When the movies are created based on an existing novel, the readers get overwhelmed by the news of it. And living up to their expectations is a challenge for the filmmakers. First, the screenplay has to be written, which tells everything about how the movie will be carried out from the beginning to the end. Understanding the character’s arc and the character’s journey is significant to writing the script.
But even after writing a commendable screenplay, the writer has to leave many scenes in the book to ensure that the movie does not exceed the time limitation. Let’s look at the difference between a film and a book.
Differences That We Often Observe Between a Book and a Movie
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Difference In The Detailing
A book may contain as many details as possible, but it isn’t easy on the part of a movie to show each and every detail, be it the plot or the settings. Time and cost are two major factors why movies do not include so much depth, and they work under constraints. Let’s take the example of the most famous book series, Harry Potter. The beginning of the story contains more scenes of Vernon Dursley’s day than what is shown in the movie. Although not including them does not change the storyline, they do make some difference.
Difficulty To Find A Fictional Character In Real Life
Movie makers do their best to find the right person for the movie. Most of the time, they achieve the goal and enhance the character through makeup and costume. But sometimes, they fail in developing the character’s arc from within. Ronald Weasley is sharp and brave in the books, but in the movies, he is shown as a completely different person who is most afraid and can be laughed at.
An Actor Leaves The Story Changes
While writing a book no character is going to leave unless the writer’s ink allows so. But in the movies, this is not the case. A sudden demise of an actor acting in the film may lead to a change in the storyline or due to any justifiable reason if an actor refuses to continue working in the film series then also the story changes.
When Nina Dobrev, who was acting as Elena Gilbert, left the show after working for 6 seasons, the scriptwriter had to reconsider the show’s ending.
Film Makers May Change The Plot
The filmmakers may change the plot to make the story more interesting and appealing to the audience. For example, in The Vampire Diaries, the plot is completely different compared to the actual book. The theme is picked from the book but tremendous changes are made for the series. The series seems like a parallel world to the book.
Change In Dialogues
To hold the interest of the viewers the filmmakers, while writing the script, sometimes change a few dialogues written in the book. In the novel Harry and the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore asked Harry politely if he put his name in the goblet or not but in the movie to make the scene appear serious and intimidating they made Dumbledore rush toward Harry in anger.
In Movies, Characters Are Glorified
In the Harry Potter book series, Harry is shown as a guy with messed up hair and Ron with freckles, but in the movie, they both are shown as attractive. Movies often try to portray the main characters under the shield of glamour.
Let us know what differences you find in movies vs books?
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