Miscellaneous Movie Musings the Sequel

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

I disagree that all movies are book adaptations. A script is VERY different from a novel.

Yes, and my intent wasn't to equate the two beyond the superficial commonality of the gap between words and visual. Like you said, a novel doesn't have the visual descriptors that a script does. Which is exactly my point.

Yes, script-writing is also a major creative component, arguably more important than the visual aspect as, with rare exception, a movie with a bad script can't be saved by a good visual translation of that bad script. But part of good script-writing is creating something that's going to translate to screen well. With source material that already exists in movie/picture form, that part of your work is already done for you.

There's a big difference between how a story is told on the page vs. how it's told on screen. That's why I never fell in love with the Harry Potter series of movies, they are too literal a translation from book to movie. When I see a movie adaptation of a book, I don't want a filmed version of a book, no more than I want a filmed version of a play. I want a movie. And I consider the creative effort that goes into that translation a bigger skill than the creative effort that goes into just writing a follow-on script from something that's already in that medium.

Of course, none of this is absolute. If done well, any movie, no matter the source, can be good, creative, and a demonstration of movie-making skill. But as a predictor of movies I will enjoy, book adaptation/original script are on par for me with the others a step below.