"I'll start with the obvious: even the thinnest novel is densely packed. There's just too much good stuff! That's partly why early studio heads preferred short stories and potboilers to classic doorstoppers like War and Peace . While you can write a novel to any length (and Tolstoy tried), knowing the reader will stop and start at will, in film you have a painfully finite amount of time before the audience itches to leave."
"Even a page-turner like Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley resulted in an Anthony Minghella rough cut of almost four hours, as well as a Netflix show by master screenwriter Steven Zaillian twice that length. More to the point: screenplays use words for a completely different purpose than novels, articles, or short stories do. Those forms revel in interiority: narrators (omniscient, first person, or other) tell us ev"
Adaptation requires distinct craft, compression, and structural transformation to fit finite screen time and cinematic needs. Separate awards for original and adapted screenplays reflect those different demands. Public perception may assume adaptation is straightforward, but practitioners must condense dense source material and reshape pacing, structure, and character. Novels often contain far more material than can translate directly to film, producing very long rough cuts or extended series when attempted verbatim. Screenplays prioritize external action, economy, and visual storytelling rather than interior narration, forcing adapters to make bold choices to preserve themes in cinematic form.
Read at Filmmaker Magazine
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