I - The Monomyth
We don't have to call it the monomyth, and in Hollywood most people don't. They call it the "Hero's Journey," and any director or writer who wants to get a story on film generally has to conform to and complete that journey themselves for a studio to fund a project. More importantly, audience's expect it whether they are aware of it or not. While some films follow it more than others, we can argue that all of them do, and the ones that make the big money (Star Wars for example) follow it to a T. Some call it the death of creativity. Some call it the ultimate truth. Others proclaim that it can't be escaped in nature let alone in film or novels. Even history seems to follow its patterns. In any case, we need to look at the monomyth before we can compare or adapt anything. So.... what's in a good story?
So with a bit of background knowledge, you can see why Hollywood uses this recipe so heavily. When we go to the cinema, we grab our popcorn, take a seat, and sit through 120 minutes of film without doing much thinking. We don't draw comparisons to Homer, Shakespeare, the Bible, or ask ourselves if we've reached "the belly of the whale." After the movie, we leave, get in the car, and discuss with our friends what we thought. Was it good? Did it satisfy our expectations? If it didn't, chances are that the filmmakers didn't get something right in the monomyth - the story in every story. Maybe there wasn't much "belly of the whale" and we fell asleep. In any case, once you become aware of the Hero's Journey, it becomes very hard to ignore, and we will be focusing on it a lot. Consider your future enjoyment of all films to be slightly distracted by watching for these things. Even the worst romantic comedy has a "call to adventure."
For more - check out the Monomyth and the Hero's Journey on Wikipedia. Click around, and learn about Campbell. You'll need to reference this stuff throughout the course, as not always will "the call to adventure" appear the same on screen as it does in the book. And that's part of the fun.
Click on the image below for a larger look. This is a detailed (perhaps overly) representation of Campbell's concept.
For our purposes, I like this more simplified version below:
Not everyone agrees on the order, the terms used, or what's what in a film. At times it can be quite confusing and debatable. In any case, the above is the vocabulary we will stick to.
II - Script vs. Book
As you can see from the above, a script writer has a certain task in store when they decide to adapt something. What makes this even more interesting is that in today's film industry, the adaptations are no longer limited to famous novels, biographies, or large scale historical events. Short children's books (Where the Wild Things Are) and even video games (Lara Croft, Resident Evil, and supposedly even Angry Birds) are having their stories enlarged into films. So if the original story of Angry Birds seems to lack a mentor or a magic elixir, it's up to the screenwriter to invent one. We can also imagine the opposite scenario in a massive story such as Lord of the Rings when it became a stage play (too many mentors and magic elixirs for a cast and stage of any size - therefore a process of picking and choosing).
The stories I've chosen for this class reflect a bit of both scenarios. Especially in Forrest Gump you'll see what Eric Roth must have been faced with when he adapted Winston Groom's character to fit Tom Hanks. In this instance particularly, we have to ask: did the chicken come before the egg or vice versa (was it written for Hanks? How many drafts did they go through?). In the case of Stephen King's adaptations, we will see both cases (lots of deviations in Shawshank/very few in Stand By Me). All in all, we can examine the choices the writers and directors made, and even go as far to propose and write our own.
Since our first bit of reading in this class is King's "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption," let's take a look at the shooting script. By now, more than a few of you have probably read some of it, and might be able to comment on the script.
Here is a link to a pdf version of the script.
Here is a link to a pdf version of the novella.
Even after a quick look to compare King's narrative, which begins with Red in first person, we can see how writer/director (and auteur?) Frank Darabont had to find a new way in to the story. Visually and perspective wise, he had to break ground and "show" instead of "tell" to save time and make things interesting. Essentially, a screenwriter has to write visually and economically, while a novelist has freedom to roam poetically and indulge "verisimilitude" without a budget.
Things to keep in mind:
- Screenplays are formatted precisely to approximate about 1 minute of film per page. Since the golden age of Hollywood after the Depression, the font of choice has always been and always will be Courier with a size of 12.
- Most studios and producers won't read a script that's much more than 120 pages as a rule.
- Pages 1-20 usually keep us in the "ordinary world" or at least establish it. If we go too far beyond this without an "inciting incident" or "call to adventure," producers will stop reading in the same way an audience will stop watching. Script goes in the trash.
- Pages in the 30, 45, 60, and 90 zone usually mark a turning point, or a crisis that moves the story forward through a three act structure (the second act usually being the longest at anywhere from 45-60 pages).
- Did the screenwriter choose the right events at the right time? Did they modify them and why?
- Did the screenwriter change the POV (point of view)? Does the removal or addition of a first person narrator help or hurt the story (as in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)?
- Does the character in the book want the same thing as the actor in the film? Does the theme surface, or is it buried in poor acting? Or is truly brought to life through an Oscar performance (as in Forrest Gump)?
Assignment #1
Create a blog here at blogspot.com. This is where you will share your thoughts and opinions, and log your observations as you read and watch. As mentioned, this is what most of your final grade will consist of, so take some pride in your blog in terms of quality and quantity.
What I would like from you:
- Films and books are a treasure trove and root system of facts and background information that is interesting and important. We can better understand the work we examine if we know about the director, the author, and even the actors. Click around. IMDB and Wikipedia can easily send you off on a roller coaster ride of fact and argument.
- If Stephen King mentions a song you've never heard, Google it and post the Youtube video on your blog. It will surely have some historical or cultural relevance (as in The Body). If you learn about something in Psychology that sparks some ideas related to Cuckoo's Nest and Ken Kesey (perhaps along the lines of the Rosenhan Experiment), then please blog it. This is why we study literature, and your blogs will hopefully fuel discussion in class.
- Don't always wait for me to assign a response to what you've seen or read. Go ahead and write and aim for at least one 500 word bit of writing per week.
- You don't have to like everything. Don't be shy about critiquing King's writing (in the same way he did with Twilight) or opining that Jack Nicholson wasn't the right choice in Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kese wanted Gene Hackman). But back up your opinions with fact and...
- Links. As you can see, as I write, I'm jamming in as many links as I see fit. You can click on them and enrich your experience. I'd like you to do the same.
Before next class, I'd like you to have "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption" read, and something written on your blog about your impressions with a bit of enrichment (links and something interesting you dug up). Even if you haven't read it completely, I hope you'll have something to offer to a discussion.
Enjoy!
