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Good AdaptationsPOSTED BY ALEX EPSTEIN OVER AT Complications Ensue.
Matt asks: what about William Goldman's adaptation of his book The Princess Bride? Pretty good, no?
I certainly wouldn't diss Goldman adapting his own work. And I'd add Michael Crichton's many adaptations of his own novels, e.g. Jurassic Park, which did OK at the box office as I recall. [He shared credit with David Koepp. Also created E.R.]
Of course a novelist can adapt his own book if he understands what a screenplay is. If the writer is familiar with both forms, it can work brilliantly. What's needed is for the writer to re-imagine his story in the new medium, which means giving up some of the beauties of the old medium.
It's usually pretty easy to spot an adaptation, even by a fresh screenwriter. There are scenes that play on their own without forwarding the plot. There are characters who seem important but don't justify their importance. I still go with Hitchcock's technique. Read the book once, or even a couple of times. Then put it down and write the script. Whatever you remember is probably important. Whatever you forget, probably isn't.
//Alex Epstein
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Scribosphere: The Hitchcock technique is very interesting actually. Should work good.
Categories: [plot_] [action_] [ideas_]Labels: action, Alex Epstein, ideas, plot
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