1. FILMIC ADAPTATION – Things to consider…
What to alter, add, and/or delete
Characters
Setting/time period/context
launch on 4/11/1970; incident on 4/13/1970
Narrative/plot components
Mood
Theme
Props
Sound
Shots
Dialogue
Descriptions
Intertextual possibilities
Meaning/significance
What is directly filmable (you can see, hear, etc.)
What is indirectly filmable (character emotions, etc.)

2. This is a page from Lonesome Dove, a novel by Larry McMurtry adapted into a screenplay by Bill Wittliff. The annotations on this page are by Wittliff and indicate some of the elements from this scene that he would eventually include in the filmic version of this scene. In this scene, a group of cowboys are confronted by U.S. cavalry soldiers intent on taking their horses.

3. This is a page from the adapted screenplay for Lonesome Dove based on the horse buying/taking scene from the previous slide. (The annotations are by the screenwriter.) In this adaptation, Wittliff (the screenwriter) changed some of McMurtry’s choices, but also used some of the same exact wording as the origin material.

4. 1 2 1 2 3 4 3 5 4 5

5. Adaptation Decision Novel Screenplay1
Character of Dixon
Character of Captain Weaver – change enhances the authority of the request 2
Dialogue: “She’s got a stylish look.”
Dialogue: “That’s a fine looking horse you got there,” but then decided against it anyway. 3
Dialogue: “Not for sale.”
Dialogue: “She ain’t for sale.” 4
Almost word for word description of action: “Dixon leaned over him and spat a stream of tobacco juice on the back of Dish’s neck.”
Almost word for word description of action (just changes tense): “Dixon leans over him and spits a stream of tobacco juice, hitting Dish in the back of the neck.” 5
Almost word for word dialogue: “You dern cowboys are too fond of your horses.”
Almost word for word dialogue (just enhances informal grit of language): “You damn cowboys’re too fond of your horses.”

7. SCRIPT PAGE FROM JAWS: KINTNER BOY SCENE -
Vertigo Script
SCRIPT PAGE FROM JAWS: KINTNER BOY SCENE -
NOTICE THE FORMAT, CHARACTER NAMES, DIALOGUE, BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTIONS

8. SCRIPT PAGE FROM VERTIGO –
NOTICE THE FORMAT, CHARACTER NAMES, DIALOGUE, BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTIONS
Vertigo Script

9. SCRIPT PAGE FROM THE BIRDS –
NOTICE THE USE OF TECHNIQUES AND DESCRIPTIONS

11. (AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE FILM)
STORYBOARDS FROM JAWS
(AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE FILM)

12. (AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE FILM)
STORYBOARD FROM JAWS
(AND WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE FILM)

13. STORYBOARD FROM VERTIGO
(AND THEN WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE FILM)
From Vertigo opening sequence

14. STORYBOARD FROM VERTIGO
(AND THEN WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE FILM)
From Vertigo opening sequence

15. STORYBOARD FROM THE BIRDS
(AND THEN WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE FILM)

16. STORYBOARD FROM THE BIRDS
(AND THEN WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE FILM)

17. SCRIPT PAGE FROM A STUDENT ADAPTATION OF THE BIRDS – NOTICE THE INCLUSION OF TECHNIQUES WITHIN THE SCRIPT AND ANALYTICAL ANNOTATIONS (AT THE BOTTOM)

18. SCRIPT PAGE FROM A STUDENT ADAPTATION OF THE BIRDS – NOTICE THE INCLUSION OF TECHNIQUES (BOLDED) WITHIN THE SCRIPT AND ANALYTICAL ANNOTATIONS (AT THE BOTTOM)

19. STORYBOARD AND ANALYSIS FROM A STUDENT ADAPTATION OF THE BIRDS – NOTICE THE INCLUSION OF TECHNIQUES AND ANALYTICAL ANNOTATIONS (ON THE SIDE)
Long Shot is used here in order to establish the setting of the scene when Nat goes down to the Trigg’s farm. It provides a scenic landscape wherein one can see the beauty of the land – in great contrast to the carnage that is to come. Also, this shot establishes looming senses of isolation and vulnerability through the use of High Angle, a technique that lends well to the dire immediacy and solidarity of Nat’s situation.