Is it unrealistic to even attempt to make a movie?

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Post by wayfriend »

I'd like to see Benicio play a lighter roll once in a while.
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Post by Skyweir »

Forestal wrote:I, personally, think that the rape scene could be done in such a way that shows Covenant's "temporary insanity". It would be easier to stomach if there were a flash-foward of a Raver before hand - although that would mess with the timeline, but it would ease the shock of it.

Certainly there have been films made with Fouler protagonists, that I believe a Covenant movie or series would be possible, it just requires a director who understands how to portray mental illness in a suitable fashion - of which there are a few, and Covenant is definitely in the realms of mental illness for that short period.
I completely agree and I think the finer point on depicting appropriately mental illness is brilliant. It can be done .. Im thinking of that tv show Legion where this kid is diagnosed with schizophrenia .. well he turned out not to be schizophrenic .. but the interplay was well done. If a director depicts the interplay between TCs thoughts, memories (all relevant ones, life, marriage, kid, leprosy, 2 teenage girls in mini-skirts, self-loathing, everyone else loathing of him and especially him as a leper)... Legion did a good job of working in the conflux of all these conflicting thoughts, memories and emotions.

Cheers Forestal :LOLS:
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Post by Ur Dead »

With the making of Band of Brothers.. The Pacific and of course
Game of Thrones a set of mini-series could bring all
the books to the small screen...

HBO anybody??
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Re: Is it unrealistic to even attempt to make a movie?

Post by Doug0915 »

Mega Fauna Blitzkrieg wrote:I've had a fantasy of making this series into a series, tv or movie, for years and years. Either by becoming a director or a billionaire who can order improbable things done and have it happen...

But, does anyone else think that these would be ridiculously hard to faithfully adapt? Even if the plot content is true, the impact couldn't possibly be? So much of the series is internal, and emotional, psychological...

There would have to be like, an over-running narration to represent the characters thoughts over the whole series, and even then, how could they represent some of the more beautiful things? Like a person who has health sense and can see health, beauty, and emotion?

Not to mention the emotion the characters almost always have on their faces, even to regular vision.

I really don't want to offend anyone, or derail this into a debate about actors, so I will just say, most actors you ever hear about, don't really 'act'. I think the best actors are the type-cast ones, who do something so well they are stuck in it forever, and even if they attempt to, they rarely are allowed to breech that prison.

Plus all the needed special effects...I really think the reason Game of Thrones got adapted for the screen is that for fantasy, the magical/non human aspects of it are so low. And it was just easier to adapt, sort of the exact opposite of this series?
One thing that occurred to me while reading the books. There is a SIGNIFICANT amount of horror if you tried to make them into a movie. Sure, LOTR had some of that but some of the things in the First and Second Chronicles are downright gruesome.

If you cut the Horror out to make a mini-series or movie it just wouldn't be the same.
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Post by peter »

I just posted elsewhere that I think it would make a great pc/consul game! :D
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Re: Is it unrealistic to even attempt to make a movie?

Post by SleeplessOne »

Doug0915 wrote:
Mega Fauna Blitzkrieg wrote:I've had a fantasy of making this series into a series, tv or movie, for years and years. Either by becoming a director or a billionaire who can order improbable things done and have it happen...

But, does anyone else think that these would be ridiculously hard to faithfully adapt? Even if the plot content is true, the impact couldn't possibly be? So much of the series is internal, and emotional, psychological...

There would have to be like, an over-running narration to represent the characters thoughts over the whole series, and even then, how could they represent some of the more beautiful things? Like a person who has health sense and can see health, beauty, and emotion?

Not to mention the emotion the characters almost always have on their faces, even to regular vision.

I really don't want to offend anyone, or derail this into a debate about actors, so I will just say, most actors you ever hear about, don't really 'act'. I think the best actors are the type-cast ones, who do something so well they are stuck in it forever, and even if they attempt to, they rarely are allowed to breech that prison.

Plus all the needed special effects...I really think the reason Game of Thrones got adapted for the screen is that for fantasy, the magical/non human aspects of it are so low. And it was just easier to adapt, sort of the exact opposite of this series?
One thing that occurred to me while reading the books. There is a SIGNIFICANT amount of horror if you tried to make them into a movie. Sure, LOTR had some of that but some of the things in the First and Second Chronicles are downright gruesome.

If you cut the Horror out to make a mini-series or movie it just wouldn't be the same.
I think any adaptation would do well to make a virtue of the horror aspects in the chronicles; I suspect some of the more gruesome and unsettling passages in the books would actually translate really well to the screen in terms of both narrative pacing and visual impact.

I feel as though the mission to Seareach very much played out like a tragic horror story.
It is soooo well paced and filled with unsettling imagery that it practically adapts itself to visual media.

Within the mission to Seareach itself, the section where the company discover Hoerkin is absolutely chilling and again would make a terrific scene that would give most people that visceral thrill that horror films can sometimes provide.
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Post by Skyweir »

Ur Dead wrote:With the making of Band of Brothers.. The Pacific and of course
Game of Thrones a set of mini-series could bring all
the books to the small screen...

HBO anybody??
Definitely.. if it worked for GRR Martin .. so why not.

I agree with everything Elise everyone has said _ I think there's definitely enough going on to make for a well paced MS classic.
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Post by Horrim Carabal »

The problem is we need a studio head or prominent producer who's actually heard of SRD or the Chronicles.

I don't imagine many of these types read a lot of epic fantasy.

Could it happen? Yes. Will it? Doubtful.

Also SRD has said many times he wants nothing to do with any project like this...and those that tend to get made are ones where the author is an enthusiastic participant in the process, e.g. Martin.
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Post by Gaius Octavius »

Maybe SRD doesn't want everyone to know about the darker stuff in his other works? The Real Story has a lot of disturbing rape and beating scenes...about half of the novella. Nowadays, that would generate a royal shitstorm and possibly ruin his career if certain people made enough of an outrage over some of his books for it to go viral.

Then again, SRD kind of seems like an asshole from how people have described him. Not that that colors my opinion of his books, though.
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Is it unrealistic to even attempt to make a movie?

Post by SleeplessOne »

Nanothnir wrote:Maybe SRD doesn't want everyone to know about the darker stuff in his other works? The Real Story has a lot of disturbing rape and beating scenes...about half of the novella. Nowadays, that would generate a royal shitstorm and possibly ruin his career if certain people made enough of an outrage over some of his books for it to go viral.

Then again, SRD kind of seems like an asshole from how people have described him. Not that that colors my opinion of his books, though.
It's not as if the Gap series is some hidden, verboten text .. and it wasn't written 'nowadays', it was written in a pre-#metoo era ...
No doubt if the works were more widely known right now they would generate a lot of discussion and some controversy among various social reform commentators .. I for one think Donaldson has nothing to hide in his work, and would question the validity of anyone suggesting any form of censorship.

As to Donaldson seeming like 'an asshole', I have never heard or read anything that gives that impression whatsoever - what is it that you have read or heard that makes you think this is the case?
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Post by Gaius Octavius »

I just read somewhere on this forum that someone went to an Elohimfest, and SRD seemed "unfriendly." Plus I've heard that he's pretty opposed to merchandise for his books in general (which I don't entirely blame him for not wanting a movie since movies usually end up butchering the story). All of that just gave me an image of a grumpy old man. :p

Of course, he also killed off Elena. :( RIP. I miss that sexy, crazy lady.
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Post by Savor Dam »

As a serial Elohimfest attendee (and principal driver of the Andelain Taxi service ;)), I've never gotten an unfriendly vibe from SRD at these events. It is true that he is not the most social person, but he has always been a gracious guest of honor and a fascinating speaker.

While he is open to maklng movies / miniseries from his works, he recognizes the inherent compromises that requires...and just as he chafed at some of the suggestions he got from Lester DelRey back in the day, he isn't thrilled with the artistic sacrifices required of translating his books to a visual medium.
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Post by Gaius Octavius »

Probably the guy that said he got that vibe from him just caught him when he was having a bad day or something.
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Post by Forestal »

Everyone has bad days... and I think that anyone who's made something artistic can share the balking at the idea of someone twisting and torturing it to change it into another medium that it was never designed for.

(I still want to see it done, though.)
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Post by wayfriend »

Donaldson once talked about his creative control for a movie project.
StephenRDonaldson.com News wrote:I would like to emphasize that I have no control over any aspect of this process. After all, the film rights are held by Ballantine Books, not by me. I've met Winther and Orloff, and I'm convinced that their respect for and excitement about "Covenant" is genuine: for that reason, I'm starting to get excited myself. And I have no doubt that Revelstone Development will consult with me from time to time, and will take whatever I have to say seriously. But I have no actual power here. Nor do I want any. In fact, I've refused every offer to give me any power. I love movies; I hope a "Covenant" movie (or several) will be made; I hope it will be good; and I hope it will be successful. But I'm simply not qualified, either by experience or by personality, to make the kinds of decisions--and compromises--which are essential to film-making. And I have my own work to do, work which pretty much consumes all of my creative energy. So I'm rooting hard for Revelstone Development; and if Gordon, Winther, and Orloff ever want my opinion, I'll give it to them. But really this is all out of my hands.
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Post by starkllr »

Forestal wrote:Everyone has bad days... and I think that anyone who's made something artistic can share the balking at the idea of someone twisting and torturing it to change it into another medium that it was never designed for.

(I still want to see it done, though.)
As a (self-published) author myself, I can totally agree with this. I would love to see my books bought by Hollywood and turned into movies (and I'd sign the contract in a heartbeat if I was ever given the chance) but I don't think I could personally make the changes required to translate them from book to screen, even though I have a pretty good idea of what they'd have to be.
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Post by Lazy Luke »

This was going to be posted in the Alien:Covenant thread in Flicks, but here is probable more realistic.

So last year when Alien:Covenant hit the cinemas here in the UK, I was wondering when to go see it. I mean, come on, Covenant! Who in their right mind here on Kevinswatch wouldn't go see it.

Luckily, Ridley Scott popped up on the BBC radio 4 programme, Front Row. He spoke about the movie, about this and that, then the conversation moved to his spiritual beliefs. He told the interviewer that he used to be an athiest but was now an agnostic. But he still riled orginized religion for what it was ... but then he checked himself, saying that he shouldn't say too much against the church as he might suddenly be zapped by a bolt of lightning down from above.
As much as I tried, given the unique circumstances, I could not shake off the impression of Lord Mhoram, beset by nightmare monsters, wielding his Staff. Or the lightning striking the pinnicle of Kevin's Watch when Thomas Covenant first entered the Land.

So is it unrealistic to even attempt to make a movie?
Everytime I think of Ridley Scott directing a Thomas Covenant movie I think of the Ur-viles as Alien creatures.
Back in the 1980s Ur-vile Alien monsters would have been super scary. Maybe they still can be, if when set in a Lordy-Rings type world they remain strictly adult viewing.
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Post by Horrim Carabal »

I still say a movie could be done. but I am starting to think a serialized tv series would be a better option. Surely some network exec might take a flyer on one of the most respected fantasy series of all time?
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Post by Skyweir »

I agree Horrim ... Id like to see it across many episodes .. to ensure not too much is lost .. of the Land, the inhabitants of the Land .. and of course to ensure that the context is made clear.
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Post by Ur Dead »

Whatever happens don't let National Lampoon make the movie.

Thomas Covenant played by Mick Jagger
Mhoram played by Keith Richard
Atiaran played by Cyndi Lauper
Bannor play by Gilbert Gottfried
and special guest Warwick Davis as Saltheart Foamfollower.
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