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Film Adaptations

Film Adaptations

Date: Jul 08 2009

Themes: Hobbies

Grammar: Gerunds vs. Infinitives

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Have you ever read a book and thought, “That would make a great movie!”? Novels and stories are often used as the jumping-off point for films. And if you think about it, turning a bestseller into a movie is a pretty wise investment, since most of the people who read the book will be curious to see it on the big screen.

But film adaptations can also be risky. If a book is really popular, then fans might get upset if the movie is too different from the original. Plus, books usually include a lot more detail than can be included in a film, so the filmmakers have to decide which parts to keep and which parts to cut. And then there are all the tough decisions to be made about which actors should play which characters. Bad casting can ruin a great adaptation. You wouldn’t want to see Harry Potter played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, would you?

Listen to Marni and Ella talk about movies that started out as books.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Ella

Ella

Marni

Marni

Ella:  So Marni, what do you think of adaptations of movies from books?

Marni:  You know, sometimes I really enjoy them. You know, generally, as a rule, I think that books are generally better. And it’s hard oftentimes for the screenwriter to capture the essence…

Ella:  Well, Lord of the Rings, that was fantastic.

Marni:  That was a really good example I think of bringing the books to life. I mean Peter Jackson did an incredible job. But…there’s been some pretty good ones. I’ve been pretty happy with the Harry Potter series. I think they did a good job.

Ella:  What’d you think about The Da Vinci Code?

Marni:  I actually kind of liked that book. I was not crazy about the film. I didn’t think they did all that great of a job. It was hard for me to get behind Tom Hanks as that character. He just did not embody that character at all to me. But I’m kinda curious about Angels and Demons. I’ll definitely go see that.

Ella:  Do you ever think it’s important to read the book before you go see the movie or…

Marni:  I’m a big fan of that because then I’m really excited to go see the film.

Ella:  Yeah. I guess it’s all about how you interpret the characters. ‘Cause I know for me like when you have an idea of a character in your head, and then they showed up portrayed by someone else, it kind of ruins it. You’re like, “No I can’t finish this movie!”

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Marni says that when a movie version is made of a book, she usually likes the book better. But she and Ella agree that there are some really good adaptations. They mention the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series as examples of good adaptations.

Marni enjoyed the book The Da Vinci Code, but she didn’t like the movie. She thought Tom Hanks was a poor choice to play the main character. He was too different from the person she’d imagined when she was reading the book. So it was hard for her to enjoy the film. However, she still wants to see the movie version of Angels and Demons, the sequel to The Da Vinci Code.

Have you seen any good movie adaptations of books? What do you think makes a good adaptation?

 

Comments

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michael miller

Saudi Arabia

 sorry, hi every body

I am new here .

please i need  some help.

I'm looking for chat language

"I mean the direct conversation corner'' !!  ?

 

01:14 PM Jul 08 2009 |

michael miller

Saudi Arabia

hi guys

01:02 PM Jul 08 2009 |

Yuliana20

Yuliana20

Russian Federation

p.s I Love You…it s a novel book adaptated in  romantic movie,I went to the movie theater and during the movie performance I was cryingEmbarassed

12:10 PM Jul 08 2009 |

meteorareanimation

Egypt

Twilight is a great great movie adaptation!

 

The book is better with all the details of course but the movie is just awesome and the casting is PERFECT!

09:39 AM Jul 08 2009 |

tiagon85

Brazil

One of my best is Lord of Rings, that´s a very good movie and it takes important peaces of the book and it didn´t the essence. I can´t remeber another one so good like this one!!

 

 

09:13 AM Jul 08 2009 |

twinself

twinself

China

stage light sale

08:39 AM Jul 08 2009 |

sofree

sofree

China

It's not easy to make a good adaptation. But the point is anyway the readers would want to watch it. A bestseller attracts stars, so a too good or too bad adaptation with star power and big cost attracts more people, just don't be moderate.

 

I agree that the Lord of the Rings is a legend, it's smart that they only made 3 serials. Look at Harry Potter, I have to say it went worse, the first few serials are good, but now…

 

07:22 AM Jul 08 2009 |

Miss·Daisy

Miss·Daisy

China

by the way,Angels &Demons is a good movie,u can't miss it`

05:22 AM Jul 08 2009 |

Miss·Daisy

Miss·Daisy

China

Twilight is a film adaptation,and it seem successful.

05:19 AM Jul 08 2009 |

erolcaglar

erolcaglar

Turkey

really,very fast :(

04:26 AM Jul 08 2009 |

Morgan Lau

Morgan Lau

China

oh,she speak is so fast

03:19 AM Jul 08 2009 |

sangdhbkhn2005

Viet Nam

Yeah, I have seen a lots flim adaptation from books. Such as doremon, 7 dragon balls… It is very cool. I am crazy about it.

Thanks to the author, who bring it to the life.

02:52 AM Jul 08 2009 |

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