Film Topics: Literature

1. Film Topics: Literature Mr. Skaar ALHS Film Studies

2. The filmmaker/author writes with his cameraas a writer writes with his pen.Alexandre Astruc

3. Introduction Literature as applied to movies relates to the role of the written word in movies.

4. Topics of Discussion • The Screenwriter • The Screenplay • Figurative Comparisons • Point of View • Literary Adaptations

5. The Screenwriter • Main Author of the Film • Responsible for the dialogue • Outline most of the action • Set forth the main theme of the movie • Role varies from film to film • Little or no scripts—especially silent films • Others use only bare outline • American star system gives stars latitude in creating their own roles.

6. The Screenwriter • Some directors write their own scripts • Eisenstein, Bergman (foreign) • Griffith, Chaplin, Huston, Welles, Coppola, and Woody Allen (American) • American studio system encouraged multiple authorship • Specialties (dialogue, comedy, construction, atmosphere, etc.) • Doctoring weak scripts • Idea people

7. The Screenwriter • Approaches to Screenwriting • Must be solemn to be respectable (e.g. John Ford’s Grapes of Wrath) • Eloquence not restricted to intellectuals (final scene from Casablanca) • Talky scripts (Woody Allen) • Screenwriter works with director to incorporate all aspects of filmmaking into final product (photography, mise en scéne, etc.)

8. The Screenplay • Rarely published as a literary product • Often modified by actors (especially stars) who play roles • Most screenplays are very businesslike and practical, not intended for publication, but only to provide direction for actors and crew.

9. Figurative Comparisons • Figurative Technique: an artistic device that suggests abstract ideas through comparison, either implied or overt • Types of Figurative Techniques: • Motifs: techniques, objects, ideas or anything else which is systematically repeated throughout a work. • Symbols: tangible things which represent abstract ideas • Metaphors: a comparison of unlike objects usually accomplished through editing in film (last scene from Psycho)

10. Figurative Comparisons • Types of Figurative Techniques, cont: • Allegory: character or situation represents complex idea (Death in The Seventh Seal) • Allusions: an implied reference to a well known event, person, or work of art (Garden of Eden in East of Eden) • Homage: in film, an overt reference or allusion to another movie, director or memorable shot (The Jazz Singer in Singin in the Rain)

11. Point of View • Point of view refers to the relationship between the narrator (teller of the story) and the story. • Types of point of view: • First Person (narrator in the story) • Third Person (narrator an observer not in the story) • Omniscient • Objective

12. Point of View • First Person Point of View in Film • First person narrator tells his or her own story. • Sometimes an objective observer who relates events accurately (Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby). • Sometimes a subjective account (Huck in Huckleberry Finn) • The voice of the literary narrator is replaced by the eye of the camera. • Viewer identifies more with the eye than the voice.

13. Point of View • Third Person Point of View in Film • Omniscient • Associated with nineteenth century novels • Narrators are all-knowing observers spanning locations, time periods, and characters. • Narrator can be detached or take on a personality of their own, as in Tom Jones. • Omniscient narration almost inevitable in film.

14. Point of View • Third Person Point of View in Film • Objective • Narrator an observer but not all-knowing • Simply reports the facts, does not enter the consciousness of any character. • Camera records events impartially • Viewers interpret for themselves • Used by realistic directors who keep their camera at long shot and avoid all “commentary” such as angles, lenses, and filters.

15. Literary Adaptations • Adaptations involve the treatment of the raw data of the subject matter • Degree of fidelity determines three types of adaptations: • Loose • Faithful • Literal

16. Literary Adaptations • Loose Adaptations • Only an idea, a situation, or a character is taken from a literary source, then developed independently as in Vincent Price’s, Pit and the Pendulum. • Can be likened to Shakespeare’s use of his sources in his plays

17. Literary Adaptations • Faithful Adaptations • Attempt to re-create the literary source in film terms. • Result not the same as the source, but faithful in message. • Tom Jones and Apocalypse Now good examples

18. Literary Adaptations • Literal Adaptations • Usually restricted to plays and musicals written for the stage • Presents some difficulties handling space and time • West Side Story a good example

19. Additional Terms