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Post by masterdoctor on May 18, 2019 3:42:35 GMT
I thought this would be a fun exercise for all the film/tv and literary buffs on the forum. Choosing any text of your choice, whether it is a novel, short story, graphic novel or specific run of comics, and even if it has been done before, write down how you would adapt it, ranging from particular persons such as actors or writers/directors, or any design choices important to your vision.
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on May 18, 2019 4:12:08 GMT
Dune.
HBO series, 8 episodes a season.
Season 1: Atriedes arrival on Arrakis up to the betrayal and death of Duke Leto.
Season 2: Paul builds the alliances with the Fremen, ends with the open declaration of war on the Emperor.
Season 3: The War, rhe Victory, the Golden Path begins....
Okay, to address the Elephant in the room, the overt Muslim themes and imagery inherent in the Fremen. The Fremen become Indigenous Australians instead. The word “jihad” is never used to describe the Golden Path, but genocide and other equally weighty words are.
To address the other Elephant in the room, the “mighty whitey” implications of Paul leading the Fremen. Paul is outright a victim here. He’s a lost minnow on a river trying to tell the bigger fish how to behave. He is the spark that cannot not start the fire of the Golden Path, no matter how hard he tries.
In effect, it needs to be text and not subtext that the Fremen are using Paul as much as Paul is using them, if not more so because in the beginning the Fremen do not give one shit about Paul, it’s Jessica they want to become their new saiyadinna.
To address the other other Elephant (big room, it’s full of elephants), thst Of The Baron’s sexuality, and this is the easiest to fix. He’s bisexual and it’s all about power. Or if his sexuality is an issue, he’s a predatory heterosexual, WHO hevlusts over is less important than WHY he does so. It’s all about power and control.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2019 7:24:52 GMT
The Elijah/Daneel trilogy written by Isaac Asimov would be my choice -- The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn.Rather than do them as films, I'd like to take them back to their roots, after a fashion, by adapting each in serialised form. Similar to the televised Quatermass or Edge of Darkness. Keep true to the fundamentals of each novel, but extrapolate some of the gristle bandaging together the bone, as it were. The cyberpunk genre owes a great debt to The Caves of Steel, for instance, so it'd be nice to bring some of that back to the source. Given how closely linked the Robot stories became with Foundation, there might even be opportunities here and there for some intertextuality. Not so much characters, perhaps, but ideas, certainly. The idea of hard and soft science fiction is well-known, but I've also another categorisation called hot and cold. The emotional prose typified by writers like Harlan Ellison or the methodical type of someone like Asimov. I think there'd be a lot of room, adaptation-wise, to explore scenes like Daneel's method of subduing a near-rioting crowd in Caves or Bailey's agoraphobic departure from Earth in The Naked Sun from that emotional centre. The little things that show how characters think, rationalise and feel from moment-to-moment. They're all, after a fashion, stories about isolation and humankind's constant reevaluation of itself in relation to its technological developments. Dune. HBO series, 8 episodes a season. Season 1: Atriedes arrival on Arrakis up to the betrayal and death of Duke Leto. Season 2: Paul builds the alliances with the Fremen, ends with the open declaration of war on the Emperor. Season 3: The War, rhe Victory, the Golden Path begins.... Okay, to address the Elephant in the room, the overt Muslim themes and imagery inherent in the Fremen. The Fremen become Indigenous Australians instead. The word “jihad” is never used to describe the Golden Path, but genocide and other equally weighty words are. To address the other Elephant in the room, the “mighty whitey” implications of Paul leading the Fremen. Paul is outright a victim here. He’s a lost minnow on a river trying to tell the bigger fish how to behave. He is the spark that cannot not start the fire of the Golden Path, no matter how hard he tries. In effect, it needs to be text and not subtext that the Fremen are using Paul as much as Paul is using them, if not more so because in the beginning the Fremen do not give one shit about Paul, it’s Jessica they want to become their new saiyadinna. To address the other other Elephant (big room, it’s full of elephants), thst Of The Baron’s sexuality, and this is the easiest to fix. He’s bisexual and it’s all about power. Or if his sexuality is an issue, he’s a predatory heterosexual, WHO hevlusts over is less important than WHY he does so. It’s all about power and control. Interesting! Another approach with the Fremen could be to apply a blend of cultural influences so diverse that they stop being allegorical altogether. The feudal history of Afghanistan, combined with that of Sicily; the stoic dignity of the English and the Japanese, and so on. Change the language from "the guided one" and "struggle" to something more uniquely fictional and you dull the Lawrence of Arabia vibes that Paul brings as well. Poetically, Paul as a victim of destiny plays very well into what would happen later as that's precisely what he is come Dune: Messiah. At the peak of his godhood, he becomes blind, slaved to forces beyond his control. (Not to mention he's likely not the actual chosen one...)Playing up the disintegrating nature of the Houses' struggle would also be a fascinating angle. The idea that this civilised world that Paul and Jessica are inhabiting before they flee cannot be sustained. That perhaps the Atreides and the Harkonnen are the last of a tradition of vendetta that should have died out centuries ago (particularly given the Bene Gesserit's hand in their collective genealogy...). The Baron and the Duke have a sense of nihilism about the conflict, they're sick of it and just want it to be over, but the boys are shielded by teachings of wide-eye custom and idealism. Through habit and this gross inevitability, they're expected to carry it on to their children. Paul and Jessica's acceptance into the Fremen breaks that cycle. |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2019 9:43:13 GMT
I can see people complaining that Jessica has no agency, but really, it’s her agency that sparks most of the msjor plot points. Well, it was her decision to give the Duke Leto, a son. Not out of any obligation to the Bene Gesserit, but out of love. If not for her intervention on the flyer with the Voice, she and Paul would also have died. Throughout the first couple of books, she's there at those little important moments that shift circumstance one way or the other. An unseen hand. True to the Bene Gesserit way, in that respect. |
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on May 18, 2019 10:16:28 GMT
I can see people complaining that Jessica has no agency, but really, it’s her agency that sparks most of the msjor plot points. Well, it was her decision to give the Duke Leto, a son. Not out of any obligation to the Bene Gesserit, but out of love. If not for her intervention on the flyer with the Voice, she and Paul would also have died. Throughout the first couple of books, she's there at those little important moments that shift circumstance one way or the other. An unseen hand. True to the Bene Gesserit way, in that respect. Precisely. But because of the Twitterati such subtext will need to be text. |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2019 11:38:15 GMT
Well, it was her decision to give the Duke Leto, a son. Not out of any obligation to the Bene Gesserit, but out of love. If not for her intervention on the flyer with the Voice, she and Paul would also have died. Throughout the first couple of books, she's there at those little important moments that shift circumstance one way or the other. An unseen hand. True to the Bene Gesserit way, in that respect. Precisely. But because of the Twitterati such subtext will need to be text. Oh, I don't think so. Never dumb down your text, always let it speak to its own highest standard. Have nuance. Characters in adaptations can always be given more agency in what's expanded from the original. |
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Post by Digi on May 18, 2019 18:45:17 GMT
Okay here we go....The Silmarillion. It's way too much for a movie, so like Sir Wearer of Hats, I've imagined how it might work as a TV series. The show's intro credits sequence (to be used every episode) will feature a dark screen of some kind (maybe a little like the foggy/fade-ins of the Star Trek First Contact credits sequence?) with some kind of colouration distortions to match the music being played, while the actors' names display overtop. Blue for the main melody of the Music, red for Melkor's discord. In this way, the most boring part of the book is both skipped over AND adapted in a way that's re-emphasized in every episode. Season 1 (6 episodes)
Episode 1 (Pilot Part 1)
Narrator (probably the actor playing Feanor - I'm thinking Timothy Dalton) briefly glosses over the coming of the Valar to the world, their wars with Melkor on the virgin Earth, the awakening of the Elves, and trek from the mortal world to Valinor -- all of this done in the first couple of minutes, akin to how Black Panther described thousands of years of the history of Wakanda in two minutes flat.
And then the rest of the episode would depict the Elves living in a flawed paradise; seemingly in harmony to them, but to the viewer depicted as marred by Feanor's arrogance and standoffishness (using dialogue and interactions to establish the family relationships). All the while in this section, drop not-so-subtle hints that the 'redeemed' Melkor is up to something sinister (pointed, manipulative dialogue, that kind of thing), culminate episode with a one-two punch of the reveal of the Silmarils and then just minutes later, Melkor and Ungoliant's attack and the destruction of the Two Trees.
Episode 2 (Pilot Part 2):
Pick up very shortly afterward. Grief and shock at what's happened, fear over what's going to happen next. Feanor learns of the murder of his father and the theft of the Silmarils, and swears bloody vengeance. Episode follows him gathering forces and marching to the edges of Valinor, the Kinslaying, and the terrible Oath being sworn. Mandos appears appears and speaks the Doom of Mandos to the assembled, rebellious Elves. End on dramatic shots of the Noldor exiting paradise on their stolen ships.
Episode 3
Open with (what readers will know but viewers may or may not know is) a step back in time to the time when the Elves were first being led to Valinor. Focus on one as he becomes distracted by a sound and wanders off on his own, where he finds a mystically beautiful woman and it's immediately clear that he is enchanted/in love. This is the meeting of Thingol and Melian.
Fast forward to Thingol & Melian in Doriath, and their ongoing struggle against the forces of Morgoth. Could insert a bit of palace politics here as they and their generals struggle to figure out how to maintain order and where to deploy armies in the face of the onslaught, which has apparently been going on for some time.
When all seems lost, Elves they don't recognize appear on the battlefield and help win the day, though Feanor's son Maedhros is captured and in his battle rage, Feanor is slain. The Noldor have arrived, and though suffering hard losses, they have saved Doriath. Keen Tolkienites will note that I'm conflating the First Battle of Belediand, the Battle Under Stars here, that's deliberate for simplicity's sake.
Shortly after the battle, as Thingol and Melian greet the sons of Feanor, the Sun rises for the first time. This is taken as a sign by all that the time of the Elves has come, and the tide of war will be turned. The point of this bit is to try to re-establish Feanor's kin as heroic figures who have just saved the day (now without his arrogant influence, maybe his sons won't be so bad), but the elephant in the room for the viewers will be "hey, where the heck is Fingolfin and his entire host?" because we're not ready to reveal the second of Feanor's betrayals to them yet. Thingol grants permission for the Noldor to occupy the lands to the north of Doriath.
Episode 4
The A-plot of this episode will feature Fingon going off by himself to rescue Maedhros from captivity. I'm looking here to frame him not just as the 'hero of the day' from the previous episode, but as a decent, heroic character through and through. This side of the story is also meant to build a feel of kinship and *brotherhood* between Fingon and Maedhros.
The B-plot of this episode I see as being a bit Tudors- or (early) Game of Thrones-inspired, in that it depicts jockeying for position and supremacy, political backstabbing and whatnot. As this episode progresses, the lords of the Noldor decide that it would be best -- both for their own egos, and for the defense of Beleriand -- if they split up and found separate kingdoms. Conclude the episode on a high aerial shot, looking down as the marching legions of Noldori elves split into multiple paths.
Episode 5
When we open this episode, it's clear that some time has passed since the previous one.
The A-plot will be all about the Noldor lords. Scenes with each of them, most now ruling their own domain from their own keep/palace/castle/fort (though Finrod and Turgon are not, they're part of the 'courts' of their relatives). This is also a good opportunity to begin introducing and fleshing out the secondary characters around each Noldor lord, their children and retainers and whatnot.
This should feel like a little bit of a reset, establishing that, while everyone continues to be on a war footing, the barely-contained general chaos of the first four episodes is in the rearview mirror, and that the Elves are fighting a winning war (remember that they're militarized, energeized, and a bit severe here, not like the weary Elves we saw in LOTR). It's a new status quo.
The episode's B-plot returns us to Thingol & Melian's hall, as they receive a new contingent of Elves--Galadriel and her kin (who are kin of Thingol), also out of the west, but who the viewer has mysteriously not seen since the end of Episode 2. This side of the story will feature Thingol/Melian interacting heavily with Galadriel; Melian (an Ainur) wanting to learn of her godly kin in Valinor, and Thingol wanting to learn all he can about the history of his Elven kin from the time that he became separated in ages past, until his reunion with them in Episode 3. Galadriel tells them of the Silmarils and Melkor's destruction of the Trees (Thingol in awe of Silmarils, Melian weeps about the Trees).
Cap off the episode with a bomb: Galadriel finally tells them of Feanor's second grave sin, and through flashback we see how he abandoned them in the ice wastes of the Helcaraxe and burned the stolen ships, leaving them to die. This is why they've been absent for the last few episodes, they had to survive that hell and have only just recently arrived in Doriath. Thingol is FURIOUS, and expels all Noldor (barring Galadriel and her kin) from Doriath.
Episode 6
Open the episode on a bit lower-key than where we left off, with Finrod and Turgon out in the woods hunting, alone (alone as in, they're on the same hunting trip together with nobody else, but they're moving separately in the same wood). Simultaneously and at separate locations along the river, Ulmo (who we have not seen since Valinor) appears to them both. Ulmo reveals to them both that tragedy is coming for the Elves, but that they can be the last refuge of the Elves if they build hidden havens (and showing them visions of where to do so).
Back in the castles of Fingolfin and the Noldor lords, they have learned of Thingol's act and are enraged at this affront. In their arrogance, they begin moving forces south to menace/attack Doriath, when Finrod/Turgon return from their hunt carrying the same warning from Ulmo (though neither discloses the haven part of their Ulmo encounters). The haughty, arrogant Noldor lords dismiss this as just more nonsense from the gods that they have turned their backs on. To the viewer with no familiarity with the book, Ulmo's warning appears to be about the impending tragedy of Elf slaying Elf, though the real truth of it will not become apparent until near the end of the entire show.
As the Noldor prepare to wage war on their Elven brothers (again), Thingol arrives on their doorstep with an army of his own, meaning to demand justice for the sin committed against his kin. As they are about to come to blows, Morgoth's army arrives, forcing the two Elven armies to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to even survive. It's the first major fight since the Noldor saved Doriath back in Episode 3, so this is a large-scale battle.
Ultimately the tide turns in the Elves' favour, and the decision is made to press their victory and pursue the dark lord's army. The Noldor are in Beleriand, after all, to reclaim the Silmarils from him. But relations between the Noldor Elves and the Sindar Elves have been poisoned by the betrayals of Feanor, and so Thingol refuses to participate, and leaves to go home instead.
The host of the Noldor pursues the dark lord's routed army to the gates of Angband itself. Unable to actually force their way in, the Noldor establish siegeworks around the dark fortress, hemming in Morgoth and his forces. The Noldor lords congratulate themselves on their victory, deriding Thingol as unnecessary to their victory, and mocking the warning from Ulmo (to the discomfort of Turgon and Fingon).
With the Noldori fortifications secure and the Elvish victory largely complete, Fingon and Turgon remain troubled by Ulmo's warning. In the closing moments of the episode, they separately depart the army and head south.
In a scene at the end of the episode's credits, we take a brief trip inside the fortress of Angband, and see thousands of breeding vats for Orcs.
Season 2 (8 episodes) After the "Previously on" recap, we cut to silence and a black screen. Borrowing a little from Endgame here, one word at a time appears on the black: FOUR HUNDRED YEARS LATER
This season will feature a Beleriand where Men have proliferated in an era of peace. Men and Elves don't necessarily always trust each other, but the overriding 'setting' for the entire season is a Beleriand which has been at peace for many, many years (in living memory, for many Men), thanks to the ongoing Noldor siege of Angband in the distant north.
The 'reset' is a way of being able to tell some more intimate stories without needing to ever worry about or often even think of trolls or orcs or balrogs. I'd like to see Fingon and Turgon in their haven cities (Nargothrond and Gondolin). I'd like to see the growth of relations between Elves and Men here, specifically Finrod and the house of Beor. I'd like to see the story of Aredhel and Eol, and a few episodes later revisit them with the story of Aredhel and Maeglin's return to Gondolin.
There will be love, there will be betrayals, there will be blood. But it will be on a canvas of a land at peace.
Toward the end of the season I'd like to shift the focus back up to the north, to the Noldor lords still overseeing the Siege of Angband, though distracted by intrigue borne of idleness. This is meant to be a reminder that even though we've been enjoying a season of relative calm, it's a false peace.
In the second-to-last episode I want the episode to end with the gates of Angband opening and only black visible between them, but horrific sounds audible. Then the finale will be the Battle of the Sudden Flame, as four centuries' worth of breeding Orcs and other horrors suddenly flood out of the gates and overwhelm the fortifications. The Elves fight valiantly, but they lose, and we lose a couple of main-cast Noldor lords in the process. The climactic moment of the season is a single combat duel between High King of the Noldor, Fingolfin, and Morgoth himself, and it doesn't end well for poor old Fingolfin. The Siege is broken, and the future of Beleriand is once again a giant question mark.
Season 3 (8 episodes) The tone of Beleriand throughout will be darkness and uncertainty. The Elves are fighting, but in retreat. Men have become sharply divided between those of true loyalty to their Elven allies, and those who have fallen to darkness and sworn allegiance to Morgoth.
On the whole I kind of want Season 3 to be a two-hander. Right at the beginning I'd like to focus on the adventures of Hurin and Huor, with Beren as a somewhat mysterious B- or even C-plot character who keeps popping up, but he quickly becomes the centrepiece of the season. The story of Beren and Luthien should dominate the season. Not to the exclusion of all else, but the driving quest of the year should be Beren and Luthien's love story and quest.
Going on at the same time needs to be some Elvish stuff, and I'd like it to be centred around Thingol and the war, and the politics of his remaining outside the Union of Maedhros.
The end of the season should be Beren & Luthien's 'victory,' possession of one of the Silmarils, and their 'retirement' from broader affairs. In the background of this, a colossal battle is happening elsewhere, though we're kind of hearing about it second-hand, because none of the POV characters are there. Season 4 (8 episodes) Open the season as the Battle of Unnumbered Tears is being mopped up. It's clear that the forces of the Elves have taken devastating, crippling losses. The battlefield is LITTERED with dead Elves as far as the eye can see, the sky black with smoke from the many visible fires. Orcs and other monsters are roaming around driving spears and swords into the dead and dying. Quite early in the premiere, we see Hurin (who we know from Season 3) in chains before Morgoth, with the curse laid upon his children.
This season should, on the whole, be a dark mirror of Season 3. This season will follow the misadventures and trials of Turin, who is at heart a good man, but is followed by the Curse of Morgoth. Around halfway through the season will be his failure at, and the fall of, Nargothrond.
A lot of the second half of the season should be Turin's quest for peace, and his falling in love with Niniel (who the viewer hasn't met). The end of the season will be their tragic end, and the utter cruelty of Morgoth releasing Hurin, knowing what has happened. Season 5 (6-8 episodes) The start of the season returns to Doriath, to Thingol/Melian's keep at Menegroth. Early on I want to depict the last days of Doriath/Menegroth as the main story. As the A-plot in the first half, it should be all about the alliance of the Dwarves of Nogrod and Elves of Doriath, and how that becomes torn apart by the Silmaril. The B-plot in these first episodes should return to Maeglin and his growing dissatisfaction in the court of Gondolin.
Perhaps halfway through the season, that should be wrapped up. The Battle of the Thousand Caves happens and Doriath falls. Thingol dies, and in her grief, Melian departs the world for Valinor. Beren and Luthien die for the last time, and Dior (their son) and his family (including his daughter/B+L's granddaughter Elwing) flee to havens further to the south.
In the second half of the season, we focus exclusively on Gondolin, now the last of the Elven fortresses in Beleriand (fulfilling the prophecy given by Ulmo way back in Season 1). Can do a lot of court politics in this, as the Elves have reached the point of desperation. Some want to fight, some want to hide, some want to flee, someone even makes the ridiculous suggestion of sailing into the west and begging the Valar's pardon for their sins/folly. There is clearly no way to win the war at this point.
But that all gets sidelined, narratively speaking, by Maeglin's story, his place in court, his unrequited and unreciprocated love for Turgon's daughter. Ultimately he chooses to leave the hidden kingdom, and when he does, he is captured by Morgoth. Maeglin, through a combination of fear of Morgoth and hate for Turgon, gives up the location of Gondolin at the conclusion of the second-to-last episode of the season.
The season finale depicts the fall of Gondolin, last of the Elf kingdoms. The war is lost. Season 6 (6 episodes) Episode 1
Set in the far south of Beleriand, the only safe place left. Dior, the son of Beren and Luthien, and his offspring having been settled there for some time, are the POV characters who try to help as the refugees from Gondolin come pouring in. This episode is largely about the war being effectively lost, but not actually over yet. The 'good guys' have lost, but can't surrender because the Enemy is interested only in exterminating them. Near the end, Elwing (granddaughter of Beren & Luthien) gives birth to twins, Elros and Elrond, suggesting that there may yet be some hope.
Episode 2
The remaining sons of Feanor have heard of the Silmaril in the distant south, and are headed there to seize it for themselves. Meanwhile in the refugee south, they come to the decision that the only hope of salvation is to sail west to seek out the Valar, and beg their forgiveness and aid. Preparations are made for the voyage that Earendil (Elwing's husband) will go on.
Episode 3
Pretty much entirely ship-based episode, as Earendil and his crew sail west. I'm visualizing Jason and the Argonauts here, except the undercurrent is desperation rather than fun.
Episode 4
Return to the southern havens. While life is going on and everyone is trying to make do, the last sons of Feanor attack their kin one last time. Valiant defense of the survivors of Gondolin and just regular people -- the good -- vs. the corrupted and unsalvageable Elves still driven by the Oath sworn so long ago. They fail to seize the Silmaril, when Elwing casts it and herself into the sea. The one Silmaril liberated from Morgoth is lost to the depths of the ocean forever, and Elwing herself is seemingly dead.
Episode 5
The weird one. As Earendil's ship finally comes within sight of Valinor, Elwing somehow appears on the ship. For her sacrifice, and the sacrifice they're about to make, Ulmo interceded and saved her life. The rest of the episode is a mix of recap and an ethereal, otherworldly feeling as Earendil and Elwing are brought before the gods, where they explain all that has happened and plead for them to intercede. Ultimately, the Valar agree, but there is a cost.
Episode 6
The War of Wrath. I have no idea how to commit a war on this scale to screen in an hour, but it should be every bit as big as the Endgame climactic battle and then some. Gods are smashing across the land. Elves we haven't seen since Season 1, when they refused to follow Feanor, battle Orcs. Mountains are torn down. Valleys are raised up. Miles and miles of land are crushed under the sea roaring inland. The last sons of Feanor finally get the remaining two Silmarils, but are destroyed by them, and they end up deep in the Earth and creating the North Star. The gods beat Morgoth's black crown into a collar he can never remove, and he is dragged back to Valinor to be cast into a cell for all eternity.
Earendil and Elwing, both decended of both Elf and Man, are not pure immortal, and so are not permitted to leave Valinor ever again. The Elves of Middle-Earth are all granted a pardon and invited to return to Valinor, but they will never again be permitted to return to the mortal lands. Earendil and Elwing's children, Elros and Elrond -- both "half-Elven" -- as a result of the deeds of their family and their heroism in the war, are granted a choice: become fully Elf, or become fully Man.
Second-to-last shot of the series is Elros, now visibly a Man, and his fleet of ships landing on an island and declaring this is where they will found the greatest kingdom of Men to ever stand.
The closing shot of the series is Elrond, now visibly fully Elf, standing on a shore looking westward to the ocean that now exists where Beleriand once stood. |
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