FILM ADAPTATIONS ARE NOW BECOMING MORE POPULAR THAN EVER. SEEMINGLY EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, YOUR FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK IS IN THE THEATER, OR BEING UPLOADED TO WHICHEVER STREAMING SERVICE YOU ARE SUBSCRIBED TO. NEXT MONTH WE’LL SEE THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES. NEXT YEAR IT’LL BE DUNE: PART 2. AND WITH COUNTLESS ADAPTATIONS IN BETWEEN, IT LEAVES US WONDERING… HOW DO THESE ADAPTATION IDEAS COME ABOUT? WHAT DO THESE WRITERS, DIRECTORS, AND EXECUTIVES LOOK FOR? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHICH BOOK WILL WE SEE NEXT?
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS PROCESS, I SAT DOWN WITH PLAYWRIGHT, POET AND TEACHER CONSTANCE CONGDON, WHO’S WRITTEN NUMEROUS THEATRICAL AND FILM ADAPTATIONS DURING HER CAREER.
[Constance Congdon] I am asked by directors to adapt something.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE WRITING PROCESS, CONGDON MENTIONED HER FIRST ADAPTATION, “THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH,”
[CC] I first read the epic and then I just started writing dialogue and scenes… I hear voices and I just write down what they say. It’s nothing mystical at all, it’s just that you’ve been listening for your whole life.
FILM ADAPTATIONS CAN COME WITH THEIR FAIR SHARE OF CONTROVERSY. SOME FEEL THAT A FILM ADAPTATION MAY BE BETTER, WHILE OTHERS HOLD STRONG TO THE BOOK BEING SUPERIOR. AS ADAPTATIONS FREQUENTLY CUT DETAILS PRESENT IN THE BOOK, I ASKED CONGDON HOW SHE DETERMINES WHICH DETAILS REMAIN.
[CC] I have to create an outline…It’s really just a list of events that I want to make sure I cover. ‘Cause an event can be something external or it can be something internal, very minor. Seemingly minor.
SHE ADDED THAT PERSONAL EXPERIENCES CAN OFTEN DIFFER BASED ON GENDER AND UPBRINGING AND THAT, WHILE WRITING, SHE OFTEN HAS TO ASK HERSELF, WHICH IS MORE THEATRICAL? SHE ALSO STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF HONORING THE BOOK AND DOING IT JUSTICE WHEN ADAPTING.
[CC] I always know that I’ve done a good job when I can go and be by myself in a dressing room and say something to the writer, like, ‘Was that ok?’ And I get that sense that I have to be honest.
WITH MORE ADAPTATIONS BEING ANNOUNCED EACH MONTH, I TOOK TO THE NORTHWESTERN CAMPUS TO ASK STUDENTS, “WHAT IS THE NEXT BOOK THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO SEE ADAPTED INTO A FILM?”
[Scott Hwang] I think it would be very difficult, but I would really like to see All the Light We Cannot See made into a film. The reason I think it would be difficult is because one of the main characters is blind, and so, conveying the sense of sensory detail that’s not visual is a really big part of that.
[A.J. Dickerson] One of my favorite books is a hard science book called Seven Eves. The moon gets split in half by a meteor and it starts dissolving and is going to rain down on Earth. I think it’s really cool and you could do something interstellar with it or whatever, and I love the story. I think it’s really good.
WHILE SOME STUDENTS HAD TECHNOLOGICALLY AMBITIOUS IDEAS FOR ADAPTATIONS, WEINBERG SENIOR SAM KEIMWEISS OPTED FOR A DIFFERENT APPROACH.
[Sam Keimweiss] “I read The Sixth Extinction which is this… like… really boring book about climate change but it was… like… really technical and scientific, but I feel like if you made it into a documentary it’d be a little more engaging and I would be able to appreciate the point that she’s trying to make.
IDEAS FOR THE NEXT MEDIA ADAPTATION COVER A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS, GENRES, AND CHARACTERS, BUT IT’S HARD TO IGNORE THEIR AUDIENCE APPEAL. WE’VE SEEN SERIES LIKE HARRY POTTER, THE HUNGER GAMES, AND TWILIGHT BECOME MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR FRANCHISES. WHICH LEAVES US ALL WONDERING… MAYBE THE NEXT BOX OFFICE YET WILL COME RIGHT FROM OUR OWN BOOKSHELVES.
FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M GABE SHUMWAY.
