I intend to work on adapting the Caves of Steel for the screen, and I want to get the opinions of a few Asimov readers, if there are any here.
Should I introduce the world to the viewer through a LOTR-style infodump, or reduce Olivaw's knowlege and have Lije inform him?
Also, I was considering changing Lije's pipe to cigarettes or cigars, in consideration of the change in trends since the 50s...
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
It depends upon what kind of mood you want to set. The voice over beginnings, done well, create a sense of an epic story being told. If this works for you, then go with it. If it doesn't feel right, go with the hero learning the information.
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
> I intend to work on adapting the Caves of > Steel for the screen,
For practice, or do you have the rights?
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
Yeah, what EJS said. Also, do you have a studio in mind or are you just smoking something?
By the way, most trends don't go in one direction forever. The tobacco industry has been working to create a safer cigarette for years, but a lot of the more promising approaches are really difficult to swing with a disposable item.
Besides, there is the essential difference in character implied between a pipe smoker and someone who uses those little disposable paper tubes. They did have cigarettes in Asimov's day, you know.
Posted by ArCHeR (Member # 2067) on :
Of course, but the detectives in Asimov's day (or, rather his day when he wrote Caves, seeing as how he died in the 80s) smoked pipes, a la Sherlock. The detectives of today, however, don't, just like most of the population.
I don't have rights, and I don't have a studio. What I have is a desire to make Caves into a movie. I'm guessing I'll have to wait to get my film degree before that comes along. But it's good to start when the idea pops into your head.
Christine, have you read the book? It's not really an epic (at least at this point in Asimov's timeline), and Olivaw isn't the hero of Caves.
Anyway, I'm leaning more towards incidental infodumping. As in, news story in the background, a few remarks here and there, etc...
Does anyone who has read the book have an opinion on the matter?
Posted by yanos (Member # 1831) on :
I think you may find that if you watch the movies from back then the fashion veered towards cigarettes. I don't quite think Asimov dates back as far as Arthur Conan Doyle. Now as this is set in the future it may be unlikely for any form of tobacco to be used, unless it has been "cleaned up". But you se the reason for the pipe was because it was rationed. And he could gain longer satisfaction from his little block of tobacco.
Posted by Jules (Member # 1658) on :
It's been a while, but I don't think there's a lot of backstory that's important to the plot which isn't made evident through the characters' actions anyway?
Bailey, being from Earth, doesn't know much about dealing with robots, so everything relevant there must be explained to him. The only unique thing about Earth's culture, if memory serves, is their intense agrophobia (sp?) and obsession with privacy, both of which are made evident by Bailey's actions (unless I'm thinking of one of the sequels).
BTW, I've heard a rumour that an adaptation is in production right now. Don't know the details, though.
Posted by ArCHeR (Member # 2067) on :
There's the robotophobia (if you can call it that). The changing of New York into a super-city, absorbing New Jersey, almost touching Boston, etc. The whole City culture is told and not shown.
I'm not a smoker, so I'm not sure on how much difference a pipe makes on the use of tobacco. Plus the filter factor. Its much more practical to have a filter on a cig than a pipe. Remember that scene from the Fifth Element?
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
Yeah, like that does anything but force the smoker to drag harder on the cigarette to get the same amount of nicotine, resulting in more carcinogen production during the burn.
Posted by ArCHeR (Member # 2067) on :
Yeah, I'm sure that's ALL it does Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
If you looked at the science, you would be.
Posted by ArCHeR (Member # 2067) on :
Have you ever smoked both kinds of cigarettes? There's a big difference.
Posted by Whitney (Member # 2176) on :
Is the pipe-smoking aspect of the character such a big deal? I mean there are still folks out there today who prefer pipes to cigarette. I think the biggest draw in cigarettes is their convienence. You just pull em out of the pack and smoke, whereas pipes you have several different components (ie pouch of tobacco, the pipe itself & the matches) you have carry around in order to smoke it. The pipe-smoking could still be viewed as a retro idiosyncrasy of the character, and shouldn't be thought about too hard.
As far as rights and things, when did that ever stop anyone from writing something for their own personal enjoyment? Rights and such can be obtained after its finished if Archer is serious about marketing his screenplay.
** Edited for at least one spelling error I found. **
[This message has been edited by Whitney (edited December 10, 2004).]
Posted by ArCHeR (Member # 2067) on :
My major complaint about it is that it fit the character for the 1950s, but not for now, which is closer to then. Um. Yeah.
Wether or not pipes come back is anyone's guess.
But it does make it easier to show that it's rationed when you use cigarettes. Just have him pull out a pack that, instead of saying Winston, etc., it says "Ration".
