'World War Z' With Brad Pitt And Marc Forster Regroups; Can It Beat Imminent Zombie Pic Infestation?

'World War Z' With Brad Pitt And Marc Forster Regroups; Can It Beat Imminent Zombie Pic Infestation?

Part Two: Goals for Students

In arranging their responses to the assignment prompt, students will first be asked to make some lists:

First, the elements of the short story that are directly filmable, i.e. action and setting, etc.  Second, those elements of the short story that are only indirectly filmable, i.e., those elements, such as Leon's fascination with the city, that require some kind of filmic interpretation/projection.  Thirdly, students will be asked to respond to the shifts in their emotional responses these changes cause for them.  How, for example, facing literal violence on screen changes their impression of the narrative.  Or how watching Leon work as a photographer change the tenor of our psychological investment in him.

The goal won't ever be assessing the fidelity of the film to the short story.  But rather, students will be tasked with comparing audience responses to the results of the different/similar choices made by the screenwriter/director in adapting the short story for the screen.

First Thoughts on " Midnight Meat Train" the Short Story Verses Film.

The Barker story is much "faster" (Stam 32)--takes place in two days; much smaller--only two real characters plus the killer's victims.  Leon's job is different, less romantic, less artsy (accountant?) verses being a photographer in the film.  Leon has a love interest to leave behind in the movie--i.e. to ratchet up the emotional stakes.  He has friends, acquaintances, fans of his photography.  There is only the merest hint in the short story of the kind of people who keep the cover-up alive.  In the film, they are represented by the art dealer and her influential social position.  The signet rings is a cinematic way Buhler has chosen to connect the surface dwellers to the subterranean cannibal cabal.

As far as the outside elements, what Stam might call the "transtextuality" of the adaptation, i.e. the intertextual, paratextual, and metatextual elements (Stam 27-29):

Starting from the middle: I know that there was concern over the name and whether such a odd (yet evocative) title would work for a mainstream film (paratextual).  But Barker and his producers insisted that the name remain the same, especially for the first film adaptation of what was to be a handful of Barker's stories brought to the screen--and of course to best take advantage of the work's existing notoriety among Barker's fans.

As for the metatextuality, i.e. the "critical relation" (Genette; Stam 28) between the film and the short story: given the enthusiasm surrounding Barkers work, especially among his core devotees, Buhler had to be careful not to interpret the original text in such a way that would turn off the film's built-in cult following.  Therefor, little was lost but a great deal added.  We can discuss with Buhler the details of negotiating this, at times delicate, balance of audience expectation and artistic objectives.

Finally (or initially), there are the various intertuexual elements in the film (most absent from the story). Leon's photography is the most obvious example (and innovation).  It visually communicates his emotional devotion to the city--a salient element of Leon's character in the story.  The photographs also drive the plot by becoming clues in the mystery.  The biggest intertextual element that both story and film share is the various newspapers and reportage that communicate the killer's exploits to the city.

Draft of Uncanny Assignment 4

Transcoding the Uncanny:

The Psycho-Narrative Results of Adapting the Horror Story to Film

Introduction:

Horror stories and tales of the supernatural or the uncanny are simple yet complex narratives; their initial power tends to come not from their intellectual or critical implications so much as their emotional, even psycho-somatic, resonances.  That is, we tend to regard such narratives first emotionally and then critically.  And this is why, as we have discussed, the horror story has long been considered a marginal literary form akin to pulp or melodrama.  Nevertheless, as Freud makes clear, the emotional impact of the uncanny narrative marks its centrality as a mode of describing human experience and far from pushing it to the margins, makes it deserving of our attention.  Our concern this time around will be to use our critical faculties to chart the shifts in emotional resonances resulting from the filmmaker's (and screenwriter's) choices in translating the printed word to the visual medium of film.

Reading:

Barker, Clive, "Midnight Meat Train" (blackboard)

Stam, Robert, "Introduction: The Theory and Practice of Film Adaptation," pp.1-8; 14-31 (blackboard)

Matheson, Richard, "Prey"; Collier, John, "Evening Primrose"; Fitzgerald, F. Scott, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (anthology)

To View:

"Midnight Meat Train," and/or "Prey," "Evening Primrose," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (on reserve in Leavy)

Above, I have given you four choices of adapted short stories to write about.  These range from the strictly true-to-the-original version of Matheson's "Prey," to the wildly reinterpreted Stephen Sondheim musical version of Collier's story, "Evening Primrose."  But please feel free to use any other adapted story from our books, including the 2008 David Fincher version of "Benjamin Button" starring Brad Pitt.  Other options might be to find one of the many film versions of Ambrose Bierce's "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" or even Richard Matheson's "Terror at 20,000 Feet" which has been adapted twice, first as a 1963 "Twilight Zone" episode and then as part of the 1983 "Twilight Zone: The Movie".  Just keep me posted on your choices.

Once you have decided on a short story and film, answer the following question in a 5-6 page, thesis driven essay:

What is the greatest shift in psychological effect resulting from the filmmaker's (and/or screenwriter's) stylistic and narrative choices in adapting the printed text to the screen.

As always, seek a focused, synthesizing main claim that will be specific enough for a 5-6 page paper yet complex enough to account for a variety of supportive observations.