Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Book Trailer

Adapting Your Book

Some challenges a filmmaker would have in adapting Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close would be to decide whose point of view to focus on. Throughout the book you switch between Oskar, Oskar’s Grandma, and then Oskar’s Grandpa. If I were to choose whose point of view to focus on I would choose Oskar’s because he has the most interesting story line. I would still include Oskar’s grandma in the story, but I would probably take out Oskar’s grandpa. The only time that you really see Oskar’s grandpa show up is in his letters and at a little part at the end. In my opinion, the movie could go without him being there.

One of the most important scenes that you cannot change in order for the adaption to work is when Oskar listens to the voicemails from his father on 9/11. In this scene you really see how much Oskar loves and misses his father and how much of a strong relationship they had. Another scene that is essential to keep is when Oskar finds the key. This is the whole reason for Oskar’s journey, and without it you have no plot. The third scene that is essential to keep is when he visits Abby Black’s house for the first time. Her and her ex-husband become an essential part in Oskar’s journey towards the end of the book, so having this introduction helps you to understand the plot better.

A part that would have to be cut in adapting the film is all the letter’s that Oskar’s grandpa writes. Since you would only be following Oskar’s story line, it would be too confusing to the audience to include a whole other story line. A few other parts that would have to be cut are some of the house’s Oskar visits on his journey. Since he doesn’t find any clues in many of the houses, some of them would have to be cut out in order to keep the story moving.

Book 1 Project, The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games takes place in Panem, the country that rose up out of what used to be North America. The Capitol, which most people despise because of their controlling behavior and the annual Hunger Games, is the center and controller of the country of Panem. The Capitol governs 12 districts that are each given a different role, like supplying coal that all the other districts and the Capitol can use.

My idea is that you have an actual replica of the country of Panem that is in The Hunger Games. The main purpose is that avid Hunger Games fans could come and visit a place where they can get the full Hunger Games experience. On page 18 in The Hunger Games Katniss describes Panem, “The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to it’s citizens. Then Came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated.” The “world” that would be created would be based off of this description.  The main area would consist of a large building that would be called the Capitol. Around the Capitol would be 12 smaller buildings that would each represent one of the 12 districts. In this set up, fans could travel to each district and the capitol and get to experience what it would be like to live in Panem.

 Each area would have different activities that would help to give guests the full out experience. For example, in the Capitol section you can have an area where you dress up in the extravagant outfits the Capitol people wore. You can also have the wonderful food that Katniss describes during her stay in the Capitol. On page 64 in The Hunger Games, Katniss describes how her food comes, “He presses a button on the side of the table. The top splits and from below rises a second tabletop that holds our lunch.” With this concept a restaurant can be created that delivers your food in just this way. The guests will really feel like they are living in the high-tech world that Suzanne Collins created in The Hunger Games.

In each of the district areas there would be different things to do that reflect on that district’s purpose. For example, district 12’s main job is coal mining. So in the district 12 area there would be a ride/simulation that takes you down on an elevator into a mock coal mine. In the mock coal mine, there would be a 3D simulation ride that takes you throughout the coal mine and presents you with everyday coal mining problems. The coal mining aspect of District 12 is first introduced to us on page 4, “Our part of District 12, nicknamed the seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour. Men and women with hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles, many who have long since stopped trying the scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines on their sunken faces.” To make this scene come alive in the simulation you can have pictures of coal miners on the walls, or even have the operators of that area present themselves as the coal miners Katniss describes. In every district there would be activities that represent what the district’s purpose is.

This idea will work because fans will get to expand their experience and become even more obsessed with The Hunger Games. It will also promote The Hunger Games books and movies, because it will make people want to read the books and see the movies. We already know that creating a fictional world helps fans and guests to fall more in love with a book because of the success of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. They took the aspect of Harry Potter and turned it into a fan experience. With this fan experience, fans were able to still be engaged with Harry Potter even after the movies and books ended. With this same aspect applied to The Hunger Games, we can only hope that it has the same effect.