Spontaneous Musings

[Work ate my brain, I'm really struggling with posting tonight, formatting is really off and caught half a dozen typos. Mucho apologies.]

Sigh, when I got home, I watched The Hunger Games trailer about five times - courtesy of flist. This movie looks very good and very close to the books. Unlike a lot of young adult novels or novels in general, Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games triology is actually perfect for film. They are very visual and simple enough in theme and plot to fit a series of films. I actually think Harry Potter was harder to adapt, in part because Rowlings unlike Collins didn't come from screen-writing. Collins apparently began her writing career - with Children's television and screenplays.


From her website's bio: Since 1991, Suzanne Collins has been busy writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains it All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. For preschool viewers, she penned multiple stories for the Emmy-nominated Little Bear and Oswald. She also co-wrote the critically acclaimed Rankin/​Bass Christmas special, Santa, Baby! Most recently she was the Head Writer for Scholastic Entertainment’s Clifford’s Puppy Days.

While working on a Kids WB show called Generation O! she met children’s author James Proimos, who talked her into giving children’s books a try.

Go here for more: http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm

(I'm not a huge fan of using Wiki and ImBd for current writers and films, etc...they are spotty resources for this sort of thing. Always depends on who is editing and writing the entry.)

Collins is also co-writing the films and is highly involved in the casting, sort of similar to George RR Martin's involvement in the HBO series Game of Thrones, and
Neil Gaiman's involvement in the HBO series American Gods. All three started as screen writers or television writers and have a body of work behind them in those fields - that's why they are doing it, and people like Charlain Harris and JK Rowlings did not.
Writing a teleplay or screenplay is a completely different process. I personally find it more difficult than writing a novel, but I also hate reading screen-plays, and I've read good ones - such as Chinatown and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Probably shouldn't try to write in a format that you hate to read, tends to be a bit head-ache inducing. Haven't tried it? I know whereof I speak. ;-)

Go here for the trailer, since it won't embed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-5ANq4sAL0&feature=player_detailpage

If you haven't read The Hunger Games and are a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter, and Battle Royal...you might want to give them a try. They aren't what you think. Nothing like the Twilight novels (sort of anti-Twilight). With a kickass and intelligent heroine (who for once does not fall into the victimized girl trope) and a fascinating satire on our reality show culture taking to extreems.

On the casting choices? I'm really curious to see who they cast for the roles in the next two books - there's even more adult parts in those novels and far more interesting ones. I read through these books in literally a week - all three of them, a record for me. They are quick reads.