Just back from a month-long absence from the internet and I take the time to go to the movies !?! Where are my priorities?
Well, I'm stuck on the Harry Potter juggernaut. A willing passenger. After all, J K Rowling is a writer, and the movies do work off her books. I considered it reasonable research.
In preparation for the movie I reread the book. Needed to refresh my memory and prepare to identify characters and translate Hogwarts-speak into Muggle-speak for my hubby. The book is complexly written - and, yes, somewhat poorly written by comparison to the literary standard bearers. But it has complex characters and deals with the stressful realities and emotional confusion involved in a coming-of-age novel. The characters are practically members of our family - the good characters, of course. AND, I love the on-going story.
While feeling like I'm Mrs. Weasley, I'm watching the movie leave out events and sub plots. Conversations are swallowed up and bits of them are spit out by other characters in another scene. Losing those bits and pieces of the book feels like losing family treasures.
Yet, the movie would have gone on way beyond all reason if the book had been followed exactly. (Bladders need consideration!) The director/screen writers clearly had to condense and consolidate. And that's exactly what I must do to my own manuscripts; get them to zip along and keep my readers involved. Hey, I'm no J K Rowling! I can't afford to present an over-stuffed manuscript to an agent or an editor. This movie helped me see the value of tightening as you rewrite.
And, the climax in the movie blew me away - far better than the already action-packed book. Wow. The rewriting streamlined the story and ended it with a stronger bang. "Rewriting" is no longer a dirty word.
Are you a Potter fan? Does this strike you as an accurate assessment of the on-screen revisions? What do you think?
Write On!
Nan
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Potter's Magic Rewriting
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Glad to see you back, Nan!
I'd heard some so-so reviews, but knew I'd have to get around to seeing it anyway. Your review makes me interested and hopeful.
So glad to hear your voice again!
Here I'd been mourning the fact I'd have to wait until Sunday to see the movie. Ya mean to get the most out of the experience I should re-read the book first? Yikes.
Welcome home, Nan.
It is amazing how much we as writers are learning from movies.
Since I tend to babble on and on, I do understand the value of a rewrite. Now another way I can decide what to cut is: how would it look on the movie screen?
Terrie
Nan,
The action/adventure climax of Order of the Phoenix was streamlined.
Thank heavens!
I thought that climax just went on and on and on in the book. Far too long. I hated all the moving doors and circular rooms. Ugh. And then once Harry and the gang met up with Lucius and the gang, then it still went on and on.
The movie cut out a lot of that fat. However, both the book and the movie made me wonder how many freaking prophecies are made and how many mean anything.
Honestly. You'd think that all the witches and wizards in England would have to go visit the Oracle of Delphi on a daily basis to fill that room with all those globes.
There were several subplots that got stripped away, but I agree with you that in order to make it a coherent film that you simply must take the heart of the plot into consideration and eliminate others that are decorative.
My son after viewing the movie reflected and said, "there weren't any Quidditch games!" He was disappointed with that, but I was fine with it. Those games didn't really add to the overall story, but they were a part of the book.
Of the five movies that have so far been made, the one that I have the most problem with is Prisoner of Azkaban because I think that much of the revelation about the Marauders and the backstory was simply dropped without adequate explanation for those who were simply moviegoers.
I think that the movies should enhance the overall series, but need to try and stand on their own. PoA fell down in that aspect while it included scenes never written in the book such as Lupin talking with Harry about Lily.
Post a Comment