Mrs. White and Ms. Richmond From Page To Stage… Creating Great Movies from Great Literature

Did You Know??? When you make a movie of any kind, it is a race against the clock to tell your story completely and engagingly to the audience…

Why Is This? It’s impossible to get every single element of a book into a 90 minute film There’s normally not enough money to get everything that a director would like to include in the movie You only have so much time to write, design, shoot and edit a film

How Do They Do It? PLAN PLAN PLAN!!!! You MUST have a clear vision of the story You MUST have a good understanding of theme You need to be realistic about your resources Communication and decision making skills within the group responsible for producing the finished product is also important Every member of the group needs to know their job and do it

Knowing Mood Of Your Book Can you identify the overall mood and feeling of the story? Look for descriptive quotes in the text Pay attention to major incidents or events in the text and how different characters react to them What types of clothing do your characters wear What is the setting of the book

It’s Psych 101 Time Getting into the heads of your characters is also important If you choose to show one or more characters in your movie What kind of person are they What do they look like What do they want out of life What do they want from other characters around them What is the motivating force for each character

Are There Any Symbols? Does the author continuously use an object to represent a theme or idea in the book? Is it something that your audience would connect to the movie?

How Does the Setting Influence The Story? We are all a product of our environments – so are your characters… Does the setting of the book cause any characters to behave a certain way? Is it a very distinctive or significant feature of the story? Does the setting reflect the theme of the book?

What Is The Overall Theme Of This Book? What is the author saying with this story? This is often closely related to the “If you could sum up this book in one sentence, you would say, “This book is about…”” A book can have multiple themes

What Are Major Plot Events? This should be easy if you’ve read the book A movie might focus on any number of small events and one or two large events A trailer might focus on one or two major events

Helpful Brainstorming Tip: If you could sum up this book in one sentence, what would you say? Ex. - This book is about…

So How Does a Book Become a Movie Become a Trailer…?

I Hate It When They Cut The Good Parts! time is money it is a race against the clock to tell your story completely and engagingly to the audience **THEREFORE** You’ll have to cut some things A good film retains it’s meaning and direction despite not including EVERY SINGLE STINKIN’ ELEMENT FROM THE BOOK! A good trailer captures the main ideas of the movie without giving away everything in one to two minutes

Let’s Focus Here… You are not creating a movie, just a trailer This means shorter and more condensed – pick one or two major events that capture the point of the book and focus your story around that Your job is to tell just enough of the story to captivate the audience and convince them to go see your film Believe me when I say that this is both your boon and your curse…

Did I Hear You Say Shorter…? This means that you… Must CLEARLY communicate the theme of the book Must give the audience an idea of where the storyline is going with this trailer Must clearly identify the traits If you choose to focus on a character you must be able to show the motivation of the character You must be able to communicate the feeling or mood of the rest of the film You should draw attention to unique aspects of the book

Hey Don’t Point That Thing At Me… When you point and click a camera, every angle means something Wide shots Facial close-ups vs. Body shots Meaningful objects that symbolize things other than themselves Up-angles vs. down-angles

It’s All Done With Smoke And Mirrors… Good editing can make or break your film Something as simple as the order in which you pair two pictures can say paragraphs without saying anything at all… The music that the editor incorporates is every bit as important as the images Special effects are just that – special Don’t think that a fancy transition means that you made a fancy film…

Actors… A good actor understands the motivation of the character and can communicate it through both voice and body language A good actor can listen to a director react to what they are asked to do A good actor is both flexible and brave A good actor understands that sometimes less is more

Costumes Do they match the time period Do they reflect the character Do they reinforce what the film is about Do they add to the overall vision of the project without overpowering it

Sound Good film soundtracks is like ketchup on a hotdog – they add to the final project without becoming the main focus of what you are doing Just because you like a song, doesn’t mean that it’s appropriate for your film Things to consider in your sound selections… lyrics rhythm instruments used melody COPYRIGHT

Setting… Your choices will be narrow, so you will have to work within the bounds of what you are allowed Be creative Last year’s classroom and library became A grocery store A restaurant American Idol A mountain chateau An exotic mansion A jail

Does the audience understand what the book is about from your trailer? If you can’t tell what the book is about you might have a few problems Are you incorporating enough cues for theme? Is your characterizatin clear? What major events in the story do you highlight?

Have A Clear Vision of Your Book Trailer… Does it match the theme of your book? Do you have a clearly defined voice? Did you capture the motivation of the character correctly? Does the audience understand what the book is about from your trailer Does the sound match what you are talking about? Do the visual elements match the theme of your trailer and the theme of the book? Acting Angles of shooting or filming Editing, editing, editing Communication and Leadership