Study of Cinematic Adaptations of photography

Document Type : Promotional article

Authors

1 Instructor of Photography Department, Faculty of Arts, Payame Noor University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran, Corresponding Author.

2 President of Shiraz Non-Profit University of Arts

Abstract

 
 
The number of films that are made in different countries of the world today in long and short forms, fiction and documentaries, etc., is very large. In the early days of this invention, there was no concern about finding a suitable subject for filmmaking, but today it is safe to say that it is not a subject that cinematographers have not dealt with. New sources must be adapted to make new films. Artists always use pre-existing art sources to create their work. Throughout history, artistic texts have always been a source for the use of other works. No artistic text is formed independently and there is always a trace of previous texts in it. When a text explicitly refers to another text or work, if the connection is beyond mere copying, the second work can be said to have adapted from the first work. Adaptation is one way to achieve new themes in creating works of art. Among the arts, cinema has the largest volume of adaptations. Literature provided cinema with a suitable beginning for adaptation, and storytelling and narration in films was one of its results. Works adapted from history, novels, plays and short stories have always been an important part of cinematic productions. The research that has been done on the sources of adaptation in cinematic works has been mostly related to literary sources.
 
1-‌ Films that have been made according to the nature of photography. In this category, most of a photographer's life is considered. Either the main actor is a photographer and he has events in his life or the main actor wants to be a photographer. For example, in the movie The Rear Window, the main actor is a professional photographer who breaks his leg and sees the neighbors' house with the camera. In Blow-up, the film actor is engaged in photography and accidentally takes a picture of a corpse. In the City of God movie, the main actor lives in a dirty society, but he wants to be photographed. In the one-hour photo movie, the main actor is a lonely and middle-aged man who works in the instant photography department of a supermarket. In the Flags of our Fathers, the accuracy of an important image is examined and in the Night Crawler movie, a petty thief accidentally enters the job of a reporter and journalist. In this category of films, no attention is paid to special photos or the aesthetic appearance of photography.
2- Films that were made according to the Photographic images left by photographers. In this category, the recorded photos of famous photographers have been considered and the filmmaker has made his film based on those images. Like Rescue Rayan Soldier movie, the opening sequence of which was inspired by Robert Kappa's pictures. Or the movie Naked City, was made based on the photos of Vigy, a documentary and crime photographer. In The Virgins Suicide film, in which several sisters commit suicide due to the severe hardships of their parents, a single photo of the filmmaker's is adapted. In  Carol movie that is  the relationship of two young women, one of whom is a photographer, and finally in Moonlight movie, which is the narrative of the three stages of a black actor's life in the city's slums is inspired by the photographs of Early Hadnell and Vivian Sassen. A noteworthy point in this category is to pay attention to a photo or a set of photos of the photographer. The filmmaker makes the content or the aesthetic appearance of the photos a criterion for adaptation. The remarkable thing about these two categories of films is that, in the first category, photography clearly shows itself and does not need to be explained by critics; but in the second category, it is not at all clear that the films are based on the visual nature of a number of images. In this category of films, only with the analysis of knowledgeable critics or the explicit acknowledgment of the director or cameraman that the viewer notices the adaptation of a number of specific photos. Therefore, it cannot be claimed in this group that the adaptation of the photo and photography has affected the audience or even the success after the show, because the ordinary viewer is not able to recognize this issue. If a film has achieved a special place among the mentioned works, the reason should be sought in countless other cases that contribute to the success of a film. The number of films made based on photography is not large, and cinematographers in both categories of films, in most cases, have acted freely and have shown their mental perception of the desired photo or photos. In this limited number, the subject of photography in the first category of films is the main theme, It was not and only provided a platform for another story. In the second category, it has an effect on the aesthetic background of the images and this effect has not significantly affected the semantic process of the film. But obviously, photography can have a huge impact on creating new ideas for filmmaking and be adapted as a suitable source.
 
 
 

Keywords

References

 
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-URL1:www.icp.org/browse/archive/objects/mrs-george-washington-kavanaugh-and-lady-decies-entering-the-opening-night
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Glory of Art (Jelve-y Honar) Alzahra Scientific Quarterly Journal
Volume 14, Issue 2 - Serial Number 35
September 2022
Pages 48-58

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