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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 10:42 am
by OscarGuy
The difficulty is sometimes, it's a judgment call. Like, Titanic. Titanic would be considered an Original Screenplay by me, but others might use the historical-reference as a sure-fire Adapted candidate, but how many films have been "set against the backdrop" of some particular point in history? Sure the events are important to get right, but the material that takes center stage is the important part.
The broader question with movies like O Brother is when is a film an adaptation of a play/book and when is it a loose version of it. How many movies have been based on Shakespeare plays but haven't been uniformly committed to the original setting? King Lear is a very famous one for doing this. But there are plenty of others. Where would we draw the line?
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 10:39 am
by rain Bard
So, there's obviously some clear-cut cases and some gray areas when dividing scripts between these two categories.
The reason I brought this up, however, is because I wonder how we should treat the grey-area scripts in our Nomination Elimination Game. If I decide to replace O Brother Where Art Thou? with something else in the Adapted Screenplay category, and someone else decides to place it in the Original Screenplay category, on the basis that its claims to being a truly Adapted Screenplay are questionable in the first place, would it be allowed? Or do we want to go strictly by the Academy placements?
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:19 pm
by Okri
So is The Barbarian Invasions, but they classified that as original.
I don't mind their being a distinction (and I find the definitions of comedy and drama to be blurred more often - how many times have you disagreed with the Golden Globe placement of a film).
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:16 pm
by Penelope
HarryGoldfarb wrote:Big Magilla wrote:Under current Oscar rules, a film whose characters are based on character from a previous film is considered an adaptation.
Absurd... the best example of it is Adaptation. One of the most original films ever... Unbelievably imaginative, how can a film/script can be more original than this? However, it was placed on Adapted!!! Absurd...
Well, it was technically based on a book.
I believe the Academy gets around by saying the Adapted Screenplay category is for scripts "based on material previously PRODUCED or published." Which means that Before Sunset is based on characters from a film that was previously PRODUCED. It's a technicality, but there it is.
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:58 pm
by HarryGoldfarb
Big Magilla wrote:Under current Oscar rules, a film whose characters are based on character from a previous film is considered an adaptation.
Absurd... the best example of it is Adaptation. One of the most original films ever... Unbelievably imaginative, how can a film/script can be more original than this? However, it was placed on Adapted!!! Absurd...
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:08 pm
by Big Magilla
As I've said many times the distinction between the two categories is so narrow that really shouldn't be one. The better distinction would be between drama and comedy, which is easier to determine.
Under current Oscar rules, a film whose characters are based on character from a previous film is considered an adaptation whereas a film whose characters are based on real life characters not taken from a previously published work is considered original even though basing a film on real life characters leaves requires less imagination than writing a whole new adventure for previously established fictional characters.
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:54 pm
by OscarGuy
Feel free to discuss your thoughts, ideas and concerns regarding the categorization of screenplays as Adapted or Original.