From the page to the screen

By John Lawless

What changes when an historical story must be seen and heard rather than narrated?

A novel and a screenplay may tell the same story, but they do not ask the audience to experience it in the same way. A novel can move directly into a thought or spend a page on a recollection. A screenplay must find its expression in what can be performed, seen and heard.

That does not mean every thought needs to become dialogue. Often the most useful adaptation choice is to give an actor something to do, or a reason to remain still. A response withheld can carry more meaning than a speech explaining the response.

Historical detail presents a similar challenge. A novel may explain how a workplace operates. On screen, a few carefully chosen actions, objects and sounds can establish the same world while the scene continues to move.

The question is always what the audience needs at that moment. Information has value when it changes our understanding of a person, a danger or a decision. A scene included only to display research can interrupt the story it was intended to enrich.

Adaptation also makes structure visible. A sequence that reads well may repeat a point already made by a look or an action. Removing the repetition can give the remaining scene greater force.

The opportunity is to discover a new expression of the story while preserving its emotional centre: the relationships, choices and consequences that made it worth telling in the first place.