From page to screen- Gen

Nowadays, it could easily be argued that some of the best films are ones that originated as books- not those come up in a board room with directors arguing which would make the most money for them but rather ideas that were cherished and nurtured into a flourishing story.

James Bond. A true classic film. But first a set of stories, written by Ian Fleming in the 1950s beginning with Casino Royale and ending with the Man with the Golden Gun. Fleming based Bond off of his time in the Naval Intelligence Division, saying that Bond himself “was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war”. What brings the films to life is not just the fantastic directing or acting, but the soul and life that was breathed into them by Fleming. He knew the characteristics (charisma, intelligence etc) that Bond would have because he’d seen them in real life. By basing the film off of these books, the films could work upon a character and world that had already been imagined and envisioned, allowing for mastery to be perfected.

Moreover, every Christmas, children gather around the TV to see two marrying scarecrows, or the Gruffalo, or the Stickman. Julia Donaldson’s fabulous storybooks were created into a vivid display of her passion. Every story that has been dramatised has been received well and each carefully animated character seen by many across the nation, coinciding with many of Donaldson’s books being voted the ‘UK’s favourite bedtime story’. So, should more children’s programmes take inspiration from the books we used to read? Would this bring a little more joy to our world, or should we just stick with the colour and noise we broadcast currently?

Off Campus. The Love Hypothesis. People We Meet On Vacation. Many of the rom-coms blessing our screens these few years have been based off of novels of the same title. Each one has been a hit! Is this because Elle Kennedy, for example, has been able to weave the complex emotions of love and pain throughout the Off Campus series and the actors have been able to replicate it? Or is it their real-life chemistry that brings it together? One could argue that due to each author’s penmanship and the building of their worlds, which means so much to them, makes the chemistry far easier for the actors to replicate. Therefore, please!!! can we have more romcom books adapted onto screen.

There are soooooooooooo many more books that have been turned into brilliant films/series, like Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Help, Divergent, The Hunger Games, Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing, Project Hail Mary, The Odyssey, Carrie and thousands upon thousands more. So, thank goodness for books, otherwise we wouldn’t have these gems!