Field of Dreams Movie Review

Field of Dreams is based on the book "Shoeless Joe" by W. P. Kinsella. I believe that the film was an effective adaptation of the book. Even though there were some changes made in the film, the main and important parts were still a part of the film and they both gave off the same message. One change that was made was the author that Ray was looking for in the book was J. D. Salinger and he was white. In the book, he was African American and his name was Terrance Man. Another change that was made was Ray's wife in the film wasn't as supportive of what he needed to do as she was in the book.

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

Some of the "big scenes" that are important for the film of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to contain in order for it to be an effective translation of the novel are when Lucy first discovered Narnia and what happened with her and Mr. Tumnus, when Edmund discovered Narnia and met with the witch, when the four children met Mr. & Mrs. Beaver, every scene that took place by the Stone Table, the fights, and when the children went to their palace.

Some things that should be incorporated into a film to make it appealing to both adult and child audiences are the non-human creatures and make believe places. These things should be included because children will be interested and fascinated by these creatures and places. Also, the adults would like them because it could bring out their imagination and make them feel like kids again.

REACTION TO GREAT EXPECTATIONS

My reactions to the radical translation of Great Expectations is that I think that it is a good movie. This version of the movie is a lot better than the one made before it. The film does maintain the integrity of the original text because it kept the main ideas from the book but made some changes to make it more interesting and relatable. I think that the changes that the screenwriter and director have made are good ones. They kept the main storyline from the book but took out unimportant scenes and added ones that could be more interesting to the viewers.

FILM TRANSLATIONS

I think that a hard working screenwriter is the main thing that makes a sucessful and effective film translation. If you don't have a good screenwriter, chances are that the movie will not be a hit. Three evaluative criteria that I think are essential for assessing a film translation are the following:
1) Being interested in what you are writing about - this is important because if you are not dedicated to what you are trying to make a movie out of, then you will have a very hard time. If you have a hard time then you most likely won't make a good screenplay or you may not make the movie how the writer of the book would imagine it to be.
2) Understanding how the author wants to portray their book onto screen - this is important because it was originally their thoughts and they made the book. You should want to please them by making their book into the best movie that it can be whether or not you think it is. You need to know what main points they want to have included in the movie so that their book becomes more popular also.
3) Finding the right actors/actresses to play each part - Different people act certain ways. If a character in the book is very outgoing and lively, and you want the person to stay the same for the movie, then you should find an actor/actress that is outgoing and lively. If another character is shy and quiet then you might be better off finding an actor/actress that is the same way.

ADAPTATIONS

My reactions to Adaptations are that it was a very confusing movie. I never knew whether or not it was a flashback or it was actually happening at the same time. It was all over the place but there were times when i knew what was going on. The screenwriter faced a lot of challenges with trying to write the screenplay for the movie. It took a lot of time and effort for him to even make little parts of the screenplay. I learned that you must be very dedicated to what you are writing about or it could be even more difficult to write it than if you were interested and liked what you were writing about.