Books Vs. Movies Essay

Why are audiences so upset with the way the movie turned out after reading the book? † Ask any reader who has seen the movie version of a favorite book, and the answer will usually be, the book was better.† (Corliss, 2005, p. 1)They are frequently disappointed because the movie versions are not sticking to their all-time favorite book. Growing up with books like Harry Potter, as readers or having someone reading to us our minds wonder off to this mystical land, picturing how our heroes and villains would look and act. As they take in the words, the reader can almost smell the trees and here the wind blow through the castles. Reading a book compared to watching the movie brings up controversy; with books readers use their minds while watching a movie people sit back and enjoy. It all starts with the book and how the reader’s mind starts to imagine what it will look like; the smell, taste, and feel. Then they bring the movie with the director’s view on the story. Let’s start with how people view the story that they are reading. The reader will take the story from the book and make it their own personal story, internalize from their own perspective and imagination. Each reader will see and interact with the story in their way. With Harry Potter readers, some say they feel closer to the main characters because it easier to see what’s going on in their minds. The directors have read the same books too and have challenges to overcome. Bringing Harry Potter to life on the big Screen, and appease all the children that have read the books. His job is to make the movie exciting; some books have some narrative that can just drag on. Sometimes what you read may not work in the movies. Some directors like to change things up so the viewers will be surprised and not be bored because they know everything that was going to happen. Now, back to how the audience sees the main character in a different light concerning reading, then on the big screen. The book builds this character that they grow to like; readers may see themselves as the leading actor. Some readers will picture their favorite actor playing the part. Characters are what keeps the readers coming back every time or make it impossible to put the book down because they want to find out what happens next. As a reader, you feel closer to what’s happening; you feel all the emotion that the characters are going through. Concerning the big screen, the character usually gets a brief back ground. The director determines the character for you; he will pick the actor for the spot. Sometimes they will pick a different gender to play the part. The director has to take a book like Harry Potter and cut some of the characters out so that the main character gets more time. They also cut out scenes. Let’s take for example, the Dursley’s family that was to keep Harry safe when not in school. After the third film they cut them out most of the other films. In book 4 they were to meet the Weasleys and that was cut out for the movie. (Bibbiani (2011)), â€Å"The audience spent way too much time with the Dursley family over the course of the franchise to deny them their only redeeming moment.† The director will put his own insights and how he pictures the characters to be and what scenes he wants. The story line people see in our mind from reading may change on the big screen. With reading, they get the whole story from beginning to the end, the readers will know everything about their character; including where they live and what time period they’re from. It all goes back to how they imagine it will be like. In every story it starts out slow so it can build you up to the main event. It may take up to 100 pages to explain a character. After reading the book, must readers feel that they lived another life, unless it’s a series, the reader will feel completed. However, with the movie there are time constraints to think about and they need to achieve the right rating for the movie. In the books the writers has more freedom with the story line, when it comes to the movie they need to make sure it targets the right audience. The Harry Potter movies always have been geared toward children and teens, so they cut things out to achieve that goal. The Goblet of Fire was a 734- page book that would be a 10 hour movie. The screen writer Steve Kloves said †it took him two years to figure out how to make the movie and deciding what parts to cut out† (Corliss, 2005, pp. 3-3). They took the first hundred pages and put it into a thrilling 20 minutes. They need to make the movie exciting by cutting out some of the narrative and zipping through some of it. There are some movie critics that love the movies because they cut out the boring narration of the books. Readers interact with the book and use their minds to imagine the story while movie-audiences are more passively enjoying the movie. We see how and why things change from reading books and how the movie may have a different concept. When reading books, a person is creating their own movie in a sense. You know how the character speaks, what they look like. Where the director is showing how he perceived the story and characters. Can we as readers see books and movies as different entities? Not all movie versions might be considered worse than the books. Books require your imagination to run wild with in the story. Movies are an in-depth perspective toward the story. In some people opinion they need to change some of the details from the book to make the movie more enjoyable. Think about how dull that movie may be if you put everything from the book into the movie. Next time you are out watching a movie and you have already read the book try to remember that it is not going to be how you imagined it, it’s someone else’s story and how they perceived it. â€Å"If we were more naà ¯ve, new to the plot and characters, things might be different, but since we’ve read the books, and read them emphatically, possibly more than once we can’t know that for sure. We can only compare to what we know, and already love† (Mario & Mario, 2012, pp. 3-2). References: Bibbiani, W. (2011). Crave Online. Retrieved from http://www.craveonline.com/film/articles/171155-the-top-ten-things-the-harry-potter-movies-left-out Corliss, R. (2005, Nov.). Books Vs. Movies. Time, (),. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1134742,00.html Mario, A., & Mario, R. (2012, may). The Trouble with Making Books We Love into Movies. The Atlantic Wire, (), 5. Retrieved from http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/03/trouble-making-books-we-love-movies/50220/