Film and Words

I wrote this before I left for Flordia and as I went on The Great Movie Ride at Disney this week, so topical, so you can have this while I procrastinate in the sun. I should always be writing or studying.

Films and Words

Why is it so hard to say why you want to do something? I want to study film and literature because I love both on different levels. They both forms of storytelling, but not the same at all.  Film is the visual with spoken dialogue, whilst books are all words (unless graphic) where the characters should speak for themselves. The things that work in TV and Film wouldn’t necessary work in written form as it wouldn’t be enough to just describe a visual gag and some book should never ever be even attempted into film, where they are most of the point is lost.

The spirit of the book should fly on to the scene. You hardly ever see that, instead you get mutilated characters that you don’t recognised until their name is spoken and you still dumbfound. The plot is scraped down too much and the executives have won because they trick into buying a ticket. So more films are “inspired” by books that probably should never been even attempted to be compressed into 90 minutes on the scene. Even an hour more isn’t enough and then the film is too long to comfortably sit.

As for a film being adapted into a book; whoever picks up the novelisation, knowing it based off the film without already having seen the film?

Sometimes the film does capture the book. It will catch people and bring new listener to the story that they would have walked pasted the book. That it actually does justice. While missing the detail of character thought and depth that film just doesn’t have the time to swim to, you leave filled that a story has been told and told well.

Both should leave you thinking and really great ones leave impacted that you stumbled on in years to come and still connect with that story. It formed you in a way.

I like criticising things.  I jump to the critical and maybe that’s why writing about my passion for these forms of storytelling has been so hard.  Because writing a personal statement is like adapting yourself for the screen; only you know that you have leave the bad parts out, trying to get approved for a G. Being told that you shouldn’t try and explain yourself. That for the marketing team to do, or in this case your reference.  But that’s not fair, as marketing weren’t there as that path was chosen so they don’t know what factors lead you down it. They only know what you are by surface level and don’t have time to dig. So you end having blind faith or you tell them and then what was point?

I want to make films because I want to tell stories that don’t get told, or if they do get told they get told wrong by those never learned to tell them right. When I was first started writing I was only interested in fantasy and horror but now I want to sneak those stories into my writing. Good characters are themselves stories.