PTopic: Book and Film Adaptation
This essay is going to discuss about a book and a movie combination, which is 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. In this essay the story outline, characters, settings, languages, impact of the changes from book to movie, cinematic elements and some of the features will be discussed.
'To Kill a Mockingbird' is known both as a successful book and a great movie for many generations. This remarkable novel by Harper Lee and its film adaptation became extremely popular and are still discussed till today. Although the book and the movie gained much success and attention, still there are certain differences between them that make each version unique and worth attention.
There are number of similarities between the novel and the film, 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. One of the most key similarities is that the narrator is Scout as an older woman in the movie whereas in the book she is a small child. She is speaking from the future, so the entire story is a flashback. Similar to the novel, in the film, when Scout and Jem meet Dill for the first time, he is very proud of the fact that he can read. Also, the whole story of Boo Radley was the same as in the film as in the novel: he only came out at night, he ate live animals, he would peer in people's window at night, and he stayed in the Radley basement all day long, as in novel he stayed inside a dark house and considered his own business. In the film and novel, when Scout, Jem, and Dill sneak onto the Radley property, they run away and Jem loses his pants. When he goes back for them, Mr. Radley fires his gun at Jem, missing, but scaring Jem half to death. (Novel and Film comparison- TO KILL a MOCKINBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY)
There are other ways that the film is similar to the novel. When Scout gets home, she figures out that the man who saved them was Boo Radley while she was being attaked. Also, Sherriff Tate enlightens Atticus that it was Mr. Ewell who attacked Jem and Scout. There are many similarities between the film and the novel, but there are also many differences. (Novel and Film comparison- TO KILL a MOCKINBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY)
There are not many glaring differences between the novel and the film, 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. But most of the part of the movie is an accurate depiction of the novel. Nevertheless, there are quite a few minor differences between the two. One of the aspects that vary between the novel and the film is that who is being portrayed as the main character. In the book, the main character is Scout. It seems that the movie portrays Atticus to be the main character. The ways the novel and film begin are different too. The novel starts out with Jem and Scout meeting Dill. However, the film begins with Mr. Cunningham bringing Atticus payment for some law work Atticus did for him. Also, some character traits are different. The film also leaves some scenes out that were in the novel. In the book, Scout's first day of school is shown to you: her inside the classroom, her getting in trouble with the teacher, and her explaining to the teacher why Walter Cunningham won't accept the quarter. In the film, the scene starts with Scout running out of the building and dealing with Walter Cunningham. The film also leaves out the scene where Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem with her to church. It also leaves out the scene where the house burns down. Even though there are some differences between the novel and the film of To Kill a Mockingbird, they are mostly minor, and the film and novel are mostly the same. (Novel and Film comparison- TO KILL a MOCKINBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY)
The novel and film To Kill a Mockingbird are a lot identical. They both have the same subject, them and the same story line, and it has same characters. However, everybody always has a point of view on which they like more. In my opinion, I think the novel is better. I liked the novel more because it has got more detail to all the characters and really gave me a sense of how everyone was feeling and how they had a sense of touch to the novel as very thing was explained to us in detail, the atmosphere, characters and the environment that was created in the novel it had a heart of emotions that one can express while reading. The novel had individual scenes that explained about a characters history, really allowing me to connect to this individual character. The film had some of this, but I didn't feel as though I really knew the characters. For example, Calpurnia, the maid of the house, was hardly a part of the film. In the novel, she plays huge part, and there is many times where it just talks about her, and no one else, so that the reader could get to know her better and care about her. Harper Lee did this because Calpurnia acts as a mentor and a guide in the novel. She presents Scout and Jem other cultures, such as when she took them to church, and shows them that the two races aren't very different. She opens their eyes to the fact that the bias against blacks is uncalled for: there is no need for it. She also acts as a mother to Scout and Jem, because their mom died when they were young. Even though I enjoyed the movie, I liked the novel more. The two are very similar however, and are both remarkable. (Novel and Film comparison- TO KILL a MOCKINBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY)
The characters that are combined in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' are the characters of Miss Rachel and Miss Stephanie that are combined into one character as Miss Rachel. The other characters such as Aunt Alexandria and Uncle Jack are left out completely. This is done to keep the cast of characters smaller and more convenient for the film, as they don't play an important role, and to minimize the time frame and settings at different places of occurrence.
In the movie there is no discussion of Miss Maudie's house burning and her having to stay with Stephanie Crawford, but this is expressed in the book. During the fire, Scout is unconsciously covered with a blanket by Boo but she does not realize it. Also, when Jem and Scout receive their guns, Atticus says that Jem should never kill a mocking bird. This is very important but is not shown in the film (Similarities between book and movie 'to kill a mockingbird?'?] Yahoo answers). This is done to create humor, expression of ideas in order to convey meaning to the audience, and to ensure that the audience can be attached to their seats in order to understand the deep meaning told by Atticus Finch.
The style that is used in the movie and the books to some extent is similar, such as Narrative Voice: First Person "I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson." — page 3, Descriptions: Flowery- "Mr. Ewell had a scalded look; as if an overnight soaking had deprived him of protective layers of dirt, his skin appeared to be sensitive to the elements." — page 204, Use of Dialogue: Authentic- "Said i was nineteen, said it to the judge yonder." — page 207 , Literary Techniques: Simile — "We could see him shiver like a horse shedding flies." — page 109
Personification — "I could hear the wind whistling through the crack in the window." — page 153 (Author's style- TO KILL a MOCKINGBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY)
In the movie To Kill a Mockingbird, the Director Robert Mulligan used a lot of full shots. He used these to show the full body of the character who was doing the action, and this enhanced the scenes because I could see everything that the character was doing. He used reaction shots to show emotions of people, such as Atticus or Tom Robinson. He used a lot of eye-level camera angles also. This was to show that we were at equal to the characters, no one better or worse. However, he did use some high angles when looking at Scout, to make her seem young and innocent, and to make Atticus seem strong and powerful. (Director's style- TO KILL a MOCKINBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY)
In the film, a lot of camera movements were used. The most common ones were pan, tilt, and zoom. They used a lot of pan to show Scout and Jem walking down the street, past the Radley place. They used tilts when showing someone walking up or down stairs. And they used zoom when going in for a reaction shot. Robert made a lot of black and white movie because a lot of his movies were made before colored movies existed. To Kill a Mockingbird was in black and white, which was a little weird to see because I normally see colored movies, but it didn't subtract at all from the greatness of his movie. Mulligan's main style is to show the actions and reactions of characters, and to show the audience everything the characters are doing. He doesn't keep any secrets from the audience. The audience can see everything the characters are doing. (Director's style- TO KILL a MOCKINBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY)
If I was the director I would have started the movie from the court trial of Tom Robinson in order to create suspense in the movie of what has happen and why he is being sent in remand. Then I would have moved on describing Mr. Atticus family the society in which he lives in, further moving on providing his children details as they play an important role. After the details then I would have created suspense of Boo Radley who comes out at night time creating mysterious events. After this events than I would have gone in to the flash back of what all has happened and why Tom Robinson is being taken in to remand and why the children are afraid of Boo Radley. After that I would have ended the movie like in novel when innocent Tom Robinson dies, not like the director Robert Mulligan who has ended the movie in a happy ending.
A story which I would like to be made in to a movie is the story of Apesai Balea written by Mr. Churamani Bissundayal it is a story of suspense, romance, tragedy which from my point of view is an amazing story which arouses meanings of life, creates humor, teaches us important lessons what this world is made up of I love the saying 'this world has many dark trues'.
As a conclusion, it can be said that even though there are certain differences between the novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee and its film adaptation, still the idea and the storyline are the same as both the movie and the novel. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' arouses relevant and red-hot questions to the present day. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' discloses the real nature of certain individuals whose racist stereotypes and their point of view that prevent them from seeing the truth and reality, in order to make the right decisions. This uprising novel and the movie make those of us who are afraid to go alongside the majority and defend their view of feeling ashamed for the lower class people. Idleness can also be a crime if innocent people suffer or even die because of it. We should never forget that all of us were born equal in our rights and privileges, and we ought to be honest in our thoughts and deeds. Moreover, there will always be good and evil in the world, and on the other hand the cruel someone's deeds are, hopefully, there always are some Atticus Finch to defend the innocence and justice. This book is certainly not an easy task to cope with, and the way it was transformed into a movie is really impressive. The comparison between the movie and novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird' can help better understand the way movie adaptations and changes in the original text can either change the whole idea of a masterpiece or preserve and improve it. It is definitely a difficult task to create a good and true movie based on a particular book, and, in case of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', it is certainly a success. (To kill a mockingbird, essays writers)
Reference
Author's style- TO KILL a MOCKINGBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY, viewed 4 March 2016, http://tokillamockingbirdauthorstudy.weebly.com/authors-style.html
Director's style- TO KILL a MOCKINBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY, viewed 4 March 2016, http://tokillamockingbirdauthorstudy.weebly.com/directors-style.htmlNovel and Film comparison- Similarities between book and movie 'to kill a mockingbird?'?] Yahoo answers, viewed 4 March 2016, https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080128044305AAnB3wK
TO KILL a MOCKINBIRD- AUTHORS STUDY, viewed 4 March 2016, http://tokillamockingbirdauthorstudy.weebly.com/novel-and-film-comparison.html
To kill a Mockingbird viewed 4 March 2016, http://www.essayswriters.com/essays/Literary-Analysis/to-kill-a-mockingbird.html
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