Blog 23

I am working on transcribing the interview that I have done and once I am done with transcribing, I will post it on this blog post.

UPDATE:

Here is my transcribed interview:

C: How are you doing today?
G: I'm doing just fine, thank you. How are you doing?
C: I'm good.
G: Good.
C: Have you read a novel and seen the film that has been adapted from that novel?
G: Yes.
C: Can you tell me about some of the novels that you have liked throughout your life.
G: Even if they weren't made into film?
C: Yes.
G: Ok. Um well I did read the Godfather and that was made into film. Um.
(pause)
G: Um, I read Roots. Which was a great book.
C: What was it about?
G: Well it was about African, well it was about slavery. and it was about all the people who were kidnapped from Africa and brought over to North America to become slaves and it was mainly about one person's experiences about becoming a slave.
G: Can you describe to me some of the characters that you have liked in novels you have read? Plots? and/or Settings?
(pause)
G: Um ok. One of the books that I read was part of a series of books called The Hobbit and the Lord of Rings and I found all the characters interesting because they were science well not science fiction, but different kinds of people and I liked how the story went from action to adventure to romance to how people lived their lives.
C: How do you like the settings?
G: Settings were great. Um..they went from where people lived to in well they lived in huts and cabins to open land and to creepy places and mountains and volcanoes and rivers. all over the place.
C: Do you think the settings helped the plot?
G: Oh absolutely. Um because plot had to do with people traveling and to get to the end of your adventure. And you had to think about the different places they had to travel to.
C: Describe how you felt as or after you have read them.
G: Um sometimes you get to the end of the book and you're like don't want to end and you want to keep on going and you get to the point and (4:00) it's like again (laughs) the Harry Potter books, its like the end at each book, I couldn't wait for next book and the end of the last book, it was like this is it and you're like I have nothing else to read about this character again because after all the books it was over but the same thing as the movies, it was done and it was over. so it was something that you look forward to it and then when you were done with it, um, if the ending was really good you were happy about it that you got to finish the book.
C: Can you tell me a story of a time where you did see a film of a novel that you read? Like for example - what were your thoughts throughout the film? and Did you keep comparing it to the novel?
G: (nods her head) Yes you can't help but not compare because you're watching the movie and you're waiting to for something that you saw in your head while reading the book um and if something got left out, you were wondering what the heck happened (laughs) because they changed, not that they changed the story but they change to consolidate a lot of the storyline in the book but some books because they are so long they make more of a movie and so they put everything in the movie and so you're just like wow that's exactly how I picture it.
C: So it was either one or the other?
G: Yeah it's either one that you're waiting to see something that you know they should've left in there (pause) um or they include everything and so you get even more of the movies, that's why they had to make um The Lord of the Rings four hours and Harry Potter, they had to make every single movie.
C: Did you like the novel or film better?
G: In (pause) that's hard to say um I a lot of times like the novel better because the characters that you see in your head when you're reading the book are not the same as you see on the screen. but then you get to like with the Godfather you have a different picture but then you have another novel with the characters on the screen are exactly as you picture them in the book so it depends on the book that you've read.
C: Can you explain to me why one was better than the other?
G: Um well like I said before it was the when you read a book and it's a large book um it's everything that they can't put in a movie um they can't put every scene, they can't put every character uh and you're waiting for that to show up the screen.
C: If you could have made changes to the film, would you? and what would those changes be?
G: (long pause) No.
C: No changes?
G: No well other than having the movie go forever um and put everything in and um no.
C: Can you explain to me why you think why that is?
G: Well the movies that I've seen that were made from books were best-selling books written by best-selling authors and they were made and they turned out to be well made movies and by well made well named directors and they did justice to the movies they made, they did exactly what they set out to do so I see no additions that could be made because they would take too long.
C: Have you ever read a novel, only because there was an adapted film of that novel coming out?
G: Um (pause) no but I read seen a movie that turned into a book which I read and when I saw the movie after I read the book. I didn't understand it because usually it's the other way around that things are included in the movie but this time it was included in the book and not in the book.
C: And what book was that?
G: That was Nicholas Sparks' The Last Song.
C: Ahh with Miley Cyrus. What was missing?
G: There were a couple characters, there was a minister um in the book um that wasn't in the movie and um just little things that I picked up on.
C: Do you believe that you should read the novel first before watching the film?
G: Well most of the time the books that I have read I've read years before they were turned into a movie um and a lot of times I thought twice about going to see it because I didn't want to change what was in my head. I wanted my head to like remember what I read from the book so no I wouldn't recommend it because you're going in with too many expectations of what it's going to be.
C: If you are ever to be a writer, would you want to write the actual novel or the adapted screenplay of the novel?
G: I think I would like to write the novel um because then you include everything that you want and not have to worry about it getting cut like from a movie.
C: Do you think the actors play a role in how the movie portray the novel?
G: Absolutely um I think that the directors take great care in selecting who they want to play um and hope that they can have the person um because sometimes you picture exactly who that character is and if you can't get it, another character can totally change the whole theme of the movie.
C: If there was any advice you could give to an author or adapter, coming from a viewer, what would that be?
G: Well it's like what when everyone says write what you know, go with your gut, feel it and if you feel it's correct and you feel it's right then put it down and then you can see how it plays out later but it should be something that comes easy to you um because if it's right then you'll know it.
C: One last question. Would you like adapters stop adapting novels to movies or keep it happening?
G: No because I want them to keep it happening because a lot of people don't read those novels and the only way that you can get people to see classics, stories from classics, is to make it into a movie and for those people who have trouble reading classic classic books like Shakespeare make them into a movie and then adapt it so that people can understand it um so that they'll at least know that they see something is written even hundreds of years ago.
C: Ok. Thank you for meeting with me today.
G: Thank you.