Introduction
Novels, films and dramas etc. are different forms of literature or art
that creates a magical world through words, letters or language. And these
literary forms deal with the social issues and most of the time stands more
close to our life or reality apart from fiction. It is reflected in education
or learning and the technological improvement makes the learners interested in
those activities. The teachers here needs to make use of digital aids to help
learners. Films and videos serves the purpose and stimulate a visual and aural
perception of materials and they can easily explore the content with these
modern techniques. Through introducing the topic of film adaptations the
learners are getting knowledge of how to read a film and compare it with
literary texts and also a socio-cultural expansion and interaction can been
developed.
Film adaptations of literary works can influence literature and language learning to great extent and so curriculum frameworks discuss and gives focus to it . It will develop knowledge and interest among learners to view things in a different perspective. The study of film adaptations creates a novel experience of criticism and analysis formation in learning. In adaptation process, in novels we came to know characters best not through what they say, but through what they are thinking or what is said about them in the narration. A character mediates the meaning of what we read through his or her point of view. But in the film, the narrator largely disappears, and sometimes a narrator’s perspective is kept through the use of a voice over, but generally the director, cast and crew rely on the other tools of films to reproduce what was felt, thought and described on the page.
Using films in English classroom
*Life is Beautiful: Teaching the Holocaust through film with
complementary texts.
After students have read a book about the Holocaust, such as The Diary
of Anne Frank or Night by Elie Wiesel, students will view Life is Beautiful and
complete discussion questions to challenge their ability to analyse literature
using film.
*From Text to Film: exploring classic literature Adaptations
*Students create story boards to compare and contrast a book and its film adaptation.
*Twelfth Night play and film version shows how the flashback
representations appear in the work and the learners will be familiar with vast
tools of literary products.
Writing a flashback and flash- forward story using movies and texts as models.
Using the film ‘The Sandlot’ students are introduced to the literary
devices of flashbacks and flash forwards. They then write their own stories
using those devices.
*On a musical note: exploring reading strategies by creating a sound track.
Students create a sound track for a novel that they have read, as they
engage in such traditional reading strategies as predicting, visualizing and
questioning.
*Literature circle roles reframed: reading as a film crew
*Capture student’s enthusiasm for film and transfer it to reading and literature by substituting film production roles for the traditional literature circle roles.
*Comparing a literary work to its film interpretation
Analysis of the text and film versions of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Edgar Allan Poe’s story The Pit and the Pendulum.
*The major difference between film and book is that visual images stimulate our perception directly, while written words can do this indirectly and it allows the learners to pursue their imaginative skills and freedom in their own interpretation. For example the word window elicit a “mental translation” that viewing a picture of window does not. Film is a sensory experience than reading as it involves besides the verbal language- coloured frames, movement and sound. Even though film is limited: there is no time constraints for a novel, but film has limited time duration that it must usually compress events in to 2 or 3 hours( 2002 Adaptation of David Copperfield makes a nutshell of the novel that runs to 800 pages in to just 180 minutes.
*As referred in the beginning the film does not allow the freedom a
novel does to interact with the plot or characters by imagining them in our
minds. Meaning of a novel lies in the hands of author but film is a
collaborative effort that is concerned with a group of people (writer,
director, actors).
*There are three main reasons a filmmaker or screenwriter might make major changes in adapting a literary work to film. First it is simply the changes demanded by a new medium. Film and literature uses or have techniques or different forms to illustrate a narrative structure. In novel, new chapter may sometimes take us to different time and place through narrative; film there make use of flashbacks, dissolve, and crosscuts. These are well used or employed by film makers in adaptation of wuthering heights to keep the complex narrative coherent.
*There are two fundamental components of any narrative; the ‘story’ which is “the what in a narrative that is depicted “and the ‘discourse’ or plot’ which is the “how”. Former refers the events of the narrative, and the actions and responses of characters”, while the latter refers the ways in which the story is presented to us in terms of its order, emphases and logic’ (speidel, 2012, p.82). Willis argues that viewing a film can develop learners “receptive skills” and active participation before, while or after watching film can equip them with productive skills.
*Comparing novel to film- sometimes it may be difficult to read an entire novel or book because of its wide ranging vocabulary and time constraints where a discussion of teacher about the notable events in it and making learners aware of the filmic scenes can help a lot. Debates or conversations about the authentic part of book and film review of adaptation can give a better understanding. Role play attempts after seeing the film, with only visuals and not involving listening to conversation can help the learners to have an authority of language and improve their conversations. Mainly the wide readability of the texts give birth to film adaptations. Open ended perceptions or reconstructing the film scenes or novel events as the invisible observers and comparing it with film rendition help their descriptive skills.
*To explore the process of adaptation and the issues students can use
these activities:
1. Identify how films and literature are alike and different? It can be
listed using a Venn diagram, analyse tools each uses to tell a story and
consider how each handles aspects of storytelling such as point of view,
narrative, structure and time frame also considering that a work of literature
is created by just one person and film
by a team and draw conclusions from it.
2. Need of adaptations to be faithful –many of the works adopt the plot and change endings or shift the emphasis and it more or less affects the authenticity of author and distracts the purity of original to a certain end. If the stager in the Thortonwilder’s our town a women or a hip-hop version of play is created what will be the output, the film scripts or scenes for adaptations of Jane Austen works and title of film like Bride and prejudice will seem unfair for her, the original author.
3. Try your own adaptation by writing one or two paragraphs that describe some event, action or situation (an argument, trip or anything). Then write storyboards and make it more cinematic with but true to the spirit of original idea. Collaborate it to film, for inspiration can try theme or plot elements from masterpiece films.
4. After taking a random page from novel with dialogue and narration, cut the narrative part, it may describe a character or event that dialogue alone cannot signify. What does it lost? If you were to replace it how will you cope that space and balance it? Can also try it in film adapting a scene and narrating it –what difference can be noticed.
5. What wonderful adaptations of books do you know of and which adaptations you think are terrible? Choose an adaptation of literary work that you believe is not successful and attempt an essay analysing what are the flaws in it.
6. What written work would you love to adapt for the movies. It could be children’s book, nonfiction, novel or short story- write the pitch you would deliver to Hollywood executives, it should not exceed five minutes if presented orally and two pages in written including everything such as who will star, what will be films highlight, set, how much it will be faithful to the original work, music, beginning, soundtrack etc. another group can act as Hollywood executive who decide which is viable idea.
7. Analysing challenges of a filmmaker in filming 50 years old literature work –problems in bringing it to life for contemporary audience. How he/she solves it? Then watch the film version how film maker addressed the issue you listed. (Eg: middle march and its adaptation.
8. Improvise a critical scene from a literary work and watch how director chose to bring it to life. What do you think they made enhanced or detracted from the text? How would you stage, or direct this scene? Which do you prefer?
9. Write a story board, act or film a missing scene from a written work or film focusing or giving central idea about a character or event of the story.
10. After reading and viewing film adaptations, write role-play or film dialogue that may occur between original author or director or write a letter from author to the filmmakers.
11. Create a mashup as homage to or a parody of two works you love. Why do you think are the mashups currently so popular?
Conclusion
Both film and novels tell stories in a different way or unique in their
style. Film adaptations of novels are faithful translations and it becomes a
script brief with the main plot. It is the reconstruction of a work and the
films highlight a sensory experience through visual, auditory experience where
it takes a symbolic verbal linguistic sign form in the novels. The narrative,
style, time constraints and the creators make difference in them. Film
adaptations gives the audience an opportunity to read and interpret the film
with the authentic material or analyse and compare it. The foreign language
learners get benefited through the adaptation to acquire the target language
and exposure or the chance to use language in the form of role-plays and so on.
It is considered as the interactions of various verbal and nonverbal components
that make sense.
Reference
Adaptation: From novel to film:
http://d2buyft38glmwk.cloudfront.net/media/cms_page_media/11/FITC_Adaptation_1.pdf
Adaptation- novel to film:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/learningresources/fic_adaptation.html
Masterpiece theatre:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/learningresources/fic_about.html
THE WARWICK ELT
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/research/collections/elt_archive
-Submitted by Ms.Sivapriya J.S
No comments:
Post a Comment