Fiction and Film

This course focuses on film adaptations of novels and short stories, paying special attention to similarities and differences in narrative technique. Students view various types of film adaptations and consider reasons for changes from the works of fiction. The course emphasizes the challenges in adapting a work of literature to the screen, the limits and possibilities of both art forms, and the techniques writers and filmmakers use to express their ideas. In addition to discussing works of fiction, film adaptations, and the roles of film director, screenwriter, and film scorer, students will have the opportunity to work on their own cinematic adaptation of a short story, including writing original music for the screen. Such authors as Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, James Baldwin, Isabelle Allende, Cormack McCarthy, Alexi Sherman, Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Isak Dinesen, and Vladimir Nabokov will be considered, as well as such film directors as Claire Denis, Stanley Kubrick, Barry Jenkins, Jane Campion, David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Mira Nair, François Truffaut, Dee Rees, and Akira Kurosawa.