Page to Screen: Book to movie / series adaptation discussions - Page 3

Originally posted by: Pete15rogmourey

I have issues with GOF the most cause everything related to Barty Crouch jr , Winky , Bagman , Fred and George's bet and how they eventually got their capital funds for their joke shop was cut in the movies

GOF is my favorite book from the series and it was sad to see all these plot points getting cut

OOTP i didn't mind cause i didn't want to see more of Umbridge

Of course, I agree that major plot points of GoF were cut especially with the characters you mentioned. Bagman's part is something I'm willing to let go because they might have time constraints and can't show every character properly (I mean they never even cast an actor for Charlie Weasley so what can we say ). But Harry funding the twins' shop could've been easily shown with a throw-away line... why cut that?! And Barty's part was really important to the story... removing that takes a lot away from the movie.

I think, past the first 2 movies which were fairly true to the source, rest all of them had huge cuts. Whether it was the director change, books getting progressively longer, or the rush to finish shooting before the kid actors grew up too much... it caused lots of changes in the scripts. When I was re-watching the movies with my bro (first time for him), I had to keep pausing and explaining stuff from the books because he would ask logical and relevant questions about the plot that aren't answered in the movies at all .

About OotP, I just think Harry's inner turmoil... the isolation he was feeling, his frustration with the circumstances, etc didn't translated well on screen and the length made a difference there. What takes a hundred pages in the books is over within a few minutes in the movies, giving you no time to connect with Harry's feeling of isolation and lack of privacy even in his own mind or the sense of betrayal he gets from his friends. It was the first time he started questioning Dumbledore instead of blindly believing that he can make everything alright and that was an important transition from child Harry to a teenager Harry... one who was rightfully angsty because of being dragged into a war he wanted no part in... and one who lost everything to it. He has every reason to be antagonized and hateful. The movie Harry seems much more well-adjusted.

I wanted to see a furious Harry destroying Dumbledore's office after Sirius's death and shouting that he wanted an out. I wanted to see more of Fred and George's pranks and even the other teachers playing their part in it. I wanted them to properly delve into the Occlumency lessons with Snape. And I wouldn't have minded seeing Umbridge more because that's one of the best casting decisions of the movies. Imelda Staunton is freaking good at portraying the "sweet poison" that emulates this character and I think it says a lot when people hate Umbridge more than the OG villain of the story Voldemort .

I hardly read books .

D only adaption I read d book and as well as saw d movie is PS I love you :)

Originally posted by: Sevenstreaks

I hardly read books .

D only adaption I read d book and as well as saw d movie is PS I love you :)

I'm curious... do you read Fanfiction? If yes, why is it different from reading books in general? I've always wondered why there are so many fanfic readers who don't read books otherwise... would like to genuinely understand the mindset behind this .

Originally posted by: ssttuuttii

I'm curious... do you read Fanfiction? If yes, why is it different from reading books in general? I've always wondered why there are so many fanfic readers who don't read books otherwise... would like to genuinely understand the mindset behind this .

When my fav onscreen pair track not going well or they get separated by makers or serial ended , then Fanfiction only brought happiness . Those times I ve read so many fanfictions .

Books I generally can't read more than a page if its not a fast paced one . I doze off immediately . If its fast paced I end up reading it within a day

I always read the book first and then watch the movie

Absolutely love the topic

Thanks @LizzieBennet for the tag. I loved everyone's take on the topic. Most of the adaptations I liked have already been mentioned, so I'll try to name a few that no one has spoken about.

My favourite Book to Screen Adaptation has got to be John Grisham's A Time to Kill. Matthew McConaughey was perfect in the role of Jake Brigance and I'd watch anything with Samuel L. Jackson. They did a great job with the entire trial part of the movie and the few changes that were made only lifted the movie. The closing argument from Jake is one of the most powerful scenes ever put on film and I think I remember the entire speech verbatim.

The BBC Jeeves and Wooster series is another great adaptation. They did a really great job, considering that Wodehouse's humour is more word play based than comic set pieces.

Sally Rooney's Normal People also comes to mind. Although I'll always prefer the book over the show, but the show was quite good.

The new Dune movies are great as well. All Epic fantasy fans know just how difficult it is to get one good adaptation. The LotR movies were good but the Hobbit movies were a major let down and Amazon's Rings of Power Series is a crime against the human race! But Dune has been refreshingly good. I hope I don't end up jinxing it though and the third one doesn't let me down.

Speaking of Epic fantasy, there's a Going Postal by Terry Pratchett adaptation starring Richard Coyle that I absolutely adore! Charles Dance as Lord Vetinari is the very definition of perfect casting. Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is my favourite fantasy series of all time and my God, it's so difficult to get a good adaptation. I have eternal hatred in my heart for The Watch but yeah... Going Postal is as close to perfection as one can get.

I think someone commented about Good Omens already, but if would be criminal to not say how good it is while I'm on the topic of adaptation of Terry Pratchett's works.

Of the recent adaptations I've watched, One Piece Live action was really good.

I'm quite excited to see the adaptation of Emily Henry's Book Lovers. I love the book so much and I can't wait to see how the movie turns out to be.

I could only think of these off the top of my head.

Originally posted by: Sevenstreaks

When my fav onscreen pair track not going well or they get separated by makers or serial ended , then Fanfiction only brought happiness . Those times I ve read so many fanfictions .

Books I generally can't read more than a page if its not a fast paced one . I doze off immediately . If its fast paced I end up reading it within a day

Thanks for responding . Do you mind answering a few more queries? Like do you read Alternate Universe stories (AU) or only track related ones?

From what you said, it seems that being familiar with the characters already... and seeking a change in the plot is what drives most people to fanfics (why I first started reading FFs as well). But what about all the AUs... which are usually more in number than track related stories. Sometimes, the only similarities are character names... but everything else is different in the AUs, so why write / read them instead of original works?

Originally posted by: ssttuuttii

Thanks for responding . Do you mind answering a few more queries? Like do you read Alternate Universe stories (AU) or only track related ones?

From what you said, it seems that being familiar with the characters already... and seeking a change in the plot is what drives most people to fanfics (why I first started reading FFs as well). But what about all the AUs... which are usually more in number than track related stories. Sometimes, the only similarities are character names... but everything else is different in the AUs, so why write / read them instead of original works?

I used to read AUs too

@Bold : That's sufficient. Because we already got connected to names and faces ( older or younger version d vision is still d same)

Originally posted by: ssttuuttii

Thanks for responding . Do you mind answering a few more queries? Like do you read Alternate Universe stories (AU) or only track related ones?

From what you said, it seems that being familiar with the characters already... and seeking a change in the plot is what drives most people to fanfics (why I first started reading FFs as well). But what about all the AUs... which are usually more in number than track related stories. Sometimes, the only similarities are character names... but everything else is different in the AUs, so why write / read them instead of original works?

Sorry for jumping into this discussion uninvited.

I can understand the logic behind writing an AU. You get a readymade fandom just by using character names but I don't get the logic behind reading AUs. More often than not, the characters in the AUs are so OOC that it'd just make sense to call them by different names. The entire point of reading an FF becomes moot in my opinion. The only type of AU i can read is a modern retelling of characters in a high fantasy, or perhaps a gender swap. But I really need the ff writer to stay true to the original characterisation of the characters.

Originally posted by: aryapdane

Sorry for jumping into this discussion uninvited.

I can understand the logic behind writing an AU. You get a readymade fandom just by using character names but I don't get the logic behind reading AUs. More often than not, the characters in the AUs are so OOC that it'd just make sense to call them by different names. The entire point of reading an FF becomes moot in my opinion. The only type of AU i can read is a modern retelling of characters in a high fantasy, or perhaps a gender swap. But I really need the ff writer to stay true to the original characterisation of the characters.

Everyone is welcome in the discussion of course, as long as the TM doesn't mind us going slightly of-topic .

@Blue Now that you say it, I'm understanding the motivations of writers better.

As a reader, I usually start out by reading track-related stories. Sometimes, I may get intrigued by an AU plot which will make me give it a try... but like you said, I want the characterizations to be as close to original as possible even if the setting is changed. The only times I've read completely AU FFs (with changed characterizations) is when I was already familiar with the author's writing beforehand. Then I just go into it with the perspective of reading an original work and it ceases to be a fanfic for me.