The Art and Craft of Film Adaptation
FILM 453
Fall 2023 not offered
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Film adaptations of literary texts have been a staple of cinematic production from the silent era to the present day, and remain both an enduringly popular phenomenon and an occasional source of derision or disbelief: Can the movie ever be as good as the book? In this course we will interrogate the long-held assumption that source materials for adaptations are the authoritative texts while secondary works are necessarily inferior. Adopting a lateral approach that allows us to examine how stories change and are changed by new iterations and new mediums, we will examine the varied modes, motives, and techniques of film adaptations, analyzing how filmmakers transform character, plot, setting, and point of view as they adapt varied source material into feature films. This is a reading and writing intensive course where students will be asked to annotate and analyze literary sources, film scholarship, screenplays and films and should expect to spend several hours reading and writing outside of class time per week. In addition to in-class film screenings, film analysis assignments, in-class writing exercises and presentations, students will develop, pitch and write original adapted screenplays (either a short film script or the first act of a feature script) based on short fiction, novels, plays and films. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA FILM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: FILM304 AND FILM307 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (FILM-MN)(FILM) |
Major Readings:
Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Selected novels, short stories, screenplays, plays and scholarly articles available via course Moodle. Texts by James Baldwin, Julio Cortazar, Lorraine Hansberry, Arthur Miller and others. Weekly film showings, including films directed by Asghar Farhadi, Barry Jenkins, Ang Lee, Elaine May, Mira Nair, Todd Haynes, Kelly Reichardt, Agnes Varda and others.
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Examinations and Assignments:
IFilm analysis assignments, weekly writing exercises, in-class presentations, final project adapted screenplay |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Interested students should email Professor Shepard ASAP during the spring semester with a paragraph about yourself and your interest in the course. Preference will be given to Film majors and minors.
Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. To apply, please email a paragraph about yourself and your interest in the course to sshepard@wesleyan.edu. |
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