“From Novel to Film” by Steph- anie Tsoi

magine sitting down on your favorite armchair with a warm cup of coffee and settling in with your favorite book. Now imagine after finishing the book you sprawl out on the couch, getting ready to watch the movie adaptation as the smell of freshly popped popcorn fills the air. Have you ever read a fantastic novel where you could just imagine the story in your head? It was as if you could see the characters become real people in your mind. You just wish that it could all come to life. All of your problems suddenly vanish when you see the announce-

Then as I explored more media that was adapted, I loved looking for easter eggs, like callbacks to the original text, even if it’s like, transformed.

ment that the novel will be receiving a movie adaptation soon. Reading a book can indulge you in the best experiences, but watching a book come to life on a screen is a completely different feeling. Books have been adapted into movies for a very long time. One of the first adaptations was in 1899 when the work of literature, Cinderella, by Charles Perrault was made into a movie. The adaptation industry has come a long way over the course of 123 years. Not only has the quality gotten better, but the movies are closer to the novels than ever before. Now, not all movie adaptations are fantastic representations of the books they’re based on, but there are some that can completely blow you away. There are even people who are so enticed by the process, that they choose to learn more about it in a professional setting. Michael Harle is a librarian at the Central Library in Austin, Texas, and he specializes in film and media adaptations of literature. When

Harle first read the popular graphic novel, Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, he fell in love with it. He adored the novel because of its

queer representation. There’s a group of terms known as “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”, which is when readers are able to see “reflections” of themselves within the pages of a novel. Harle was able to see some of himself and his

experiences as a queer teen when reading Heartstopper. Since Harle had the chance to read Heartstopper before the TV show had come out, he already had preconceived notions of what he felt the show would look like. “I

think the thing that I love about graphic novels in general, especially really good ones like Heartstopper, is that I think they have to inherently borrow a little bit from film language and that the comic panels are almost like a camera,” said Harle. “So, the graphic novel already has some direction about what the cinematography should look like, it gives you an idea of how this piece of media should look before it’s even on the screen, as opposed to a book, which is purely just the reader’s imagination.” Harle was excited to see how this project would turn out, since it was one of the first times when he had read the novel before it was adapted. Harle greatly appreciates the art of writing novels, which is a skill not easy to perfect. Lawrence Wright is one novelist who understands the challenges of writing. Wright is a famous American author, who became interested in writing in his senior year of high school. His English teacher, Elizabeth Enlow, had them write a short story every week. He was one of the only two students to take the assignment seriously, but since the other student, Johnny Pender became a surgeon, the only competition was removed. Since then, he has written many novels, including his most popular one called The Looming Tower. Many people had wanted to make a movie out of Wright’s famous novel, but he originally didn’t

trust the filmmakers to honor the sanctity of 9/11. “For years, I resisted having The Looming Tower be turned into a movie,” said Wright. “But I realized eventually that somebody was going to make it, and I decided to produce it (along with the

Image provided by Lawrece Wright My job was to introduce the writers (mainly playwrights in Brooklyn) to the world and the characters they would be writing about.

documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney) so I would have some control.” This allowed Wright to keep a close eye on the miniseries that was being made so that it honored and respected 9/11 as he intended. Another American author that understands the challenges of writing is Alane Ferguson. She was inspired to become a writer by her mother, Gloria Skurzynski, who is a children’s author. In 1990 Stephen King awarded Ferguson with the Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Young Adult Mystery novel for her book, Show Me the Evidence. Although, her novels have yet to be adapted, they may not stay that way in the near future. Ferguson may have a few works that are in the process of developing adaptations: “Well, I have one that may be turned into a TV show going right now with eOne Entertainment. And they were working on it with Netflix. And then Netflix had a downturn, and I haven’t heard of the renewal of another option, so I don’t know, but we’ve certainly gone through that,” said Ferguson. “And that goes through my agents. I have a set of agents that are in Hollywood.” Though not yet confirmed, we may be getting a movie adaptation of one of Ferguson’s books soon. Sometimes, getting to watch your favorite book get turned into a movie is the best feeling. Words on a page become images on a screen, and instead of just imagining the scenes in your head, you can actually see what’s happening right in front of you.