciation of dialects by spelling them out for the reader. In drama, such a procedure is more hurtful than helpful, because it makes the script arduous to read and difficult to understand The actor or actress who is chosen for the part will probably have an aptitude for dialect. If not, no amount of phoneticizing will help him or her to sound like the genuine article." (This means that casting is crucial in film adaptation)
• "Another grievance among actors is a writer who constantly describes the manner in which each speech is supposed to be spoken." (Necessary in literature because there are no actors, a PRO) "Only when the meaning of a speech i not clear int he normal reading of a line is it useful to include an instruction."
• "A speech should speak for itself. If a line that calls for anger or sadness is not provoked by the situation, look to the motivation rather than the speech description." (58)
• Curtain Lines and Tag Lines "Should gather all the emotional power of the scene or the act into a final focus." (Think of the lines used at the end of each "part" in GWTW versus the lines used at the ends of the scenes in the movie, the same, different? Impact same or different? is the movie divided as the book is?) (59)
• "the stage is a playground, not a pulpit; characters talk, they don't make speeches; a scene is a setting where commonplace words are used dexterously. Good dialogue states the facts with the most refreshing use of language and demands a sensitive grasp of the emotional significance of each sequence of action, which is consistent with the characters' values and traits."