The Adaptation Guide Thread

[cojo965]

So we've seen all sorts of threads about adaptations that were good, of the ones I have seen, however, they always seemed to devolve into a heated discussion on one particular adaptation. So the question I pose instead is, "how does one not fuck up an adaptation?" My starting tip is for long running franchises and series: so you don't like the series you're adapting, (side tip: you probably shouldn't have been brought on to begin with) fine, great, but that doesn't mean you can just ignore how far it's come without you. This is also a double edged sword, however, because you also cannot ignore the series missteps. You don't need to earn fans, the fan base is already there, appeal to them first, as that is where the bulk of the viewers are coming from, then appeal to a wider audience.

What tips do you guys want to share?

 

[Fox12]

You can't always stay true to the story, but you must ALWAYS stay true to the themes.

Films are shorter then other media, and they have their own language. As a result they can never be 100% accurate to the source material (though I think it's worth the effort where possible). As a result the film maker should try to communicate the same ideas in different ways. In a sense, if you capture the spirit of the work, you'll typically get everything else along with it.

 

[TranshumanistG]

Ignore the fandom, it doesn't know what it wants.
Do your research.

 

[FPLOON]

Know your damn budget... The last thing you want to do is spend money on something that didn't even need to be in the final product of the adaptation...

Also, collaborating with the creator of the source material you're trying to adapt... The last thing you want to do is have them be on their bad side, thus wanting you to take their name off the final product... Plus, know your damn audience throughout production... It may not seem relevant, but consistency is key...

 

[cojo965]

Ignore the fandom, it doesn't know what it wants.
Do your research.

An equally true statement. I didn't want Ultraman Nexus until I read about it on TVtropes then I wanted the shit out of it.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Use the source material as a starting point, not something you have to copy word for word.

 

[EyeReaper]

You can change any character's race, but only if they're white. Don't ever think about changing a Black or Asian character.

In seriousness, If there's one thing an adaption should never do, it's add characters. If someone is watching a movie/TV show?anything based on an already existent franchise, They probably aren't in it to see your OC.

 

[TranshumanistG]

In seriousness, If there's one thing an adaption should never do, it's add characters. If someone is watching a movie/TV show?anything based on an already existent franchise, They probably aren't in it to see your OC.

I thought agent Coulson was an good example of this not always being the case. And then there is the whole Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D series.

I think the important thing about introducing new characters is how you name them. You should think again before naming them Maria, or Susan.

 

[EyeReaper]

Based on the hit forum post, It's Snip! the Movie

Coulson is the exception to the rule, mostly because He does what most "new to the adaption" characters don't: He's just a side character. (Only going by the movies, by the way, Agents of SHIELD is a spinoff of an adaption, not strictly an adaption itself) Until Avengers, he really doesn't do anything. He's just another gov't guy. I'm fine with more of him.

What I'm complaining about is more of established characters being pushed to the sidelines (like the Resident Evil movies) or not being present at all (like in the House of the Dead movie)

 

[Scars Unseen]

Don't compress the source material too much. I know that some scenes almost always have to get sacrificed with a medium change, but if you go too far you risk losing what made the original good in the first place, and instead of an adaptation, you get a recap.

This happens far too often in manga -> anime adaptations. Recent examples include Tokyo Ghoul, which squeezed a nearly 150 chapter manga into a 12 episode show(about half of what it needed), and Grisaia no Kajitsu which tried to compress every route of a 50 hour visual novel into the same 12 episodes. Both ended up as trainwrecks(though Tokyo Ghoul hid it a bit better).

Also, don't adapt past the original source. I have a feeling that Game of Thrones is going to pretty much be shit past this season, though at least they are consulting with the author. The aforementioned Tokyo Ghoul also suffered from this, a situation made worse by the fact that if they had fixed the first problem(made it two seasons instead of one), the second problem would have fixed itself(as the last chapter of the manga was released the day after the last episode of the show).