Comparing Page and Stage or Screen

Analyze how a story changes when it is performed or filmed, and why.

When a story is adapted for stage or film, the creators must make choices the author didn't face. A written story can describe thoughts directly; a film must show them through acting, music, close-up shots, or voice-over. A novel can spend pages on a setting; a play might use one simple set and lighting. Scenes may be cut, combined, or added to fit the running time. Here is an example. In an original written story, a girl's fear before her audition is described over a full paragraph of racing thoughts.

In a stage version, she might simply pace, stop, and grip the script while the lights dim around her. The written version gives us her exact thoughts; the staged version makes us interpret her body language. Neither is automatically better. When comparing, identify a specific scene, describe how each version presents it, and explain how the medium's tools create a different effect on the audience.

• 1Each medium has different tools: text, acting, sound, lighting, camera
• 2Adaptations cut, combine, or add scenes
• 3Compare a specific scene and explain the effect of each choice