Adapting Works to Different Types of Media

     There is many different types of media: movie, books, video games, comics, etc. The two different types of medias I am going to talk about is a book being transformed into a movie. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was first written as book by J.K. Rowling and was transformed into a movie by the director, Alfonso Cuarón. For the reasons below the book is my favourite, the extra detail within it makes me more interested than the movie, also I am someone who liked details and knowing what the character is thinking, you do not get that when you just watch the movie.

     A difference from the book to the movie, is the fact that they have a different timeline. The director had to change the timeline from J.K Rowling's original idea because the movie would have been super long, and the movie would not have has as much action. Movies are based on action, and not so much detail because then it would not catch the audiences attention and therefore would not be as successful. If the timeline played the same way, they would not have been able to focus on more important points in the plot. The director has to pick and choose from the book, or change some parts in this case. An example is when Harry Potter gets his Fire-bolt. In the book he gets it at Christmas from an anonymous person, which then Professor McGonagall has to take away to search for any bugs. She was required to do this due to the fact that Sirius Black was out to get Harry and the they did not want the broomstick having any dark magic within it that could hurt Harry. He was not allowed to have it until a couple months after Christmas break and when the Professors knew it was safe. In the movie though, Harry gets his broomstick at the very end of the movie. After he learns that Sirius is a free man and was not out to kill Harry. In the package with the broomstick, a feather that gives away that it was from Sirius, and is clearly no harm to Harry, but just a present. Also, the teachers aren't given any alert on it, and it is not taken from Harry. Another timeline mishap was when Mr. Weasley tells Harry about Sirius. In the book, Harry was heading downstairs to grab something for Ron from the kitchen table, and he accidentally eavesdropped on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They were discussing how Mr. Weasley wanted to tell Harry about how Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to go after Harry, but Molly did not want that, because she thought Fudge did not want Harry to know. Though in the movie, Mr. Weasley tells Harry during dinner, and Molly does not seem fazed by it.

     Another difference is how there is more detail within the book. If the director had all the detail from J.K. Rowling's book, the movie would not be as big of a hit as it is. It would be to long, and the audience would not want to sit through a movie that long. This one example that is when Professor Lupin gives Harry the chocolate after the dementor trespasses onto the train while they were on there way to Hogwarts. When he was with the dementor he goes all cold, and feels like he will never be happy again. The dementor sucks all happiness and warmth from him, and everyone around him. In the book, it shows how the chocolate helps him, and when Lupin gives Harry the chocolate it brings back the warmth and happiness. In the movie, no explanation is given, Lupin only says it will make him feel better. It would of been difficult to prove what the chocolate does for Harry in the movie, without someone explaining it using their words. It was more interesting having Lupin just telling him it will make him feel better and leave it at, without dragging it on.

     Lastly, the director cut out some of the scenes that are in the book. Once again, he had to pick and choose what he was going to use from the book. There was only a couple scenes he missed while making the final cut, if he wanted to add every scene from the book and put it in the movie, it may have pleased some Harry Potter fans, but also some may have not liked it due to the fact that it just seems to drag on. One scene they seemed to have missed was when Sirius Black sneaks into the Gryffindor room in the middle of the night. Ron thinks he is trying to attack him because Sirius has a knife, but truthfully he was after Ron's rat Scabbers, who was actually Peter Pettigrew. This scene was one I wanted to see in the movie, but it changed from J.K. Rowling's original idea to Sirius Black almost getting into the Gryffindor room and causing the school to go in a lock down in order to search for him. This was more suspenseful and entertaining, therefore the director changed it to this idea instead of what J.K. Rowling had in the book.

     The director had to make some scenes different or even change the plot a little from what J.K. Rowling's original idea in order to make the movie just as interesting as the book. The transformation from the book to the movie did change it, only because if they did not change some things within the book, the movie would be six hours long. Even though J.K. Rowling's ideas were still present within the movie, only a few things were done differently, such as the timeline, and missing details.

Mini-Review

     During this year\s class of Media Studies, we covered and analysed many different things from silent films to music videos to comics. Now of these were better than others, but I guess it can't always be fun. Within this blog I am going to review five topics we studied in this class.

1. The Music Videos

     Personally I love music, I am constantly listening to it, even when I shouldn't in class, oops... Analyzing the music videos we watched within class, then the blog we had to do about it was fun and interesting, before now I never really paid much attention to the music video, I prefer to just listen to the song. You can blame Miley Cyrus for that one. Anyways, some music videos are still good, some follow along with the song, and then there's others that don't go along at all *cough* Miley Cyrus *cough*. It opened my eyes though, because sometimes you may think the song means something, but once you watch the video, and the story line within the video it can give you a completely different concept of what the song could really mean. I  also really enjoyed making my own music video. I used to do them for fun with the Video Star app that I used for the project, so it was nice to use it again for a purpose. Mr.Edwards said it was the hardest options out of the three we were given, but I found it super easy and creative, oh and while I am on that topic, you never did give me the mark for how well I did on that... But I really did enjoy making it, and it was so fun to do so. I think making the music video was my favourite part out of the whole class.

2. The Truman Show

     The Truman Show was a movie about a man inside his own little world (literally) and he is the star of his own reality show, but there is a plot twist. He didn't know he was a star in a reality show, making it a true reality TV show, minus the fact that the entire planet he believes he lives on is fake, minor details though. I believe that this was a good movie and I loved the ending. Truman had the perfect world and it revolved around him. Maybe too perfect because he started having doubts on this place, and wanted to leave the little town he grew up in. No matter how hard the producer tried to stop him from leaving, Truman didn't want to be in this false world anymore. He faced his fear of the water, to try to escape this false reality, and even though he was scared of what was on the outside, he still left. After learning his whole life was a lie, he handled it really well, better than I would. It made for a really interesting movie in my opinion, and a cool sequel would be showing his life in the real world and how he is handling it. It was amusing and funny to watch. This was one of my favourite movies we watched and that I actually paid attention to. Also, I found it inspiring how he faced his fear in order to find the truth about this false world, and how the story looked like he was trying to reconnect with his love that was no longer on the show. The Truman Show was a good movie and something I would watch again out of school.

3. Movie Making

     I really enjoyed making the movies we did in the class. I really do like filming, and being creative with a camera. It's something I enjoy to do in my free time, like the music videos, so doing this movie was a fun way to expand and learn more about about camera angles or shots. Filming has always been a side thing that I have enjoyed, and wanted to do, but never have had time or creative ideas of what to do. So making our silent film was a really cool experience, and a really fun assignment that we did. Other than the silent film I also liked making Shem Lives and Christmas in 310. Those were fun to film and I really liked how they came out. These assignments have really brought me out of my comfort zone. I am not really a group project person, so I thought I wasn't going to like these assignment, but it really surprised me on how much I enjoyed doing all the movies we did as a group.

4. Dating Naked

     This has to be one of the funniest and most disturbing reality TV shows I have to watched. Keep in mind I don't have cable at home and never got the chance to watch Honey Boo Boo. I liked watching the Bachelor, Bachelorette, and the other ones they have came out with, when I had cable, and this reality show was kind of just like it. Except these people weren't dressed, and the dates weren't as bad. I wish we got to watch more of it during this semester because it was funny and amusing. It was a cliche though, with the different clashing personalities and the girls fighting over the 'hotter' guys. You always have the girl who hits on all the guys, the one who drinks way more than they should, the bad boy, the smart one, the dramatic one, and so on. Also how they managed to have their date and not have a clue of what they were going to do, but somehow stumble upon a boat or treasure chest, you could tell how fake it was. It was one of those shows that are so bad, that they are good, and personally I would watch it if I had nothing better to do.

5. Viral Video (Kangaroo - Remi Gaillard)

     Viral Friday was one of my favourite part of this class, and this was one of the first viral videos we watched as a class. This Kangaroo video has honestly been my favourite throughout the whole semester. I thought it was so funny to watch and a really good idea for a video. To see a person dressed up in any costume and do stupid and humorous things would be such a thrill to see in real life. These are my favourite types of videos to watch online, with some guy just doing idiotic things for other peoples humor. Well, minus the people in the video, like the guy who was pushed into the water, or the store owners where he made a mess. All of Remi's videos like this would are also so funny, I also like his Pac-Man video with him being Pac-Man and having the ghosts following him around the mall, but his kangaroo video is definitely my favourite out of all his videos.

Music Video

Thanks for the Memories by Fallout Boy

Kendra and Isaac

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     We did a music video on the song Thanks For The Memories by Fall Out Boy. Our visual was that a guy goes to the fortune teller and is shown what he has tried to forget, after this it shows what the fortune teller saw; a one night stand. The video is not in order of appearance but followed something a bit more backwards, because it makes it seem like they are memories that come back in a random order. In the flash backs it shows how the two meet in a hotel room, and them leaving the next morning, implying a one night stand, which is even said in some of the lyrics. it shows how he is looking forward to the future but still has another one night stand, 'Been looking forward to the future, but my eye sight is going bad.'

     Our video fits the song more lyrically than musically. As a team we made the video based off of the lyrics and made it ours in the video while still keeping to the instrumental part of the song. We also added some things that you see in other popular music videos, cars and directly singing to the camera but also looking away, which is becoming popular. These techniques will help sell the song, because our video shows what the song is about, and it shows what is in more popular videos.

Music Video Analysis

   Kendra Hunks            

   Adam Lambert - Better Than I Know Myself

     

     I believe this video can be a realistic view of the world, because it shows the inner battle, or demon within a person. This video shows two different views, the good side or the side that is shown to other people, and the bad side which is the inner voice. In this video he is trying his best to live on with the demon who is inside of him, and the inner voice needs the good side to keep away from the edge. While in the end, the inner demon takes over by not giving him the oxygen (or space) he needs in order to survive, but the demon ends up bringing the good side out, and he turns into one person instead of it being two different personalities. For if the video fitting the song, it truly depends on who you ask. Originally it was about the guy pushing away his girl, but lets her know that he needs her because she knows him 'better than he knows himself' but Adam Lambert took his own opinion on the song by saying there is a light side and a dark side to every person. At times it is difficult to have that balance in your life, you can't be complete without having both of those sides and you need to lean how to balance them. Both can fit the song, but when I first listened to the song I thought it was a love song, but now that I have watched the video and see how he portrayed the song, I can see it with the dark and light side. I think Adam portrays reality like that by using this song because everyone has those two sides fighting inside them, but some people find it easier to balance the two sides out then other people and this song could let others know they aren't alone when dealing with this. 

     This song genre is techno-pop, you can tell because most pop songs are love stories. Also with this song, a lot of pop songs have the piano solo which is known as the bridge, and then it has the big explosion of the chorus after. When you listen to the music without the video, you would more and likely stereotype it was a sad love pop song. It seems like the boy is pushing the girl away "Cold as ice, and more better than a December winter night, that's how I treated you", but he knows deep down that he doesn't want that because she is his rock, and without her he would be lost "If i wanted to leave I would have left by now, but you're the only one that knows me, better than I know myself". That's what you predict the song to be from listening or even reading the lyrics, but once you watch the video, it is totally different. When listening to the song you think pop music, but if you watching the video, it can give you a different illusion. Instead of the video being a love story, it's the dark side and the light side being separated by a glass window, and they end up fighting. The dark side cuts off the light sides oxygen supply but the dark side pulls the light side out of the room because he can't live without his better half, and in the very end they become one person.

     I believe the values in this music video are that everyone has a light and dark side within them and they need to find a balance between the two. I agree with that, but some people find a hard time balancing the two. That doesn't make them a bad person, but normally when people do have a hard time, it's the dark side that comes out and leads the person to depression and living with the demon inside their head at all times, leaving no light within them. This video has three different lifestyle choices. The dark side, the light side or the balance between the two. At the beginning of the video, you see the difference of the dark and light lifestyle. They are fighting each other, one trying to get the upper hand. Soon the dark side wins by contaminating the light sides oxygen, but towards the end is when it all becomes balance, and the dark side brings out the light side and that's when you see the balanced lifestyle when Adam Lambert has the two different coloured eyes. When you first hear the song without the video, it sounds like a guy singing to a girl, but it is actually two personalities within one guy. I think Adam Lambert used gender roles as different groups to show that it's not only girls who go through these things, even though that's what we mostly see in the media. Another group would be the mixed of the dark and light personality, and how different they are, because it's showing the reality of what each side thinks, or does. The dark side tries to destroy everything within, while the light side is what is shown on the outside.

     The videos concept with the conflict between the darker and lighter side of Adam Lambert is what a lot of the songs on his album Trespassing are about. So having this song with the video being one of his singles will show what the album is about, and will help him sell both the song and the album. It's effective because people who like these types of songs and these types of videos will get that sample of what could also be on the album. The target audience for this song would more and likely be teens and more possibly girl teens. I was looking at the comments on YouTube for the music video, and it's mostly filled up with girls saying that he has a great voice, or great hair, etc. The song is more appealed to the audience, not so some the video though consider when you listening to the song it is different from what you would originally expected the song to be about.

     I believe that this is a good music video, because it's not typically what you would have thought it would have been. I like how when your first listen to it without the video it seem likes it a sad love story, but when you watch the video, you noticed that the song has a different meaning. Lastly, I think it's good, because I can relate to it. I sometimes find it difficult to balance out my dark and light side like he does within the video. I show my light side, and try to keep my dark side locked away, but sometimes that's not always the case, and that's why I believe this music video is good.

Media Profile

Media Profile
Kendra Hunks

     Media is taking over our lives. To some people, they can't live without knowing how many followers they have on Twitter, or seeing what Tyler Oakley is up to. To others, it doesn't matter to them, that part just doesn't appeal to them. To me, media is somewhat important in my life. I do have social media, and I do look at them, to see whats going on around me, but I keep myself on only a few social medias though, like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. YouTube would be where I spend most of  my time, and if I am on Instagram or Snapchat I will be seeing what my favourite YouTuber's are up to. When my friends ask me, have I heard Justin Bieber's newest song, or have I see Harry Styles newest hair cut, I am usually one of the last to know. It's not something I rely on, I would choose over reading a book, or hanging out with friends, over staying inside on my computer all day.

     YouTube is by far my favourite source of media. It's important to me because it can make me feel like I am part of something more, YouTuber's they are more like friends then famous people, because you can see more into there life, and what they are willing to share. They also want to know about us, and try to talk to us, I feel so happy when I get a reply from one of my favourite YouTuber's. They

Tiffany Alvord replied to me on her I will never let you down Cover

also aren't that different from us, and you get to see that. It's like we are one big family, the YouTuber and their fans.

     Moving onto something else. My thoughts on modern popular culture. Generations have changed from what is was 10 years ago. The social media websites, and how many there are. Back then you had Myspace, Hotmail, and Facebook. Now you have Instagram, Snapchat, Ask.fm, and many more that is makes it hard to keep track of. The generations have changed, we have gone down hill, nowadays the popular songs are about sex, alcohol or  drugs. It makes us teenagers seem bad, it is giving us a bad name, considering most songs are targeted to us. When older people hear something like that, they think bad about this generation of teens. Now some teens may disagree,  but most adults when they think about our generation and what we listen to, they will more and likely think about the explicit songs over anything else. It's somewhat stereotyping us, and making it seem like all we care about is partying and having a good time. In this picture of Miley Cyrus, she is wearing a shirt about sex, drugs and rap, by teens liking that picture, and it becoming popular, it can show that we like that kind of things, and are supporting Miley as she does bad things. 

Not all of us are like this though, but since a large group of teens like these things, we all get pulled into that one title. 

     Continuing on with that do you believe that this is accurate? How we are portrayed in the media? Is it giving us a good name, or a bad one? Now this can go many ways, because there are shows and songs that do disagree with that and show that us teen aren't all about the partying, but what is more popular? Miley Cyrus doing drugs and singing a song about it, or a song by Taylor Swift who is singing about one of her ex boyfriends. Most people would talk about Miley Cyrus, and us teens we

talk about it, like it, and share it. Which it then seems like we do drugs, or are into partying and twerking. Also once Miley Cyrus made twerking popular, teens seemed to follow in her foot steps by posting videos of themselves twerking online. This all makes adults stereotype us and believe we are all just people who want to party, and find a good time. So lastly, I believe it gives us all a bad name, and we are portrayed negatively in the media. Even though some teenagers are like that not all of us are.