Novelizations are a literary genre not difficult to define: “It is the novelistic adaptation of the screenplay of this film.” (Jan Baeten 51). When film producers and influential journalists realized the importance of novelization as a genre for the marketing and communication of individual ideas, they invented the written publication of movies in which they would collaborate to create. Novelizations are underrepresented as a style of writing. Although novelizations are thought as a low-esteemed literary genre, they can be helpful for the reader by bridging up the gap between the projected screenplay and written text and by including deleted scenes of the movie and thus offering a better comprehension of the plot.
Novelizations often contain supplementary material, which can be historical and biographical, that connote parts of the movie and make it easier to understand the film it is based on. Historical background of the novelization allows the reader to unfold the plot and build a relationship with the chain of events by providing a detailed description of what happened in the past that led to those particular events and of the character’s past. An example would be Dewey Graham’s novelized book from the movie Gladiator. It includes historical information on the Roman Empire and the Gladiators of that period. Simultaneously A biographical background allows the reader to comprehend the characterization of the novel and to analyze the character by presenting the subject’s life-story. An example would be the novelization Snakes on Plane, in which the writer Christa Faust allows the reader to analyze why these passengers were on the plane by giving a detailed biography.
Novelizations also include unedited scenes, which provide a dynamic and transitional flow of understanding to the plot of the story. This scene presents the reading material from the Director’s Cut that enriches the reader’s perspective. For example, in the Back to the Future novelization, the author George Gipe presents a provoking setting of a 1950s living room in which the primary character is watching an educational movie about atomic power. This literary expression gives a multi-dimensional perspective in understanding the interests of the central role in a better way. These unedited scenes also provide an alternative reading to the understanding of the plot. For instance, Johannes Mahlkneckt states “Again the novelization explains: ‘Out here, on the bridge that ran to nowhere….there was no reason for Skynet to waste resources on patrols’ (qtd. Ibid.:235)” (154). This kind of a verbal explanation would be difficult to shoot in the movie but is easily captured in the literary expression. Another benefit of the deleted shooting-scripts in a novelization is that it allows the reader to dive into the thoughts of the characters. For example in the novelization of Star Wars: A New Hope, the reader can read about the thoughts of the character Princess Leia while Darth Vader interrogates her on the ship. In this way, the author Alan Dean Foster makes us sympathize with her earlier than we do in the screen version.
Many critics argue that novelizations are written with the aim to fulfill commercial needs. Jan Baeten states that “novelizations are blatant examples of commercial literature.” Also, the journalist Deborah Allison argues in her article that some novelizations are not very well written: “according to any conventional measure.” Nevertheless, it would be much more relaxing to grab a cup of coffee with an interesting novel rather than gluing yourself in front of the television to watch a particular movie.
Despite the apparent differences between novelization and film-making, both these mediums exist in a parallel form of adapting themselves to the needs of the readers and audiences. Therefore novelization is a useful medium for readers because of the historical and biographical context and the kaleidoscopic perspective it gives the readers to understand the story in general.
Works Citied
Allison, Deborah. “Film/Print: Novelizations and Capricorn One.” M/C Journal 10.2 (2007).
01 Apr. 2014. Print.
Baetens, Jan. “Expanding the Field of Constraint: Novelization as an Example of Multiply
Constrained Writing.” Poetics Today 31.1: 51-79 (2010). 1 Apr. 2014. Print.
Jones, David. “In praise of movie novelizations, and the gold they offer movie geeks” The
Guardian. The Guardian, 28th Sept. 2011. Web. 1 Apr.2008.
Mahlkneckt, Johannes. “The Hollywood Novelization: Film as Literature or Literature as film
Promotion?” Poetics Today 33.2: 137-168 (2012). 1 Apr.2014. Print
“Novelization.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia. n.d. 1 Apr 2014.