English 227 | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Tim Burton
Tim Burton, the director of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) is an iconic director of 27 films and producer of 19. Burton has a specific style all his own, and groups of fans following is work simply because it is done by him, regardless of the story so much. Many of his movies have been adaptations of children's literature, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, another book from Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach, and more recently Alice in Wonderland. He also did the Batman movies of the early to mid 90's.
John August
John August is the screenwriter for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) as well as other films such as Charlie’s Angels, Corpse Bride, Prince of Persia, etc. He is a very important crewmember because he basically designs the blueprint of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film.
He manages his own website, and it is very interesting to learn what he thinks about screenwriting and adaptation. As a screenwriter, he knows there is a perfect time for the audience to know what’s happening. Unlike novelists, they have time to establish the context of their story for a longer period of time while screenwriters do not enjoy as much freedom. Screenwriters are challenged to condense a scene in the novel in adapting it to the movie. In addition, the screenwriter himself does not have full control that his script will be followed closely. In fact, he says:
“The frustration for screenwriters is that many of the decision-makers — directors, producers, studio executives — will have different opinions about that minimum effective dose. Directors will try to cut all the dialogue. Producers will focus on strange details, having read the script so many times that they’ve lost fresh eyes. And studio executives, having faced confused audiences at low-scoring test screenings, will want things over-explained to painful degrees.”
Furthermore, he recognizes the difference between the engagement of the person to the novel and film. A person reading a novel could take all the time he wants in reading and understanding the novel, “but a movie never stops. It keeps playing along at 24 frames per second, no matter how confused the audience gets”.
When John August wrote the first draft of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he had not watched the 1971 film adaptation. He was told by Tim Burton not to watch it. He only watched the 1971 film while he was working on the second draft of the screenplay. He felt that the 1971 film deviated from the novel, but he appreciated it still because it gives the Burton's team the opportunity to give a new perspective from the novel of Roald Dahl.
All quotations are from John August's website at johnaugust.com.
He manages his own website, and it is very interesting to learn what he thinks about screenwriting and adaptation. As a screenwriter, he knows there is a perfect time for the audience to know what’s happening. Unlike novelists, they have time to establish the context of their story for a longer period of time while screenwriters do not enjoy as much freedom. Screenwriters are challenged to condense a scene in the novel in adapting it to the movie. In addition, the screenwriter himself does not have full control that his script will be followed closely. In fact, he says:
“The frustration for screenwriters is that many of the decision-makers — directors, producers, studio executives — will have different opinions about that minimum effective dose. Directors will try to cut all the dialogue. Producers will focus on strange details, having read the script so many times that they’ve lost fresh eyes. And studio executives, having faced confused audiences at low-scoring test screenings, will want things over-explained to painful degrees.”
Furthermore, he recognizes the difference between the engagement of the person to the novel and film. A person reading a novel could take all the time he wants in reading and understanding the novel, “but a movie never stops. It keeps playing along at 24 frames per second, no matter how confused the audience gets”.
When John August wrote the first draft of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he had not watched the 1971 film adaptation. He was told by Tim Burton not to watch it. He only watched the 1971 film while he was working on the second draft of the screenplay. He felt that the 1971 film deviated from the novel, but he appreciated it still because it gives the Burton's team the opportunity to give a new perspective from the novel of Roald Dahl.
All quotations are from John August's website at johnaugust.com.
