Doing Business with Adaptations B: Why so many Adaptations? and the Economics of Adaptations
Lesson Preparation
| Author: | Nathan Phillips |
|---|---|
| Lesson Title: | Doing Business with Adaptations B: Why so many Adaptations? and the Economics of Adaptations |
| Subject: | English (Language Arts) |
| Age Group: | High School |
| Unit: | Media and Adaptation: Moving From Medium to Medium without Getting Hurt |
| Objective: | Students will be able to offer possibilities for why so many film adaptations of print texts (particularly novels, but also short stories, graphic novels, comic books, plays, works of nonfiction, picture books, etc.) are created. Students will understand the ways the market drives the creation of adaptations and how this complicates the adaptation process. This objective will be completed over two lessons (this is the second lesson). |
| Concepts: | _ |
| Strategies/Modes: | _ |
| Curricular Goals: | A basic understanding of the economics driving the film industry makes clear the reasons Hollywood executives prefer to produce adaptations over original works. Students will need to understand these economic factors, because they change our analysis of adaptations. This is not a simple text to text translation. Rather, it is a complicated matter—and the market is only one of the many complicating factors. As students start to understand the economic forces alive in Hollywood, they will begin to be more critical of films and the film industry. The critical thinking skills and practical economic knowledge learned from this lesson will benefit students in this unit and in their lives. |
| Lesson Overview: | In the completion of the two lessons focusing on the economic factors at play with the creation of adaptations, students will present their marketing plans and adaptation ideas to a group of judges in the “Film Producer’s Apprentice” game. This exercise, and the debriefing afterward, will help students to understand these economic factors. |
| Materials Needed: | Edward Jay Epstein’s Slate.com article “The End of Originality: Or, Why Michael Bay’s The Island failed at the Box Office” available at http://www.slate.com/id/2135544/; judge(s) for the “Film Producer’s Apprentice” game (the school’s business or marketing teacher would work well for this as would a member of the administration; if possible, get more than one judge); |
Lesson Directions
Warm-up/Anticipatory Set:
Have the judge of the “Film Producer’s Apprentice” outline the criteria for the judging. The following is suggested:
Judging Criteria
Ultimately, students will need to convince the judge(s) that their film and marketing plan will attract the most students. The judge(s) will include the following in determining which group wins:
1. Professionalism of the presentation
2. Marketing strategy
3. Film’s appeal to students at the school
4. Ability to realistically stay within the proposed budget
5. All students in the group involved in the presentation
The judges may also want to explain the prizes that will be awarded (certificates should suffice, though you may want to offer a more elaborate prize). Consider that the game is inherently unfair because some students are working with adaptations while others are not. With that in mind, you may want to offer prizes to the entire class (or at least to the group with the best adaptation presentation AND the group with the best original presentation).
Each group should make its presentation, with the judge(s) announcing the winning group. The judge(s) should give clear explanations as to why the winning group was better than the others.
Judging Criteria
Ultimately, students will need to convince the judge(s) that their film and marketing plan will attract the most students. The judge(s) will include the following in determining which group wins:
1. Professionalism of the presentation
2. Marketing strategy
3. Film’s appeal to students at the school
4. Ability to realistically stay within the proposed budget
5. All students in the group involved in the presentation
The judges may also want to explain the prizes that will be awarded (certificates should suffice, though you may want to offer a more elaborate prize). Consider that the game is inherently unfair because some students are working with adaptations while others are not. With that in mind, you may want to offer prizes to the entire class (or at least to the group with the best adaptation presentation AND the group with the best original presentation).
Each group should make its presentation, with the judge(s) announcing the winning group. The judge(s) should give clear explanations as to why the winning group was better than the others.
Instruction/Main Activity:
This activity should result in one of the adaptation groups winning (it may not, however, depending on how well done the presentation was for each group). Either way, the following debriefing activity is vital to the success of this activity.
After students have found out the winning group and why that group won, the class should discuss the following questions (you may want to have groups answer these questions first and then discuss together as a class):
1. Was it easier to come up with a film idea and a marketing plan for the groups with adaptations or the other groups? Why?
2. Explain the process of coming up with a film idea that would appeal to your classmates. How did you decide what they would be interested in? Was this process affected by the kind of film you were producing (adaptation or not)? How?
3. Explain the process you went through to come up with a marketing plan. How did you decide to spend your $100? Was this process affected by the kind of film you were producing (adaptation or not)? How?
4. Put the following on an overhead. Students should respond to this quote from Costanzo in Great Films and How to Teach Them:
“We should not forget, however, that many of the differences between literature and films are due not to artistic limitations of the media but to matters of business. As Bluestone puts it, ‘The Hollywood producer is governed less by the laws of aesthetics than by the laws of the marketplace’ (38). Whereas a novel can make a profit with twenty thousand copies, a movie must reach millions. And movies cost more to produce. Movies, then, must be mass-produced for a mass audience. This means that no film is wholly the product of a single author; it bears the signatures of many hands and countless social forces. It also means that filmmakers tend to be more responsive to a general audience and therefore to a more restricted range of tastes; they can’t appeal to special interests in the audience if this means losing the group” (Costanzo 11).
After students have found out the winning group and why that group won, the class should discuss the following questions (you may want to have groups answer these questions first and then discuss together as a class):
1. Was it easier to come up with a film idea and a marketing plan for the groups with adaptations or the other groups? Why?
2. Explain the process of coming up with a film idea that would appeal to your classmates. How did you decide what they would be interested in? Was this process affected by the kind of film you were producing (adaptation or not)? How?
3. Explain the process you went through to come up with a marketing plan. How did you decide to spend your $100? Was this process affected by the kind of film you were producing (adaptation or not)? How?
4. Put the following on an overhead. Students should respond to this quote from Costanzo in Great Films and How to Teach Them:
“We should not forget, however, that many of the differences between literature and films are due not to artistic limitations of the media but to matters of business. As Bluestone puts it, ‘The Hollywood producer is governed less by the laws of aesthetics than by the laws of the marketplace’ (38). Whereas a novel can make a profit with twenty thousand copies, a movie must reach millions. And movies cost more to produce. Movies, then, must be mass-produced for a mass audience. This means that no film is wholly the product of a single author; it bears the signatures of many hands and countless social forces. It also means that filmmakers tend to be more responsive to a general audience and therefore to a more restricted range of tastes; they can’t appeal to special interests in the audience if this means losing the group” (Costanzo 11).
Practice/Reinforcement:
Pass out Edward Jay Epstein’s Slate.com article “The End of Originality: Or, Why Michael Bay’s The Island failed at the Box Office” available at http://www.slate.com/id/2135544/. With a partner, students should read and annotate this article, noting Epstein’s key points in the margins. Students should also ask questions they have of the text, make comments, and include any personal connections.
If reading and annotating an article is a new experience for students, you should begin this process on the overhead with Epstein’s article.
Finally, students should respond on a half sheet of paper. They should write about what they’ve learned about the economic factors affecting the creation of adaptations. Specifically, they should address why there are so many adaptations made (as a percentage of award-winning films and box-office successes). This response should not only be related to the article, but to the entire two days.
If reading and annotating an article is a new experience for students, you should begin this process on the overhead with Epstein’s article.
Finally, students should respond on a half sheet of paper. They should write about what they’ve learned about the economic factors affecting the creation of adaptations. Specifically, they should address why there are so many adaptations made (as a percentage of award-winning films and box-office successes). This response should not only be related to the article, but to the entire two days.
Assignment:
Students will be completing a textual/contextual analysis as part of the next lesson. In order to prepare for this, students should complete the following:
1. Select an adaptation and a source text (this could be any kind of adaptation from one medium to another—video game to film, television show to video game, novel to film, song to picture book, etc.—but it must have a source text). Bring both of them to class next time.
2. Students should research as much information about the production history of the source text and the adaptation as possible. Some possible research questions: Why was the adaptation made? Who decided to make it? What’s the time difference between the source text and the adaptation? How different are the media being used? How popular is/was the source text? How popular is/was the adaptation? How well done is the source text? How well done is the source adaptation? Perhaps a specific assignment would help students complete this task (for example, students have to bring back three web sites with information, or one book, or at least two sources for each, etc.). Students should bring this information to class the next time.
1. Select an adaptation and a source text (this could be any kind of adaptation from one medium to another—video game to film, television show to video game, novel to film, song to picture book, etc.—but it must have a source text). Bring both of them to class next time.
2. Students should research as much information about the production history of the source text and the adaptation as possible. Some possible research questions: Why was the adaptation made? Who decided to make it? What’s the time difference between the source text and the adaptation? How different are the media being used? How popular is/was the source text? How popular is/was the adaptation? How well done is the source text? How well done is the source adaptation? Perhaps a specific assignment would help students complete this task (for example, students have to bring back three web sites with information, or one book, or at least two sources for each, etc.). Students should bring this information to class the next time.
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