Thursday, September 17, 2009
Novel into Film
In the book we read, George Bluestone discusses how the language of a novel more easily conveys aspects of our conscience, like mental imagery and dreams. Is a possible reason for this tendency the fact that a novel requires our minds to translate the language into mental imagery? A film hands to us both the pictures and the words, so do we lose a higher level of understanding as only observers of the story? I thought it would be interesting to see people's opinions on this idea.
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I believe that we do lose some insight if we view a film rather than read a novel. Reading allows the mind to wander and dream up any imagery we feel coincides with the text. By watching a film, we are fed the language and the pictures. Sometimes I feel as though we are being "cheated" if a film is not up to par with the imagery in our minds. I prefer reading a novel rather than viewing a film because it allows my creativity to not be restricted to one visual scene.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy viewing films and reading books. I think that both mesh well with each other. After I read a book I like to compare it with the ideas the film makers had. I like to say where the film makers take their opinion of the storyline. Each of the characters and story are similar so I find enjoyment in both. Like Ciara I have felt at some times cheated because certain details were left out but film makers so it for a reason. Film makers are creating their own image and story. I think that both film and books are tools that should be utilized together because it is interesting to see the different perspective each author and film maker have.
ReplyDeleteThe use of color and spatial cues will symbolism the action in a movie. With the visional use for perception and for action, ones dorsal streams are lifted and one behavior pattern is changed. In a novel the visional is taken away, your required to process though. I believe the novel will stay with one longer
ReplyDeleteI always imagined that novels seem to convey consciousness - the thoughts or memories of a character - better than film because our thoughts are frequently verbal. More frequently than visual. It's difficult to convey non-spoken language in a film without a distinct sense of affectation. Voice-over, for example, often seems unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteI too have always felt that its definitely the novel that alows more room for our consciousness to take place. The language of the book is portrayed and layed out for us in a film, by the producers consciousness and take on the film. This limits our abiliity to imagine and create the story in our take on the language. When reading a novel it is natural for us to let our mind invision what the wriiter is trying to portray, and in most novels you will find that many people have different takes on the plot and what the writer was trying to portray. In a film we loose those differences in imagery from the novel and are constrained to what the film producer portrays on the screen. This is because everyone then watching will no longer have their own take on the story but are then limited to the producers thoughts and imagination.
ReplyDeleteIn order for us to understand a novel we are reading, one must have images in the mind to understand the concept of the novel. A novel is just words(which gives us a way to visualize how we feel the story would be. That is why, when two people read the same novel, there are two different takes on the book. I think a film tells us a story of their point of view. We have no allowance to change the picture, because it is telling US how it is. If the novel happened to turn into a book (like I had mentioned last class, Da Vinci Code) then you have an image in your mind already, and see another point of view. I felt the movie wasn't up to par like the book was. Movies can deceive us from our aspects.
ReplyDeleteIn a novel, the author has the ability to use any words he wants to describe a scene, whether he wants to go in depth or to be vague. On the other hand, a movie director does not. An author can use 5 pages just to describe a particular setting, while if a director uses 5 minutes of a movie just showing the viewer the setting of the movie, people would just be either bored or annoyed. However, if an author overly describes something then in a sense it is limiting your imagination because you have to interpret it exactly how the writer wants you to since he has described every possible aspect of what he is writing about.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely a fan of reading books rather than going to see the movie. When I read a book, I love to imagine the scenes that the author meticulously describes. I also feel that I become fully engrossed in the story and feel that I am a part of it. I feel that movies can deny us this feeling of being included in the story. Even though I do not like going to the movies because I cannot become part of the story, I do enjoy seeing different people's perspectives on they view certain events that happen in the story.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading a novel I allow myself to imagine myself as being a part of the story. I rather read the novel before seeing its movie, because the movie could ruin the experience of your imagination in novel. I picture the different scenery, and images that are portrayed in the novel. When I see the film adaptation of a novel, it allows me to see what is pictured in my mind. Even though the film adaptation may leave you feeling disappointed, you have to consider the points of view of the film maker and the author of the novel.
ReplyDeleteCassandra's Comment:
ReplyDeleteI believe that by reading a novel we have our own imagination of the story. The characters, the scenery, my own perspective makes me feel as though I am apart of the novel. It is for these reasons I enjoy reading novels, especially before seeing them made into a film. Films can not put an entire novel onto screen, they tend to leave out bits an pieces from the novel. I agree with Ciara that film restricts our creativity, film builds the image for us when novels allow us to create our own image.