My Favourite Movies: Twilight Series, Dear John And Fifty Shades Of Grey

I greatly enjoy reading books when I have the free time. One of the biggest series I had gotten into around middle school time was the “Twilight Series,” so you could imagine the excitement I had when I had found out that the series was going to be made into a film! In my personal opinion film that are recreating a novel are just never as good as the book, due to the fact that the movies always seem to be missing some of the key points in the novel. I feel that at bare minimum, if a director wants to adapt the book into a film they should at least try to keep the main points and ending as close to the novel as possible for the reason being, at least for me, that I remember most. I feel in the Twilight films there was just too much that was left out, and as I went back recently to watch the movies, it just seemed so corny and rushed, along with missing some of the main points in the book. Don’t get me wrong, middle school me loved the films, but as i have become more educated it seems to just aggravate me more and more seeing films missing such key points. The film maybe had half of the novel included in the film and that is me being generous. In conclusion, I strongly believe that ⅔ should at least be included in a film for the film to be judged faithfully.

A great example of how literary text can be adapted into film is in the novel, Dear John by Nicholas Sparks, “When you’re struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it’s just as hard as what you’re going through.” this passage corresponds to the film because the really do a great job with the acting and music in the background and it honestly make you feel as if you are living the experience yourself. The passage never tells you where the character is at or what the character is doing but just from the writing you can come to the conclusion that the character is observing something happen or talking to someone that is going through a worse time than their own. When the filmmakers are creating the scenes it is imperative to use the five tracks of film to be able to communicate the scenes, by them doing this it leaves the decision on how the scene will unfold in the hands of the film writer or director for the reason being they have the power to dictate what characters are going to interact as well as what dialogue can or will be exchanged throughout the characters. The film maker is also left with the major decision on what sound effects are going to go where, along with what music will help make the film mesh well together as well as “set the mood”.

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James is the only novel that stands out to me that was aesthetically superior to the literature. The movie was honestly the closest i’ve seen come remotely close to following the novel. The characters, locations, and mainly just the overall concept of the novel were so well reflected into the movie that it left me genuinely pleased and satisfied. The director and screenwriter did such an amazing job at recreating the book overall. James did a great job of portraying the angel on one shoulder and devil on the other with both of the main characters so to speak. In the novel there were some passages that were more vivid that seemed to be left out of the movie for the most part and I believe it honestly made the movie more relishing than the novel. The screenwriters made what was a very graphic, and vivid novel into a lusting movie. I feel the actors well represented what the characters were supposed to be enacted as, and that was Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) as a timid, shy, and yet curious girl, and Christian (Jamie Dornan) as a powerful, controlling, and mesmerizing. I can honestly say that I was so skeptical as to how the movie would come out as I think movies that are made from novels just all around typically lack some of the most important points, but I feel the movie left me so satisfied and I honestly enjoyed the movie more than the book. The movie kept me so intrigued and interested and the novel at times had a little more dark and graphic side, and at times it could be a little much, thus affirming my opinion that Fifty Shades Darker, the movie version was more superior to the novel.