Ask the Expert ... Linda Seger - What to Adapt? When to Adapt?

It’s not unusual for anyone to read a book and decide it would make a great movie. We can imagine the film because the book is visual, usually action-oriented, and the characters seem as if they’d attract top stars. Adaptations of novels, plays, short stories, or true-life stories have a good success rate, although not every good story makes a great film and not every good writer can solve the many challenges of an adaptation.

Question: What does one look for when considering adapting any source material into film?

Answer: For most writers, the first question has to be: “Can I afford it?” Getting the rights to a best-selling book, or even to a top newsworthy true-life story can be very expensive – a few hundred thousand or even a million dollars for the huge best sellers. Producers spent 16 million on Chorus Line before it even started principal photography. Books by any best-selling author such as John Grisham, Stephen King, or Sydney Sheldon will be far too expensive for most writers to pay. Yet, movies like Mask and Silkwood were optioned by unknown writers, and became very successful films. So it’s possible for even an unknown writer to option good material.

Begin by looking for a book that may be out of print, or may be in public domain, or may be an older book that won’t cost much to option. If looking for a true-life story, don’t look at the top news of the day, but a true-life story with lasting appeal, or one that hasn’t been told, or perhaps a story where you have a personal connection to the person it’s about. Although the studios have the most money to option a true-life story, there are some people who prefer to sell their story to someone they know and trust, rather than the more impersonal studio.

Look for stories that focus on the action. True, you need great characters as well, but film is an action-oriented medium, so make sure there is something to act out. Some of the best adaptations are not great books, but make very good movies because they provide plenty of action. Some of the Die Hard films came from little-known novels, as did Mrs. Doubtfire, among others.

Look for characters in relationship. Some books and even true-life stories are about solitary people. Characters might think a lot, express their attitudes and concerns or perhaps go off on some grand adventure all by themselves, which might make a good novel or true-life story, but doesn’t provide the necessary dramatic conflict. Although they might yearn for a good relationship, if they’re not in relationships, (good or bad) it will be difficult to translate into film. Make sure there are plenty of opportunities for characters to relate to other characters. Although there are a few exceptions to this, on the whole, film is about relationships, not characters wandering around by themselves.

Look for stories that are visual. This often means that they take place in cinematically interesting settings – as opposed to people talking in restaurants or cars. Yes, there are exceptions, but the more cinematic; the better chance there is to interest a director and the audience. Also look for films that might have interesting visuals that express the theme. This means visual metaphors that show us what the story is about. The English Patient is one of the best examples of this – with all its water images (an image of new life, renewal) contrasting with its death images of explosions and a war-torn landscape. Although some of these images were added by the director, many of the most visual scenes can be found in the book.

Perhaps most importantly, any adaptation is a transition. Although some remain very close to the book, others need to take liberty to make the material work dramatically. If you respect the material so much that you can’t imagine changing anything, the adaptation probably will not work. The adaptation has to be willing to serve a new art form – the art of film. That intrinsically means some changes. In some cases, the changes might be minimal. In others, scenes might need to be changed around. Character functions or relationships might need to be switched in some different ways. There almost always needs to be cutting, and sometimes additions. But just because you’re a writer without money or credits, doesn’t mean that you can’t create a great adaptation.

Dr. Linda Seger is a script consultant, seminar leader, and author of eight books on screenwriting, including The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film. Her website is www.lindaseger.com.