Capstone Proposal for “The Adaptation Station”
by: Kat Averell
For my capstone project I plan on producing a series of video essays, posted on YouTube, about adaptive works and changing fiction mediums. The project will consist of three main parts: the content of the essays, the production of the videos, and the promotion of the video series. The topics of the videos will include the place of adaptive works in modern culture and the notion of originality; the discussion of the challenges posed by changing mediums; the evaluation of specific adaptations for the challenges they presented and their success in overcoming them; and discussions of how certain works, as of yet un-adapted, would be tailored to fit a new medium. Each of these videos would be carefully written and edited, and shot with a high-quality camera to ensure a thoughtful, polished, and attention-grabbing end product. The videos would be posted to a YouTube channel and entitled “The Adaptation Station.” The aim of this method of presentation would be to attempt to garner an audience for the video series and start a discussion about derivative culture and adaptive works. I would also create a Twitter account and Tumblr blog to help promote the series and engage the conversation on those platforms. The project would both examine the effect of technology on creative works and through technology allow the project to enter a larger forum in which to foster thought and interaction about the subject. I would ask viewers their opinions on my conclusions and ask for suggestions on future topics or theoretical adaptations to attempt, thus increasing the interactive element.
The videos would focus on me explaining the content of the essays to the camera, supplemented by both still images and video clips from other sources. To accomplish this, I’d need a high-quality camera and video editing software, which I can acquire through DCC, and I’d need to use the video editing skills learned in my DCC Expanded Cinema working group. I would need a professional-looking and engaging final product to help attract viewers, lend credibility to my message, and expand on the forum of conversation. The aim would be to create a trusted and well-liked brand, using the forms of self-promotion to which the internet is most suited.
Some examples of topics that I would cover include different types of adaptations: book-to-movie adaptations (including the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games, and adaptations of classic novels), musical adaptations (such as Wicked, and stage musical-to-movie adaptations like Hairspray), animated-to-live-action adaptations, book-to-TV-series adaptations (such as Pretty Little Liars and Game of Thrones), and TV-series-to-movie adaptations (like Serenity). I would also examine more general topics, such as what qualities make a successful adaptation; what, if any, obligation an adapter has to the source material; several bad adaptations, or “badaptations”; transformative vs. derivative works; series or franchise reboots; the place new technology, such as 3D and e-publishing, has in modern fiction; and several of my own theories about how modern technology has placed consumers of culture in an unprecedented position of power and engagement with those who produce cultural works, including concepts such as the “dashboard critic” and franchise “points of insertion.” Another topic I would cover would be hypothetical adaptations of existing works, including what medium I think they should be adapted into, how the story should be edited to fit the medium, hypothetical casting, and elements of aesthetic design. This last topic is one that think will be the most engaging, because it will encourage others to offer their own ideas about adaptations, revealing the lens through which they view their cultural works.
My target audience would be those who wish to examine their pop culture more closely and engage in the production of that culture. The internet and digital culture have now more than ever before allowed everyday people to engage with the culture they are consuming and comment, create, collaborate, censure or encourage. Platforms such as Twitter allow direct contact with those in production and platforms such as Tumblr, WordPress, and YouTube allow near-unlimited forms of self-expression presented to a wider public. Through a topic that engages the imaginations and opinions of many people—the adaptation of beloved works into new and different forms—I plan to create and engage in a conversation about these changes, immersed in the very mediums I am discussing.
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