The place to discuss, share content and offer tips and advice to OTT - "Over the Top" streaming and Transmedia – the technique of telling a single story or story across multiple platforms including, but not limited to, games, books, events, films and television.
Adaptations Part Three: Games
What are your thoughts on your favorite game adaptation? What things were left out? Added in? Combined? Simplified? And if you helmed it, what would you have done?
Games are a medium that doesn't just have an audience, but players. The outcome is determined by what they d...
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We’ve all seen it—a movie changes a key plot point from the book. A perfect example: the 2019 "Pet Sematary", where they killed the daughter instead of the toddler.
My question: Where do you draw the line? Is being 100% faithful a mistake in screenwriting?
Mike Boas What do you think of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining vs Stephen King's book? Faithful in theme? Or same themes presented very differently?
I think there's nothing wrong with giving a story new life through adaptation—in fact, it's often necessary. The problem arises when audiences refuse to divorce themselves from the source material and...
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A movie isn't a book, but why shouldn't it follow the book? Isn't a movie made to recreate the book as much as it possibly can? :)
That’s a good question about The Shining, but unfortunately I can’t give an informed answer. Although I like the movie and King’s work in general, that’s one book I couldn’t get through. I remember be...
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Mike Boas I think that the movie version expanded the abuse within the Torrance family from one alcoholic dad to a generational abuse theme where old habit die hard and last through many generations....
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Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, is widely regarded as the world’s foremost expert in developing entertainment properties and premium brands into successful transmedia franchises. As a creative consultant to Fortune 500 companies and major studios, he contributes strategic planning...
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In the current landscape of franchises and cinematic universes, a 30-page pilot is just a snapshot. Producers are looking for a Scalability Engine. A "Lore Bible" isn't just an encyclopedia of your world; it's the blueprint for growth. It defines the "Gravity" of your IP—the physical rules, the hist...
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What producers are looking for a "scalability engine"?
Great post, Cynna Ael! I make sure every project I develop is a complete bible. For me, the hardest parts to lock down are usually side‑character backstories, the small details that seem minor at firs...
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"No matter what you create, writing, directing, composing, or producing, your work will evolve. It has to. The strongest creatives are not the ones who get it perfect on the first try. They are the ones who stay flexible, who listen to the story, and who are willing to refine, adjust, and even let g...
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Dwayne Williams 2 it seems then, Dwayne, that we have to listen to the right voices, the ones in tune with the story-world we are creating. After all, not all voices are helpful; some are distractions...
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Yeah, I agree, there can definitely be distractions. Geoff Hall It is important to understand your creative goals, so you can recognize which voices genuinely support your story and discern which ones...
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Generally speaking, I ask myself whether a voice can be considered as "reasonable" under the auspices of what passes for a standard conversational tone, unless the voice is meant to utterly bisect oth...
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Sharing some good news for young audience related stories and IP. The news article says that:
“Together, Borkent and Rietveld lead the creative development of F.A.B.S. Friends Adventures, with Borkent serving as writer, co-director, and co-producer. “Children don’t just watch stories, they inspire us...
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Adaptations Part Two: Graphic Novels
What are your thoughts on your favorite graphic novel adaptation? What things were left out? Added in? Combined? Simplified? And if you helmed it, what would you have done?
Graphic novels already use the language of cinema to tell their action via images with the w...
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love this Michael Dzurak - great point about graphic novels being basically storyboards.
Some works might be standalones, but they leave such an indelible mark that their mantle is picked up by another work determined to carry on the emotions and feel. Not officially a sequel but more like a reincarnation. For example, Breaking Bad is a spiritual successor of The Sopranos.
You see it all...
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh That’s a great way to look at it I like the idea of storytelling as an ongoing conversation rather than isolated works.
A pairing that always stands out to me is Breaking Bad and...
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh I do find myself thinking of specific works when starting a new script and trying to imagine what sort of lineage it would fall into. I'm sure that is an ego driven perspective b...
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Hey Stage 32 Community!
Agree. One story is one window into a world.
It's much less common now thankfully, but back when anime in particular got heavily localised and censored, they would often change the names and locations of the work (not to mention the title), to the point where it was a whole other story. One of the most infamous examples is Cardcaptor Sakura, w...
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This made me think of (the tangentially related topic of) "TV appropriate" dubs of movies with lots of profanity. Such as, Scarface where on the opening scene, Tony Montana is mocked for his facial sc...
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Adaptations Part One: Books
What have you noticed about your favorite adaptation? What things were left out? Added in? Combined? Simplified? And if you helmed it, what would you have done?
Books are probably the most popular type. The story is there, so are the characters, and a popular book already h...
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Another reach… another “hear me out.”
Being multilingual is neat because you find subtleties in different languages that don’t always translate well. It’s also been said that you have as many lives as languages you speak.
I’m not fluent in any of the languages I speak (except maybe English lol), but I...
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This is very true! Great observation! I find different languages aren't just ways we talk -- they encompass entire attitudes
Thanks Michael David~ agreed, I know some emotions are definitely better expressed in certain languages. It's why I love how enthusiastic Japanese voice actors are in anime and video games, for exampl...
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Languages are rooted in culture, so even among English speakers, Americans and Australians have different jokes, not to mention slang and experessions. But if you go into another language, those diffe...
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I love that Michael Dzurak, I know it's the same in Japanese with how you address the second person, as well as how you refer to yourself. But yeah, separated by a common language is always fun to exp...
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