I saw the movie adaptation of Angels and Demons on opening night, Friday, May 15th with my middle child and husband. It was great. Although the book was much better than the movie, I thought the producers created a good storyline, much better than the one in the current Star Trek movie.
As a trekkie who grew up on the original Star Trek series with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and the other original actor and then fully enjoyed Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, I am a bit picky.
Yet and still it was good to here that more movie Angels and Demons edged out Star Trek as the most watched movie this past weekend.
Besides the high quality of acting demonstrated by Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor and a strong supporting cast that Star Trek cannot match, the storyline, though altered from the book, offers much for the moviegoer to ponder, least of which is faith.
Dan Brown takes the exploration of faith to a much deeper of level in the book. With over 500 pages of clear story and entertaining action that provide the screen writer much with which to work in creating a cohesive narration of events leading to a transformation within the major character.
But I must confess, the transformation delivered in the words of Dan Brown packs more of a punch than the screen adaptation.
I think that’s the difference between books and movies. Books are the mind on the page. Words penned by an author can and most often take a reader inside the mind of a character. Action, and visual stimulation is the strong suit of film.
Likewise writers who are avid movie goers to the deferment of reading write stories and novels packed with action and plot absent lack narrative lines involving emotions and ultimate transformation, ever how subtle.
Hence the need for writers to do both–read books and watch and study movies.
Readers receive from books for an internal perspective on events that have, and do take place, be they fictional, actual or creatively actual as in creative non-fiction.
All stories are based on a lie or rather the writer’s perception as delivered through her or his characters. And it is this internal experience of sharing and partaking in that internal experience of another on life’s journey that makes reading so enjoyable.
Writers who compete with movies in an effort to deliver an action packed, intensity-filled drama, will most likely never achieve what visual images on a movie screen accomplish. It is important for writers to know that the roving or wandering eye of the movie camera that so engrosses the moviegoer is intensely bothersome, distracting and confusing to the reader.
Thus the need for settling on a point of view from which a story will be delivered and remaining committed to that. Even stories that are delivered from multiple perspectives must maintain the same point of view in each scene.
Reading books and watching movies go hand-in-hand toward helping the writer improve her or his skills at crafting stories. Yet the writer must be clear what each offers, the strengths and challenges of each medium–books an internal experience of character and motive, movies plot and action.
In so doing, the writer learns how to refine her/his skills in creating the same writing a story.
What do you do more of, read books or watch movies?
What appeals to you about each medium?
What does each medium not provide?
What do you learn from reading?
What do you learn from watching movies?
I thought the film was good but still failed to capture what I loved about the book. This was much the same as the film version of the Da Vinchi Code. I look forward to the new book!
– Gary Smith
.-= Garry Smith´s last blog ..Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire =-.
What you address is the nature of books, what they offer that movies cannot which is the inner workings of the mind–that is the mind of the characters.
Dan Brown did a wonderful job of presenting this is “Angels and Demons” and of course the movie was unable to display this.
Thanks so much for your comments.