Forrest Gump: comic representations of the recent American past

Mestrado em Línguas, Literaturas e Culturas - Estudos InglesesO presente trabalho propõe-se pesquisar a abordagem histórica das décadas de 50, 60 e 70 nas comédias americanas contemporâneas. Deste modo espero destacar os acontecimentos da história americana no passado recente que se prestaram a uma abordagem cinematográfica e foram retratados em comédias. As reacções a esses filmes permitem ainda reflectir sobre os valores culturais transmitidos nos filmes de comédia. Esta dissertação também aborda as características e funções da comédia enquanto género cinematográfico. Na fundamentação teórica também são abordadas algumas questões ligadas à adaptação cinematográfica. A vertente prática da dissertação centra-se no filme Forrest Gump, explorando a sua relevância histórica, e a adaptação ao cinema. ABSTRACT: This dissertation is intended to research historical approaches to the fifties, sixties and seventies in contemporary comedy films. Doing so, I expect to cast some light on recent American events that have proved to be cinematic and likely to be explored in a comic perspective. Viewers´ response to these films is also to be analysed so as to reflect on the cultural values rendered in comedy forms. Moreover, this dissertation includes some thought on the narrative and generic features of comedy as a film genre. The theoretical section also covers some issues raised by film adaptation. The practical research section focuses on the film Forrest Gump, exploring both its historical significance, and the precise nature of this adaptation

Issues and Challenges of Adapting a Creative Work

This paper presents an overview of the process of adapting a creative work (i.e., books, films, works of art, etc.) focusing on the unique issues and challenges of bringing two distinctive types of media and persons from different disciplines together to create a successful adaptation. While the nature of adaptation is change, the process to accomplish that transition is complex. This research discusses the media involved, some of the key people involved in the process (and their expectations of the end product), and other factors upon which the success or failure of an adaptation depends. Three main areas examined include how the skill and choices made by the adapter can impact the original work and the adaptation (both positively and negatively), how creative visions can mesh or clash, and whether some creative works should not be changed from their original form. This research study includes numerous articles on the Internet, on-line resources, Library resources, books, television, movies, as well as personal observations of the subject matter. This research can assist a potential adapter or creator of a work in making informed decisions about the viability of undertaking an adaptation project. Further in-depth study should be conducted prior to beginning any project of adaptation, since while some of the issues and challenges are evident and concrete, others are subjective in nature.Kayla SiddellHonors DiplomHonors CollegeCunningham Memorial Library, Terre Haute, Indiana State UniversityUndergraduateTitle from document title page. Document formatted into pages: 41

Film adaptation for knowing audiences: analysing fan on-line responses to the end of Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012)

Critics of film adaptations of literary works have historically evaluated the success or failure of the movie on the grounds of its fidelity to the original book. In contrast popular arguments for medium specificity have questioned whether fidelity is possible when adapting one medium to another. This article follows recent academic work which has focused awareness on the processes of adaptation by examining evidence of reading and viewing experience in online and social media forums.      The broader research project explored the online Twilight fan community as an example of a ‘knowing audience’ acquainted with both novel and film. Here we focus on the strong response within fan forums to the surprise ending of the final film adaptation Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012). The research uses the forum, blog and facebook page as sites for evidence of reading experience as defined by the Reading Experience Database (RED). The analysis sheds new light on the tensions that exist between fidelity and deviation and the article positions fan audiences as intensive readers who gained unexpected pleasure from a deviation from a canon. It argues that fans are also collaborators within the adaptation process who respect authorial authority and discuss the author’s, scriptwriter’s and director’s interpretation of the novel for the screen. The research identifies the creative and commercial advantages to be gained from a collaborative and open dialogue between adaptors and fans.  Keywords: Adaptation, fandom, online fan communities, Twilight, reading experience, film, audiences, fidelity, canon, collaboration, screenwriting, franchise, Stephenie Meyer, Melissa Rosenberg, Bill Condo

V for Vendetta: from books and book markets into real worlds

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Tradução, Florianópolis, 2015.Movimentos inovadores parecem questionar ou violar os limites entre gêneros narrativos específicos, tais como o romance gráfico. Nossa exploração tem seu foco em um romance gráfico específico e sintomático, V for Vendetta, de Alan Moore, traduzido para o português brasileiro como V de Vingança. As questões que esta dissertação tenta responder são: como o trabalho de Moore chegou ao Brasil? E como ele se desenvolveu ao ponto de tornar-se um ícone para protestos massivos? Com este fim, este trabalho analisa a posição do romance gráfico no Brasil, suas origens ao redor do mundo e como ele chegou a terras brasileiras. Entender o livro é um passo importante, assim como conhecer se escritor. Também é necessário ver mais de perto a história da companhia que primeiro publicou V de Vingança no Brasil, Editora Globo, que desempenhou um papel importante no desenvolvimento do gênero neste país. A história dos quadrinhos ao redor do mundo e como seu subgênero conhecido como graphic novel emergiu é também analisada. V de Vingança teve sua repercussão nos jornais, e isto é mostrado como um passo importante para a posição de tal obra na mídia. Também é obrigatório entender a influência do cinema em propagar a obra escrita para uma audiência maior. A ascensão da imagem de uma máscara usada por um anti-herói em uma obra de ficção prova ser um ícone para protestos em diferentes partes do mundo, o que inclui uma forte repercussão no Brasil, um país que recebeu uma versão traduzida da obra original mais de duas décadas antes. Finalmente, faz-se uma análise dos livros de um ponto de vista que inclui ideologia, estrutura e linguagem.Abstract : Innovative movements seem to question or violate the borderlines between particular narrative genres, such as the graphic novel. Our exploration focuses on one particular and symptomatic graphic novel, Alan Moore?s V for Vendetta, translated into Brazilian Portuguese as V de Vingança. The questions this dissertation tries to answer are: how did Moore?s work arrive in Brazil? And how has it developed to the point of becoming an icon for massive protests? In order to do so, this work analyzes the position of the graphic novel in Brazil, its origins around the world and how it arrived in Brazilian lands. Understanding the book is an important step, as well as getting to know its writer. It is also necessary to take a closer look at the history of the company that first published V de Vingança in Brazil, Editora Globo, which had also played an important role in developing the genre in this country. The history of comic books around the world and how its subgenre known as graphic novel emerged is also analyzed. V de Vingança had its repercussion on the newspapers, and this is shown as an important step to the position of such work in the media. It is also mandatory to understand the influence of cinema in spreading the written work to a larger audience. The ascension of the image of a mask worn by an antihero in a fictional work is proved as an icon for protests in different parts of the world, which includes a strong repercussion in Brazil, a country which received a translated version of the original work more than two decades before. Finally, there is an analysis of the books, from a point-of-view that includes ideology, structure and language

The portrayal of the Protestant minister in American motion pictures, 1951-1960, and its implications for the church today

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityProblem: To assess by the use of content analysis the Hollywood portrayal of the Protestant minister in feature films produced between 1951 and 1960, and state implications of this portrayal for the church in terms of recruitment for the ministry and expectations of the clerical role. Procedure: Categories of analysis were developed from a survey of the literature on the Protestant ministry and from existing content schedules used in motion picture research. A content schedule was devised to assess (1) the setting of the ministerial portrayal, (2) the minister as a person, (3) the minister and his family, (4) the minister's inter-personal relationships, (5) the minister's task, and (6) the minister's theology [TRUNCATED

Barflies, tramps, heroes and whores: Charles Bukowski and the cinema

Charles Bukowski died in 1994 but many important examples of his writing – including 2,000 pages of poetry and 1,000 pages of correspondence – have only been published posthumously, resulting in no thorough academic investigations of his complete works, to date. My contention throughout is that Bukowski’s entire oeuvre – from poetry to prose – would not be what it is without the major influence of cinema. Furthermore, much of Bukowski’s work has been adapted to film since his death, resulting in a new focus on his contribution. I take into account all of Bukowski’s primary work, including his prolific correspondence to friends, writers and directors, as well as further secondary sources on twentieth century cinema, literature and modernism to help place Bukowski within his wider cultural context. I examine the clear line of influence stemming from Charlie Chaplin to Bukowski and his peers, and show the many similarities between Chaplin’s Tramp and Bukowski’s literary alter-ego Henry Chinaski. Furthermore, I examine the major influence of key actors such as Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando on Bukowski’s handling of male identity, and the somewhat parallel influence of actresses such as Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot on his female characters. This analysis reveals that much of Bukowski’s performative sexism is a direct reflection of what he saw in the cinema. I also examine Bukowski’s screenplay Barfly, and the autobiographical novel Hollywood that the film adaptation of Barfly inspired. I pay particular attention to Bukowski’s emphasis on narrative form over lyric, examining how this corresponds with the narrative structure of film; how Bukowski uses allusion to cinema to make his work immediately familiar and accessible; and how Bukowski’s employment of enjambement is clearly intended to keep the eye moving, just like in a film

Between the Panels: How the Interactions Between Commerce and Art Shape Superhero Comic Book Film Adaptations (2000-13)

This dissertation’s principal contribution to knowledge lies in its demonstration of the thesis that while economic considerations are ultimately determinant, artistic considerations have a degree of influence in shaping contemporary superhero comic book film adaptations and, as a consequence, the genre as a whole. Specifically, the dissertation argues that while the description of economic considerations as determinant in the last instance is accurate in relation to the long term development of the genre, in terms of each individual superhero film, a more accurate description is that economic considerations are determinant in the first instance. It focuses on the period 2000-13, at the beginning of which the superhero film genre was restarted by Bryan Singer’s X-Men and during which franchises such as The Dark Knight and Iron Man achieved unprecedented box office success for studios such as Warner Bros. and the newly created Marvel Studios. The dissertation considers how the relationship between art and commerce has been theorised historically, with particular emphasis on Marx’s mode of production and superstructure formulation and the subsequent modifications to it, including those of Louis Althusser. The dissertation uses a multiple case study comprised of four significant film franchises: Fox’s first X-Men trilogy, Universal and Marvel Studios’ Hulk films, Marvel Studios’ Iron Man trilogy and Warner Bros.’ Dark Knight trilogy. Each case study identifies specific changes made to the comic book source material in adaptation and by combining readings of the films with a consideration of their commercial contexts, demonstrates the extent to which each adaptation change is symptomatic of commercial or artistic logic