Although the novel relies heavily on visual aspects of the text, these could translate to the screen in interesting ways. For example, characters in the novel who learn to maintain their privacy by blocking out text with black squares could, in the miniseries, learn to put themselves on mute, or scramble the audio of scenes they are in. Where the fourth wall is broken, the series could use movies like The Truman Show or Cabin in the Woods as a model. I feel that this would be better remixed as a miniseries than a movie for a few reasons. First, there’s quite a bit that needs to happen; probably too much to squeeze into the length of a film. Throughout the book, we also meet several characters who appear for a few pages and are never seen again. These one-off characters, a baby who can see the future, an “origami surgeon,” and a woman made of literal paper, although they don’t necessarily add to the story itself, are important in helping build the universe, and wouldn’t be allowed their time to shine if presented in a movie.
I wonder if it might work through everyone's phone? So instead of muting, perhaps they turn off their screen? I'm thinking that the "paper" becomes screens. I need to read this book!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea of exploring new ways for characters in television breaking the fourth wall by mimicking how they have control of their own story in the novel. How do you think you would portray Saturn in the remix? Does he appear as a physical character in the original text? And, given the army that goes into film and television productions, what role would Saturn take on? Script-writer, writer of the original text, or director?
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, once one of the townspeople finds a way into Saturn's world, he becomes aware that the fourth wall is broken and is able to travel back and fourth. I guess I pictured Saturn as the director, because he's calling all of the shots in the book.
DeleteThis novel sounds awesome and I like the idea you have suggested for the remix. I would absolutely check out both! I like Mike's idea for screens instead of paper. Would Saturn need to be the director in this remix? We could see him step out from behind the camera, perhaps, and have the show suddenly go into a more handheld or even phone camera look as a different person on-set takes over the filming process...
ReplyDeleteI'm a little upset that I've never heard of this novel before because it sounds super interesting, and now I feel like I definitely have to check it out! While I obviously haven't read it before, I agree with you in that a miniseries would probably work better than a movie here - and miniseries are all the rage right now. I'd also be really interested to see how the characters are portrayed and how the series would be shot - I think Mike's suggestion about the paper becoming screens is a very interesting idea, and would work well here. It seems like CGI and special effects makeup would definitely be necessary for this too, and I'd be so interested to see how these characters physically look (like the woman made of paper), because people can do some crazy things in film these days. As for the role of Saturn, I think it would be interesting to have him direct, but have Hitchcock-like cameos every now and then. It would also be interesting to have Frederico yell into the camera, like he's yelling at Saturn behind it, and have that footage somehow make it into the final cut.
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