Published 2023/10/09 at 2:40 pm
My text-based media choice is “Flipped”, a funny, heartfelt coming-of-age story novel told from two perspectives that offers insights into young romance and personal growth written by Wendelin Van Draanen, published in 2001.
The novel was adapted into the movie” Flipped” in 2010.
I think the adaptation of “Flipped” from a novel to a movie was a really good success. The choice of transforming this coming-of-age story into a film was appropriate, it allowed for a visual exploration of the dual perspectives and detailed emotions that form the core of the narrative. The medium of film is well-suited to capture the visual and emotional nuances of the characters’ growth and the evolving dynamics of young romance. The cinematography and soundtrack were also done well, can enhance the emotional resonance of the story, creating a more immersive experience for the audience.
However, the question of whether a different medium, such as a TV show depends on the depth and scope of the text-based media. What makes “Flipped” successful is its intimate narrative style and exploration of the emotional evolution of its main character, which can be diluted over the course of multiple episodes of a TV show, where the plot tends to become loose.
If I were in charge of the adaptation, I might have considered expanding the film’s runtime to delve even deeper into the characters’ inner thoughts and backgrounds. This could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the protagonists’ growth. The original book is written from both the boy and girl perspectives. The two protagonists each use their own perspective to tell the same thing, the protagonists take turns to tell, the boy talks after the girl talks, the girl talks after the boy talks, and so on. So when you see a girl talking about it, you will be confused, it is the same thing, and when you see a boy talking about it, it seems to be completely different, and you will be tempted to flip the book over and look back at what the boy said. “flip” would be a verb here, it would be an act of reading a book, which is difficult to show in a movie.