THEME FOR IDEA

INITIAL THOUGHTSI have decided to do an adaptation of a fairy-tale. This will be my starting point for my film and I will use this to create

my own, unique spin on the fairy-tale I end up choosing. Fairy-tales I have been looking at include Little Red Riding

Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, Rapunzel, Hansel & Gretel, Robin Hood and Pinocchio,

however I have decided against Rumpelstiltskin for I didn’t feel inspired by this story or motivated to adapt it.

My initial thoughts on this idea are to create an urban twist on whatever fairy-tale I select and then make it my own. I

want to focus on creating realistic aspects which will still link with the storyline however minus the fantasy and make

believe which fairy-tales commonly consist of. To do this I will have to have the classic characters being modified in the

way that they'll represent the character in the fairy-tale but be modern and realistic within the film. However, I don't

want to create a serious tone throughout the trailer I will eventually produce. I think aspects of comedy could work well

in this type of film and so will be looking to include that sort of atmosphere.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

This was the first fairy-tale I came up with and I thought about the ways I would have to adjust the

characters to make it my own and alter things around such as the Big Bad Wolf having to portray the

‘danger’ in some way to the protagonist character which would be a lead from Little Red Riding Hood and

my first thought was to call this character something along the lines of Scarlet which is a shade of red

and links to the fairy-tale name and also is a name used today and therefore this branches off the idea of

urbanising my idea. This fairy-tale has been adapted in terms of the cartoon ‘Hoodwinked’ and the recent

2011 film starring Amanda Seyfried, ‘Red Riding Hood’. The recent 2011 film was fairy successful making

$842,398 in the opening weekend and gross of $37,652,565 and so I think this could be an indication that

the audience enjoyed the film however, this film was still produced fairly recently and so this could be a

possible explanation of why another fairy-tale would be a better choice. However, in terms of advertising I

found the poster for this film very effective and so would be looking to create something similar.

SNOW WHITE

This is a another classic story and has been adapted recently in terms of films like ‘Snow White And The

Huntsman’ and ‘Mirror Mirror’ both released in 2012. Snow White And The Huntsman made a gross of

$155,111,815 whereas as Mirror Mirror made $64,933,670, the difference between the two could possibly be

due to the more critically acclaimed cast of Snow White And The Huntsman consisting of Kristen Stewart ,

Qwenyth Paltrow, etc. Also, Kristen Stewarts presence in the film may have created a larger buzz due to the

successful twilight trilogy where she plays a protagonist female role. If I was to adapt this I would need to

consider a substitute for the mirror and a rhyme to go with ‘Mirror mirror on the wall…’ I would also need a

substitute for the seven dwarfs as well as the prince and I would need to think about how I could change

crucial points within the story such as the wicked step mum and the red poison apple etc. I think this could

work well however I believe this could sway towards a wider female audience and I want my film to be

directed towards a mixed audience. I want to intepret the magical aspects within fairy-tales into my film

however, wonder how I will be able to do so considering the technology I have at hand.

PINOCCHIO

I cannot think of any examples where this story has been adapted recently and so this interested me into

thinking of ways in which I could adapt this. I thought about ‘Gepetto’ the poor carpenter who creates

Pinocchio and how this is an Italian name and Pinocchio is Italian and thought of ways I could

incorporate Italy into my film. However, it is highly unlikely I will obtain access to Italy itself and so would

be unable to set it there, although I could base it around an Italian character living in London perhaps. I

would need to base it around the ideas of someone becoming brave, unselfish and honest as this is the

key theme within the story of Pinocchio. I would have to consider the many ways I would substitute

certain characters and what for, like Pinocchio wouldn’t be able to be a puppet but perhaps something

else, or even just a boy who needs to change his ways possibly, also the fairy and Jiminy cricket, the two

characters which help Pinocchio out during the course of the film. I believe this would be a difficult story

to adapt but think it would be possible if thought about it great depth and planned well.

ROBIN HOOD

I think this would be an easy story to adapt however, would be reluctant to do so due to the amount of

spin offs which have come from this story. On the other hand, I could easily make it my own and would

be interested in the idea of setting something in the forest as I know I have easy access to forests. I think

this type of film could consist of many different camera angles and shots and could involve a lot of

action. Although, I would need to think deeply about ways in which I could adapt such a film and how I

could create a modern, realistic feel to the film but still keep it following a similar storyline, I would have

to replace Robin Hoods bow and arrow skill with something more modern, the immediate response would

be to use a firearm weapon but I think this is too obvious and would consider thinking of a different

symbolic talent which could relate to the character. If I was to decide to choose this story and adapt it I

would perhaps choose against the forest location although I am interested in this, my reason for this

being that I could create a more urban impression if I had it situated in a city and on the streets.

HANSEL & GRETEL

This story has recently been adapted in the likes of the very recent, 2013 film, ‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch

Hunters’ which in the USA made $19,690,956 in the first opening weekend and a gross of $55,682,070. I

think although this was a very recent adaptation, it differs as it was based on them when they were older

and is about their life after becoming witch hunters. If I used this story as a foundation for my film I would

have to consider maybe creating a different danger other than the witch and a different lure other than the

house covered in sweets. I would obviously have to consider changing many other aspects too and could

consider changing the father and step mother as something else, I could possibly have the characters of

Hansel and Gretel being orphans and the danger could be their foster parents or the two being split up

from each other. I would have to consider setting as the original story involves being set in the woods

and I could perhaps have them set in the city and could involve all the obvious dangers of a typical, busy

city such as drugs, prostitution, strangers, drunks, etc.

CONCLUSIONBefore I can conclude anything, I think I need to do some research, I am going to create a survey based

on my ideas and will ask multiple choice questions so that I can get direct answers to help me decide on

my idea. I want to find out what people want most as this will hopefully help me in the success of my film

trailer.

At the moment I am interested in filming in a forest like environment however, am still very much in touch

with the idea of having my film appearing modern, for these reasons I will be asking the audience what

they prefer and possibly filming in two different locations. I am also considering the idea of making my

film appear slightly magical as this is commonly what fairy-tales consist of, magical aspects and fantasy

like events. Although, I need to be careful that my adaptation doesn’t end up following the storyline to

thoroughly or else I won’t end up in a result which is my own.