Page to Screen: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

NATE BROCK - I was talking with my brother the other day about movie adaptations of books and it led to some interesting conversation. I was telling him about my recent experience with the first Harry Potter book (it was my first time reading it) and how I thought it compared with the movie adaptation created by director Chris Columbus. There are cases in which the movie adaptations don’t measure up to the book, and some where the movie does just about right. For Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, we see good and bad. Chris Columbus, director, seems to drag out the right amount of epic magic that a reader would find in the book, but leaves out some of what he apparently thought were unnecessary scenes. When creating film adaptations of books, it is important to realize budget costs and, even more importantly, film time. After reading the first book in the series, I popped in the movie adaptation to see how it compared. Granted, I had seen the movie several times before actually reading the book, but I somehow became much like some of my peers who seemed to rather despise the movie adaptation. I always thought the movie was great, until I, too, read the book and then watched the movie. With this particular example as a reference, I’d like to peer into the whole enterprise of producing film adaptation of a book… the good and the bad.

One thing that sticks out to me is that some casting choices were dead on and some seemed to be rather off.  For example, the particular way the book would have me, and I would presume most others, believe how the Dursleys look and act is quite a ways different than what we find in the film. Rowling describes Petunia to be “…thin and blonde, and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck…” but Petunia we see in the film looks a bit different. Now, I’m not trying to get bent out of shape, or even caught up on the fact that Petunia looks differently than what is described, I’m just emphasizing that the differences in characters can give different feels and conceptions than what may have been intended in the pages of the book. It’s the same with Hermione: in the film she is a cute little girl with fairly bushy hair. However, in the book she is described to be meek looking and having “…lots of bushy hair, and rather large front teeth.” When recreating a book into a film, it can be difficult to find appropriately skilled actors that fit the mold of characters that are described in text. A book can inspire us to create anything in our minds, but it is hard to find someone to adequately become a character we’ve already imagined. I would have expected something closer to the cartoon above, but I guess Columbus thought it better for a general film production that her character be a little different. I would say the same about the Dursley men, as well; while Dudley looks right on, he seems about whinier than he is in the books, and Mr. Dursley acts more cartoonish in the film than I personally would have expected. At first, I wondered why things like this would happen, and then I realized that maybe I had just imagined them to be a certain way and they weren’t that exact way in the movies. It seems as though with movies, casting and creation becomes part of the creativity, a part of imagination. It takes away from the reader’s imagination.

Ah, imagination. This is what books are supposed to be all about, right? I guess that’s why I expected something different in some of the characters in the movie. While reading the book, you get descriptions, details, and even adjectives, but the rest is completely up to your imagination to actually take those descriptions and formulate what they make; you imagine what those descriptions would become. This is the ‘magic’ of books, I feel, because that’s what I’ve always been told: books open you up to worlds that only you can imagine. This is where the undeniable trend of book-to-film adaptations bring out the laze in each of us. Sure, I could read Harry Potter, but I could also just wait for the movie to come out and watch the story. This not only brings about a particular physical and mental lethargy on surface levels, but also leads to a dulling of our collective imagination. Everything is put together for you in movies, so it’s very easy to see how some people could like adaptations and how some (seems like most) dislike adaptations. Columbus and his casting crew must have imagined what the characters would look like a little differently than I do, and thus they cast people for those characters based upon what they thought was best suited.

When struggling to fit a book into a feature length film, it can be rather difficult to include whole parts of the story. One of the main exclusions is characters. In some ways, characters are included but reduced to mean nearly nothing and in other ways, whole characters are taken out of the story completely. Take the zoo sequence in the beginning of the book: the Dursleys go to the zoo to celebrate Dudley’s birthday and Dudley’s best friend, Piers Polkiss, joins them. In the movie; however, Piers does not make an appearance. Other characters, like Seamus Finnigan and Lee Jordan, who are classmates of Harry in the book, do appear in the films, but with no introduction. For a person watching the movies with no prior knowledge of Harry Potter, I could see how there would be confusion as to why Seamus is shown in several of the movies but you never know who he is, not in the first movie at least. I think Columbus was attempting to please Harry Potter fans as much as possible, or maybe he was making a point to have the characters seen so that when they fill more prominent roles later on in subsequent films, it isn’t different from the book.

I guess that many readers dislike the Harry Potter film series; I might as well justify why they feel that way. Whether it’s the missing characters, missing dialogue, or even missing important scenes, I can feel for the avid readers of the book. I know from experience that it can be all too irritating to expect one thing and to then receive something else entirely.

It seems that overall, movie adaptations can be hit or miss. The way I see the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie in comparison to the book, the creators of the movie did an excellent job bringing in the epic value that the books have, including the right amount of magical culture and theme as well as introducing a pitch perfect capture of the essence of J.K Rowling’s intentions with the book by bringing the characters to life and making use of some film standards not found in books, like breathtaking visuals or a captivating soundtrack. The wonderful world of Harry Potter has been, as much as possible and feasible, very well adapted for readers and viewers alike. After reading and watching the first installments of each, I have become even more eager in continuing my adventure with this series of the page and screen.

What I like most about the whole concept of ‘book-to-film’ is the idea of using two different art forms to tell the same story. The book tells the story through detailed exploration and scenarios. The film builds the world through actors, visual aids, and extra attention to what is absolutely necessary to the story. The end goal is the same: to create a story compelling enough to grab the audience and keep them interested. I find that most people who read the books and then immediately dislike the film for not matching up exactly are only appreciating the book. The film in itself is a whole other source of the story, in its character’s voices and clothing and visual experience and music, it’s all a piece of work itself, a piece of art indeed. This is why I am quite glad to have watched the movie before reading the book; I had already developed an appreciation for the film. Going back to it with a pair of eyes fresh off their first reading of the source material gave me an excellent opportunity to reevaluate the film I’ve loved for so long, and at the end of the day, I find that the film and the book each have their part in telling the enormous story of Harry Potter.

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A Road Block for Writers

RACHEL KOVACS - Rudyard Kipling wrote over two dozen poems and short stories, yet the editor of the San Francisco Examiner told him that he did not know how to use the English language. Obviously, Kipling overcame this hurdle to become famous for such stories as Captain Courageous and the Jungle Book. Like Kipling, many writers can be amazing storytellers, but struggle with the basics of English grammar.  

As a former English teacher and now a writer myself, I have had the opportunity to look at a lot of writing. Grammar was always my least favorite to teach and unless you are Grammar Girl, probably not something that you want to think about every day. As a writer wishing to be taken seriously, however, it is something that must be considered. Bad grammar and spelling can and does stop a reader in their tracks.

Whether you are seeking traditional publishing, indie publishing, or self-publishing, poor grammar can alienate agents, publishers, editors, and ultimately readers. It is important that writers focus on both the art of storytelling and the mechanical aspects of writing, but which should come first? 

As the facilitator of the Indianapolis Writers’ Group, I encourage writers to focus on the art of storytelling as they write their first draft. I purposely have them read their work aloud so they can hear the piece and others can get a sense of the story line. Do not stop to edit when you are first developing your story line. Work on developing your ideas. On each subsequent pass, focus on a specific aspect of your writing. On your second draft, for instance, focus on organization. This is the point to add, delete, and rewrite sections. On your third draft, focus on sentence structure and grammar. Finally, fine-tune your writing for word choice and style.

You have many options available to you if grammar is not your area of expertise. First, you can hire someone. You can hire a ghostwriter or an editor to revise your work, but expect to pay top dollar. If you are asking for a critique of your ideas at the same time, expect to pay even more. You should expect to pay around $1.00 to $3.00 per page for quality revisions. 

You can also look for a writing mentor in your critique group or online. Successful writers are often willing to help other upcoming writers, but be respectful of their time. As you know, writing is a full time job on its own. If a fellow writer points out some areas that need improvement, take time to learn from your mistakes. Do not continue to submit writing repeatedly with the same type of errors or expect your writing partner to read and critique everything you write. For a more long-term solution, find a writing partner who is equally committed to improving their grammar. Both of you should take time to learn and share what you know.

The best option, of course, is to learn the grammar on your own. This will save you both money and time in the long run. There are many style guides available both in print and online. One of the best resources is Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. Another contemporary source is The Creative Writer’s Style Guide by Christopher Leland. There are also online workshops and sources that can prove valuable. Two such sources are SavvyAuthors and Writers Digest.  These offer online workshops on many writing topics such as character and plot development, grammar, revisions, and genre specific writing. And of course, do not forget spell checker! Spell check will not catch everything, so double check your work. There are many sites that list commonly confused and misspelled words. Take advantage of them.

Another great source to use is great novels themselves. Read. A lot. Analyze how the author uses language. Make notes about how they punctuate. Observe how they use dialogue. Break the paragraphs and sentences down and scrutinize how they work. While fiction does not follow the same rules as formal writing, it is important not to use language and punctuation in a way that confuses the reader.

So what are the biggest mistakes that inexperienced (and sometimes experienced) writers make when writing fiction? Using my experience as an English teacher to create a top ten list, here are the top offenders:

1.    Leaving words out: the writer’s brain often works faster than their fingers which results in words being out. It helps to read the work aloud to find such slips. Did you catch that?

2.    Dangling modifiers: This is when a phrase modifies the wrong word such as “When he pointed the gun, the dog bit the intruder”.

3.    Going overboard on adjectives and adverbs: Some very eager writers lovingly put too many beautifully descriptive words into their wonderfully awesome text.

4.    Not defining pronouns: Jack, John, Bob, and Andrew love to write. He writes the best.

5.    Comma Crazy: Some, people, have, no, clue, when, to, use, a, comma, and, it, is, very, obvious.

6.    Apostrophes: It’s and Its are tricky. Learn the rule!

7.    He said, She said: Do not change point of view in the middle of a scene or worse yet in the middle of a paragraph. My reader will have no idea who is speaking.

8.    Run-ons: Some people like to write really long flowing sentences that do not have any punctuation at all and it drives the reader crazy because they cannot follow the thought and they get lost.

9.    Prepositions: Avoid ending sentences with a proposition. Prepositions show direction, location, and relationship. They should come at the beginning of a prepositional phrase and should not be used to end a sentence with.

10. Clichés: You do not have much time on your hands, so I will not stick around here chewing the fat. Clichés are as old as the dirt and will make your writing go belly up and kick the bucket. Avoid them like the plague.

Finally, I will save my best advice for last. Keep writing. Your writing will improve with experience. Do not let your fear of the preposition keep you from your dreams. There are many resources and people out there to assist you until you become a master writer yourself.

Rachel Kovacs writes romantic thrillers, science fiction, and young adult and children’s fiction. She also writes poetry and short stories. Rachel started a writing group called the Indianapolis Writers’ Group to help other local writers develop their skills. You can also follow Rachel on Twitter and Facebook. Her website is www.RachelKovacs.com. 

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