How is adaptation defined?

chromeboy007

chromeboy007

Well-known member
Hello,

In my research for my first feature length script, I came across a book that has a lot of information that I find extremely useful. The information consists of mostly life anecdotes, industry information and insider insights. The book is a somewhat whistleblower'ish autobiography.

The book is not a work of fiction, nor do I plan on doing a strict adaptation as the characterization of my main protagonist and story plot are to be very different from the book's, which didn't really have a plot.

Does this count as adaptation? Or is it something else?

Thanks!
 
If the book is nonfiction, then part of the deal can also lie in the contract between the author and the persons involved in the narrative. If there's no exclusive arrangement above, then one might want to contact these persons and ask for the right to include their stories into the screenplay.

A cheesy way of doing it is to change the story and the names somewhat without altering its ideas and intent, i.e., roman a clef. "Boogie Nights" is a perfect example of one.
 
If you are just using it as research and your story and characters are different, that's cool. But always try to find multiple research sources so that you aren't using something that can only be traced back to that one book. Any events from the book are from the book, not something that you created - and can not be used. You are writing an original story. I wrote a film for Showtime about Stealth Fighter planes - and part of my research was to read a stealth fighter pilot's book about his experiences. That just gave me a feel for my character (who was completely different). I also read a stack of other books and some magazine articles.
 
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