Book to Movie: Does it Work?

Books to film: do they work? In the case of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, yes. I chose to watch this film because the title alone is ridiculous. You can’t fish for salmon in the Yemen, or can you? I also liked the combination of Blunt and McGregor as leads.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a 2011 British romantic comedy and drama film directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Amr Waked. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Paul Torday, and a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, the film is about a fisheries expert who is recruited by a consultant to help realize a sheikh's vision of bringing the sport of fly fishing to the Yemen desert, initiating an upstream journey of faith to make the impossible possible.

The film received generally favourable reviews from critics.

Although characters are changed from book to film, and the book itself is written though a series of emails, diaries, and correspondence, the message remains the same: suspend your disbelief and go for the dream. It’s not just about creating a salmon fishing oasis in a desert: political machinations, love, marriage, relationships, trust, faith and loyalty are all put to the test in a gentle, but unrelenting way. It’s also about the absurdities in life. A scheme that seems doomed from the start actually works because of the passion of the people involved. Things go wrong, disasters strike, but an underlying determination keeps the wheels turning.

The author is a British businessman and dedicated angler who has found a quite marvellous way of combining his passion with his opinions on life and politics.

It’s a gentle reminder of what life can be like, how dreams can be achieved, and the impossible made possible. I shall now get the book and enjoy the story all over again!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Adventure



The Hobbit first edition

The Hobbit is the first step on Tolkien’s long journey into Middle-earth. The story is set in Middle-earth sixty years before The Lord of the Rings, and portions of the film are adapted from the appendices to Tolkien's The Return of the King novel. An Unexpected Journey tells of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to accompany thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on a quest across Middle-earth to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the dragon.

Lord of the Rings

I saw the movie twice, within a short space of time (all right, four days!), and just loved it all over again. Amazingly, the book has never been out of print, and encouraged by the book's critical and financial success, the publisher requested a sequel. The Lord of the Rings was the result. So much has been written on that subject I won’t even try to offer an opinion, suffice to say that I am a huge fan of the book, and regularly reread the tome.

I read a few reviews of The Hobbit movie before I saw it and although there were some complaints, I was undeterred. I went determined to enjoy myself. I did not notice the 48 versus 24 whatever per second that people said made it blurry or ‘unreal.’ I did not notice the length—I could have sat through another three hours quite happily. And as for one critic saying all the dwarves were the same, well, they were not at all. With the second viewing, I noticed small but pertinent details that gave every character his unique aspect. I absolutely loved the grand, nay, spectacular setting, and being a huge fan of the LOTR trilogy, it was wonderful to see the fantastic scenery again unfold on the big screen.

Some critics complained that the quest was drawn out and could hardly fill the time allotted to it. However, The Hobbit’s quest is smaller, more intimate, and the fate of Middle-earth is not the issue. The fate of the dwarves’ home is the central theme, as well as Bilbo’s personal growth into a brave hobbit. Here, as well, is where the One Ring makes its first appearance. Everyone’s individual quest is naturally scaled down, but no less important than the grand quest of LOTR.

However, the best part of my trip to the movies was this: a visit to a bookstore in the cinema complex displaying a host of books dealing with The Hobbit and LOTR. Books. Real books. Books in print. Books with richly embossed covers and fabulous illustrations. Not e-books. That, for me, was the best part. How can anyone expect to appreciate the grandeur of Tolkien’s vision on a Kindle or e-reader? So, when all is said and done, just remember that real books are an unexpected adventure in themselves.

I have just read an article on the dire situation facing Britain’s High Street bookshops (they have halved!) in which the writer (Allan Massie) says that bookshops have to get more personal to survive. Call us old-fashioned but bookshops seem to still be alive and well in South Africa. They are bright, welcoming, colourful, with displays of the latest books, and (cleverly) are usually aligned to a coffee shop. You can browse as much as you like, enjoy your coffee, read the latest newspapers and books, and no one chases you out for lounging among the best examples of the written word. Long live bookshops, I say!

Here are just some of the wonderful visual accompaniments to the film.

Don't forget the map!

Richly illustrated with more than 100 colour photos from the film, and featuring a brand new fold-out map charting the journey from Bag End to Wilderland, TheHobbit: An Unexpected Journey Visual Companion begins the Quest for the Lonely Mountain in spectacular style.

Enter Bilbo Baggins’ world through exclusive interviews with director Peter Jackson, Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and all the principal cast and filmmakers, who share film-making secrets and tales of what it was actually like making movie magic in Middle-earth.
Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos of the actors, locations, sets, creatures and costumes, TheHobbit: An Unexpected Journey Official Movie Guide has been produced in collaboration with the filmmakers who have brought J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel into breath-taking three-dimensional life.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles: Art & Design is a sumptuous celebration of the creative vision of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The book is packed with more than 1,000 images of concept artwork, photographs, and development paintings by the artists working behind the scenes to bring Middle-earth to life, who each provide detailed and entertaining commentary that reveals the story behind the vision. As a bonus feature unique to this book, there is a special fold-out map printed in glow-in-the-dark ink and a giant four-page fold-out of Bilbo's contract.

Of course, the contract!

 

In The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook, Alan Lee, the Oscar-winning conceptual designer for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, discusses his approach to depicting Tolkien’s imaginary world. The book presents more than 150 of Lee’s celebrated illustrations to show how his imagery for both the illustrated Lord of the Rings and the films progressed from concept to finished art. In addition, the book contains 20 full-colour plates and numerous examples of the conceptual art produced for Peter Jackson’s film adaptation.

Happy reading, and if you haven’t seen The Hobbit yet, go and enjoy director Peter Jackson’s splendid vision.

By Fiona Ingram

What Writers Can Learn From Snow White and the Huntsman



Visually compelling but short on lots of story elements.

 I’ve just watched Snow White and the Huntsman and I emerged from the cocoon of the movie theatre a mite confused. Was it an action movie? A love story that didn’t get off the ground? Why were the characters so confused? Why did no one have any real motivation except the Huntsman and his was simple: money. Why did minor elements such as the amazing Troll and the wonderfully cantankerous Dwarves steal the show?


My YA daughter, a stalwart Kristen Stewart fan (thanks to Twilight) countered my every criticism with, “Oh, it’s not that bad.” Then I realised how much was just not that good, and how a movie’s failings (visual book thing again) can translate to the page for authors. So, what can we learn from Snow White and the Huntsman?

I read a few reviews to help me understand why I did not enjoy this visual feast, for a visual feast it is. From the red blood, to the white snow, to the raven black elements, to the knights in silvery shining armour racing along the beach with swords drawn, all the beauty is there … but it cannot sustain what is essentially a great story told poorly.



Great action sequences!

 Synopsis: Snow White is the princess of Tabor. After his wife's death, King Magnus marries the beautiful Ravenna after rescuing her from the Dark Army, an invading force of glass soldiers. Ravenna—who is in fact a powerful sorceress and the Dark Army's master—kills Magnus on their wedding night. As Ravenna seizes control of the kingdom, Duke Hammond escapes the Castle with his son William, but is unable to save Snow White. Snow White is then locked away in a tower of the castle.



Real scene stealers!

 The kingdom declines under Ravenna's rule as she periodically drains the youth from young women in order to maintain a spell once cast by her mother, which allows her to keep her beauty. When Snow White comes of age, Ravenna learns from her Magic Mirror that Snow White is destined to destroy her unless Ravenna consumes the young girl's heart, which will make her immortal. Ravenna orders her brother Finn to bring her Snow White but she escapes into the Dark Forest, where Ravenna has no power. Eric the Huntsman, a drunken widower who has survived the Dark Forest, is brought to Ravenna who orders him to lead Finn in pursuit of Snow White. In exchange, she promises to revive his deceased wife Sarah. Duke Hammond learns that Snow White is alive and has fled into the Dark Forest, and his son William, Snow White's childhood friend, later infiltrates Finn's band as a bowman to find her.

The Huntsman locates Snow White in the Dark Forest but Finn admits that Ravenna cannot resurrect the dead. The Huntsman then helps Snow White to escape, promising to escort her to Duke Hammond's castle in exchange for a reward of gold. They meet the dwarves who just about steal the show, and thereafter it’s on to the Duke’s castle to round up an army to defeat the evil Queen.



Wonderful fairy tale troll!

 Fairy tales are part of the dark mythological underbelly of civilisation, and many lessons and social commentaries exist today in these handed down tales. In like fashion, many books are simply repeats of or expansions upon eternal themes such as the quest/journey/coming of age etc. Anne R. Allen says: Experts don’t agree on the exact number of narrative plots, but there aren’t many. (Good post in case you think someone like James Patterson stole your plot!)


So how can we look at this film and learn some writing lessons?

Let’s check out the reviews. These comments (I've underlined the most telling) can be applied to writing.

Rotten Tomatoes: While it offers an appropriately dark take on the fairy tale that inspired it, Snow White and the Huntsman is undone by uneven acting, problematic pacing, and a confused script.

The Washington Post: Michael O’Sullivan says: Too many bad apples spoil a tale. Overlong, overcrowded, overstimulating and with an over-the-top performance by Charlize Theron as the evil queen Ravenna, the movie is a virtual orchard of toxic excess, starting with the unnecessarily sprawling cast of characters. Snow White and the Huntsman feels less like a movie than a deadly cocktail of movie clichés, all of which have been thrown into a blender, set to ‘slow’ and pureed for two hours.

The San Francisco Chronicle: “…which takes everything mythic about ‘Snow White’ and pounds it out until it's flat and dead. It takes something whose truth is elusive and turns it into a movie that's obvious and trivial. The fairy tale … suffers from a problem in its rhythm. It's not that its pace is too slow, but that it's too regular, and this lack of syncopation makes it feel slow.

Ouch!

A Writer’s Digest article advises: Analyze successful stories. They (writers) ask questions when reading and use their findings to help strengthen their work. For example:

• How does the writer make me want to turn the page?
• Why am I drawn to the lead character?
• When are the stakes raised?
• How does the writer integrate minor characters?
• What makes a scene work?
• What’s the key to conflict?
• How does the writer handle dialogue?

In my humble opinion, the problem with Snow White is that loads of bad stuff eclipsed loads of good stuff. A cleaner, simpler story, tighter pacing, consistent characterization, believable motivation, a good sub-text and backstory, and quicker links to the actually great action scenes would have transformed this film into a iconic version of a tried and tested tale of good triumphing over evil. People don’t get tired of a good story told well.

How well are you telling your story?

Learning From the Movies: Another Year

I love movies and make a point of ‘seeing’ my story unfolding before my eyes as I write. I pretend my book is a film. Will the reader see, hear, feel, and notice everything that I experience as I write? So, that takes me to the next point. If movies can be thought of as ‘moving pictures’ or books come alive, what can we learn from them in terms of plot and character development? Inspired in part by Jami Gold’s wonderful character and plot analysis of The Green Lantern, I thought more deeply about a film I saw recently. A film that didn’t say much; it didn’t really go anywhere … so why did it hold me and my friend absolutely enthralled?

Another Year, by director Mike Leigh, follows a year in the life of a sixty-something couple, Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen). He’s a commercial geologist; she’s an NHS therapist. The director is known for weaving stories around fictional ordinary folk. In Another Year we find Tom and Gerri (only one reference to the obvious in the movie) who live in a quiet street, somewhere in suburbia, and who are passionate about their allotment where they grow a variety of vegetables. They seem to spend a lot of their free time madly digging and planting; sometimes joined by their son Joe (Oliver Maltman), to whom they are devoted. Their smooth uncomplicated lives are punctuated by socializing with their son, and several friends with various troubled lives and personal problems. Nothing seems to shake Tom and Gerri. They reach out to communicate with their loved ones and then slide back into the comfortable, maybe even complacent shell that cocoons and protects them. In a way they are a sounding board to highlight the weaknesses and worries of the people around them. Their serenity only makes their friends’ lives seem even more chaotic.

So what is the captivating aspect of this film that quite simply moves through the four seasons in a quiet reflection of how times slips by? As I said, nothing really happens; or rather nothing happens directly to them. Tom’s brother Ronnie loses his wife and the terrible grief of these scenes is positively palpable. Again, sitting in the movie theater I asked myself what was so compelling about this film. With virtually no plot—no action, no real drama, no special effects, no computer generated gizmos, no car chases, no car crashes … we only hear about their neurotic friend Mary’s car troubles, we don’t see them—it can only be said that character, real living people drive this film.

The acting is sublime with characters such as their old friend Ken (Peter Wight), who visits from the North during the summer and masks an unhappy personal life with ample smoking, drinking and eating. His drunken behavior is totally cringe-worthy because we realize that we’ve all got friends like these. It is a tribute to the director that I felt as if I was watching real people; that somehow I had wandered into their lives by accident. I know and admire Jim Broadbent’s acting skills, but as Tom he was somehow not Jim Broadbent playing the part of Tom. He was Tom. From the moment I saw the opening scene of Tom and Gerri running through the rain from their front door to the car, with boxes of seedling and garden implements, I was hooked. I truly believed in the person called Tom and his wife called Gerri. Ditto for the remaining characters. The exquisite craftsmanship of the director draws the viewer into the situation so that by the time Mary (superbly played by Lesley Manville), their problematic friend, throws yet another tantrum related to her anxieties about ageing, you just want to throw her and her neuroses through the front door.

The film is made in unforgiving close-up, something I deeply admire the British acting fraternity for accepting as ‘part of the job.’ Most British films are characterized by a dearth of silicone and other cosmetic enhancements, minimal make-up, and plenty of real acting. The close-ups also reveal the inner soul of the characters and quite honestly, the internal life and drama of each person portrayed is so interesting, so much a raging tempest of emotional turmoil that one can do without the apparent lack of plot. Aren’t most of our lives like that? Fiction generally takes us into some unreal, often outrageous places and situations. It’s as if we need it to escape the dull humdrum existence that is life. Yet, somehow Another Year is like peering into a microscope at some seemingly insignificant leaf or drop of water, and seeing life teeming there. It seems that we are so blind to the beautiful simplicity of life as it really is that we need high drama and roller-coaster action to make a dent in our consciousness.

Writers, alas, have to work harder than directors or filmmakers. The human eye sees more in one image than we can say in a single word. Isn't a picture worth a thousand words? We have to work harder to ignite the imagination of the reader. Yet the joy and beauty of the printed page is that each reader will create a different image in their mind of what they just read. Each moment of the book will be unique to the people who turn those pages. Now that's creativity!

Children's Classics: Jock of the Bushveld in 3D

I wonder how many international readers know of the South African children’s classic Jock of the Bushveld. I’ve just read that this well loved book is being turned into an animated full-length 3D feature movie. For those not in the know, let me tell you something about this wonderful children’s book.


Jock’s History

Jock of the Bushveld is a true story by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, recounting his adventures in the Lowveld in the late 19th century, with his dog, Jock. The book tells of Fitzpatrick’s travels with his dog, Jock, during the 1880s, when he worked as a storeman, prospector’s assistant, journalist and ox-wagon transport-rider in the Bushveld region of the Transvaal (then the South African Republic). Fitzpatrick later recounted these adventures as bedtime stories to his four children. Rudyard Kipling, a good friend of Fitzpatrick, also took part in these storytelling evenings and eventually persuaded him to collect these tales in book form. Illustrations for the book were done by Edmund Caldwell, a brother of Mary Tourtel, creator of Rupert Bear.

The book was first published in 1907 and had an extremely warm reception, being reprinted four times in that year alone. Since then it has achieved the status of a classic South African book and has been also widely read abroad—more than one hundred editions have been printed and it has been translated into Afrikaans, Dutch, French, Xhosa and Zulu, amongst others. Jock was saved by Fitzpatrick from being drowned in a bucket for being the runt of the litter (he would ruin the litter if left with them). Jock was very loyal towards Percy, and brave.

Sir Percy's History
Eventually after five years of transport riding, tsetse fly infected all Sir Percy’s oxen and he was ruined. He walked penniless into Barberton, all the way from Louw’s Creek, found a job and also a wife, Lilian Cubitt, whom he married. After that Sir Percy relocated to Johannesburg and was then employed by the Johannesburg mining group, the Corner House. He gave Jock to a friend of his, who in time gave the dog to a trader who had a store in Mozambique at a place known as Old Pessene. There Jock was killed one night when he rushed out to attack a stray dog that was raiding the fowl run. Jock killed the thief but was then shot when his master mistook him in the darkness for the other dog. Jock permanently lost his hearing when a kudu cow kicked him. Loss of hearing is attributed as one of the main reasons he died, as he could not hear Tom Barnett when he called him, and was mistakenly shot, because he was thought to be the dog killing chickens on the farm.

Jock was an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier. There is a statue of Jock in front of the City Hall in Barberton, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Jock at the Movies

The South African film industry has received an incredible boost lately with movies such as District Nine (Oscar nominated), Invictus, Tsotsi and Skin attracting international attention and acclaim. Jock of the Bushveld is in the initial stages of production, with 26 artists, animators and technicians busy in their Johannesburg studios. Some 59 scenes have already been completed using the latest computer-assisted animation, and soon the project will be marketed abroad. Another big scoop is the involvement of some big names in the entertainment industry such as musical writing superstar Tim Rice, and local singers Johnny Clegg and Nianell. A major coup for the filmmakers is Archbishop Tutu’s involvement. He’ll be lending his sonorous voice to a small but key part involving spirituality.

Jock & Education

An important part of the movie marketing plan is to focus on education in the Mpumalanga Lowveld, which is the setting for Jock’s story. Jock will be of great help in improving education and the environment, and in a way that enables local communities to benefit. Corporate sponsorship will contribute to community upliftment and awareness.

Books vs Movies

Kids love movies of books, and sometimes see the movie first. Although parents may worry that the movie is a substitute for the book, this is generally not the case. It’s a golden opportunity for parents to suggest that they add to the enjoyment by getting the book/s. After all, the movie makers might have had to leave a few crucial bits out. There’s only one way to check and that’s by reading the book. Parents can encourage their children to get onto the computer and look up everything they can possibly find about the movie, the plot, the characters, the actors—it’s all reading, whether in book or electronic format. Once hooked on a great book, any child will return to that beloved adventure time and time again.