A YW movie? all the horrible things that could happen

[wen]

With so many topics about a YW Movie/TV show/etc., What can go terribly, terribly wrong? Who should play who? what parts will have to be cut? how to fix all the thing that may go wrong? Discuss!
I'll start with the basics.

List Of Doom:
Voices. esp. non-humans. Who's to say what a white hole sounds like? or fish?
The Speech. This should be obvious.
Updating the tech references. (Not many people expect to use DOS on a brand new comp)

[Elita Justice]

Wizardry: I don't want them to dumb wizardry down to "saying a few words, maybe even waving a wand, and stuff happens". Wizardry is so much more involved, with formulas to figure into the spell, and backlashes afterward. There's real science behind it, and I don't wanna lose that.

[dorotheia]

Someone...pretty...as Nita or Kit. They seem pretty normal too me, and it would be just too much if Nita was a hot starlet or Kit was a rock star. I'm picturing it in my mind and it would just--be--so--wrong!
As for things to be cut, I'm afraid all the learning from the manual will be cut or rearranged or something. All the technical details are important, it's hard to convey that. Also, Joanna. Either she'll be more important or she'll be cut, because she has a small part in the book but a semi-important one, for Nita. (I'm speaking in phrases, so I'll stop.)

[running_alone]

I'm not gonna lie, when I found out that they were talking about making a movie, I really started to worry. I tend to really hate it when my favorite books are made into movies, because they always start to ruin them for me. Obviously, these books have great potential for a movie, but there's a lot that would have to go right for it to work.

Some things just don't transfer over well from books to movies. Feelings especially. In the books, we get a lot of narration about how people are feeling. The way they are described makes it so the reader applies their own experiences to the characters, and makes it more real for the reader. Visually seeing things makes it much more impersonal, and therefore makes the target audience narrower.

Another thing that is always hard is the actors. Everyone has their own idea of what everyone should look like or sound like, and when the actor doesn't live up to that, people are disappointed. Obviously you can't live up to everyone's expectations, which leaves a lot of people feeling less than satisfied.

Sometimes I think it would be better for a book to stay a book, and prevent all the worry and distress that comes from a less-than-perfect movie, which they all will be.

[Kathy Li]

Geez, I'm tired of posting this. Did you bother to read the other threads? [grumble grumble. Don't mind me, I'm in a curmudgeonly mood.]

DD has posted that she is going to retain creative control. For her, part of the deal is that she be the screenwriter. She's got the cred in Hollywood to do it. She's posted bits and pieces of the screenplay she's working on on her blog. She's posted herself on this board about the subject. She's got an FAQ about the movie.

Why does everyone still think this film will be completely not YW-true if all these things are the case?

[rick455]

I think the movie would have to be an original screenplay, I mine a new story. It would be easier and cut down on comparisons. DD retains control of the characters are the world in which they live; so , I wouldn't worry about anything out of character happening to Kit and Nita or any of the others. Since she retains control and has written a whole bunch of very successful books she can't be pressured to do anything she doesn't want to do. The only limitations to the movie are length and budget. It will be a very good movie.

[Nights Mistress]

Geez, I'm tired of posting this. Did you bother to read the other threads? [grumble grumble. Don't mind me, I'm in a curmudgeonly mood.]

DD has posted that she is going to retain creative control. For her, part of the deal is that she be the screenwriter. She's got the cred in Hollywood to do it. She's posted bits and pieces of the screenplay she's working on on her blog. She's posted herself on this board about the subject. She's got an FAQ about the movie.

Why does everyone still think this film will be completely not YW-true if all these things are the case?

I can't speak for anyone else, but imagining the YW movie as being done like how Susan Cooper's book was done amuses me. I'm not sure how you'd Americanise already American characters though. Maybe all the characters will end up randomly Californian-by-way-of-filming-in-Canada?

[running_alone]

A lot of people were highly disappointed with the Twilight movie, which supposedly Stephenie Meyer had lots of control over. But I suppose that's GIGO, huh? :P (No offense to Twilight fans; I love the idea, but not the way it was worked)

I think the worst part for me is getting faces to go with the people. When I read books, I always just make the characters look like people who they remind me of in real life, or a mesh thereof. That means it changes as I get older and meet new people and have new perspective. But once they have a face on screen, that's their face forever. Even really, really good movie adaptations (like LotR, in my opinion, was) still do this. I just miss the ability to change things around to be what I need them to be at that point of my life.

On the other hand, I LOVED that bit of script Kathy posted. I love how it's been modernized a bit, too. And it's been tweaked a bit in a good way, so that the emotions come out through words and not just narration. With DD writing it, the script is going to be amazing!

[Kathy Li]

I think the movie would have to be an original screenplay, I mine a new story. It would be easier and cut down on comparisons....

Except that when Hollywood pays crazy movie money for a book, they kind of want the book to be done in the movie--the know the SYWTBAW story works well enough to stay in print over 20 years. A new original work would be something untested by the market to their way of thinking. I mean, we know that any YW stuff DD writes is golden, but they don't.

I can't speak for anyone else, but imagining the YW movie as being done like how Susan Cooper's book was done amuses me. I'm not sure how you'd Americanise already American characters though. Maybe all the characters will end up randomly Californian-by-way-of-filming-in-Canada?

Ohgod. I think DD and I threw a bunch of idiot-producer questions a each other in a chat once. Y'know, questions like, "Does it have to be in New York City? That's so expensive!" "Could we just say that Fred takes on human form to save on the expense budget?" Etc. etc. Trust me, DD knows all the traps. She's worked in Hollywood long enough to know how to swim with the sharks, and as she posted, she's got a few sharks of her own on hire.

A lot of people were highly disappointed with the Twilight movie, which supposedly Stephenie Meyer had lots of control over. ...

But not screenwriting and script approval. Also, Meyer went with a low-budget offer. Again, not things DD would do.

I think the worst part for me is getting faces to go with the people.... Even really, really good movie adaptations (like LotR, in my opinion, was) still do this. I just miss the ability to change things around to be what I need them to be at that point of my life.

I know people say this, but this isn't something that's ever bothered me--maybe it comes of being a comic book reader for so many decades but I can always mentally compartmentalize the film version (if it's bad) as happening on Earth Movie . And I think of the LotR adaptation as... more "well, ok, if that's the way you read the books, it'll work for ya" than actually good. (But I'm weird and how I read LotR is bizarre to most people). I also weep that they dumped the Stoppard screenplay for Golden Compass. That could've been such a good movie.

[Deus Ira]

I think that it should be like a tv show like true blood on HBO, I know there are alot of young people in this forum but someone has to know what true blood is, that show is so awsm but it could never be a movie they just packed so much stuff in each episode and thats exactly what they need to do.

[Tobiasscrabble]

Ya

But if they do make it in to a tv show like they did the vampire diaries then the timeline of the book would be totaly skewed I think they should stick to the movie idea regardless of the posible backlash of faliure







Movies are great but books are better

[estar9821]

Yeah, SYWTBAW would HAVE to be a movie; if only because TV shows tend to be low budget and couldn't handle the special effects required to make this a good movie. I can't wait to see this is theatres, and I wonder how they are going to do Fred? That'll be interesting...
I agree that seeing book characters on the big screen really messes up with how I picture them in my head. A prime example: Eragon. I used to be able to picture a brown-haired Eragon, but now all that comes to mind is a blond. I simply can't conjure up the old image from the archives of my brain. The movie pressed the delete button on that memory.

[SilveredBlue]

Yes, I know what you mean about Eragon brown hair/blond hair...I was so disappointed with the movie. And Saphira had FEATHERS! grumblegrumble.

Back on topic. I think that since DD has been IN the industry so much, as had been said, that she won't fall for any of the traps that killed Eragon- or really any of those horrid book-to-movie-'s. And I totally love the script too! The only thing that could go wrong would be the actors having the wrong faces, as in the old, BBC version of Narnia. Luckily the new Narnia fixed that.

[estar9821]

Yeah, and I really think they should pick unknowns to play Nita and Kit. That's always nicer than, say, Miley Cyrus or whatever.

[kk]

*mental image of Miley Cyrus as Nita*

Okay, that just scarred me for life... Yes, unknowns would be better than...well, any actors or actresses I can think of. For Nita and Kit, at least. I'm sure there are a few known actors and actresses that would be good for some of the other characters.

The Eldest... I've been thinking about that, wondering if it'd be better with CGI, or with puppetry, somehow. I've been watching Jim Henson stuff, that's what's bringing that into my mind. XD I think it would be a darn amazing puppet, though.

There are some things that would have to be changed, I think. Unless the movie is set in the time when the book came out, some things are going to be different. The Pan-Am building? I've seen it, the heliport and everything, but it's the Metlife building now. I think it'd still be amazing if they used that building in the movie, though, because of its role in the book.

But I know that DD will work everything out, no matter what happens with it - as people have said, she has experience with things.

The thing I'm most curious about the movie, is what the soundtrack will be like. If there are sequels, I'd love it if the song "Running Alone" was actually mentioned in the HW movie.