Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE MCS3400

 
TITLE Adaptation for Film and Television

 
UM LEVEL 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Media and Communications

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit introduces students to key theories of adaptation studies, and assesses them on their own creative adaptation practice in the form of screenplays, scripts and treatments. Students will also examine a range of concepts related to adaptation, including authorship, visual storytelling, narratology and intertextuality. Students will be encouraged to engage with formal screenwriting concepts such as the three-act structure, genre tropes, active protagonists, and plot resolutions.

Study-Unit Aims:

The aim of this study-unit is to introduce students to key issues and theories surrounding the analysis of adaptations and to interrogate alternative forms of source material, such as the short film, comics, graphic novels, video games, music videos, photography, poetry, and other visual arts. Students will also examine issues of fidelity to source material, audience expectations and consumption of cinematic adaptations.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- develop knowledge and understanding of adaptations from various media forms;
- critically reflect on the creative process of adapting texts after completion of a self-directed adaptation project;
- evaluate key concepts in adaptation theory regarding the textual differences between various media, including narratology, fidelity, and specificity.

2. Skills
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- critically evaluate the notion of the screenwriter as author, and how this impacts on theories of authorship and auteurship in adaptations;
- display the relevant skills required to develop and write effective screenplays for film that conform to industry standard formatting.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact And Fiction Into Film by Linda Seger, Owl Books, 1992.
- Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films by Stephanie Harrison, Three Rivers Press, 2005.
- Adaptation Revisited: Television and the Classic Novel by Sarah Cardwell, Manchester University Press, 2002.
- Theory of Adaptation by Linda Hitcheon, Routledge, 2013.
- Russian and Soviet Film Adaptations of Literature, 1900-2001 ed by Stephen Hutchings and Anat Vernitski, Routledge, 2005.
- Theatrical Translation and Film Adaptation A Practitioner's View by Phyllis Zatlin, Multilingual Matters Ltd, 2005.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Co-requisite Study-unit: MCS3200

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork SEM2 No 20%
Assignment SEM2 Yes 80%

 
LECTURER/S Monika Maslowska

 

 
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Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit