A

'

CIIAPfERI

Cinena'sTnntaNatnti@

The advent of cinema in the lare nineteenth cenhry was preceded by aLnost a .entury of dis.ove.ies, .olabolarions, and riu"t.i"" u,i,o"g urti"t", inventors, ed enheplenurs. The ilventions asso.iaied wirh cinemtog.a pny were devdoped sirulianeously in differeni counrJies (prima.ily in rhe Urited crares. Irdn,e Flgdnd. dnd Cermanl,. so thec.re co;t,cting rla,ms dboul wl-o in\ented.nemd A,onvpnieri wd\ ioenler rhe di".u.,,.n i. to beg r q ith thp hve-hon or two e*pnti"t md.hi;e". a r:ne!" caodble of recoJdins ro oa dnd d pro.ector ..Dablp or .howing no\ n6 ma8p. to dn
there wre imporrani anteedenrs, mey hnto.ids agree that the - Although fr^r dot on-pifim "\stem ha. dpvetoped in $" t;bo?ro,y of l1e nvenror dnd dtrppeneur Tl'ora, Al\d tdison. Ir 1882. Ldi5on had inlorpd the phonggraph md wanled a compoion appdatus{omething rhat would re.o'd dnd Tprodu. e doviaS piclres ro dclomprny rc!ordpd du.!c tortlr6 prrpo'e. he hned Willidm K. L DiLk.on. who did au, 1 o. O,e hork n ,-tenF

ing th cam@. Dickson and Edison spent a fruiiless year hying io devetop a recording m.hine modeled on the cylinder, tre basis for Edison,s phonograph. "In 1889, on a trip to Parb, Edison ;aw Etieme-tutes M-"yt ""i.*", "r, u*d paper fiLn dd a oll mehdism to tate a sries of photographs ar a high ,Deed. Upon rd'.on . rcru-. DLlson arquired -ome fle. b e ceuLlo.d ,i,n p;F tu.ted by Geoe Fa.rndn bLL wort on d ncw \ind of rc(onling dfli.e wb delayed by other prctefs. By 1891, Dickson tEd comrru.tea a -otion pict oe camera .aled a K"etq7ap,1, which was a huge, mwietdt battery-p;wered ma.hine that weighed abour 5m pomds. Dick;d,s co"t iu"tio* L], i, "-, rowing the Edtnan filtn by dttinS ii into oneinch srrips (or approximtety 3clm. rhe:.anddd toddy, dd rl-4 perfordtug the film wirr rour hote" on ea,h side or a trdne -o a ,-.. or ,p-.t"r. .outU oovM,e fie pt-olo8-apt-. brr p*t the ameru reru In ode JIoh p{pte to rc lhp Aorded ind8"s. Dckson developed a viewing bo., 'o called a l:trrroscote, whi.h had a peephole dfli.e ODr credted thp l6ior ot movnS piclr". The 5 gniri.dl tmirarionor Ll.a (iarc-copp idq lh". onll ore poo ar a tine coia vieu -he movmg

stldio, oaled ln Wen Orange Nd J6ey, where 5om ol rhe Amen@i 6lms rer shot with a Kineiosope beginn n! id 1393.
Tne Ah.l( Mana, Edison! lilm

f6t

singers
each

dd

dance6. Sine the soGp(Md

.dera

could not b moved easily,

film coNisted of a slngle, medited, staiionary usualy long shot of whai evd motion was perfotued before ihe cdera lero. Edison dd his parhers ofierEd entrepreneus the opportmity to buy ihe Kinetosope md the Black Malia ffhs for commeaial viewing. On ApdI 14, 1894, a Kinetoscope parlor opened in New York City, md its popula.ity soon led to others being opened
a@ss the United States ed abroad. During this period, Edison de.ided not to move beyond the Kinetoscope to a prcje.iion system that wouid throw ldge images on a s.reen for group viewing. tn 1891, wh{ he applied for a United Siates paient to prod the Kinetog.aph dd the Kinetos.ope, he decided not to take out d intehationat pabent. Thijr medt ihat jnventors in E@pe .ould study and ma! ue of the Edison/ DicLon mcntrs or JFii ohr de5igrs A Kinetoscope exhibitor in Fim.e asked Augxsie and Louis Luiore, lrm-

tmed to other pbjects, ad so it was enirepreneus NoEe Ratr Gammon who, he ing of the camera istig;ted a parrne$hip that led to ihe m keting of ihe Kinetoscope. Filns were needed f;r public exhibi<h.e ddvugnr wb ofren fon. -o D.\on rcok @ the iob ot produLir8 dsJFhriflt, rhe world s fiBl bbr (tud:o, cattpd t're Btdct Mda. has builr d Edison's laboiatorie in West Ormge, New Jersey, in 1893. This shack-tike structure had a roof rhai opened to adnit lish! a cnolar track rtDt allowed ihe
Edison and

lranl

rlr.

ba.LF ourd (or

bdtd?dperwa sloa..dq r e.t mo\ res h p e - ho +{nl) 20 IonS_ "F.on.ls .ocpondnS ro 50 rer ot rilr. rhe 8rcJre.t tength a l\rero.rope.outo hotd. Scene..hohed ndSed pFrormde-. acluding vaudAi e rouure-, m,l al-t\ athl ic dbpla)s b) dcrobars do rlrongnen, drd drb-ric Gp,d), by

shohbuildirSrorcrdterc.rlhmdi6al5;nfi8rr

lJactwre of photographic equipment in LyoN, to male filns that were cheaper thd Edison's. The brotheis studied Edisont device and by 1894 invented a system caled the Cin6matographe. Its min componet was a handdanled camera

*a"c.

flre e,

so lEhtweight md poitable that 6lN could be nade on lo.ation. More importdt, the.dera lbled to equipmst that proje.ted moving images on a s.ften for group viewinS. Most film hjstolids mdk the begiming of modern c'nema on December 28, i89t when the LmiO brcthe$ ukd the Cinnaiographe to show a prc

Cinm'sTun toNamti{e
glam of

17

td

silent 6l,as at the Grand Caf6

i!

Palis. This was the

tory that continuous moving inages were prcjdted on a

for publi. viewing by a paying audin e. Ea.h fiLn .onsjsted of a single mediied shot lasting only one or two minutes. The Lmiare brothers capt@d s.enes of everyday life: woikers er.iting a fa.tory a train .oming into a stalion, a baby feedin8, and laboreF lqocking down a wall. The filns were what the Lmieres called a.tualitis or dmentary views. The signi{icdt point is that the Lmiare a.iralil4 were flol ndatives.
Hearing about the LmiCres' succ6s, Edison bdame interested in develoF ing a p@jectoi tn 1895, Major Woodvile Laiham invmted the Lathm loop. Previously, filn from 50 ro 100 feei long was likely to bleak be.ause the takeup @l woutd jerk, splitting or tearinS the film. By placinS a loop in the filmstrip that would absorb the jerking action, a much longer piece of filn could be prcjected- In that sam year, Thomas Armai dd Charles lrd.es Jenkins devel oped a projector called the Phantascope that had an intermittent motion devi.e parallel to a.mera's. In 1896 the Edison Compdy boughfuights to the Phd tascope and markebed it as the vitdcope uder Edison's nane, even ihough he had no ptrt in inveniinS it. This protol?e for the nodem prcjector was used in publi. for the tust time on April 23, 1896, at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York Ciry Edison's Vitdcope filns looked like the Kinetoscope fillB, but sm after the Blal exhibitim. Edison becme less dependot on filns shot at the Bta.k Mdia dd sent men with portable .ameras to shoot on location. The subjets of these films included streei senes, railway irains, a fire sgine, a watefal, dd other outdoor srges. 'Ihere ae wsal EasoN why m the mid-1890s the fits of Ediso& ihe Lmiare brcihen, and othd filmmakeF w@ primdily nMative in naturE,
consisthg of reproductions of Ealstic smes or of staged iheatlical perfomcs. The most imdiate is ilbt nineteenth century teclhology limited the length of a film to ihe poht wherc it was difii.dlt to tell a story Edly films were shoitbea@ a filn ldting ldgd thd a minute d two would bieal in mo6t projectors- Since it is difficult b tell a complex story h such a shon sbt h, the evolution of mnative cineha was tied to tt developmmt of prcjection technology. Anothq limit on cinemaric stor)4eling in the mid-1890s was that e6 had a primitive mdeBtdding of the new medium. It simply did noi @cur to them to move beyond recording a real or staged event. But evo iI it had, they did not yet lnow how to move the .dera to tell a stor)a WlFther the 1:aera was as hea\y as ihe 500-pomd Kinet6cope or as light 6 the 16-pomd Cin6matog1aphe, it was *t up as a station ry device. The was only one shot, one point of view, md one sige. It was djfficuli to tell a slory wilh a tregiming, middle, dd end using ore short scene dd a single, motionless, usually long shot to e the a.tion. Iurthemor, audiences ftgdded filns differendy than we do toda)r At this point in history filn w6 a novelty, a tuiosity, a teclnological miracle. Viewe$

{l1s

fist

time in

hie

weE excited by the mere ryjstence of moving pi.tures. To ns a train bareling into a station was uttedy dtonishing. lt wasn't Etil the novelty wore ofi that vieweN demded something moE ephisdcated.
Pelhaps a more importmt .Liffeme between eally audiences ed today's edliest vieweF saw films as motion-dimted photographs within a frame. Each soe was viewed 6 a eu-.ontained mit. It was onlv with the developmst or mulb-cm mo! iec dd contin h edilinS rhal view;r, hanPd
is that the

to make comectiotu between one scene in.ompleie scenes d adding up to a sro{4

ad

the next

dd

to view multiple

Th!

is not to say that there

Mey filh historim daim

(1895) (rater entided

,\rrse!r

oI embryonic Mrativ6. early Lumiere sholt Ie /ahlinb et le petit *piZgle A'ost or "The Waterer Watered") dti.ipates

w@ not edly ermples

adapted a well,knoM nsspaper .aibon. tn il a gardene. waters his IaM with a hos. A boy steps on the hose, deliberately shutting off ihe water supply. Whe the Ij6 lools closly af the nozle to ee what is wron& the boy sbeps off the ho6e, casing the lrd io squirt hirseu in ihe fae. Realizjng the tick, the mm t1m aJter th boy dd tive cineFa. This one- to lwo-minute, singleshot

filfl

ffia

filrmk

fiImmkre givd .rdit for intrcducing a stor)telting dimedon dd 1900 is George Melier a fomer mgi.id, who prcduced filns lhat astmished audim@s with then spe.ial efiects- M6[es, ur ike Ediso4 the Lmiares, and other edly fil'a prduers, c e fron e mtertaimeit backgroud, and s adapthg theatrical enventioro to the new medium w6 naiual for him. Whm Mdies tust begd maLing filhs in 1896, he shot every.Iay s.ener travelogues, ad magic tricks, but son he experimeted with film in wals that look hih outside the d()min of documentary views and staged perfornances. One leo\nique was stop-morion photogaphy/ a prc.edw in which the tmera is siopped duing a shoi, a change is nade in the scer, and thm the camera Esm shooting. In this way/ Mdlils was able to male m objeci or a hlll]m disappr, nove, nultiply, or be replaed. In Tl'. vdflishi S lidr 0896), fot ex ple, a eated w()lr@ js pla.ed by a skelebon. M6lies soon began nhhg a se.ies of theaterlike scenes he caled "tableaux." A scene w6 shot the cdda stoppe4 dd thd d entnely 1@
One of the to

filn in the

period beiween 1895

scme was shot frcm the

nect the scenes: the

fade'ilr fad*out, and *veral kinds of dissohe. M6lias' fi6t mdtiscene film was Tl,e Dlerfus Afoit (189), based on contempolary events.
Howevet, A1llp to the Moon
to ttu

sde dgle.

He devetoped t.asition

doics

to con-

fr

Moor dd H. G. Wells's Fint Mefl in the Maar,becane his most popula. and influential film. This 1+minute, 82sj@t-long filn .mtais 30 separate scoes. The 30 tableau de .omected by a transition device caled the lap dissolve in which the first scene slowly fades out md the ndt scne slowly fades in with sohe overlap between the two kdes. The most famous tableau is an animation scene of a rccket hitthS the "ma in rhe moon." Events in ,{ are

(1902), adaptaiion of Iulesyerc'sE/oft

the Eanh

?i

CHAPfERI

CiflffisTwn toNtttatire t

73

n d seque(e buL a: come rritiLs Porri out a 'totv r' d Dtr of d i,,i'lr-"r,,,a *li- r" 't'"t 5etue '4 rnp 6 m;F a theatricr 'Peorlle
Dre:dted
_eriee

'_"i.

Piimril\ a sloa_ *,i.a u"**" l8oc dnd Lam .jnetu has nol rherP heP some tirad\e rdN hoderer' otu Cqt?inlv -ed'* * d subord:na e irsr' the de\eroP' "r""" ;.-".iiil;";r";-,'-aw 'ioryteuns dd) riie sd or stdspd *^ i'". ,r'". ri". r"li;1', lli"i"i^"* 'r -"^ t or
",' b,by la08 dcimmdthatLIe enlertaim;r. .hdacte6 dd stories (Gutmlng 6)
ly focused on the devproPden

"u."

lobbe4l

Robbeu hold rhejr guns on lhe .onduclor in on of dF (1903), one of $e liul naFad@ nlms

{ns iiom lhe

multisGn l6e

Gtui Imt

Audiences, Produation, and Distribution

in the we have looked brle{1v at how the po$ibilities of cinemati' nadation omioduipr film rechnorosv blm P r'-r; ut rhe srate of

twelve minules, consists of fourteen shots that, although incomplete scenes in themelves, are Lnl<ed in tine dd sPace and dmged in ffiative ordei Audioces liked the dramatic ssPense dd excitemmt of Porter's realistic nararives. And that popular de]ldd for narative was commicated by e\hibitols

-i:irido' """ *'t'".ed'um, i'" *a",t'-a'"g

Itoaes

habi\ ' r'whg ord'r rhe ii"* "ii,i -."i*" x'. tne lrm or the centun tron 'N\isren'e Lhedbrcd acF vdudpvilre a'|drrk' Lil".#;;;;;;;G 'omir sPortus e\41' Md ear) ;'"";.';;; ht";;i:,r;' "n6. 'hort trav.rosues el WraL derbr\ ery nppeo re
Mo
'pectdto Bu' u4!
r'o a

w's

bald.e in favor "-*ti"l."

";iJ't*r'ri""pil;',r.

rtuL one ari'wer 'o rhe quetio' is Publi inJeF i. ,ni* "."r* (mdrrit\ morS'hots 'uch d5 Edm establisned f Ldlv nulh'ce.e ( ^ih.r i-"'^.1.-" iii. ] ," i-"' L I;r da t.eo\r and laa cndt t' 'n RobbPtu taa3)
L

meaium Ltra' wd Prmd-rly ndttdti\ of cinema as storytelinS?

Alien also .laims ihat rhe needs of the growmg filh industrv shifted Pro duction toward nanative. After Edison's Vitascope exhibition in 1896 at Kosler and Bjalt, the ViiascoPe wm not available for sale, bui riShis to its use were sold to exljbitois. E;ibitos bolght fiLm Prints oubight from Edbon and orher flm producers dd showed them as traveling exhibitioN Exhibitio$ were irregtnarly schedtled md took place at a taiiety of tem?orary sites: vaudev l; hau;, storefronts, musi. halls, bas, amusemmt Park, and even churches. But soon fiLd exhibition in this counhf became most commonly
associated

with vaudailte where

P.ogram of about ten fiLN was coNideEd

ing Jrcm PLae lo Plde coe\istpo d economic advmtage

F;r

a period.

iri@dr e.hioitots not

Fti

"ldien.e'

Ih?

oat

fta;a tou&'ry' s rxch Ld'ts dboLL

pdmanent va{devitle hals. The traveling showmen had

Cin asTtmtaNanari@ ovq the theaie$. The itiner t exhibito! could show the sane proSran of about te Iihs to new audiences. Th pemdent iheateN, however had fixed
local audiences. To keep viewers comin& the theatef had to pd.hase new 6lms in order io vary iheir prc$ams. To slve this problen, a new middlelrd slstem evolved wherEby disbibutors bought prints from produ.ds dd rented thm to c$ibitors, :llowing p(r]lr@dt thale$ io vary then prcgram with less cost because they no longer had to buy prints outight. One comequene of the new rental system was the movemeni of film exhj' bition ftom vaudevile theaters, where thy costituted oily a p t o{ the performance, to storefroni operahons @lled nickelodeN that were devoted solely to film s$ibition. Nickelodeons derived thet nme frcm the original 5<et pnce of adfrission. They sprdg up in large nmbes a.ross ihe .ohtr, incEasins from a few in 1904 io almost ien thousand over the next four years. By 1910 the nickelodm drew huge @wds, "atuacting some tw6ty6ix million Americms every wek, a litde less thd 20 per cent of the tutiotul popula tion" (Merritt 86). Duing lhe nickelodeon boom, produchon compoies multiplied then weelly output of fiIm footage but sdl co!]d not keep up with

15

thermore, authoF of literaiy texts did not have to be paid for filn rights sin.e LoPyDghl Ldws al the hme 4d nol ro\er notion pictureq. Another re6on for adapiaiion in ihe early period of cin()m was to bonow

iiterature's prestige for the new art fom. Nickelodeons were nahly conmtrated in mdufa.tuing cities with large populatiotr of blu<old workers and imigrdis. Men ad womn worLjng long hours in the factorie foud film viewinS a rlatively iner?dsive fo.m of pleasure dd escape, md snent films were popdar with imigrmts becase they po*d no ldguage problems. One contempoiary swey Fveals that "in 19U, 78 pe! cent of the New York tcityl audience .onsisted of membes 'from the worl-jng .la$' " 0',lerritt 84. Early orL nickeloden ownds sought to atiaa.t the middle cla6s to their th* alers. One way was by e.oraging produceF to make filN that wodd appeal to middlklds women and children. Adaptaiion of classic lite.ary works was a turketinS d4ice that exhibito$ used to draw the middle class. Adapting such

filns had
mmting

Undd pres@ for new filmi, prcduceF cde to realize thal mffative severat advdtages over nonnction fitrs. Iilhmale$ intent on docua

trsporting men dd equipmmt to the lGatim, possibly during dcertain weather ldthmoE, events of great popdd inierest-lectioft, baitl6, tormdes ad floods-did not happo on a weekly s.hedule. With fi.tional frlns, prcdu.tion .ompdies otnd avoid the delay, uceilainty, ed expre of location shooting. Stories could be written dd filhed as needed-prcdu.ds didi't have ro wait for an)'thing, dd they could shoor locale oMed by the studi6- It was simply cheapr and more convenient to make turative filns thd do<mmtdy fflms. Ac.ording io copydSht rccords/ thd bed
the cost of

topical o! spolting event had to wait

uril

the eveni happened and

pEsiigious wiiters as Shal<espeaF, Zol4 Tolstoy, Hugo, Ddie, Dmas, md D.ketr becme a way to achieve a kind of legitimacy for flmgoing. A third Etum for adaptatim.omes ftom the notion that the purpo* of motim pi.ttres is to tea.h the nasses about their lilerary heritage. In this view, film is apedagogical redium usetul for inhodudng literary masterpieces to contemporary audiences. The pedagogi.al view is no1 comonly held in Englan4 where genentioG of filn produers have adapted the Great Bools. There luve ben e m y British adaptaiioN of Shal6pee that at times they aF regarded d a *pdale category in adaptatim studies. Other fEquendy adapted Biitish authors include Charles DickeN, lane Auten, ihe Brcfte sie crs, Thonas Hardy, Jo*ph Cofta4 Vrginia w@lJ, D. H. tiwren e, dd E. MForster Dtector Im6 lvory, producd lsmit Mer.hant, dd screenuiler Ruth Prawer Ihabvala have nade successtul ca@rs by regularly adapting cdoni.at works. And both the BBC dd PBS renect ihe pdagogical view when they
adapt literary classics d then issue ornine study guides. But the most.omon reason that.o]medal filmmakers adapt a printed tert is that they believe the fiin wi1l mke hony Today a 6ln fton a najor
costs an averaSe of a hudred miflion dolla$ to produ.e md mrket. The rising cct of the Hol]vood movie is likely to coniinue. Alist a.tors su.h as Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts are paid ev+increasing sllm

by 1908,96 perent of all flLre wee either comic or dEmatic na..atives (AUen 212)- Thur in the edly days of .inema, pubIi. ethusidm md the needs of d enelging colmedal indushy prcvided the impetus for film to b(ome a pe dominateiy nanaiive medium.

Holl)vood strdio

Urhy Adapt a Text?

ff by 1908 c4enu had Nrienied itlelf !o the task of sto.felling, with ils tuhll set as a ndative art fom, how dcs adaptation relate to this historiGl developmst? Fist of alt wh{ filn prcduction compai$ neded material to meet the gowing del]@d fol narativ movies/ ore altemtive was to tum to shoit stc rie, novels, and plays. Here were Eady-made *enes, ploit and characte$. It wd easier to adapt er.isting storiB dd plays thm io invot new scendios.

becaue studios know box-offi@ hits m usualy star driven. Likewise, some director are being rewarded with huge saldies md a percentage of gloss prcf' its. Pete! lacksor! dire.tor otThe Ind af th! Riflgs tlilogy (2001-2003), received $20 mil]ion dd 20 percnt of lhe goss receipts for his nale ol (irg (or8 (2005). In movies $.h as Thz Motajx RelMded nd Tet inrtq 3: Rise al the M@"bas (2003), speial effects e as expensive s stds, with better effe.ts needed each yed to atba.t viewers. Marketing spending has also ballooned
because of increaEingly experoive TV advertising.

Iu-

Ii.ket

prices have

risd
the

coste. Today studios

krow

as we4 but domestic rcceipts raFly svs movie bulk of a fiin's snue win come from worldwide

Cinefrd\'Irn
release, DVDS, vide(asettes, network d cable TV, soudba.k atbus, video games, dd colmercial tieim. Despite new rev{ue somes, fildmaking remaiB a big gahble. Hollywood xedtivs know they cmot prt6t the market befo they mke a movie and they how that they produce far more disasteF ihan hit filhs. How cd they prdict which prcjd wi]I male back its iniii.] investneni md thn some? $ith budgets damtingly higt! exedtives tend bo green-light prcjers that minimize risle slch as prequels, sequels/ remakes/ special-effects exhava, ganz6, ad adaptatiotu. Filh companjs know that litoary texts, whether dssi.s hom the Westem c on or popdd literatde likely never to eter the .don, are good .ddidares for fiihnaLing be.aue thei! storis have alrEady prcv{ b be enjoyable to mdy people. A story's popddity comes in two ways: It cd be popul ovd time to l]my generations-a lilelary dNiq or, it can be widely poprild to a conlempc rary audimc(H best seler the populaiiry of either kind of rexr is L&ety to rrans, late into a box office sucess, d at Least thais the basic asmltion. The clasi. story has p.oved it cm hokt audience appeai over time, and the marketing of the film will benefit from mme reognition of the author, titte, or story Thir* of rhe hdy adaptations mde of ShaLspeare's plays or D.kenst novels. Similarlt the bestseler is "pft kissed," meaning ir has a wide audiene aLady ed one that is likely to follow the story into the theater Reent exampl6 of bestsellers thai have drawn huSe film audiences in lude J. K. Rowling,s H4lry Poriq sdies md J. R. R. Tolkien's kilogy I/'e rold d/ rle Rir8i. One ihinks also of best-sllng novels like Ioln Grishah's Tre ltffi, Mi.hael Crichton's IutBsi. Pa*, Tom LlNy's The Huht fot Bed Octobd, andRobert lanes Walter,s The Btidgs of Madisak Coutty. Todat whethe. the work is a classi. stoiy or a b6t seler, it most likely M.hes the screen b<ae studio executives believe it is a safe bet to male honey. A less comon redon for adaptatioa but (re worth hentionin& is rhar a powerfur pe6on (say, a pFducer, std, or dircctor)beom6 comitted to a rext.

to

Ndtutibe

17

fte .onb6ial adapbion

Gibson s

rhe Pdd@ ol rle Crtrt e004) mad it ro rhe

iftn belr

of

M.

psonal commitrrenl

Ior

qdple,

Op.ah Wintuy

wd

the

leadilg fore behind the adapration of Tmi

rights. She hiFd at le6t three si:llsMite.s over the next ten yes to adapr rhe story ad, a{!e! it wd finally nade in 1998, easelessly prcmoted il. Staen SpielberS opti@d Thotus Kqeal/s novel S.tu dler3 Lirr, developed ttu prDject over a decade, d then diftted L\e fil'n Schndlr's Lirt (1993), which allowed him to mal a persn4 public, d artisti. statddt abolt the Holcast and Sadde in gderal. Mel Gibsn spst S10 milion of his oM money and @d his Holltlvood influflce md @.tions to nake Ttu PGst r o/ tLE Cfui+ (mW), a fiLn ihai shows the laEt twelve hos of Xfe, ba*d on incid{ts from the foo Go6pels. " "Ih@ was no way this movie wm't going to happd,' " cibson said. " 'I just lnow that I was compened to (male it)' " (Cava 1). Cinema's ea.ly tum to nadative dd its sDstained use of literary texts for more than a hundred yea8 have givs the opporhnity to adapt io .omtless

Monison's Bel@d. Som alter the novel was plblished, W!{rey acquired the

filn

directoF, sreenwriters, produ.N, Md studios. Filmmake6 will continue to male adaptations fo. various ad overlapping reasos, but never wit\oDt encomtering difficulty in regotiating ihe differences betwen the lwo dt form. Some of th6e differen es wjtl be disd$ed in Chapter 3. .i,i ;, .iit i.,._i r.,. -,;,f n+::r:..i..

i!r.-r__:...

r:r

':

ALLN, RoBERT C. Y4xd@'lk 4rd l;lm 1895 1915: A Stud! in Medid Intela+
rion. New York Amo Press, 1980. CAv4 M,\nco R. DELTA. "Gibson Per sotulias 'Pasion of the Christ.' " USA Toda!

lss'

Yeoa at Biryaph. Chicago: Unive. of llinojs Presr 1991. MrRxnr. RussEt-L. "Nickelodmn The'

sit

ateF, 190F14: Building m

Audid.e

2VD

Feb. 2004: 1+.

GUN\T.rc, ToM. D.

Gnfith a d

the

fot tle Mories." The Ahsican Filu Irdlslry Ed. Tno Balio. Nladim: Univesity of l\rlscmsin Press, 1985
83.102.

otigift

bJ

Atftni(n Cinm:

TIE Eatty

Lilddtud FilnTm Literary Telms

79

Beu* renwrilers

tul to keep in mind a distinction between story dd Plol The sfory js a succes sim of evenls invotving characters told in chronologi.al ordei But lloi relbrs to the sele.tion dd dmgement of events so thai they are interdepodent and casally elated dd their outcome, Siven tlE chdacteF and initial situatior! *(m ineviiable. The story's happenjngs, the4 d raw mterial Plot sele.ts the happenings, puis thm i! sofre sequetial order (not necessdily .hionological), md eskblishes casaliry ln Aspects af the NoveI,LM. Foster gives a now famo8 ermple of this die tinction between story md plot. According to lo$te, to say that "the !.ing died and the que{ died" is to tel a story becau* ihe two events m not logically relaled. But to say that "the king died dd then the queen died of grief' js to

often reoider the

ev{ts

in a story to be adapte4 it is use

esrablish a plot- The added thiee wods explain that an evdt haPPened md lhat it had a coNquence. The causal linl .onverts story into plot. Plot is a structulal devi.e that embles the author dd s@nwrite! to hain_ tain ca6al linls while preeniinS events outside ihe corotraints of chronoloSi' cal ordel lor e{mple, m author or a.IaPter need not siart ai the begiming of the story bur @n begin it ftedt /es (in the middle of things) md then fiash back to show p6t events that led up to the Presat, or flash foNard to indicate future coEequen es. A screawriter hay atso decide to reddge evsts so that the sure's ending bcomes the filh's begiming lor exa$'ple, Th! Ice

Sioln (1994, direcied by Ang Lee, begiG with the ending of Rick M@dy's novel of the sde rlm md then back up to the Pdiod before the deady ie stom. These chdges in chronoloSical otder are oftd made io elicit emotioMl

Eac6ons su.h 6 slrprise or suspere or d ihpoding tense of doom. Plot is Bually dividd into three parts folowing Aristotb's me Poetics: ^ begimn& a middle, md m ad. Some ditics se Gustav Frey'tag's exPmded .limd, rising adioa bipartite structure: exPositioi, delinition of Arisiotle's Ialling a.tio4 md catastrcphe. (The last event is also caled iBolution or dnouemenl). The exposition or inhoduction esiablishes the place and time of the action, inhoducB the character or clEh.tqs, Sives ay dessaiy backgromd inlormaiior! and establishes the mood or tone of the story The rising action iniiod .es a conJlict, or complicatiorr that inisifies the origiml sitution dd mov6 iowards a najor tming point or clind. The downw d or falinS action shows evdts going f.om bad to wose, leading to some 6nal se6a1 of foftme for the prctagonist. There a.e othei fohs of ploi one can idendfy that are not domiMted by case and effdt. A nonhaditional plot may preenl events in nonlnear sequen.e, ue coincidence rather thm causality io linl evenis/ dd leaae the resolution indeteninate or open<nded. Wiliam S. Bu(ou8hs's novel Naied L!r.}, is m enmple of nonlinear ndation.

M .
pBen

CIIAPTER2

Litmry and

FilnTffi *

21

Some stories consist of a sdies of episodes that @ loosely related by rhe e of a hero, a specific location, a theme, or a histolical event. Ar emple of an episodi( plot is Henry Fieldingt eightemth-.entury rcaelThe History of Ton lafles, d Fo ndli g.The fisr sction of the novel is set at the country home of

.onllicts, such killed.

as

his dislile for his partne! bui his loyalty to him afte. Miles is

Tom's Suddid Squire Allworthyj the middle chapters desdibe a complicated set of adventures that tanes place on the roads to London; and the final rhi.d of tlE novel is et in tondon. t\ahat ties together ihe settings dd senes is ttE Presace of the title he.o. P]ots ar sometimes distinguished by thei. mood md outcome. Comi. plob sGIy end with a happy evmt such d the maniage jn ShakespeaF's ,4, Yo! Ltl, it, whereas hagi. plot6 hay end wiih ihe prctagonistt isotarion death as in Shakespeare's MndDet . Subplob @ minor or subordimte acrions often used to ontribute interst dd action to the min plor. Some criti.s identify character rather ihd plot as the defining tuature of ndative. ln ihis view, plot is a ftamework of actiom that ataqtion on chalactei The charactels dsirs, motives, or goals lead to action. Howevei, when someone claim a slory is more .haacterdriven lhm plot-driven, keep in mind that chara.ter and action are often s inte*wined that ii is diffi.dt to distinguish between the tvo. In sophisn@ted nanaiivs, a.tion grows out of characte! md chara.ter grows out of acfion. Chda.ter is a peFonality on paper oi filn. In literary fiction/ .hdacters are often dGcribed both olrzrdtdly and inMrdl . We .ofle to know one thiough what he or she does, sa)s, and looks like, or thrcugh the opinions md rea.tions of othrs. we may also get to know a .luEcte! inwardiy thrcugh d omi<ieni authols pr*ntation of the character's thoughts and feelinSs or ihrcugh a nd,

dd

When a specific character seN 10 be the focus of the sto.y, he or she is called a piotagonist Hstd Pryrhe is the protagonisi in Natheiel Hawthome's me Sca et LEttea a\d Othello is the protagonist in Shakespeare's Ot ello. ff the prctagonist is in a major confiict wiih mother chara.rer, that character is called the antagonist. An emple is Iago, who, resentftd at being passed over for pro, motion, nales Othello jealous in ordei to hdemine him. Setting is the geogaphi.al place, the historical time, md the social hiiieu in which the chanctere live dd act- lt in tudes the cultural d historical.onditiotu that pbvide an intelleciual and emotional .onteit for the characlers'

fm*s

thoughts and beliefs. Charles DickeNt A Cllsr% C"rol is set in eariy nineleenlh{ohry Inndm, adong the niddle ed lower .lasses, dd Mark Twai^'8 TIE Adlentwes of Huclleretry F rfl is set in Hamibal, Missoui, md along the Mssi$ippi River during the tebellu South, among several classes of nver toM folk.

Point oI view refers to the vantage point from which a nairative is presented. To decide on point of view, ask, "Who is teling the story?" and "Are

we told the imer thoughts dd feelinSs of the characters?" Literary works sometimes combine poinis of view, but the mosi.omon arc the 6Ft person and ihe third person. In first-person narration/ the naFator refe6 to himselJ or heseu as "I" and is a major or mino! chara.tea or merely a wihess of evenis. "Call me lshmae!" the famous fist line of Herman Melvillet novel
Moby'Dicft, signals to the reader that events wili be filtered through Ishmael's

rator'\ duec' Loluenldr) ln

aut@dtu

dd

anlf

tJvor1h their dppedrdcp. dFq,. .perh.

blr. howe!er c\drdchrs .F bually porhdred

e\pe\\ioN,

move.mrr, o- hrouSn rhe Fa(hor ard lonmenB ot ot@. cr\ara.teD. Filnnakers w canera novenent and mgles/ lighrln& color cont.asts, edirin& and other devices to reveal charactei But u{es a devi.e such as a voiceover is use4 we don't know eractiy what the chdacter is thir*in8 nor do we hear a nanaior's direct co1mors on the characier's imer lif.

* "ar,i*? gesues.

Forster distinguishes beiwea flat and rcmd cha.actere. A flat cha.acrer is a oneiimeroional type, knoM by a single idea or qualiry; in contfast a round character pGsesses ihe muliidihensiotul qualities of actual people. Chda.ters can ale be divided into strtic charactere, who do not.hange, dd dveloping chda.ters, who do. The terms suggest that both literary d scren chda.ters can be distinSuished by thei. complexity and depth. Mdy are single trait characteF who aist on the surfacej others are delined by a nmber of kaits dd suggest inner slates of thought dd feeling that sometimes are in connict. Fo! example, in Dashiell Hamme&'s The

Moltg

Falcafl,

Sam Spade's parrner Miles Ar.her is a flai chdacter distingrished by his sexua1 interest in a female client and his greed for monet but Spade is much more layered: he is a tougb ctmical detective who displays a number of iMer

Third-peron Mration ses the pronods "he," "she," d "ihey" to tel the story. This point of view has two importmi subdivisiom: (1) rhe onni6.ient or all-knowing M(ator and (2) the third-perEoq limited o! limitedombcimt ndatoa The omiscient frnator h6 cohpiete knowledge of the imer dd outer lives of aI of the ctDracters and is able io move freely nom one to dother This narrato. may also choce to .oment dnectly on ihe characleis or thei. actions. Omiscimt ffiators ae often subdivided into intiusive rhose who nake judgmots on ch acteis or a.tions as they a.e presented<r unintr$ive or impe6on.l those who introduce chdactes or eldts neu trally without evaluation. Thid-peren limitd or lmited-otuiscient na(aiion pressts ihe story as it is seen, thought, felt, or remembered by one or more.hda.ters. Ofter! the author.estricts knowledge to what a single chara.te. knows and perceives and does not go into the minds of other chdacters. Many famous novels have used the omisient point of view for example, Custave FLatbe:n's Madlne Btudry, Thonas I lardy's Tess o/ t e d'Ulb@ilks, md Leo Tolstoy's Wd drn Pedce. CXlret lilerary worl.s have used the mo.e estrictive limited-omiscient ndratior! such as Stephen Cr e's Tle Red Badge oJ Courole, Melellle's "Benito CeFno," Hetuy Jans's Tle ,4nl,ssadolr and James loyce's "The Dead."

22 .

CHAqTER2 Litadry dkd

e\amptes ot tne

v,q. h lihjtpd ro re.ouhns wlDt clldraLtels ,,y tuch 6e, rhe L\r,rd .. d.. Th" ;i".;: nednredoe\ nor retdre whjl.hdacleri.inI or ret 10;.;;;;r$i;; ineu acho6. TtE srory j5 rotd atnosr cohDter Hmmvdy s +on.b.s .",,,. ;i"
Doin I

Thqe L at(o tne obie.6ve or d,Mari. - , peron.Md is

FilnTerns

23

of

p*q

axdLen(e oi

ill;"#';"Tf: s.*ff"ITn obje.rjve pohr of uew

qs
hetpc

rduve rrdme. voLeove,. nrsr-person nturarion.

r!1E d iR1 'y

dd

porr of
hc

is.hohn
ro the cta

!Lew untit the end when

dd

im. ortcer

s;;J; il;:t"'j:i,:";;:;ilTl;""X1::
-, etiga tin6 Lh; .;; n;"-,:"".;;:;,..: d,s.o.ve heto:o p5tdbt,.t_ *A .",,r. i. J.:,

- -l-\,remim8ponrof naftat'on,ask, "Wlo is the turrarorrHow does h

,15.nAibirirv

F uderrandhga <ro1 fo.dFtu(t-ppFon

nol r rs rhe rura d a.cua* ;; i ;]o"ii:;::,::',:':::T^:,,^*i:l: h ttustwonh\ dd ors( o n I his o, her "; in terprFtdhotu of _ - r., i,.-."".ruscrenipontot view sk, Do6 rhe autho! ^ "" 6e rhr
n +irtins

crecter
rr,e

Anorhn Lodlmon .rrdtegy ir lrdbpd filrE L lo use a spries o,slots to be rne s6eld o, vis,on. ponrot vieh +ob, .r) .h". ;;;;:",;: rooMs r enerhing oh*ru. rouowed bv a.hor or rnp.p".; b""; ,;*

ensd lofie nnalor

omLiFn.
L'xe

otuj.. en

!tqary worts, 6lm naft !esronefmm, PP'|<Ptrri\e dd re. a hun'spoin,or\ ie" ;;;;;ilI'ij'"-h it".o",ry' L" no<r comon poirh or view in fin oararer ,n.'t+1-s
osni/ns

::1'Ilo.Fc d.rhshc efe.r euch as m)Etery or suspetue?,,

nabon about rhe imer Li\ e\ oI atj ot thp Lhardfiea h d a.k. -Does the ,Jhor chooce 0B poht "*r" o. rulhd wMrs ro h,rhhord hom rhe ea", "1"*

poin,.r,,*.,";il','i,iil,j'fl:1.#*:j"H:l
.,a",

U"_*" 0,.*

r.r,r,"-u n1joi

" ".r"l,I

welio8er's. iugser r., l,i;; ;;* "*.*,r*,* hr^. the lJou,"dge,he audienie i, gir en n,y U. rc,tr.<,ea , h,rurared wnrt ..erutraro-knob. or courd rnow rh*"." be;;;;I h;";;.ii,;; r. show,onl) *en* rhF landlor ," nvo,vcd in Md rol.hos ing s here rhe ndidtor E nol nllude or tnole the tundtor.ould not t".i "cencs ,U.r,. n ,""l"i tre-e,ed orho shdtegrs .o._e
arc snapJ u1,;:.i;fi;: :"::J ed antuds. Hohever h 5rr. rle fir<t-per"on pornr oi..* r.", a ."*,1?. rrm whfl.rFnirded by toi."ou.-. ,,*i,u^ ro,.s"r u.r, ,1" " *o ,J,"."J ttuougn a chdacterbec.use ttre cmsa ", i@ "," strows tli if uEv urJoldir8 urquy bero.e the \ rpwers eres 'em rt'" -o., .o^o" poi",'or v iew ued n nih. rorn or rhrd-oeFoa rurdrol. I hrd.peFon odffrimr n. dhon En. l:'oTe spe-iles sisndr; r*q*",,;;{;::;;:;;T":'#,,i:T*:i.Tj:J: heely rrom one cheacter "y b dorher from on. nj d8re ro roLher hiihour 'u-lii"n" ii"i,',.i,["""'o anou-er dnd from onP
r,te er enrs

dnd-rhird sho* dF rc,

rI" nu.rto.,. ,1,.,_r . *"ro,. **u"- ro,i,," o.*.,iru.oilff,l*.o".ri\

is t@kin8 (usDs

e).

ed rho

,i. *1y,,illlt1i"i?T:[HT,n;".:l rhdr n-o"i'n " -' --

idm,.,

"nor ^

:a:r:ror.. 1 o. ",rhs*.. ;:) t,at.hfr,p.th" R,". rddeb rrc (omrd,tv L,.u"a ".,fi ,r," *ii,. ,^ i**i rhrcu3h tl.e singte ot Hotdtr (arrlptd by Ur;;:;,; tetu8e voie." To rcpti.a.e tusFmron turarior d fi1. ,;"p,", .n"; ;;: ri I rhe,ndrrator's vo(e n a voi.eover+^ off.eeen \ oire L,l.r .,pprie.6rien naserr<r,2, vi,ud | -_,"gi"ii"ia*;; rametu ,ne wiri the ran,ror . po.p-e. r ve , **pr" .Jy , jlriji",i drc bded on, fiJst_pebol renosp<.ie *natr,* ir *i"+ .ri"***.," ,L. Pre.ent r(du. Nent" frod lhc "
past, To sug8e+ Lhi,pobt of r rew,, Desh w,rh a ndrdhve frdme rhar bn.nv r;e

Detun titerary and cinematic points "b.;;;;s,";;:;:]t:"; of v,s. rn a trtprdy worl, the rtstsperqoa pointot vieh n ddde ctpdr rhrcush the _ s:Ft3Ded use or.,r- For \ffpje i,

tuo.o"[;.p;:.;;; or-vEw drreMdy and b(auv t,bprduF nd htn hz\ p airr"*, ,.ir.,ti.* .onvpyhg perspe.rive. rheleop. ndy Giti* t?Li
ro

oernhonsor porr

rj'ih

pd

or

rieh drrctt

otur*;"i

;#;;;',i;ff.il'iY,jH;,T: fiij;l] iiln beou." tl-"

.,

nd'tor

speBppLrjve

nd rt,r

vieheh dre ted

rhdr

h"."" .;;;;li;

drsr.Pe^on tud um eo.o;;; B g,\m nom Lnoh tedge ora.ituarion

vieh. omi,c,enr adndtion

;;""';.: ;;.i,i:""

;;;";;,;; il;:::J;""H$,:i::;.1
tiM r,he.hdrarr"r.. ,r,",*". *irii

:'e

td,dcte,

poh, ol

r-ou* "ro !he, r. r.r.,....,* *pi,^l \o(eover rd Lhe ofhe s.ene ,"tr"hroug.o,i ,1"

::T"r::il:IT:ju:,r\ . ,! !i begimno.f dqtr* Ite begbning;i uaubr t4d,ry,,1y -ha",,. orr ...."n. d*n"r. ,r," *.,,.r' .(tat4t i^_"i*. a e<nrn wrtter \plf. sp"dtng ito a Dr raD\ore. corres.-. ..;;;;; nrred ior money d<l for. wonb. ,,It jlt becr, Mdv' he 'db. a LFe u n.e oFsor\ eo nto a e\re-io" ese . "howne Ne; d,ld"

:el:T

;";l#1 be.oreb a.Ddrrcipanr ir rhe.bn s p,n nFn!'. rhe rrarihon :e.:-:l,e 6 hbdred by a vo.."ove. ed a dissorve_ ,he vL r y,ur (upF-Tpo.ed o. rhe

_;;,r,.*

;;,.;;

htnm;;

wirr,,L i- ,""d," .r-"i *."rj,o" or+.a".e* u"";rh..i,lll rerabrp q rn"rd@, fte o''rmci.nr pebp.L rjve tn.," . i a*ia"",., qrMo,d d4dits or "1"" "" " Bj\e rhem ro rtre j,U,!nce. o", _.,.. Oi i "r.,.,* 81vtr d@. not nppd loLometnrougrranJ sinstechard..er
\,eh,wrtre
rlrMdJ\prs soapr:me5 u.e the
rhe_.

diEied

by stevea spiptberg rhene n6i. bv Jo\r rhedpprcach ord.hdt.,errins *".,a

:"'C:JiHr,:['.*;:it,;;
.-t . *.ira ,i"

wno b@: (j ,ri. r"g "j. -a ^ -J."i Jprmmr W\"" h" _;,"",",_:. j;;;;;,," " nE ap tmmr neithbor our hL -rur wj.""., .1,+ t".l- *, . ..".,_ ,J:.,q:,sI rhe rerephoro tetu or tu5 cr.*. \1*r "i, .**. .;;, hom

--" yi.9" ,.llcj,." phorosrdp,rer ilj, ",T. l"f wnercndu n hn \ew \o r c iw

led
5

lhjd oo^"" timiled omi\,,pn. pojt ot dnea .ho". *tnt, p*.p". n,..i.." ",.n,. Ior e\dp.e. Red, h irdod { r"io,. "._,1" .t*.."j oy q.r,.a H,.r., ",

apdnhent. so t\e dudicn.a is mdiil) re.rn,r"a -sh.;; r" ni, p'.i"r

"i, ".

Lite
Of couFe, with this point of view the .amra my sti]I act at tihes as an omniscient ndatoi by ofiering information outside the view of the main .haractes. Most fiLm tell sioris using thousands of shots hom different angles. These filbs repeatedly shift mong the thiee main points of view io achieve .tilJeat aesthetic effects. The questions to ask aF, "What point of vietu is being used in this series of shots?" dd, whe the perspective shifis, "t{hy did the director decide to .hmge the point of in this squene?" Alothe! impoiant literary fiEu.e usetul for 6Im mlysis is the symbol A s)rbol is somethjng in a text or in a fiin lhat represenis something else, often m idea or atiitude. Slmbols can be objects, pe6ons, pla.es, or evenls. Ior example, an American flag is a physical objecf cua1]y made of .loth, bur it stands for e dtire nation. The symbol is no! simply verbal. It is some element represented as physically present in a work of an but that nonetheless signiJies something beyond its literal meming.

ry

tk l Filn Tems

25

ds

Synbols derive thei. assooatios froh long hadition or acquire theii medings fom their use in a spdific work of art. Ior exanple, through tong ass@iahon, a crossroads traditionaly mem a decision, a rc* repre*nis love, dd spring md winter Buggesi birth and death. But authors and filndai<ers cd go beyond the use of these miversal symbols to create their own by stipulaijng a link betwem a sp<ific thing, person, place, or event dd a gedal idea. Ior eidple, Hawthome s ce of rhe scader "A" mak6 it stan4 at least initiallt for adultery Hemingway's use ot ftb in A Fattue ta A/ru ssociates it with
deatb

dd

Orson Weles's

se

of the sled "Rosebud" in Citizefl Knhe (1,947)

sso

ciates it

with Kde's lost.iildhood. The main idea, or the cent al g@raliztio4lmplied oi stated in a work is caled the theme. For exdpte, the subjet of a n)stery ruy be homicide, but L\e

Alan Ladd ar the iide .harader n Sbdre (1953) dr$en in bu.kkins a.ostume

slggesting the Iime and pace of ..lion

ar rhe Americn Wen ol lhe nineienth

theme o! "mesege" may be that qitu never pays or that everyone must respect limits. The domhating id or generalizahon is made tangible thrcugh its depiction in clda.td, a.tiorr ed imgery Most complex works have a nun$er of ttunes, md when making sialsnenis about them, care m6t be talm to prest supportiry evidence. some re@t diti.s qu6tion wheihd a work contains idmiifiable theme or set of d stiess iistead the indetlmimc'\. of texts.

ihqn6

Seb
move.

real or artficialy constru.ted placs used as ba.kgromd for

actiom. They ar the physical space shoM by the camera in which the actors

Film Terms
The folowing tertr deKibe basic elements urd in telling a siory cinematically. The tems refer io four nain eas of 8rn: (1) mise+nccne, (2) canera work, (3) editin& and (4) sound.

Ior qmpls the detdtive office in T/r i&il6e Falcor (1941) w6 artificially conshucted on a soud stage at Wame. Bros. Studiosj however the Big Blackf@t Rivd, poltayed in A Riu/ tuns mnugh It \1992), was shot on lo.a tion on five diffeEnt nvers jn Montana. Although sets in films often appear Mtural or accidental, they are.@fi y selected dd .onboued by set designes who, in conjmction with the director, cinematographe., and oihe6, wish to
achieve cerlain visual effecls in telling a

Mtue-en3.ane reIbF to ail elem@ts placed before the.dera. These elemenls in iude *ts, costMes, tightug, malup, props, p]:.ddt of objecls and p@'
p]e,

dd

the a.iors' gestrres md movements.

be .ontehpo rary or hjstorical, suggest the tihe and place of the action, indicate a cha.acter's social stats, and contribute to the color scheme of the fi]m. Ior ermple, Ald Ladd as the title .hara.tei in S,lare (1953) dftsses in a li8ht.olored buclskin shit dd pdts, suggesting the hontie. period of L\e fila and his social distinction fron th denim{lad fame* he defends-

siory CGt{minA is the clothing wom by a.to6. The .loth6

.d

25 .

CHAPTER2

Litetdtu dhAF

mTm

27

Woolt in

Nico e Kidman, mane up a3 Virgh a De,9.!6 (2003), illustralee how an dcto''s

natur.lappe ancmlghr

be a rered to suir rhe role he or she i5

Lelt Nkole Kidman,

glamools siir arnving

at the

Cili.<

Choic Awa.d5,l.nuary 1Z 2003, in

Bftrt

Hills, Calilomia. Rrght V rginia Woolf,

tE

Bdtjsh ndlisr, cditiq and essyisr,

c.

1936.

LiShting is the

illmimtion

of a.tors

dd

sets

in the production of

film. A

.inemtosrapher deddes whether the light is natural or anificial, the dirc.tim it should take, and its intemity. UghtinS cm dist attmtion rowdd major areas of interest such as m a.tor's fae. An e)<dple is the light fl&ing up from the just sttuck hatch that illumnaies ihe sinister visage of Pe.ry Smith as
major q"es ae high' ad low-key lighiing. With high-key lightin& a k@ is briShuy lit ed shadows kept at a minimm. High key Ughting geErally creales a buoydt dd joytui mood and is often ued in comedies d musicals such as South Pacifc {1958), My Fai/ Ladr $9&), ndThe sound of Mrsr'c (1965). With lowkey lightin& a scene js diruy lit dd thee b a good deal of shadow. t w-key lighting.reates a darker, harsher and more somber m@d and is often wd in mystery horor drama, and science fiction fil,as such d The Big SleE 0944),
Atien (1979), Apouwse N@ 11979), played by Robert Blal<e in Ir Cald Blood \196n. Ughting also .d heip .reate mood md atm6pheE thrcugh its desiSn. Ihe

Props are ay items employed m a *t or in a scene. These objects can be a stationary part of the set such as a table or a chair, or moveable item like a book or a vde. The sele.tio4 placement, ud movemmt of props FinJor.e the realism or authoticity of the setting dd add meding to a film.Ior example, the childhood obje.b pra.ed in the opening monraSe ofTo Kill o Mackingbnd (1962) nay Euggest to viewers lhai the story wil] .on em childhood experi' enes md eva a .nnd's point of view..

tlansfom the glamorous Nicole Kidme into the plain looking characier of autho! Viinia Welf in Ti,e HorB (2002).

.d

The shot is the basic

cmera that rccords

Shots

ed

Makeup ehphdizs the mobll('

ffd th6 nedlngtul dd represntativ-

Btade Runner (1982).

elements of an a.iols face. The cosmetics ennance or change an actor's natual appearance in a way appropriate to the role he or she b playinS. An emple of a challenging assigment was the u* of a p.Gthetic nose and mkeup to

genraIy dilided into four types accoiding to how mu.h of the figure is show( long shot, medim sho! dos+up, dd exheme closeup. The lhree most importmt shots to be able to identify are the long shot, which shows the tuI hmd figure of a .haracter or characiere within an enviromenl the mediu shot, whi.h shows a character or characters ftom the knees up wiL\in part of lhe setijn& md the (lose-up, whi.h shows the tull head and shouldes of a chdacteJ or m objet in detail- For eEmple, in Qrs 5l@ (1994), a lonA shot shows the set of the gde show ?iuerly'Ore with the two

hmd

re

uit of fflm. The shot is a sinEle, continuous run of lhe d mintempted action that viewere s@ on the s@en.

Litetod afla

Fi| T.ffis &

29

contestants standing itride thei spdate, soudprcol booths and the Sameshow host stedhg at a podim just below them, th6 establishing the config!ration of the thee pdn ipal d\araclers in the scene. Later in the scene, a clos up shot of one of the coniestants deciding on m mwei to a question shows the real (or, as revealed evd later in the film, pretend) anguish on the

Cmera angle is the .dera's position in relaiion bo the subject being pho gles ihe high dgle, in which the camera tographed. There are tltree looks down on the subject, the shaight-on or eye-level angle, in which the cam era look5 shaight anead at the subjdt, and ihe tow egle, in which the .dera looks up at the subject. Within the contert of the fil& cmela anSles nay add meminS to the subject being fiImed. lor example a hiSh-a8le shot my dimin ish a .hdacter md mke him o! her eed helplBs md vulnerable. A lokangle shol may make a figure s(*n towering dd powerfd. A sEaighrdgle shor usu ally sugsests ntuhality toward the subj{t. ln 4ll ,? PBid4t's Ma 11976), a high-mgle shot of Ca.] Bemtein dd Bob Woodward sittinS at a desk and seaching thsugh withdrawal slips fron the Library of Cmg1ess diminishes the two md within the enotuous space of the room dd ninimizes their signi6_ cance as rEportes {rom the W6fiir8tm Port who seek a$wers to the Watergaie affair Laier in the film, Woodward dd a male frimd of his with close contacts within the Nixon administration, whom Woodward ni.knmes "DeeP Ttuoat," met in a parking gdage late at niAhl. The low-angle shots of the two men talking .oNpiacy increde their physicai statde md enlarge the significance of their illminating discussiotr. Camera movement refe6 to dy motion of the 6mera that chdges the .dda's pesp(tive on its subject. Comon .anera movemets jnclude tilt' in& pauin& trac}jn& dd .rde shots. A tilt shot involves the cdera novlng upward or downward, thereby s.ming the scene verti@ny while remining fted on a hipod or houl. Ior example, a tilt shot may fonow a persm asendin8 or ddcendjng a night of srns. la Daubb Indennity, after Walter Neff hs killed Mr. Dietri.hsr! he leiums to his apartnet by .limbing the back stairway, so as not to be seen. The cmera tilts uPward as it follows Neff's streptitious.limb toward apparenl tedom. A pm shot moves left o! riSht scaming the sene hoizontally yet remininS in a fired position. For exmple/ a pan shot may folow a peson crossing a bom or a sbeet. In the credits shot of ft? (illds (1946), afte. the last tiile .dd has been displaye4 the two wotlld'be ki]]N apprcach the camera; it pm left to follow thejr movement to a .lo*d gas station whre then inbended victim work, pas right as they move away hom the station and look acros the st@t at a dine!, d pans eve turther to L\e right as they walk toward the diner and thelJ plamed mbush of theji vi._ lim. A hrcl.ing shot moves fotrard, backward, or laterally, movinS toward, away, wiih, o! around the subje.t. The cahra is nol in a fixed position but travels on a tra.k of doly foUowhg a moving subject, su.h d a person walLjng down a sidewalk. At other times, the subjecl remains tued, dd the camera

min

hacks toward, awa), or ihe subject. In Tn. So;ftrer (1968), Ned Merrill Eces a ho$e along a pat@ fen e dd holds his own with the admal, much to his smilin8 satisfaction. The camera als holds its own as it ba.ks the two of them, the spinting Merril dd the loping horse. A crde shot occurs when ihe cmera is mounted high on a crae and moves in my diqtion, often with as.eding or des.dding motion. The ode shot offers a bnd's<ye view of lhe a.tion. The high-dg1e shoi of Ber$tein md Woodw d in the Library of Con grcss, dentioned bfo.e, begins as a convotional camera placement for a high dgle, but then the cmera ascends thJough a series of dissolves to becohe a crde shot froh the top of dre.oom's very tall ceiling, thus mjnimizing ihe two reporterc to mere speck ln the v6t room.

emd

Editin9

Editing refe$ to the twofold job of choosing the best camera shols taken and thn joinjnS ihese shots logether to build a s.ene, a sequmce, and lltimtely a .ompleted movie. Thse joins? or transitions, cd tate the fotu of a fa.lein, in which the begiming of a shot Soes gladualy from ddk to light, Gually signating the begiming of a scere; a fide-out, in which the end of a shot goes gradually fron light !o dark, usually sig@ling the end of a scdei a dissolve, in which the end of one shot is for a momet superimposed with the begiming of the next shot, usually sussesting a close cinematic and/or naraijve connec' tion betwen two scenes; a wipe, in which the md of one shot appears to be pushed aside by the begituing of the next shot, also suggesting a clGe cinemaric and/or namtive comection beiwen two scenes or lwo shots within scenes, a rut/ ]n which the end of one shot is simply spli.ed to the begiming of the shot thai immediately replaces it on the scen, ued either between scses or betwen shots within kenes, md a jump cuL in which one shot is repla.ed abruptly wiih mothei shot that is mismat hed in a way that.alls attention to
the cut and jars the

viewel

Within a scene, whatever haNition device rhe film editor @s cieates a relationship of.ontinuity o. discontinuiry betwen two shots in tems of their photoglaphic elements. If the two shots @ similar ths the filn editor has created a Baphi. mat h betw@n the two shots, if the two shots are differcnt, the

film editor has cleated a graphic valiance. When the matches m assemblc\i in such a way as to .elate a sto.y cLearly, .oncisely, and with unity and cohesioq the film editor in conjuction with the director has created continuity within the 6lm. Vdious shategies of editing .ontribute to .ontinuity editing. Among th6e shalegies are .rcsscucin& which Es altemating shots of at lest two strd.ls of action happsing in diftuMt plaes at the same time; establishing shots, whi.h show in long shots and extme long shots ihe chaiactes and lhe objects in spatial relation to one another within the setting; eyeline matches, in whi.h a.haa.ter in one shot is shoM looking in a direction and in th next shot the space toward whtch the

30 r

CH.4PTER 2

Litettry and Fitn

TTns

37

chdacter is l@king is show4 match on action, in which one shot of d a.tion is Fpla.ed by dother shot of the same a.tion in the same moment but ftom a different focl vis, so there appars 10 be no intenuption to the a.tionj ed shovrevebe shot, in which at least iwo shots joined together show first one character and lhs mother character [alhng to each eothei An erample of continuity editing occus in the fight scene betweo the Ma.tm brothe$ in A Rr'@ R rs Tftldg, lr, which we diss in detail in Chapler 3. An establishing shot shows ihe brotheE in iheir family kitcheD NoF rld sitting at the table ready to eat a sddwich dd Parn eteiing dd begin ning to advise his oider b@ther on how to make a betler sandwich. Once the fight over ffxing the sedwich begiN, eyelin+mtch shots show ea.h brcihd Srily confronting his ofbcreen adveFary and sizing up the next opportunity to thrcw a puch. Match-on-action shots show the successful pmches landing ard driving ea.h brother eithd agaitut a Ljt hd wal or against the l.itdFn

RiM Rans Thtwgh It is a^ exampte of a hon, ofjuxtaposed dissimild shots, flmed by philippe Rousselot, is hade up of fouJieen sti[, black, d,white, mostly archiva] phorographs of life
The opning sequence of A
tage. This series

sink. CroscuttinS shols altermte betwe{ the batding broihers dd their mother's entrd.e into the kit hen ftom dother door, hd alam ar theii fightin& and he! rush to stop it by histalenty getting between them- Shot/everse shots show the brctheF' fuious eaciioro and mme cailing after their mothe! slips dd fal]s down on the flmr betwen them- A @stablishing shot shows their mother getiing up without iheir assistance and quietly leaviry while the broihers std at ea.h other without saying mother word or thJowing one nore

Oppoed to continuity editing is disiunctive editing, which emphasires frcm ore shot to mthe. The variecB dong shots ce be in teIm of space, time, or visual pattens, md the goals may be to distub the viewer or to intenpi or mdercut the slory's velisimilitude. After the conchsion of the sc@ des.ribed in the previos paragnpn, at the ed of the shot showing Mrs.
the

in Mont2na during the iime pedod in which the fiIm is sei. Ea.h shot is srraight m, tuis from between fou dd eight seondt rracks forwdd in order to .airy the viewer nearer to ob*rve the deiail in the .hdacreristicalty extreme long, shot pholographs/ dd then disolvs inro the nexr sritl tife. The tust two shots are of still phoiographs featuling, in a fohal pose, Nornan and Paul as children by thmselves, d then, in another fomal pose, Nolfun and Paul, again as childre[ a.companied by their parenrs. These two phoiographs aie followed by a series of photographs presenting Montana life in the fi6t qudter of the twentieth .entury. These are comprised of a dver flowjng thiough a countryside, a dirt srreet rming $rough a rown, doiher dirt street, a hoFe ad wagon on a diri sheet rlming rhrough a ser tlement, a setilement l@ated at rhe bonom of a mounhin range, a bunch oI loggers posed aroud a pile of logs, dorher bunch of loggers stdding in a .dmp, d \hucn \bndint nedr b.d8e.pdnrnB a nver people po-ed 1a field more people stdding d "trorr of d ciry hau hho:e fd\adp F .overed with huge U.S. flags, a woman with two boys standing on a rree lined srreet, dd, lasdy, mother.hurch. Takd together, these conhasting and confticting images suggest this film is rhe siory of a small family living in a place that is a civic- and reliSious-minded comnuity whose way of living is inrimarety

dt

Maclean leaving he! kitchen and her two boys staring at de dothd, theft is a cur b a doMward filte4 extreme long shot thai show6 the brolhere ad their fathr fly fishing together The vdidces between the two shots ar in te]G of space time, and visual pattem. The viewer is t.ansported from the c.amped kitchen/boxing arena in the early moming to the spacios/ s'my outdoo$ where, accoldi^g to the voiceover mrraled by the elderly Noman, the b.othe.s

e four t}?s of soud head in films: spech, music, soud ef{e.ts, d sildce. Speech is di.to8ue, or chda.td dis.ourse, spold by the actoF oscre{ or spokd by the aclors offs@rr as in voi.eovei tunarion. SomeThere

hale gone ba.k to being gra.ioc to on dothei as their faith prompted thm !o behave. Tne goal of this disjunctive editing is to interrupt the antagonisn between the brothers dd to sugggt a sdden hd steadfast re.mciliarion

bla.k-dd white sequences in n4efledo (2001). Dialogue conveys background inJomatioo expresses the tholghts dd feelinSs of the chdacter about
a.nons, the behavioi of other.haracie6, oi fear@s of the seting; md distin, guishes each chara.ter by l \guage idiom. M!ic refes 1o the s.or composed to establish sku*ural pattehs throuShout a scde, a sequoce, or the entie film, and to evoke emorional reac, tions h the audience- Structual pattens assist in establishing the atmosphere

tih6 a .haracter is seen alone on s.en but is not spealjng, while rhe voi.e of the ch acter is he.rd on rhe sohd ha.k thinkinS abour somethinS, as in rhe

betwen them,

expressed through then comon lore of fly fishing dd respe.t for reliSious teaching. The term montage cd be sed in a Seneral eNe to indicate my kind of editing, blt it hd come to refer to an editinS technique that jutaposes dissimilar shots, .alls attention to their discontinuiry dd thus leads the viewer to mke .oRious .om.tions among the images. The assmblage of .onhasting md conflicting imges achieves a signifi.an e that g@s beyond the meding impuciiin y of the individEl Ehots.

of a sprtin8:tl'ey 5uppl) bdclgromd ror dn orn(ryse rurddne{.ne otirF\ .itin8 visual contenl or to tu1611 h indslry st aregy of having msi. in every scene fsm start to finjsh; they prcvide conrjnuirt or sm@th haNitions md

flow, from shol to shot dd s.ene to *ene, ad they undeFcore the.limai and .onclusion of scenes. The {ore influ{ces the audience s emotional reactions to the action d chaa.ters in a particuld scde, a sequence, or the entiF film. tn

32 .

CIIAPfER 2

Literary annF

nTetus

33

nasft6nd (1950), nusic phnss de linled to mjor chalactef in the viewer identification md ehotional association.

filn for

Soud effects @ noises made by people dd obj4ts siruated within rhe s.ene shoM. The* consist of dbient sound, or backgomd nojses in a kene, such as people opmlng or closing a door, water in a stm, o! aute
mobile homs blaring in .oroists of noies nade by people or objects pelforming significdt actions such as soneone cry, ing o. laughing, a gm tuing, or a b.idge collapsing. Somd efiects c be used foi.oni. purposs. Ior eMmple, in Itu SinprorJ adapiation of Edgar Allan
Poe's "The
Ba, t i

.ig' tiaffi..

ming

trr}ing Ircn me SuifttuL mentioned edtier, Ned Meril and ihe hose he is racint do not hed the music we hed on the soud h.ack, yet the rcDsing music ei?r4es m excibement about thei! race that rhe mm &d the hor* mighr acru, ally be feeling; th8, the nondiegeti. dusic hetps the viewer b experience ihe
emotiom of the characterc on screen. Literature ad 6lm slEre mmy tems. Analrsis of boL\ forms invotves !alk, in8 about character, seitin& actio4 theme, md slhbolism. But filh requires its own specizl vocabulary to describe how imases d sodds tell stodes. Both sets of tms wil be useful in the following .hapie.s where we explore ihe ways fiLi@kers adapt lireraiure to film.

Ambient somd

als

Ravd"

(1989),
t

Honer

the speaker of the poem, sals:

tto

tb tlhbd

Jt

n,rg. dtt

a,l r ithia m bufr

a8

S@/ agdin I hutd o taryinS enethitg SureL!,said I,stftly tet k enethin*

ladq thin lEkE. at .4 indtu lattice;

loud

Irt

ne se,

thd, uhtt thmt

is, afla

tub nystery e,plaft. (31 34)

The "tapping something loude! ihan before" is repres.nted in the film as a

bdging wh6e

force shales the f1afre and disturbs the delicate

dsolmce in

brea16 the expected

The total abence of somd in a s.ene is alled a dead track. The absd.e somd pattem of dialogue, musi., md etrects established in the film up to that point, $r.priss the audience; maks the audience concentrale on the image; dd @ates aNiety and mticipation in rhe audidce as it waits for soud to reue. That resmption my be in the fom of m unJoe

(193i), directed by Tod Browning, Renfiei4 who has fahted, is the of Da.ula's wivs in an apartrndt within Dracda's .as tle. Dracula himelf appea in the window waves then oq and then appr@ches Renlield for the fist drin! of his blood. This brief scene is silmt from ihe time RenJield feels the room is siuffy, Soes to the window to ope it, is accosted by a bat (which d@s squeal for a nonent), dd faints, until the fade, ou! with Dracula bading over Rdfield's limp body. The first shot of the next k@ shows a storm-tossed sailjng ship with the soed of whistlinS wind on the soud tia.k. The suddm abseue of sound in ihe faintjng s(qe interrupts the patten established up to thn, supdsB the viewer dd makes the viewer conentrate on the bizarely costme4 edacia[ed figures of the wives. It also heightG Draculat sudderny hctile behavior iowdd RenneH, whod up untii now he has treated with busiGslike couteqa Somd is either diegeti. or nondiegetic. Diegetic sohd is produced within a s.reen space. For example, character talk, male noise, or pl.ay a musicai ir,strument in a r@m. Nondiegetic somd des not occur within the s(en 6pace. An offstage voiceover dd musi. kore are examples. One way to distinSuish between diegeti. dd nondiegetic sound is to ask whether the charactes afld the audience are meant to hear the somds (&egeti.) or whether the sohds are intended so/ely for the audid.e (nondiegeti.). ln the exdple of .aheE

tn

Drd&12?

appr@ched by

E5 t

CHAPTERIA

WTLUAM SHAKESPEARi. Ttu ?frtfls the sh@ (1s93). GtLIuNcEk mings I Hote Abtut

o/

'lFlJ.y GtLu|,]n. Fdt and ltathiflg

L,as vegas

ifl

(1998).
oJ

Yo! \1999).
IANE SMrLEy. a Tldsa d ,4cles (1991). locELYN MooRJ]ousE. a fi'o,s4'd

H. G. wFt-Ls. The bbfld

(1896).

Dt Mdenu

JOHN TR}NKINHEhfER AND RICHARD

s'r.iN,.L\.
11996).

The Istdfld ol

Dr Moreau

GLOSSARY
a<tualit6s A t}?e of early sitot frln
that caPt@s $enes of everyday life, 6!ch as worke$ leaving a factory, d early ted for noniction 6hs. adaptatior The bmfer of a Printed
text in
a

406 \r99n.

SroKEi. D/rdr, (1897). FRnNcrs FoRD CoPPoLA. Brdfr Dnc lt (7992).

BRAM HUNTER S. THoN{,soN. F@/

ToM\No:.fE- Thz BMlrc of ttu Vanities

Sloturt

legn.
BPl,',rr DE Pat.}"ia. The Bonfrc of the

(,ftra

rclation

4rd

vanities O9m).

Loathing in

ks

vegas (197r).

toghphed. The d thE min angls: hiEh dgle in whnh t (me l@k

gle ',Ihe (meh',s Position in to the flbj<t being Phc

doM dn dE subj6t st6i8htd d

the carua l@rs straight al@d at the subje.t and low angle jn which the .dda l@k5 uP at

literary gem to 6ln, added elemnt6 Those Mtativ dd ciremati. elemenis not in a work of lirerature but included in a Eln adaPbient

eyelewl in which

cMda m(remdt

AnY moti@ of the

the

somd

The bact<g]1Md

noise
a

cd@

dimation A t?e of fil$ in which

6gurc is positiond, often against a stalDnnry baclglound; a single frde is sho! the 6gre is the reposiriond,

othd frame ls shoti dsoonstil the fiEue hd complerd m a.tion re.orded on lilm or video. Projected,
ihese

aorded

imaEes prcduce

colmd cm_ ee movemots inchde t rin&inwhich the (mda head nds uPward d doMward, thaby sning the s(ft vedica]lt pdin& in whi.h the (dd h@d r)@s left or right, theEby @ing the kse horiatalt haveling or hacling, in which dE cdda
s!crive

that

dtrEs

m ttE $biecl.

cdera's Pa

apparent motion and dePth

simild to

mov4 [otrads, ba.lwards, or ]ate! ally, or nov6 t@d4 awa, d with the
subjec!

the apparent motion md dePih PG duced in live-action fIlG. antago sr A chda<ter with whom the Min <halacier, caled the PmlnEonist, is in a najor conflrct.
Thp

Ifud

dmin& in wluch dE (1rlda is hGh @ a 0de dd moves in my diHtid, but onen witir d 4cmding or d6.ading moiion;

mlin& or

'uretrr reId to the dir<tor, who is The tem sM as the min cMtive Iorce behind @tastrcphe See Plot. chda.ts A p@nality on PaPer or in a filn and who imprints the material filn I @dd or vids @m6 io with his or her own uique Persmal know a .hdcte{ thsu8h what s} or style, visioL md thematic PreNuPahe l@ks like d, sa)3, ard thin16, and LhMd the opiniN of otha dEacteE ba.k6tory The necesry backgrcmd md/or tE nanator clEacles cm be exPosition for a Plot
G-1

!ftnch word for "aurhor"

dropping either the 1eft or riSht side oI ttE lfare ho rE*e the p@ple anl things in the frme apped tilted.

G-2 a
rcund,

Glosry I G'3
GlOSs,4nY

PosinS d mdtidims sional qualities of actul People, or !ir, pMinA , onedurrfuioDl qualty and b(m !V a tinsle Ldea ChiracLe6 cd also t divided inlo static chdc re6,whodo tut.h Ee, ed develoPiry .haractd,

condensing

filmker

strategy in whi.h a cohpreses or combin6

lights go down

dd the curtain to siSna l the md of d act

The cLothing wom

close

docuilrda or histori.al
doomentarY nor hvbnd of these two
a a

film Neittr lictim fi!n, but a

LiIe
a

continuiiy and coheience A .hdacgrcw out of a duracter's action ter trait, but if the kene emPhasizing rl2r trair is eliminated, then the action mav sed unmotivated. Alter .utling,

story elemdts in adaPtins

text

Gtumine
tmpota

bt acto6

t}?s

doo-

The .lothes cm be histori.al

rY,

tuy

suggesi the hme

'ondd Pl'ce

oi

mmra

dneni lrod the actul

who do sPace Film sPace

dsd s in dDt d @lda allows s b w the sm subj{t ntheetuPla.e liom diffe6t Points of viw The (d6 E

s?a@

is diffe6t
obsere

t;itionat

to male the filn .oherent to

haterlal nay be needed

the

color schme of the 6ls cree shot See.ame.a movemnt

Ge aciion. ind,cate a dcocter's $cial status, and coftnbuF to the

.r

i ti"ti- tlt^, il is Poduced widl

m is ba*d on actual psple;pLaG. thiiSs, md sots Lile

Lhe

actos raths than actual PeoPle, with

substituted rarhd thm achral Places dd thin8s, dd with staged rather thm actual events. In addition, imagiturv dElactds, Places, thin8s, and Nmts c be ituened into the film

do$cutting See.ontinuityditing

sacm$long, mediun! andd6e P shots !) vary dE views's distarue; it

eYelwel, hiEhdgle, or low.nsle shots to.hdge the viewer's

continuity editin8 The :Esdbly of graphi. nat hes (two similar shols joined together by the 6ln editot in
iuch
concisely, dd wiih unitY dd coh+ sion. Vano6 straiegies oI editj^8 lude crc3scuttin& using altemting ds of action shots of at least two
a

.utting A
<Ieaal

strategy bY whi.h a 6lmmaker elimitutes Plot elemets or chdacteF in adaPting

a

ilodmntary A nonfictim f'lm that

novel'

way

tr

to relate a story dearly,

track

The total absene of

See

somd

ti6; md it @ w tilting Pding,

PGi

dnouemenr

cinda time Filn time is dilfeFr

EaveLin8, or cr e shols to nove the viPwn in rlation to rlE acbor

in

devloPing cha

str

tadr Seechancter dialosue d sFech In film 'h'ra(ter

Plot

shows a.tual PeoPle Places dings' and events li Pi\:sts histodcal d wial subiects in a fa.tual and infor mative mY Some r(*s.tments of the actul wents hay be shoM'

drda rl@ d Pdn

n@dve intdded

fiom the actual tjme we exPeri$ce in that the camera can slow down time using slow rotion, sPed it !P using fast motion, or even stoP it 6ing a Ireeze fiee. Editing can also s!ed

hapPding in diflerent Plae at the sde iime; shblishinE shob, that show in lon8 shots dd exhme long shots tl characteF md the obits i.

djsou*,

sPokd bY the a'tors on

to be perlomd bY actoE before

uP action by cutting qui.lly frcn one shot to eothei The dit<tion of time
can also be

cldged

rpatial relahon to one eother hids [e setting. eYeUne m.tcher, n hh'cn 15 slown lool_ '.h..i.ter in ore shotin the nxt shoi ing in a direction and the sPace toward which the character

scRen or spolen bY th actoD oir {re. DD l;su (onveYs ba'k8roud informrion, exPie$es the thoughts and feLings of the chara.ters about a.h.ns the behnvror of ofier cha' acte$, or fealues of the sethn8, and disln8uish6 each ch actei bY ld-

dsDped elements Those elemmts in

a

work of literature not included in

eilitiE

Ti h,ofold job of fir$ choot ins ttE bett .amsa snolt [als dd bh;n oninq the* shots toBeths hl build a Kme, a eqde, dd dti-

clGe adaPtation

WtF

most of rhe

story elem4ts in a worl of lirerature areleot n tlr fllm, few elemstt de dJop;d, ed nor ld) m rddd A clos adaPtation conJoms to ihe litei

.omi( plot See Plot co.mtration str:tegy In

mosr of the short story

dris

aPPG'n
frcm the

b looking is shom, tutch on a<tion/ in whi.h one shot of d action is @ola.ed bv other shot of the 9 e ,.tim n tle qme mome*but tuo a difturent view, so thee aPPears to be no interruPtion to the acno$ dd shotreveis shot, in which at ledt two shots iojned together show tust one ddacter dd thm anotiu charac ter talking to each amthei

diegetic

aodd

Sound that

du.ed within the

sI1$

is Po-

sPace

ilbco$e

The xPFSim, the neans by wltr h ihe .ontnt of a mEative is

the filLd editot uset to create a @1a_ honshiP ot di<onrinu'tY s oPP6d t ..ntinuriv, betwen two 5hots in

disiu(tiveeditinS Ahsilrondevic

terms

bsilff;.

,";

N ""w.lemdts

on@ntrated eiEE at tle niddle, or end of the tiln

addd to b\e rest

dativ eld4ts

conventiore Established

ways

of

doins things in a sPaific form that

are mddtood bY the arrist and rhe audienc. For eemPle, a cmvention in traditional thater is to have rhe

ments. If the two shots e diJferent, the 61h editor has created a graPhic variance, or disjmction" behveen the

or ir-ei.

PhorograPhic ele-

@telY a.omPleted movie lheiotts' or irmitioff, cd lake rhe ion of a fadei{ in whi.h the begi ing of a shot Ee gradualy fiom ddk to li8ht, a fadeout, in which the md of a shot so$ g6dually from lighr hr ddl; a ;k..l!e- in which the end of one shot is for a momsl superimPord with the lsirug of the ne't shot , wiPe, in rhe md oI ore shot apte6 io

-h;h

dbsolve

See

dititrE

be p6hed dide bY ttE begiMS or rhe nert shorj a ot n wtuch the nd ot o shot 6 simPlY sPli@d b the begn nns ot tlE ne\t shor tlDt Umediaiely ep;e'rm therrM oru idPcut'

G-4 r

CIOSSARY

Gldsary

G-5

in whi.h ore shot is repla.ed abropdy

shot ihat i5 minatched in a way that calls atldtid to the

tioN to actuality though

eral po$ib1e links

one of sev

brightly lit with shadows kept at a

hedilm shor

with

@ths

dt

epbodic

plot
See

S@

ploL

betwen rhli actuaiity dd its rrcation, One link is for the actul md the recated 10 aPPed simultdeously on sdem, as
when an :.tnr is fflmed while w:lking at the actual place where the

minimm
and

in ordr ro create

buoyant

See shot miciocosmi. application

A forh

of

tablishin8 shois See .ontinuity

eyelevel

joytul mood ofto used in.omedies d musicals, or low key, in which a sme is dimly ljt with a g@d deal of shadow in order to create a
.tark, htrsb and somber m@d often ued in serious drama, mystery and

evst

adaptation study in whi.h a passage frcm the literary tert dd the coc sponding sequd.e fiom th film are invetigaled. lt detemines il the adaptation is .lose, loose, or inlme-

cden angle. eyeliftMt.h Se @ntinuity

fade-out
See editing, falling action Se plol

edidag.

intemediat adaptation Sone Mnative elmmls 6om tre worl of litera tuF are kepi, othe6 ae drcpped, md stil othss d added to the filn An inremediate adaptation neithe closely co orft to the liteftry text no. dtirly

misca8ting In the conteal of ada?talimited-omiscient point of

view

S@

tion, this mem $F 61m actors chosen do not fit the charactes in the text to

idetity

fI /ot

The de8ree to which the 6lm is "faithtul" to the text. fflm hisrory Tates d its subject the tehnologi.al, @nooic, sooal, dd arnsric developndt of the cinena over time, The lEnch words for "black

intdtdiulity

The view that

t*ts e

loose adaptation Wle most if not all of the naratlve elements in the work of litdatft e dftpped frcm d 6ln,

the point of disturbing the story's

plausibility

dcohereme.

d most elemis in the filrn @

always reiated ho md depod{t upon other texts. trtdtextuality calls attstion to lhe fact that texts refd to oi .ite

added, A

daly tat

loo* adaptation us the litas a point of departE.

a

mise-en3cne Basi.aly refds to all elemmts placed befoF the (mE. Th* elements include srs, cGtms, lightin& makeup, props, plachent of
objecrs and people, tu6 ud movements.

actors'

g6'

loudnd The volume of sound in

fiLn. low an8re Se camen an8l, low-key lighting See lighting.

film." The !e!m refeB to a speific sqle of 6lm mde in Holfood duing the 1940s 6d '50s- Thb style fea' tl$ a sinister, vi.ious, dd violdt

other terl6.

liln

adaptatioro

by

model sbategy
straiegy,
a

h i\is do.udre
p6ple, subsli-

definitid intertextual sifte they refd

to

leBlst tat.

liln's cometio$ to actuality is establshed by lDving a.to.s

resemble closely actual

dd crime, popu' lated by base dd nuotic dwacters and empn4izinS dEary settin8s, ddk shadows, dd high contrasts of
urba wodd
of vice

inteMeaving 3bategy An appech in which m6t of tire elemots of dative

natucosmic application A fom of

adaPradon srudy in which the whole

6Er-peMn
framcd

poi ol view
A

5e poinr

@ eiaFed, dispersl thEuShmt dE film althouEh not n4esrlly in dEir onSinal order, dd new elmmts or exp@im of isting elddts e inteMeaved.
tuom the shori story

ed ttu whole frlh de It weighs the uneven adapted pa$ages dd sequences dd

litera.y text
investigated.

tuted pLaces and things reenble actual places d thin8s, anl sta8ed
evots re*nble actual events. montaSe A scene wh@ visual Pattm

detmines if

the general

adaptation is close/ toose/ or

tMd of ttu inreme

dd dotidral eff{t

is attaind

mainly

flatcharacrer Se.hara.tea
ttDt begitu in a mrranve Pesen! stoPs, d then bacls up fo a p6t nafative ihat eveniuatly @tci up to the nmative pre

,ump

ndative

filh

st dd

moves beyond it.

glaphic mat

kepr elemenb Th6e elemnrs of E rative in a wor! of llterat@ included in a filn rdaptrtion, ldguage of fidelity Any words @d to indicate whettur a 61m adaptation is "faithful" or "unfaittuul" to the lext.

cul

thrcu8h the editinS of s@eral brief

editin&

nagic rcafbm

*an{*ly

literaty style that

multihack
tion of

nedim

The

olmhica-

of daily lift with fanrastic el66l3 oftd derired hdl (Lum, fairy talet
makeup The @ of cosmetics to enlEce or chd8e actor's natu.al aPPearance in a way aPProPriate to the rcLe she o. he is playlng. Makop

bldds omonpla.e evdts

infotutim

in 6nn thrcu8h

*v

enl

Faths: (1) tlEahical ped(manc (live or dinated), (2) wordr (spokd

md Mittm), {3) msic, (4) somd etrects (noi* ed ,ilee), and (5) pho-

Se .ontinuity editinE,
@neM angle.

lshrins The illlmimtion of

high angle

See

hid-key lighting See lighting. historical6lm Seedoodrda. intera.rion stEreEy Ii order to corre lale the aclu,l d the E{reated in docudr@ filns, filbmakeF prsoade the viwr of th film's

actors and sels in rh production of a iln. A lightrg dietor decides whether the l*ht is natukl or aitificial, the direc-

mui.

togaphic ima8es (moving md stil). Refe6 to the sco comp@d to

estabLish sttuctural pattems

dphasias the hobilknd

mmts ol dre actor's face.
See

thus

tion it shodd tale, dd its intensity. Lighting .m direct attetion toward maFr m6 of interest. Li8hting .d

meain8tul md represmtativ*le
mrtch on action continuity edit-

thrcugh@t a sMe, a *quen@, o. the eti fi1ft md to evole emotion l reactim in the

.omec-

be hi8h key, in which a scene

is

nondigetic sound Refers to soud that dearly does not @cu within the

G-6 *

GIOSS,4-4Y

Clo$ary ale dtride to rearege ev$ts so that the softe's edin8 becomes ttu
may

G-7

sPace such as a voi.eover or ad&tional edds of nusic. nontraditional plol See plot. novell. A short novel or a long short story, but whatever reference point is

sqo

md with the
tribute inleresr

proragonist's isolation

vi*, in '

filn's be8imin8. The chdges in

chonologi.al order prise or
often made n) elicit emotional eactions such as su-

and death, Subplots are minor or subordiMte a.tioN often used to .on-

which the tuator is all knowinS md wh@ knowledge of dE.acteN and cvenrs G not isbicted
by nme, place,

dd

a.tion to the main

chdacr ictead

or.haracte4

d thid-

betws. objective or d.daii. point of view

its length

rrad, thee is Seneral a8reemmt dut

lalb sonewhee in

sspee d

impmding

Sotu

omiscient nadator See point of

opening
Refe6 to a nunbd of te nnigB developed by adapteE to d s6ory from stage ro si:]g @v6tios, such filnin8 *ttiigs, k(rc, dd <halacis only suSSesH o.

up

tlae

I@

Plot is usually divided into thee parts folowin8 Ariitotle's Tle P@ftsi a beEimin8, a middle, and a end. Some .riti6 Be Custav lreytag's expmded deinition of Arisbtle's lripartite structurer xpositio[ rising a.tion, clima{ falling actioo dd catastrophe. (The ]a* rerm is also .aled F$lution or den@ement.) Ihe exFc

of plot 6 the defiMg lahE of nanaof tive. In thjs viry, plct is a acios dut fo{:lg attention chdac-

dilE idmtify

PeMn sinSler:lwader Point of view, in whi.h the mdator's knowledge is

.oiJined to what is Pmdu.tion

sn,

thoughl felr,
th1n8s

ftmort d

and remetrrled bya

detemimts The

sinSlech a.tei

ter lhe .hdacts's desiE monvs, o. Ecls lod io actid However, when someone.laims a story is dore char-

i\at

have nothng to do with the text

but

My

be powedully hnuential in

actr daiven than plot driven, k@P jn mind that character and action de oftd s inten iftd that it is diFrcult sophjsti.ated

changing

aspds oI d adaPtation.
obje.ts sPloyed on a set.

props Any

These obje.ts can be a stationary Part oi the set such 6 a table or a chan or

implied in tlE

dtu,

to disnnguish betwq the two tn

moveable physical items like a bmk

bols, dd @iflB inA to move the story into

islalizing slm(mda work anl ditone@ tim cdra move

sition or introduction stablGhes the Pla.e dd time oI rhe acb@, inr@duc tle ddactd or .haracters, givs

drativs,

out ol dda.ter and dEacter grows

action Srows

protagonist A specific .hara.ler who

ay n(1wry bacl8bmd
tiofu

infoma-

pointd{epartrcstrategY AnaPPtu h

redragdent a rcrddinS of 4mls

a text fo. dy number of easonF to build susleN, nr @ate cle. @!$lity, or to fit tlE demds of a

is dre main f@us of a story from

pe

shot or

pdning

Se

dd stablishe the m@d or iom of the story IlE rising a.tion intc
du.es a conflict, or @mplicatior! dut

mative elerenls ftum the short story are droPPe4

in which mGt of the

period enphasis StEs on re{reating a historical era in detail throuSh le of such thinSs as costmes, mms,

erep!
these

for

emPle,

inte6i6 L\e origlnal situal@n d moves towards a major tming point

or

dEracter's

rrde,

rodimsts

.lirru.

the Plot Premise, a or jtrsl the tide, md

$ed

a Point

of
rising action
Se

Ihe downwdd or faUing

point of view The vdtage Point frcm which a narrative is preented. Dis .ussion ol point of view includes in what Pe6on and tese the narmtor
speaks,

peronifi@tion
athibutes of
a

mal/ object, or a on ept. pit h the h18h or low gua[ry of

ComGts in giving the human being to mi

a

plot A sbuctlnl daice tlut mbles

vrenMiter to mintain caural links while prsnling
the author md

s(Md. Lile loudns, c@tandy being modulated duing ttu filn.

ac.im shows wents Soin8 from bad to wore, leading to eme fiml roeBal of fortme for the protagmist. Other foms of plot are not domituted by cause and eff.i. A nontradi-

mnnd.har..t.r Seechdacter satlFted color Int@ified coloi sequen.e A fairty large section of
fiIn featurinS a whole a.tjon
seq

Plot.

tion.l plot my pest anl

in what time
sPeaks, and

dd

events in

drator
the

Place the

what aititudes

nonlinear equence, use coincidence rather than ca@lity to linli evets,

leave the resolutio indeterminate or open-ended. some

the n rator brings to the story Point of vie0 can be 6ftt Peson, in which

4ents outside the corehaints of

clNnolo8ical o.der For erample,
author or adapler fted not start at the beEiminE of the story with rhe tusr evst but ce beSin tr rcdi6 B (in tl middle of thinSs) and then fl2sh back to show p6t ddts that led up to the presnt or flash fotrard to indicate

stori6 .on-

sisl of a seris of episodes, called an episodic ploi, that are l@sely related by the premce of a heo, a specific

elJ or heself as "1" dd is a malor or dinor particiPant in ihe story or meely a witiess, objective or dra"
matic point of view,

urator

of the srory rcfers to him

6@ strategY An aPPrech de signedtocorelatetheactuar d L\ee@ated in a docudrm H* fotage of achral pople, plae, thhgs, anl vdts de iNrd into !t 6ln eithd befoe o! after fotaSe of actols, substituted pla@s anl things, or staSed evdts
actual
places

sets Artifi.ially conshuted or

$ed
as

lftation, a thse, or a histori.al evst.

Plots are $metimes distinsuGhd by their mood md out ome. Comic plob usualy end with a haPPy event

i! which the narrator uses the thid Pe6on anl is lmited to r{osting wlEt chara.tes
not interPei cnir oi do md acte6 0r actiore or tell us what charac_ tes think or feel, omtu6.ient Point of
say

bacNgromd for actiors.

Tl]ey are the phlsical sPace shom bY the came.a in which the actors move setting The place, the iime, dd the social milieu in which the cha.acters

tutu .otrequmces. A scenwriter

srch as mdriaEe; tragi. Plois

my

G-8 r
3hor

GLOSS, 8Y

The basi.

single continuous Iu of the ctua that @rds mintetupted a.tim ttdt vieweF e on the s(lts Shots e gl)Maly divided inio four type a..ordin8 to how muh of the hman

hit

of inm. Th shot is a

subi.tive

cdu

A (dera that lim s

itslf to slDts of what me chdacter

s4.

substitution An

eledt

from a text

fi8!rc
acter

is shom: long shol a ehot thar snows dE furl h1lll@ 6E@ of a cha

oi cnaa.teF within

dvnon-

symbol A repsentadm in a trr of

sorething thar is ibelf but alF rePattitude. Slrbols refd to smethjng in the marerial wortd blt also sugEet $me hore abstract meding. thme ftE main id, or the @nrral gmeraliutioo implied or stated in a work

ihat is replaced by sorEthing else h a 61m that is redonably similar A sub, stitution couts as a kepr eldenr.

FURIHER READING on Film Adaptation

ANDnw, DuDLEy. co,c.pls m
1984. BE A,

men! medirn shot, a shot dEr shows a characte. fM1 the kte up wilhin p..t of the slting, clce-up, a shor
that shows the
of
a

sents something

el*,

often

idea

or

lilm Trdry New York Oxford Unive6fty Pre$,

An lnttuduction

.hdactq

exh@ detail of the head of a dmcter o. of

had and shouldeB obj<r in derail anl closeuP, a shot ttEr shows a or

ful

MoRnrs.Itl,

dnd

BLUBrcM, GEoRcE, N@eh ;rfo lttu. Berkeley: Univesity of Califomn P@, 1957, BoRDIIELL, DAVD. N4rariofl m &e It ltofl Itir. Madisn: Univesily of Wiscomin
Press,1989. BoRDMLL, DAvrD Er AL, fl,e

ttd,t t:

N$york tegmd,

1979.

tilt

6hot or

tilring

See a

cden

move-

Cbsitul Hollryaod Cifletu,

E: Fictian inta

shor/I@e shot
siloce
or dead

See

@ntinuity diting,
The

track

tot l abse

tinbre

The

tme of
a

msical

i5 ot1n used ro evoke

soud

audidc duing The alialogu/ m$ic, soud

hackins shot
See

scorc. It ootion in d

Univ*ity Its,

Ns

York Columbia

1985.

BowM,Ioy GoLrD. Ddbk Etpos

1985. BLqLER, SrEpmN M.

Filn. New York Universe B@ls,

scme.

dd silence head in films, somd effecb Noises @de by people rtucatinS

eflects.

chera movement-

and objats situale.l within ihe {ene

s@ne

A strates/ fo. sho.reninS a by showinS only a sli.e of it to

stat speare in the cineno: Oculat Ptut'. }Jbaay:slare of New York Pls, 2002. CAWELL, DEEoRA!, AND IMEDA WELEHAN, EDs, Adrpr4tio$: tton Text to Smen, Sceen taTert.Lord@: Roudedge, 1999. CH&AN, SE\?,{ouR. CodrS to Tdns: rhe Rtutatic ol Naffinoe in Fidtbn dn4 Filn.

Univdity

sr*i. che.ter See chara.ti 3tory RefeE to the characters, setrinSs,

ad

happenin8s in a

Mrative.

voi.eoEtultion Diaro8ueorspsn sPoken by adc off s(En.

straight-on or .yetevel See canera

Itha.a: Comel Unive6ity Pes, 1990. Slory ofld Di.durse: Ndnatie Stwtaft in Flctia afld F lft.Ithaca: Cornel Univ*ity Presr 1978. Elron, KMLU. Ret irtira the N@elEilh Debate. Ca Widger Camb.idge -.

Univsity Prss, 2003. FrAscHMN, AvRoN. Namled Filns: Starytelling Sittdlitu in Cinna Histary. Baltimore: lohs HopkiN Universily Press, 1992. GDDN6' Rog[rr^, AND Eroca SSEEN. Tfi. Classic Noalr F/oft Pag. fd Sred. New Yorlc St. Martin's Prc.2000.
, er al.

S%ding
I-

the N@eL Tha'lheary and Ptadice of Lllerary

Dtututiutitn.

New York St, Martin's Pres, 1990.

CiirFm,

lNs

ld'pt tio6 as lftildriors. C.dbury:

Unive6ity of Delawde

HoRmN, ANDGW NDIoAN M^cRarr^. Ir'ed4n Ertupedn

,4daptatr'h. Nm Yort lederick Ungar 1981. KLEI,\, MTCHAEL, ND GTLLTAN PARXE& ED6. Tr. Erglts,

Fil

tukes

onA the

At ol
New

Nod

ana he Maoies.

York lrederick Unga., 1981. LupAcra Bs,e TF/, m. NtetMth Century Wtum

at the M@i.s: Adapnflg

WMd\

FXtian to Filn.

8{N\68 GIr, OH: BowlinS

cl@

Cl6ic

State

Unive6ity

F-1