Terra Pratchett is my favourite author, and I'm interested in how they translate his works into Moving Pictures (hah!), because a lot of his humour stems from the way he writes situations. I know...
Terra Pratchett is my favourite author, and I'm interested in how they translate his works into Moving Pictures (hah!), because a lot of his humour stems from the way he writes situations. I know that a movie adaptation of Mort failed because, per his own words, Pratchett (who was writing the script) was asked to "reduce the Death angle". Which was strange, as Death (in the form of the grim reaper) is a major character in the Discworld and specifically in the book they were adapting. There are books in the series which don't feature Death as a character in any major fashion, and they could've adapted any of those. But why they chose Mort and then made this request is beyond me.
Anyway, Pratchett refused to honour the request, as obviously it removed a lot from the book so that's how that ended.
Agreed. Pratchett's characters and dialogue are charming in their own right, but the wittiness of his writing is what really makes the books such a delight. My understanding is that Hogfather (the...
I'm interested in how they translate his works into Moving Pictures (hah!), because a lot of his humour stems from the way he writes situations.
Agreed. Pratchett's characters and dialogue are charming in their own right, but the wittiness of his writing is what really makes the books such a delight.
My understanding is that Hogfather (the 2006 film) got around this by making extensive use of a narrator. I haven't seen the film but I believe it was relatively well-received by fans.
I can verify that the Hogfather film was well received by this fan. Going Postal also had an excellent film adaptation. If future adaptations can match those ones for quality, I'd personally be...
I can verify that the Hogfather film was well received by this fan. Going Postal also had an excellent film adaptation. If future adaptations can match those ones for quality, I'd personally be satisfied, but I'm concerned about whether or not that's possible or likely without Pratchett being directly involved.
That's the only way I could imagine it in my head; a narrator literally quoting the books.
My understanding is that Hogfather (the 2006 film) got around this by making extensive use of a narrator. I haven't seen the film but I believe it was relatively well-received by fans.
That's the only way I could imagine it in my head; a narrator literally quoting the books.
I always feel it has a bit of a weird taste (in German we say "Geschmäckle") when some author dies and then a bit later, boom, we're now making this into a series/movie! Very often it feels like...
I always feel it has a bit of a weird taste (in German we say "Geschmäckle") when some author dies and then a bit later, boom, we're now making this into a series/movie! Very often it feels like the rights just went to somebody that doesn't respect the IP as much as the original author did and that sucks, imho, because it feels like it's just for the quick bucks.
According to the article, the initiative was launched by Pratchett himself in 2012 and there are also comments by his daughter, which I don't know well enough to understand her intentions, so let's hope this is not the case here. Very often it also comes down to the director or person in charge being very passionate and respectful of the author's work, since that generally decides what liberties they're going to take during production.
I think this is why so many authors are hesitant to put their work onto the big screen, because they care so much and don't want it butchered. Let's hope Narrativia really cares and is not scared to tell the production company they're doing it wrong, so that the books get a great adaption and the respect they deserve.
They've couched it in diplomatic language, but Narrativia have all but said "we're doing this properly because everyone else keeps fucking it up". Both Rhianna Pratchett and Rob Wilkins have been...
They've couched it in diplomatic language, but Narrativia have all but said "we're doing this properly because everyone else keeps fucking it up".
Both Rhianna Pratchett and Rob Wilkins have been pretty clear about seeing the exact same issues with adaptations that you outlined, and both were close to Sir Terry when he was alive, so I'm optimistic about this one.
'Distasteful' is probably the equivalent word in English, not sure if it has quite the same connotation though since I'm not a native German speaker :P
in German we say "Geschmäckle"
'Distasteful' is probably the equivalent word in English, not sure if it has quite the same connotation though since I'm not a native German speaker :P
Rihanna Pratchett is active as writer herself (she was the writer for Mirror's Edge and the Tomb Raider reboot for example) and she finished the last Discworld novel after her father died. When he...
Rihanna Pratchett is active as writer herself (she was the writer for Mirror's Edge and the Tomb Raider reboot for example) and she finished the last Discworld novel after her father died. When he was alive (and already diagnosed with Alzheimers) Pratchett stated that he was perfectly happy with his daughter taking up his mantle and writing further novels. She said though that she'd rather not.
EDIT: full disclosure - I haven't seen a single of the Discworld movie or TV adaptations. None. So this is me guessing hard etc. Read this with that in mind. I am a massive Pratchett fan - one of...
EDIT: full disclosure - I haven't seen a single of the Discworld movie or TV adaptations. None. So this is me guessing hard etc. Read this with that in mind.
I am a massive Pratchett fan - one of those dorks that reread the entire set of books every other year with a slowly collapsing full set in a shelf. I hope this will be good ... buuuuut that said I don't think this sort of strict adherence is gonna work out the way they seem to think. Anything moved from one medium that relies on personal interpretation as much as reading, to one that doesn't like movies and TV-shows, means creator interpretation. Trying to remove that is impossible completely, meaning someone will look at it and go "that feels wrong, and I need to figure out why" no matter how hard you try because we all imagine it differently.
Second I feel it sort of misses the point. The benefit of movie adaptations (and other adaptations) is the magical intersection between two (and more) creators. The Shining is a great example of that. It doesn't matter how much King hates it - it's one of the best movies ever made even though it doesn't follow his source material.
I would be interested in a Going Postal set in say a town in the US around the 1930's with a collapsing postal system, where a huckster gets a second and final chance to get the system up and running by the vaguely despotic ruler, exposing weirder and weirder goings on in the Lost Letters room. (I mean we should talk about the "Enlightened Dictator" narrative that surrounds Veterinari one of these days... oof). Move the obviously fantastical in to the land of magical reality and just let the plot roam properly - the characters and dialogue shine and then go nuts with it.
Although thinking about it - the Golems and THAT narrative moved in to a somewhat realistic setting in the US isn't... well it would demand some serious rethinking. o.O
Terra Pratchett is my favourite author, and I'm interested in how they translate his works into Moving Pictures (hah!), because a lot of his humour stems from the way he writes situations. I know that a movie adaptation of Mort failed because, per his own words, Pratchett (who was writing the script) was asked to "reduce the Death angle". Which was strange, as Death (in the form of the grim reaper) is a major character in the Discworld and specifically in the book they were adapting. There are books in the series which don't feature Death as a character in any major fashion, and they could've adapted any of those. But why they chose Mort and then made this request is beyond me.
Anyway, Pratchett refused to honour the request, as obviously it removed a lot from the book so that's how that ended.
Agreed. Pratchett's characters and dialogue are charming in their own right, but the wittiness of his writing is what really makes the books such a delight.
My understanding is that Hogfather (the 2006 film) got around this by making extensive use of a narrator. I haven't seen the film but I believe it was relatively well-received by fans.
I can verify that the Hogfather film was well received by this fan. Going Postal also had an excellent film adaptation. If future adaptations can match those ones for quality, I'd personally be satisfied, but I'm concerned about whether or not that's possible or likely without Pratchett being directly involved.
That's the only way I could imagine it in my head; a narrator literally quoting the books.
What did you think of the adaptation of good omens?
I really like it!
I always feel it has a bit of a weird taste (in German we say "Geschmäckle") when some author dies and then a bit later, boom, we're now making this into a series/movie! Very often it feels like the rights just went to somebody that doesn't respect the IP as much as the original author did and that sucks, imho, because it feels like it's just for the quick bucks.
According to the article, the initiative was launched by Pratchett himself in 2012 and there are also comments by his daughter, which I don't know well enough to understand her intentions, so let's hope this is not the case here. Very often it also comes down to the director or person in charge being very passionate and respectful of the author's work, since that generally decides what liberties they're going to take during production.
I think this is why so many authors are hesitant to put their work onto the big screen, because they care so much and don't want it butchered. Let's hope Narrativia really cares and is not scared to tell the production company they're doing it wrong, so that the books get a great adaption and the respect they deserve.
They've couched it in diplomatic language, but Narrativia have all but said "we're doing this properly because everyone else keeps fucking it up".
Both Rhianna Pratchett and Rob Wilkins have been pretty clear about seeing the exact same issues with adaptations that you outlined, and both were close to Sir Terry when he was alive, so I'm optimistic about this one.
'Distasteful' is probably the equivalent word in English, not sure if it has quite the same connotation though since I'm not a native German speaker :P
Rihanna Pratchett is active as writer herself (she was the writer for Mirror's Edge and the Tomb Raider reboot for example) and she finished the last Discworld novel after her father died. When he was alive (and already diagnosed with Alzheimers) Pratchett stated that he was perfectly happy with his daughter taking up his mantle and writing further novels. She said though that she'd rather not.
EDIT: full disclosure - I haven't seen a single of the Discworld movie or TV adaptations. None. So this is me guessing hard etc. Read this with that in mind.
I am a massive Pratchett fan - one of those dorks that reread the entire set of books every other year with a slowly collapsing full set in a shelf. I hope this will be good ... buuuuut that said I don't think this sort of strict adherence is gonna work out the way they seem to think. Anything moved from one medium that relies on personal interpretation as much as reading, to one that doesn't like movies and TV-shows, means creator interpretation. Trying to remove that is impossible completely, meaning someone will look at it and go "that feels wrong, and I need to figure out why" no matter how hard you try because we all imagine it differently.
Second I feel it sort of misses the point. The benefit of movie adaptations (and other adaptations) is the magical intersection between two (and more) creators. The Shining is a great example of that. It doesn't matter how much King hates it - it's one of the best movies ever made even though it doesn't follow his source material.
I would be interested in a Going Postal set in say a town in the US around the 1930's with a collapsing postal system, where a huckster gets a second and final chance to get the system up and running by the vaguely despotic ruler, exposing weirder and weirder goings on in the Lost Letters room. (I mean we should talk about the "Enlightened Dictator" narrative that surrounds Veterinari one of these days... oof). Move the obviously fantastical in to the land of magical reality and just let the plot roam properly - the characters and dialogue shine and then go nuts with it.
Although thinking about it - the Golems and THAT narrative moved in to a somewhat realistic setting in the US isn't... well it would demand some serious rethinking. o.O