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Post by Strangely on Jan 14, 2015 19:50:08 GMT -5
I do feel obliged to note, though, in relation to Aunt Josephine's house, that the canon description in Chapter One of TWW does state that the vast majority of the house is hanging off the cliff and only a small porch is actually on the ground. Looking up pictures of both the movie version and Helquist's version, they actually aren't extreme enough (though Helquist's maybe goes a bit overboard on the struts instead). It states nothing about a porch. Though you are right, it states that most of the house is hanging off the cliff. I still stand by my point that they overdid it. The movie version only has the front steps being on the cliff while the book states at least a taxi sized portion of the house was on the cliff. Perhaps a better example of them overdoing it for theatrical effect would be the destruction of Aunt Josephine's house. In the book it simply fell off the cliff, with most of the damage occurring after the Baudelaire's escaped (There was damage to the roof as they escaped, but the rest occurred after they escaped and the destruction is left pretty vague) while in the movie it broke apart as they were trying to escape, there was even an explosion (Plenty of destruction and some points of it rather over the top).
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Post by Dante on Jan 15, 2015 3:27:54 GMT -5
I take your point, but I'd suggest that the destruction of the house as presented in the movie serves two purposes: 1) It shows all of Aunt Josephine's seemingly irrational fears coming true, which is funny; 2) It provides an action scene, which is important for the movie format but which the source material did not have enormous quantities of. It's a matter of opinion, but I think that was an example of good adaptation. The movie got some big things wrong but I think some of the original additions, like the train scene, were good ideas.
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Post by Strangely on Jan 15, 2015 11:11:49 GMT -5
I take your point, but I'd suggest that the destruction of the house as presented in the movie serves two purposes: 1) It shows all of Aunt Josephine's seemingly irrational fears coming true, which is funny; 2) It provides an action scene, which is important for the movie format but which the source material did not have enormous quantities of. It's a matter of opinion, but I think that was an example of good adaptation. The movie got some big things wrong but I think some of the original additions, like the train scene, were good ideas. I agree, I think it enhanced the scene greatly and I hope that the Netflix series can do similar things with the source material. But my original point is about the budget. The movie added things as they had the budget too, they could take seemingly simple scenes and make them extravagant, they could flesh out some aspects of it beyond what the book had done. Ultimately the show may not be able to go as far as the movie could as the budget will differ. My original point was ultimately that it's okay that there will be a smaller budget because at the end of the day what's in the books is usually a bit smaller than what's presented in the movie so the series really shouldn't have too much of a problem matching the books portrayal. They may not be able to go all out for it, but they can still manage to give us what's presented in the books.
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Post by Tryina Denouement on Jan 15, 2015 12:39:14 GMT -5
I have a bunch of fears, largest of which is, like others', dumbing down. That could take many forms, obviously, but the blurring lines between good and bad guys is something that might be at risk of being chucked. Also, I hope they don't go overboard with the steampunk. I have nothing against it in general, but in my mind, asoue is really not right for it. I like to call the visual style that Nickelodoen went with "pointless and half-assed steampunk". Well, yeah, they should make it look less steampunk and more Edwardian era-ish, if that's even a word. And by that I mean to not make it look Victorian/stack of lace at all. I can't stand Movie!Violet's dress, and Movie!Klaus's clothes are the laziest excuses for rich boy clothing, like, ever. Or they could just stick to the clothes that Helquist uses for the three kids. They don't look so half-assed and look more pleasant to the eyes. Also, my main worry is about... basically the series not living up to my expectations.
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Post by Dante on Jan 15, 2015 15:52:09 GMT -5
I agree, I think it enhanced the scene greatly and I hope that the Netflix series can do similar things with the source material. But my original point is about the budget. The movie added things as they had the budget too, they could take seemingly simple scenes and make them extravagant, they could flesh out some aspects of it beyond what the book had done. Ultimately the show may not be able to go as far as the movie could as the budget will differ. My original point was ultimately that it's okay that there will be a smaller budget because at the end of the day what's in the books is usually a bit smaller than what's presented in the movie so the series really shouldn't have too much of a problem matching the books portrayal. They may not be able to go all out for it, but they can still manage to give us what's presented in the books. Ah. All is accounted for. The impression I got was that you were applying a value judgement to the changes, but your point was merely that differences could be expected without it necessarily being a problem either way. And I do agree. I liked how the movie chose to adapt the destruction of Aunt Josephine's house but I appreciate how it was done in the books as well. No contradiction necessary.
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emf3rd
Reptile Researcher
Posts: 40
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Post by emf3rd on Jan 19, 2015 13:09:31 GMT -5
Some really good discussions going on here... A lot of my thoughts have already been said, such as how well they can adapt certain Snicket staples such as blank pages and repeating sentences and the like. The ages of the Baudelaire children, what Sunny's role will be like, how dark it will really be vs. how light/funny it will be, etc, etc.
I don't know if I'd call it a fear, but I'm certainly curious how much, if anything, from All the Wrong Questions they will address in the television show. Obviously with Handler on board as producer to some degree, he should know the whole story of ATWQ that we, the readers, do not yet. So when the time comes, I wonder if any elements, characters, or plot points will be brought up to possibly tie in both series of books into one congruent television show. Perhaps it could go something like this; in order to prolong the show and have each book span multiple episodes, each episode could be narrated by Snicket narrating the series as he researches it, while interweaving stories of his youth that serves as a second story line similar to other television shows. That way there's an A story of ASOUE and a B story of ATWQ that could ultimately culminate to The End and an epilogue concerning The Beatrice Letters.
Until now though, I just can't even let myself have any opinions since we know so little. What I stated are just some cool thoughts I'm sure others have been thinking of, but it is something major I'd like to see addressed in some way or another.
Oh, and a final note; I really do hope they keep the complete air of mystery surrounding the outcomes of everyone's fates (everyone at the hotel, V, K, S, etc) because something the movie got wrong big time was having definite conclusive evidence of Olaf starting the crimes and setting things into motion. I much prefer not knowing, even though it ticked me off when I was younger reading it, I now appreciate not knowing the fates and anyone. And if they did do an epilogue of sorts, I would hope the series ends on an unexplained scene of young Beatrice searching for Lemony after the series has ended. I'd like it if you don't see on screen if they find each other or if she catches up, but it's left totally open to interpretation just like everyone's fates.
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Post by gliquey on Jan 19, 2015 13:55:27 GMT -5
And if they did do an epilogue of sorts, I would hope the series ends on an unexplained scene of young Beatrice searching for Lemony after the series has ended. That sounds like a very interesting idea. Perhaps it could end with her finding a manuscript of ASOUE written by Snicket or something. They'd have to make it to the end of The End first, but for an epilogue/final scene, I think it would work well.
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Post by Strangely on Jan 19, 2015 23:39:48 GMT -5
Oh, and a final note; I really do hope they keep the complete air of mystery surrounding the outcomes of everyone's fates (everyone at the hotel, V, K, S, etc) because something the movie got wrong big time was having definite conclusive evidence of Olaf starting the crimes and setting things into motion. I much prefer not knowing, even though it ticked me off when I was younger reading it, I now appreciate not knowing the fates and anyone. I agree, I always felt Aunt Josephine's death was too final in the movie, while in the books the children only assume she's dead. Even Lemony Snicket left it unsure as all that was ever found was the life jackets (And with the Queequay in the area at the time there's certainly a few other possible fates for Aunt Josephine). Really I don't think the show will be as bad about this. Movies tend to have a lot more finality to them. Even in a series they're done one movie at a time and there's no guarantees of sequels and whatnot so most movies try to be self-contained for the most part. Really it's probably for the better the movie was a bit more definite considering there was never a sequel. VFD was the only plot line I felt was completely left hanging (Traditional sequel bait). Shows on the other hand aren't structured to be so final, even many series finale's just leave the characters with going a loose direction as if the story is continuing even if nobody is watching. They can last for a decade or for one episode before cancellation so for the most part they don't approach it with the same finality as movies. And I feel like many details are left unknown just so that can be explored later on or in another medium or show.
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facelesscreature
Reptile Researcher
“I suppose I'll have to add the force of gravity to my list of enemies.”
Posts: 48
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Post by facelesscreature on Feb 5, 2015 9:09:23 GMT -5
Sorry I haven't post anything here in a while.
My biggest fear about the upcoming series is that it will not portray the character traits well. The movie version did to a certain degree. However, Olaf needs to seem more psychotic and less humorous.
Another fear is that the Baudelaire parents will never be shown. The movie version talked about them and had a nice emotional scene at the end; however, I would prefer them to be seen interacting with Violet, Klaus, and Sunny via flashbacks or through scenes before their "death."
I'm confident that the series will be good. As long as the series portrays the characters right and the story adds layers upon layers of mystery to the surrounding conspiracies about the intentions of each character.
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Post by Dante on Feb 5, 2015 11:08:48 GMT -5
I think that flashbacks to the Baudelaires' time with their parents are quite important to their characterisation - there's usually one such flashback per book - so I'd be surprised if they never appeared. Likewise, since I presume they're not attempting to make an all-ages all-appeal family movie, I would have thought Olaf could be a bit meaner. Again, the fact that Handler is on board with this, after being more or less booted from the movie version, gives me confidence.
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Marinus
Reptile Researcher
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Post by Marinus on Feb 9, 2015 13:38:09 GMT -5
Dark, dark, dark, dark. It needs to be sufficiently dark. Anything less would be a cop-out.
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Post by ringringsebald on Feb 14, 2015 20:13:53 GMT -5
As with many fans of ASoUE and ATWQ, I am very excited about the forthcoming tv adaptation of the former from Netflix. But given the fact that you can't expect pitch perfect page-to-screen translations, there is no guarantee how the series is gonna turn out. With that in mind, name the things that you would like to see in the A Series of Unfortunate Events tv series and the things that you do not wish to see. I am fearful that people will go around saying things like "I've never read the books. They're too boring, but I watch the TV show. "
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Post by Teleram on Feb 15, 2015 13:24:01 GMT -5
Yes, yes, yes, The above post, so much.
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Post by A comet crashing into Earth on Feb 15, 2015 17:28:29 GMT -5
If it becomes a hit series, there will undoubtedly be a number of people who say this, but I think it will also help immensely when trying to convince others to read the books - even if the series turn out altogether too different from the series, you could still use it as a frame of reference: "Oh, but the books are nothing like the show, you'll still have surprises in store." Also, there are probably better odds of getting someone to read a 120-page book than something by George R. R. Martin, which is, after all, a rather bigger commitment, so there's good odds that we'll have a smaller percentage of TV-only fans than, say, Game of Thrones.
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Post by bandit on Feb 15, 2015 17:41:03 GMT -5
Another difference is that ASOUE isn't a load of trash.
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