Screen Adaptation

Mr Daniel Rosenthal

When you adapt a book, you’re not making another book – you’re making a movie, which operates very, very differently. Anyone who expects a movie to be faithful to a book is not really giving the proper respect to cinematic form and literary form.- ALEXANDER PAYNE, winner of the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Sideways (2004), based on the novel by Rex Pickett

Every year, dozens of new films are based on existing sources. They may have begun life as novels (Atonement, Slumdog Millionaire), short stories (Brokeback Mountain, Away from Her), plays (Doubt, Frost/Nixon), memoirs (Eat, Pray, Love), non-fiction investigations (Invictus, The Men Who Stare at Goats), graphic novels (Watchmen), cartoon strips (Tamara Drewe) and foreign-language films (The Departed) – even theme-park rides (Pirates of the Caribbean).

If you are fascinated by the challenge of guiding a story from page or stage to screen, this course will enable you to explore and practice the craft of adaptation. We will examine acclaimed screen versions of classic and contemporary works of prose fiction and drama. In parallel, as your principal assignment, you will adapt a short story of your choice into a screenplay.

Objectives of the Course and Teaching Methodology

Through lectures, group exercises and workshops, students will acquire a firm grasp of the contrasting techniques and effects of prose fiction, stage drama and screenwriting, then apply this knowledge to writing a screenplay based on a short story.

The course is scheduled to include a Masterclass with Moira Buffini, screenwriter of Tamara Drewe (2010) and Jane Eyre.

This course is aimed principally at: Students of English Literature, Film, Media, Theatre and Creative Writing.

Pre-requisite: A strong interest in film, prose fiction and drama.

Transferable skills: Close reading and comparative analysis; English language composition and communication; creative writing; problem-solving; organization and time management.

Compulsory Reading and Viewing

The following titles must be read before the course begins, and you should also watch as many of the relevant film adaptations as possible (DVD copies will also be available for viewing in the Pembroke Library).

• Joyce, James “The Dead” / The Dead Dir. John Huston
• Proulx, Annie “Brokeback Mountain” / Brokeback Mountain Dir. Ang Lee
• Shakespeare, William Hamlet and Othello [View syllabus for prescribed films]
• Marber, Patrick Closer / Closer Dir. Mike Nichols

Further Pre-Arrival Reading:

Strongly recommended, but not mandatory

• Please refer to the syllabus.

Assessment

• Adapted screenplay: 80%
• Active class participation: 20% (attendance and contributions to lectures and workshops).
• There is no final exam.

Attendance at all lectures, workshops and visiting lectures is mandatory.