Kevin's Watch

I like Myste's and Believer's ideas for the opening scenes. Myste's scenario is one that's been knocking around in my head, too. I like this way of establishing TC's character for the audience.

Believer's ideas could come into play during TC's walk into town: do flashbacks of the leprosarium with the horribly disfigured patient, and the doctor's droning speech. Yes, it can make for a depressing start, but if it's done in a visually interesting way, then it shouldn't be a problem. Besides, this ain't Harry Potter. Or LOTR. The Chronicles has mature themes, and we (and they, the filmmakers) shouldn't be afraid to lay them out at the beginning, if we want to hold true to the idea that Covenant is for an adult audience.

We also shouldn't forget about Joan. An alternative scenario in my mind is to have the movie start with the initial drive to the hospital through the snow months before. We see Joan's love and concern for her husband turn to horror and panic as she learns of the leprosy. We cut to her confrontation with Tom in his hospital room and see her abandonment of him. We are left with a bereft man lying stupefied in his hospital bed. Then we cut months later to the present situation, with the walk into town. I think this really helps the viewer to understand right away the emotional wasteland that Covenant inhabits, the impact that being cut off from his wife had on him.

When I first saw Unforgiven, that film struck me as having the kind of visual and emotional starkness and honesty that would befit a Covenant movie. When I see William Munny on his isolated farm, I see in this haggard and lonely man a kinship to the outcast Covenant. There is just this intense verisimilitude about Munny's character that speaks volumes without words. This is also why I think an actor with the appropriate "look" can do much to convey the internal turmoil of Covenant's character. All you have to do is look at the gaunt, severe lines of Clint Eastwood's face as William Munny: it's not hard to imagine the emotional state of this man. I'm not saying Eastwood is the only one to play Covenant, I'm just providing an example for the sake of argument.

Wow, what a good analogy, MM--I hadn't thought of Unforgiven. What a great film...and I don't even like Clint Eastwood. But it was just such an amazing piece of work, very atmospheric...emotive yet utterly unsentimental. (LOTR is a fabulous trilogy, and the movies are incredible, but they're also an example of high melodrama--not melodramatic in a bad way, but in the sense that everything in Middle Earth is larger than life.)

I think for the Chrons, it'd be crucial to make things as bleakly realistic as possible, at least while establishing TC's character. Muted colors. Cloudy days. People wearing lots of beiges and browns, a la The Ice Storm. Stuff that reveals the deadness inside. Which, for Covenant, is a physical truth. He's literally dead inside--he can't feel anything.

True, but then when you get into the land... it has to be able to convey the amazing quality of healthsense.

If it were okay to be cheesy, it'd be like doing the real world in b&w, and the land in color. but there's got to be a better way.

I read about the movie on AICN and have been freaking out all day, finally I remembered about this site, came here to see if there was any discussion, saw the post from John, and now read the theories on how to introduce Covenant's leprosy.

I AM FREAKING OUT!!! THIS MOVIE COULD BE SO AWESOME!!!

God, if it's done with HALF the quality of the LOTR flicks it would be the best. I LOVE the idea of the real world being gray and brown and cloudy, and the first view of the Land from the top of Kevin's Watch - a vast expanse of green - the trees and the animals and rivers and the beauty of it. Oooh ooh ooh!

God they better find a studio for this.

And Mhoram's battle with like a million Ur-viles at the end of PTP! I love that scene in the book, I stayed up all night to read it and when I did I was jumping around my room (this was like 10 years ago, when I lived with my mom) at 3 in the morning cheering - imagine it done well in a film... EGAD!

It always takes a long time to make a movie. If these men have been fans for 20 years (probably more) then they will take the time to do it right. I truly feel thrilled that it is being concidered -- even at the very initial stages of development. And it is being concidered by seasoned artists.
Almost makes you feel your part of it... "I was on Kevin's Watch when I first heard that it may be a reality to see LFB on the big screen". Hey we have to wait over 2 years for FR what's waiting longer for the movie?

AICN? Aint It Cool News?

Where is it mentioned? I read this site every day, and I never saw anything, and I could not find it with search.

Did someone mention it in a talkback?

Thanks, Myste, I almost missed this! What scares me a little is that they might bring Roland Emmerich back to direct this.

By the way, Mr. KABC, I just had the strangest deja vue (or whatever you might call it), because I am currently downloading a Mr. K & April show. For a moment I thought I was eventually getting schizophrenic.

Torrent wrote:Thanks, Myste, I almost missed this! What scares me a little is that they might bring Roland Emmerich back to direct this.

By the way, Mr. KABC, I just had the strangest deja vue (or whatever you might call it), because I am currently downloading a Mr. K & April show. For a moment I thought I was eventually getting schizophrenic.

Ah, another fan of the Almighty MR. KABC! Never forget, "No guests, no topics, and no screeners!"

Thanks everybody for the warm welcome.

I wish I could give out more info, but we're not at that stage. But don't worry... You'll get the skinny as it happens...

We're gonna do this thing right...

I sure hope so.

A lot of book to the screen going on these days.

Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (1st one) was good but I can't wait for the new one
Rings Trilogy - Great
Dune - 1st one - interesting - 2nd one - boring

Adding one to the film version of great books:

Band of Brothers - Phenomenal

My initial dread is starting to lift due to John Orloff's response. I'm beginning to think this can work, given the enthusiasm he (you if you are reading this) seem to have for the project.

I have an idea about how to incorporate the health sense of the land. During the beginning of the film, the color can be slightly muted and all of the vents in the theaters turned off. Then, when TC awakes on Kevins Watch, oxygen is pumped in and the color grows to full strength! How's that for Sensaround!

Urbanite Roadroamer wrote:Adding one to the film version of great books:

Band of Brothers - Phenomenal

My initial dread is starting to lift due to John Orloff's response. I'm beginning to think this can work, given the enthusiasm he (you if you are reading this) seem to have for the project.

I have an idea about how to incorporate the health sense of the land. During the beginning of the film, the color can be slightly muted and all of the vents in the theaters turned off. Then, when TC awakes on Kevins Watch, oxygen is pumped in and the color grows to full strength! How's that for Sensaround!

I don't want a movie to be made. No matter what they do, it won't match up to the books - we'll all be throwing rocks at the screen yelling, "THAT's not what happened!!!"

I remember watching Stephen King's Tommyknockers on TV a few years ago - the movie was quite faithful to the book and exactly how I imagined it. THAT IS, until the last 20 minutes or so, at the climax of the story. All of a sudden, it was like the movie producers had run out of money or patience, and completely just ended the story on a whole different note!

SHRIIIIIIEEEEEKKKKKK!!! "That's NOT how it was in the book!!!" The new ending was LAME and completely violated the premise of the entire story.

I'm just afraid of someone handing us a pile of Joel Schumacher CRAP and calling it TCTC - the Movie. (with nipples and a large codpiece on Lord Foul's Batsuit)

John Orloff is respected; I have several friends who think Band of Brothers is very well scripted.

MrKABC wrote:I remember watching Stephen King's Tommyknockers on TV a few years ago - the movie was quite faithful to the book and exactly how I imagined it. THAT IS, until the last 20 minutes or so, at the climax of the story. All of a sudden, it was like the movie producers had run out of money or patience, and completely just ended the story on a whole different note!

Of course, there are some of us (well, me, anyway) who think most of Stephen King's books end like that--great stuff till the last 60 pages, where he obviously craps out because he can't think how to end it. A true master of suspense, but not so great at the climax.

I do understand your point though! But, I had the same fears about LOTR, and I found that the movies were done well enough that not only could I sit through them without shrieking, but enjoy them as well--and enjoy discussing what they got wrong afterwards. The fact that someone could pull it off with LOTR makes me more hopeful about the Chrons.

I agree, BoB is phenomenal - good luck, Mr. Orloff!

I'd recommend reading "Band of Brothers", then watching the miniseries. The book was exciting, emotional, and amazing in its scope and attention to detail. The miniseries was exciting, emotional, and amazing in its scope and attention to detail; easily the best motion picture made about World War II. No small feat for a TV series.

The series stayed remarkably true to its very real subject matter - and yet in many ways was very different than what I envisioned as I read (for the life of me, David Schwimmer is the LAST guy I'd see playing a sadistic jackass of a CO - but he pulled it off). I'm stoked to see the Land through John's eyes!

A friend is buying the dvd set of Band of Brothers today, actually. We have talking about it the last few days.

Myste wrote:

MrKABC wrote:I remember watching Stephen King's Tommyknockers on TV a few years ago - the movie was quite faithful to the book and exactly how I imagined it. THAT IS, until the last 20 minutes or so, at the climax of the story. All of a sudden, it was like the movie producers had run out of money or patience, and completely just ended the story on a whole different note!

Of course, there are some of us (well, me, anyway) who think most of Stephen King's books end like that--great stuff till the last 60 pages, where he obviously craps out because he can't think how to end it. A true master of suspense, but not so great at the climax.

I do understand your point though! But, I had the same fears about LOTR, and I found that the movies were done well enough that not only could I sit through them without shrieking, but enjoy them as well--and enjoy discussing what they got wrong afterwards. The fact that someone could pull it off with LOTR makes me more hopeful about the Chrons.

I agree with the point that a lot of Stephen King's books' endings have a lot to be desired. (The Dark Tower 7 comes to mind) - but The Tommyknockers wasn't one of them.

I agree that Peter Jackson did a WONDERFUL job on LOTR... but for every cinematic genius like Peter Jackson there are hundreds of no-talent hacks like Joel Schumacher and Renny Harlin.

I guess it remains to be seen, but I am very apprehensive about the prospect of a TCTC movie - I think the odds of it being done RIGHT are pretty low.

Look, I think we should all just wait and see how the movie goes instead of doomsaying. I'm going to give the guys a chance.