Blog 7

Christopher Caruso

Blog # 7

Draft Research Plan

Presently, we live in an age where an increasing amount of our cinema has been taking its inspiration from pre-existing pieces of literature.  However, despite the apparent increase of today's movies being based off of literature, it appears to be the Dominant Discourse that the original written versions of the stories are superior to their film adaptations.  With this research project, I intend to make it my goal to test the validity of this Dominant Discourse.  In simpler words, I wish to find a solid answer to whether or not it is true that the written format of storytelling is truly superior to the visual cinematic format of story telling, and if the way we read and process the information in books vs. the way we read and process in information in movies have any contributing factors to this notion.  Similar to how people read and process the information presented in text through the written language, in cinema, people "read" and process the information on the screen predominantly through non-verbal language and other types of Discourse.  This includes physical actions, facial expressions, tone of music, lighting, position of the camera, tone of voice, etc.

In order to achieve this goal, and in order to prevent my research from becoming too broad, it is my plan to focus on one specific book (or book series) that has been adapted into one (or several) feature-length film.  On the other hand, in order to prevent my research from becoming  too narrow or scarce, I have decided that it would be best to focus on a very well-known book/movie series that I can safely assume has been both read and watched by the majority of the general population.  The book/movie series that best matches this description would be the Harry Potter books by British author J.K Rowling.  I intend to obtain my information by gathering several individuals who are considered "fans" of the series (in other words a Harry Potter Discourse Community), and have proficient and extensive knowledge on both the film series and the original books.  What is great (and convenient) about using the Harry Potter series as my base of analysis is the fact that the series is so well-known and so highly-regarded that volunteers could easily be found on the university campus alone, let alone anywhere else in the outside area.  I, as the researcher, will be required to gather the data I seek most efficiently by interacting directly with my volunteers through a series or surveys and personal interviews with each individual volunteer.  I could also give a spin on things by answering the questions myself and providing my own personal opinions on the subject manner as well.  As such, much of my first-hand research is going to rely heavily on the use of Ethnography.  The exact number of volunteers that will be required in order to obtain a sufficient amount of usable data is currently unknown.

Some of the possible questions presented in the surveys and/or interviews may consist of (but may not be currently restricted to) some of the following:

• A comprehensive question in which the volunteer will be asked to summarize the central ideas and plot around the written work, as well as a comprehensive summary of the key points of the film
• Which central fields in the plot of the book successfully translated into the movie adaptation?  Which central fields in the plot of the book were LEFT OUT in the movie adaptation?  Were there any central fields or points in the plot of the story that were added to the film that were not present in the original book?
• What were the most impressional moments in the books/movies
• What essential points of action in the book/movie to the volunteers remember specifically?
• What features of books do they value most?  Which features of movies do they value most?
• What is the volunteer's "reading style"?  Are they more visual readers, creating heavily vivid and immersive  images  in their minds, or do details not matter as much?
• How much of a distraction or dampener is it when a film deviates from the original source material?
• If literature is truly considered the superior format, then why is it significantly less common for movies to receive literary adaptations as apposed to the other way around?
• What features of books do they value the most?
• Do illustrations in literature play a role in how individuals enjoy and/or visualize a story?  Could the same be asked about the special effects and visuals in cinema.

Naturally, this is not a project one can not just dive into.  Much secondary research and outside information will be needed before any interacting with volunteers.  It is important that I seek out any professional articles, journal entries, case studies, etc. pertaining to subjects such as the psychology behind reading a text, the process of conveying non-verbal communications in cinema through mood, setting, tone, music, etc., studies of reactions of certain book-to-film adaptations, studies of how effectively we as humans read and process information in several formats, etc.  It is also crucial that I first define several key terms to the readers of my study such as discourse, Discourse, Discourse Analysis, Discourse Community, Dominant Discourse, Intertextuality, Ethnography, Perspectives, and Social Language to name a few.  It is through this whole process and through all of this information that I hope to uncover society's true value of literature over cinema, and whether the way we read the information on the page vs. the way we  read the information on the big screen has any influence in how we view the two forms of storytelling.