Film is a medium that thrives on adaptation, with films drawing on novels, plays, comics, and other media.
This module aims to introduce students to the issues surrounding the translation of a work into a different medium, and will explore the issue of cinematic representation and aesthetics through issues related to adaptations of novels. It will consider the various stages of adaptation from original text, to screenplay to film, allowing students to develop a keen understanding of the unique ways in which different media construct narratives.
Assessment
Coursework makes up 100% of the assessment, as follows:
A presentation (30%)
A critical essay: 4,000 words (70%)
Convenor
Dr Brian Hoyle
Teaching
Week 1: John Fowles’ The Collector + The Collector (William Wyler, 1965)
Week 2: Henry James’ Washington Square + The Heiress (William Wyler, 1965) & Washington Square (Agnieszka Holland, 1997)
Week 3: E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India + A Passage to India (David Lean, 1984)
Week 4: Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations + Great Expectations (David Lean, 1948) & Great Expectations (Mike Newell, 2012)