Sophie Marriott

Fiction Adaptation Essay:

Discuss the view that "with a successful adaptation, the original work is
transformed into something new and different, although retaining many
traces of what it was formerly" with reference to at least one text
adapted for broadcast on television.

Sophie Marriott
BA (Hons) Television Production Year 2
4th November

Sophie Marriott
Introduction
The realm of adaptation cannot be defined in a simple explanation since
adaptation presents itself in many different forms. It could be said that all films
or television series, even novels themselves, have a component of adaptation
as they have come from a basic pre-existing idea and evolved over the years.
These adaptations can be analyzed using theories such as contemporary
dilemmas, appropriation and post-modernism. Lamb To The Slaughter
written by Roald Dahl in 1953 is a short horror story following a devoted wife
of a detective with whom she murders with a leg of lamb and serves to the
detectives who deal with the case and try to find the weapon. Alfred Hitchcock
adapted this short story in 1958 for his television series Alfred Hitchcock
Presents and Robin Chapman adapted this in 1979 for Dahls British
television series Tales Of The Unexpected. These two adaptations have
originated from the same story but promote two different representations on
screen.

Main Body
Adaptation has continually been a popular form of visual art; it could even be
classed as a genre itself due to the various styles that have been initiated
since filmmaking began. It is difficult to define how an adaptation should be
executed as it is typically subject to the directions own visionary style. One
opinion on adaptation comes from Linda Segers The Art of Adaptation:
Turning Fact And Fiction Into Film where she states, all you have to do is
film the book. It appears that Seger is suggesting adaptation is a direct copy
of the text meaning that they would take every aspect including characters,
plots and even the dialogue and put this into a visual art. This statement made
by Seger is nave in thinking that adaptation is an easy and simplistic process
as the basis of their film is offered to them with little or no work needing to be
added. However, this is not the case for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents and
the Robin Chapman Tales Of The Unexpected adaption that this essay will
assess; both of these have found unique ways of showing their visions.

Many viewers may assume that television adaptations are a product of

modification by the director, which poses the question about how authentic
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the film is to the text it came from. This, in turn, causes criticism amongst
viewers or readers of the original text. Greg Singh (2014) cites a valid point by
Anderson and Hameed, and a counter argument for Seger, by stating if the
style and content are a carbon-copy of an original, then what is the point in
remaking in the first place? In principle, what Anderson and Hameed are
saying is that there is a necessity to make alterations to the piece of text
otherwise the adaptation appears pointless. By altering certain features the
filmmakers are creating something new and different and adding new
meanings to the text itself, which is key in appealing to wider audiences.
Hitchcocks adaptation of Lamb To The Slaughter essentially agrees with this
statement as he has created a film that adds a layer of humour and irony on
top of the somber storyline. The humour that Hitchcock has delivered in this
piece is somewhat unexpected due to the content of the story yet is expected
if viewers are familiar with any of Hitchcocks previous work; therefore putting
his own brand on the adaptation. Although Hitchcock has stayed partially true
to the text by employing the linear structure, his ability to keep the authenticity
of Roald Dahls short story active falters when he adds a sub-genre,
consequently making this adaptation vulnerable to criticism.
Many of Hitchcocks films have come from novels, stories and other forms of
text but they are not easily recognised as being an adaptation as he
embraces the stories as his own and so constructs the visual piece to match
this. Hitchcocks ability to captivate the viewers attention and make them
believe they are not watching an original screenplay is a form of appropriation.
In her book Adaptation and Appropriation, Julie Sanders states
appropriation frequently affects a more decisive journey away from the
informing source into a wholly new cultural product and domain. Sanders
implies that filmmakers consciously make the decision to invent new ways to
convey the original text by creating a separate product. In Hitchcocks
adaptation he twists the murder narrative, which had the potential to be much
more sinister, into a lighthearted tale. This is a deliberate move from
Hitchcock to add new meaning to the story. From his previous work, it is
evident that he plays on the psychological states of the characters involved,
the character of Mary Maloney, played by Barbara Bel Geddes, demonstrates
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this by finding the ordeal or murdering her husband with a piece of meat
amusing towards the end of the programme. This use of strange humour is
what detaches the adaptation and the original text. It could be said that
Hitchcock is depositing his own personality into this piece, making it unique to
his style, which effectively makes the adaptation more successful.
What I do is to read a story only once and if I like the basic idea, I forget all
about the book and start to create cinema.
What Hitchcock appears to be saying is that.
- He added extra dialogue as filler and to create more established
characters,
- More time to create backstory, novel is written but can be more creative with
film medium

The reason as to why television/film adaptations differ from the original source
is ultimately because they have more scope to be creative with...
- A novel tells you how to feel whereas film can show more than one aspect
such as feelings and action..
Film is dimensional a film advances the action, reveals character, explores
the theme, and builds an image. In a novel, one scene or an entire chapter
may concentrate on only one of those areas (Seger 1992: 16)
- By adding new layers you are making something different to the text and
changing how viewers experience the film; which could be different to the
novel.
- Hitchcock has been able to enhance the story in his own unique style 25
minute episode, easier to add suspense as opposed to a short story which
The cast Barbara Belle Geddes, great actress who plays the role of the
devoted wife well the husband obnoxious etc.. makes you feel sympathetic
towards her and want to see the death adds the suspense. You do feel this
in the novel but seeing it is different.. reactions??
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an additional place for Hitchcock himself to
showcase his remarkable talent at being the master of suspense. Broadcast
from 1955 1962 Hitchcock directed a series of short stories from a selection
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of authors; the only similarity being the approach Hitchcock took when
adapting them.
Robin Chapmans adaptation of Lamb To The Slaughter could be classified
as a post-modern retelling of the story
-

Uses flashbacks to show the story changed the order of events,

makes the story feel refreshed and diverse.

Could be criticised that by being modern and using more modern

conventions, it fears being commercialised. By changing the way the
story is originally it is trying to appeal to more audiences and therefore
disregarding the integrity of the text.

Made 21 years later than Hitchcocks version take into account the
advances in technology, which could be why there is a new style.

Essentially everything made post 1960 is postmodern, however the

directors style usually plays a huge role, whether they want to conform
to this idea or divert onto a new one.

Conclusion
- Both texts kept to the story
- Hitchcock: adds dialogue, humour as a filler to make it into tv time scale
- R Chapman: changes up the narrative structure and uses flashback
- They have kept traces of what the text was formerly but made small yet
noticeable changes to bring a new perspective.

Sophie Marriott
Bibliography

Seger, Linda (1992) The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact And Fiction Into Film

Singh, Greg (2014) Anderson and Hameed Feeling Film: Affect and
Authenticity in Popular Cinema [online] At:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XYOrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA66&dq=authenti
city+in+adaptation&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7dRWVP_kMMPaaO_6gpgG&ved=0CD
wQ6AEwBQ#v=snippet&q=authenticity%20adaptation&f=false (Accessed on
31.10.14)

Sanders, Julie (2005) Adaptation and Appropriation [online] At

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=muV_AgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&d
q=appropriation+tv&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZzxSVMDsOJHU7AbS74H4BA&ved=0C
CAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed on 30.10.14)

Palmer, R. Barton and Boyd, David (2011) Hitchcock at the source: The
Auteur as Adaptor [online] At:
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ucreative/reader.action?docID=10574123 (Accessed
on 30.10.14)