The Hunger Games

[Guild McCommunist]

I heard some rather positive things on the movie. The guys over at Half and the Bag said they really liked it and they're usually pretty tough on movies but they know their shit.

I wouldn't base my opinion of hating the movie simply because it's one of those "overnight successes" like Twilight or Harry Potter were. I'll probably give it a watch once it gets a DVD release and I can pirate it or something. Nothing I'd really go to the theaters for though.

 

[Shinigami357]

I wouldn't base my opinion of hating the movie simply because it's one of those "overnight successes" like Twilight or Harry Potter were.

Wait, wait... Now, I don't give a shit about Twilight, [kill it with fire, I say] but novels aren't exactly 'overnight success' material. Writing one is already hard, let alone trying to sell it. Not everyone is Shakespeare, ya?

I mean, I'm sorry if you're sick and tired of screaming teenagers, [so am I] but speaking as someone who wants to write things for a living, seeing anyone dismiss any written story because it was an 'overnight success' is just... verily distressing, to say the least.

That's all. Peace.

 

[Gahars]

I wouldn't base my opinion of hating the movie simply because it's one of those "overnight successes" like Twilight or Harry Potter were.

Wait, wait... Now, I don't give a shit about Twilight, [kill it with fire, I say] but novels aren't exactly 'overnight success' material. Writing one is already hard, let alone trying to sell it. Not everyone is Shakespeare, ya?

I mean, I'm sorry if you're sick and tired of screaming teenagers, [so am I] but speaking as someone who wants to write things for a living, seeing anyone dismiss any written story because it was an 'overnight success' is just... verily distressing, to say the least.

That's all. Peace.

A) Making films is, in many ways, far more difficult than writing a novel. When writing, after all, you're really just wrangling with your own imagination. Films, especially the higher profile ones, can involve hundreds of people (director, screenwriters, actors, prop men, stuntmen, special effects artists, cameramen, editors, etc.), many of whom will likely have conflicting ideas on what's best, working together to produce one product. Filming on location in different natural environments can amplify the stress and problems (whereas an author writing about, let's say a jungle, often doesn't have to write the novel in the jungle itself).

B) Overnight success is just referring to something that is released, catches on quickly, and sells extremely well. Of course some novels can be considered overnight successes.

C) Guild is just saying he's not going to hate something because it's popular. He never said he hated Twilight or Harry Potter because they were massive hits with a broad audience; I don't know where you got that impression from.

 

[Shinigami357]

A) I wasn't comparing making films to writing novels. Though I'd have to disagree. Writing is usually a solitary effort, and that means time and resources. Everything from research to theory-crafting to actual creation, and then first edits, perhaps a full rewrite. Working in solitude is hardly what people call 'easy'. At least when you're making a movie, there are dozens of people around to help.

Also, movies have budgets. Most [beginning] writers don't.

B) Ah, but that's seeing only the already-selling/already-popular final product. I don't think there's any argument that writing, getting an agent, getting a publisher and then waiting for your work to sell well is hard. In fact, most novels get rejected a few times before they even get published. There are no overnight successes to these things, because the speed something catches on is about inversely proportional to how much time and effort you put into it. You can call it 'out of the blue' maybe.

The thing you're focusing on is the '7 books, 8 films, 1 billion worth franchise' [aka Harry Potter]. You don't see the book's roots. And that's my point here. Novels [series, especially] are an accumulation, and before books start to sell like hotcakes, they sell like, well, books.

C) I wasn't reacting to the assumption that he hated Potter or Twilight [urgh]. I was reacting to the assumption that they were overnight successes. If an iSuck sells 5,000,000 worldwide on launch day, that's an overnight success; a first-time novel sells 100,000 copies of its first-print in one month wherever the publisher sends it is hardly a comparison.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

A) Mind you films also need writing, the difference is that you really don't need to write out an environment, upfront descriptions, or actions. You, of course, need to be able to visualize all this and make it possible with the resources you have. It's not just a writing down of your ideas and imagination, it's envisioning it and bringing it to life. Both Gahars and I have been involved in television production and we can both tell you it's not as easy as it looks. If anything films can provide a lot more challenge, being able to add depth to your character through actions and even things as subtle as facial expressions. You have to have people see what you do, you can't just hook up your mind to a projector and have everyone see what you think. It's almost like talking to someone in a different language.

Also writing is just writing something on your own and then seeing if it's accepted by a publisher and such. Movies are a leap of faith, you have to spend a lot more money making a film than you do writing a book. And unless you're already signed into making that movie or you're a big name in the business, you'll often be taking a big risk making a film and hoping it gets attention.

B) You don't get the term "overnight success". It doesn't mean something became successful literally overnight. It means that something picked up traction quickly and grew in popularity at a fast pace. Even if a book has been out for months, it may become an "overnight success" if something prompted its popularity to skyrocket (like, I dunno, Oprah's book club).

C) See B on my definition of "overnight success".

 

[Gahars]

A) While I wouldn't argue that writing is an easy process by any means, I think its solitary nature makes it an easier process than film making. With films, remember, there's the writing plus so many factors; you have to distill all these different visions into one cohesive piece.

Plus, most beginning film makers have little in the way of budgets as well and filming can be a more time consuming process; at least with writing, you might be able to squeeze in a little bit on the side of something else.

B) Again, no one says "overnight success" and means it literally and/or assumes that a book (or any piece of art) is rapidly produced. It just refers to how well it does in a short time frame after it is released.

C) Ah, I mistook the tone of what you were saying. But really, if a publisher makes a limited number of copies for the initial release and sells them off in a short amount of time, how is that not an overnight success? It's a relative term, not an objective standard.

 

[JulietStMoon]

As someone who's been writing since I was 15 (amateurly, as I've published nothing or even finished much of the things I've written), I gotta say I agree that making a movie or tv show would be much more difficult than writing a novel. With a novel, it's literally you and either paper/pen, or any old computer with word processing capabilities. After that, it's just a matter of a bit of talent (as is filmmaking) and focusing and applying and organizing your imagination to what you write, and that's it. After that, you just try your best to publish it and hope to get lucky.

With a movie, you have to do ALL that (writing the story is one of the first steps), AND a billion other things, with countless other people. And no matter what role you have in the film, the chances of your creative vision coming to be without at least a few changes by others you don't like is almost nonexistent.

Plus, there's the notion of practicality... like I said, I've been writing since I was 15, and if I wanted to and just applied myself, I could have definitely written a full novel and tried to get it published, while in school (remember Eragon? The author wrote the novel at 15). The same applies now while I'm in college. I could easily be writing novels and making money part time while in school if I wanted and as successful. But with filmmaking, you just can't do that: you can't do it "on the side" of your job or school and the like without making and real sacrifices. With writing, all you'll be sacrificing is free time.

That's how I see it.

 

[ThePowerOutage]

I've been meaning to read the books for a while, and finally got round to it this week.
The books are really poor IMHO. The story and universe surrounding it is solid, but I couldn't connect with the characters at all, and Suzanne Collins writing style is just irritatingly text book.
I've yet to see the film, but I'm expecting that the director has turned it into a teenage-hype-sensation rather that the gritty and emotional masterpiece it could be.

 

[mysticwaterfall]

Saw the movie today (Havent read the books except the plot summaries). It was okay and I will probably see the other ones. But it certainly wasnt a life changing experiance for me like it seems to be for a lot of other people in general. So I guess I still dont see why people are aking such a big deal out of it, but to each there own, I know I like movies other people dont care about.

 

[JulietStMoon]

Saw the movie today (Havent read the books except the plot summaries). It was okay and I will probably see the other ones. But it certainly wasnt a life changing experiance for me like it seems to be for a lot of other people in general. So I guess I still dont see why people are aking such a big deal out of it, but to each there own, I know I like movies other people dont care about.

It's just the same run of the mill effect as with any movie based on a popular book, honestly. People who read the book will be geeking about it, and people who hear it's based on a book might read it and then go see it (like me, lol).

 

[AlanWeird]

I've yet to read the books. I wanna do those first and then catch the movies.