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Well - at least it has lots of bare-chested warrior men in it!
Have you read the book they say it is based on? I haven't. What exactly is the name of that movie, and when does it come out? I couldn't read the title at the end...
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It's based off a graphic novel called 'The 300' that is loosely based off the battle at Thermopylae, I think. I haven't read it, I just think the movie looks awesome. Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:In 1998, Frank Miller shook the comics world with his groundbreaking series 300. Marking Miller's first collaboration with watercolor artist Lynn Varley (Ronin, The Dark Knight Returns) in over a decade, 300 was a gritty reimagining of a battle in which three hundred Spartan soldiers fought to hold back the entire Persian army. The series won three Eisner Awards, including Best Limited Series, Best Writer/Artist (Miller), and Best Colorist (Varley).
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I love graphic novels, but it sort of turns the old trope upside-down, doesn't it?
quote:Person (excited): Did you see the latest movie??
Other Person (bored, snooty): No, but I read the book.
In a related vein -- have you seen storyboards sometimes in DVD extras (or posted on the web) for action-adventure films -- I'm thinking particularly of Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and The Matrix? From a realization standpoint, they ARE graphic novels, except that the frame (pane) is always widescreen-shaped.
Makes me think the translation to film here would be pretty seamless. Though I don't know.
Posts: 431 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Well, I certainly would have no problem reading the graphic novel. I love Frank Miller. So, I hope I didn't come across as implying that there was something wrong with the graphic novel.
As to your point, I've actually noticed that many writers have written books which, in style and pacing, seem very much written with either television or movies in mind. For instance, some of John Varley's work. OSC's recent 'thriller'.
From an artistic standpoint, it would seem that graphic novels, which visually tells a story in frames, would be very compatible with film, which basically does it much quicker.
Of course, graphic novels are to movies and television as a zen garden is to a park. (O.K., strained metaphor, but I think it's kind of accurate.)
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:From an artistic standpoint, it would seem that graphic novels, which visually tells a story in frames, would be very compatible with film, which basically does it much quicker.
Not sure "quicker" is the right word. I can often read a graphic novel in less time than it takes to watch a movie. What the movie does is give you more detail (all the little in-between stuff) and presents the story with a more seamless continuity visually.
Graphic novels are like key-frames to guide your imagination along the story line rather than carrying you through someone else's wholly-realized interpretation.
Anyone remember the photo-novellas of the late 70s - early 80s? They were the reverse of graphic novel to film. They were graphic novels made up of the key-frame still-shots from a movie. I had the original StarWars photo-novella and my sister had Grease and Ice Castles.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Kind of meant, shows the frames much more quickly.
As to how fast you can go through a graphic novel, it really, really, really depends on the graphic novel (not to mention how fast someone reads). Word dense "V for Vendetta" is good for a few hours, while something like "We3" is much quicker reading, because it's much more visual.
I disagree about the more detail. Given that a graphic novel can explore an idea with words for a bit in such a way that would destroy the flow of a movie, I think graphic novels can definitely be more detailed at times in how they treat certain elements of the story.
"Photo-novellas"? Hmmm. I remember the, idon't know what you'd call them, fan magazines that synopsized the movie with screenshots.
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Fanzines. And I have some of those (the screen-shots with dialogue (and commentary)) for various TV shows.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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The photo-novellas were small and thick like trade paperbacks with much higher quality pages. They had still shots from the film arranged comic-book like with dialog balloons and transition commentary bars (i.e. "Meanwhile, back at the Death Star . . .")
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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The trailer actually has some things that make me dubious about how true its going to be to the original work, but on the whole I'm optimistic, because the design video diaries clearly show a lot of visual elements and composition straight out of the book.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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I don't think I can take another Frank Miller story. Maybe Sin City was just especially bad, but if it's any indication of Miller's abilities as a writer, I'll be avoiding this flick like the plague.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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