Kiss of the Spider Woman
Lawrence of Arabia
Leader, The
Legacy
Legal issues
optioning stories
television docudramas
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Letter to Three Wives
Literature. See Novel adaptations; Short-story adaptations; Theatre adaptations
Little Foxes, The
Little Mermaid, The
Little Night Music, A
Lizzie Borden
Long Walk Home, The
Love Story
Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter
M.A.D.D.
Making a Good Script Great
Man Called Joe, A (Always)
Man In the Iron Mask, The
Man of La Mancha
Man Who Loved Women, The
Marilyn—the Untold Story
Mask
Memphis Belle
Merchant of Venice, The
Midsummer Night’s Dream, A
Miracle Worker, The
Misery
Missiles of October, The
Missing
Mississippi Burning
Mood
recognizing
shading of
Most Dangerous Game, The
Murder in Mississippi
Murder of Mary Phagan, The
Murder Ordained
My Fair Lady
My Left Foot
plot/subplot integration in
Narration
finding themes in
role of, in adaptations of novels
Narrow Margin
Networks, television
pitching stories to
projects of interest to
Neverending Story II, The
Nonfiction. See also True-life story adaptations
finding story line in
finding theme in idea-based
Novel adaptations
details
Field of Dreams case study
fluid time movement
information in novels and
narration
point of view
reflective voice
theme
Nutcracker Suite, The
Oklahoma!
Oliver!
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
On the Waterfront
On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story
Optioning stories for adaptation
candidates
contracts
costs and financial responsibility
creative control
determining ownership of story rights
Errors and Omission Insurance
after gaining options
lawyers and
legal liabilities of no options
length of options
meetings with owners of story rights
mistakes
new writers’ possibilities
public domain material
researching public domain material
rights to convicted felon’s story
sale vs. option
true-life stories
Ordinary People
Our Town
Outbreak
Out of Africa
character conflicts
scene sequences
style
Out on a Limb
Pacific Coast Studio Directory
Pancho Barnes
Paris Trout
Passage to India, A
Peter the Great
Phantom of the Opera, The
case study of
characters
style
themes
Pitching television docudramas
Playing for Time
Plays. See Theatre adaptations
Plot. See Story line
Point of view in adaptations of novels
Postcards from the Edge
Postman Always Rings Twice, The
Power of Myth, The
Presumed Innocent
Prisoner of Zenda, The
Prizzi’s Honor
Problem material in true-life story adaptations
Problems and issues in story lines
Public domain material
expired copyright
public records
researching
Public records
Purchasing vs. optioning source material
Rainbow Warrior, The
Rain Man
Raise the Titanic
Rear Window
Reflections of a Murder
Reflective voice in adaptations of novels
Relevance, contemporary, in film-to-film adaptations
Representative events
Reversal of Fortune
case study of
Rights to story material
of convicted felon
determining ownership of
meeting with owners of
Robinson, Phil Alden
Roe vs. Wade
Romero
Room With a View, A
style
theme
Roxanne
Royal Hunt of the Sun
Russia House, The
Scarface
Scenes
catalyst
climax
implied
sequences of
transitional
Sea of Love
Season of Fear, A
Separate but Equal
Sets, theatre
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Shadow of Doubt
Shakespeare, William
Shane
She-Devil
She’s Having a Baby
Shoeless Joe
Shogun
Short-story adaptations
Silence of the Lambs
Silkwood
Simplicity in story lines
Something Unspoken
Sound of Music, The
in film-to-film adaptations
plot into subplot
story options and
Source material style
Spaces, theatre
Stagecoach
Standard option contract
Stand By Me
climax building
scene sequences
Star Is Born, A
Star Wars
Steel Magnolias
Stella Dallas (Stella)
Story line
arc of
catalyst in
changing plot to subplot
choices in, and theme
climax
climax building
direction and dimensionality in
dramatic(see also Dramatic story line)
elements of good
in film-to-film adaptations
implied scenes
increasing drama in
integrating subplots into
intentionality in
lack of
multiple
Phantom of the Opera, The, case study
scene sequences in
simplicity in
in three acts
time changes and chronology
transition scenes in
workable, in true-life story adaptations
Story options. See Optioning stories for adaptation
Style
balancing elements of
defining
immediate set up of
integrating
mood and
in The Phantom of the Opera
shading
of source material
tone and
translating, into film
Subplots
changing story line into
integrating into story lines
Sun Also Rises, The
Television docudramas
adherence to facts
chronology of
defined
guidelines on cre
ating
networks and
pitching
presentation of, as fact or fiction
time compression
Tempest, The
Ten Commandments, The
Terms of Endearment
Theatre adaptations
abstract sets and spaces
actor-audience exchanges
choosing plays for
dialogue
Driving Miss Daisy case study
fluid space
theme
Theme
finding
methods of identifying
in non-fiction idea material
novel adaptations
in The Phantom of the Opera
theatre adaptations
translating, into film
in true-life stories
There Is a River
Three Days of the Condor
THX-1138
Time movement fluidity
Time period
changes in
compression of
short, in true-life story adaptations
To Kill a Mockingbird
Tom Jones
Tone
Total Recall
Touching
Tower, The
Towering Inferno, The
Transition scenes
Treasure of the Sierra Madres, The
True-life story adaptations
of convicted felon’s story
creating dramatic order
elements of
incidents vs. stories
legal liabilities
optioning
problems
public record materials and
Reversal of Fortune case study
story line in
theme in
TV Movies and Video Guide
Uhry, Alfred
Value system, cultural translation of, in adaptations
Viertel, Peter
Visit, The
Visual elements in true-life story adaptations
Waltons, The
War and Remembrance
War of the Roses
Weber, Andrew Lloyd
West Side Story
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
White Hunter, Black Heart
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Wild at Heart
Wizard of Oz, The
Woman Called Golda, A
Woman He Loved, The
Women In Love
Women Who Love Too Much
Writers, optioning of new material by new
An Owl Book® and ® are registered trademarks
of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 1992 by Linda Seger
All rights reserved.
Owl Books
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
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New York, New York 10010
www.henryholt.com
Henry Holt books are available for special promotions
and premiums. For details contact: Director, Special Markets.
Designed by Katy Riegel
eISBN 9781429936682
First eBook Edition : June 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Seger, Linda.
The art of adaptation : turning fact and fiction into
film / Linda Seger—1st ed.
p. cm.
“An Owl book.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-1626-0
ISBN-10: 0-8050-1626-0
1. Film adaptations. 2. Motion picture authorship. 3. Motion picture plays—Technique. 4. Motion pictures and literature. I. Title.
PN1997.85.S44 1992
808.2’3—dc
91-29095
CIP
First Edition 1992
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to use the material indicated: The William Morris Agency Inc., on behalf of the author’s estate for excerpts from Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, copyright 1936, 1964 by Margaret Mitchell; Houghton Mifflin Company for excerpts from Deliverance by James Dickey, copyright © 1970 by James Dickey, all rights reserved; Martin Seeker and Warburg Limited for excerpts from My Left Foot by Christy Brown; New American Library for excerpts from “The Body” in Different Seasons by Stephen King, copyright © 1982.