The Outsiders - From your perspective, was the film or novel more successful? {Text Response}

The Outsiders

Sachi Ruaya 8B

From your perspective, was the film or novel more successful?

 

Stories can be transformed into different mediums such as films and novels. Which one would you prefer? Film or novel? Your opinion may highly depend on which medium represents the storyline more efficiently. S.E. Hinton’s original ground-breaking novel, The Outsiders, was also adapted into a film. The film was directed by Francis Coppola and written (screenplay) by Kathleen Knutsen. Hinton’s novel was first published in 1967, US, by Viking Penguin and the film was released in Australia on the 15^th December 1983. Both have successfully presented the audience or readers with the same plot (storyline): the rivalry between two gangs; the wealthy Socs and the lower-class Greasers, sprout mayhem throughout town…not only until everything heats up when one gang member kills a member of the other. However, the film adaptation has been more successful in many peculiar aspects such as the emotional impact on the viewers, the unique ways of representing the storyline and the overall enjoyment of the visual language.

The missing factor that is absent in the novel, but not in the film, and is crucial for success in impacting the audience is music. Music, in this context, is considered as a basic film technique which helps engage viewers by creating an appropriate atmosphere. Neuroscience research indicates that music can influence your emotions through specific brain circuits. When we listen to music, an organic chemical called dopamine (which is produced in the brain) is released. It functions as a neurotransmitter and helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centres. For instance, there are scenes where the visual representation (e.g. scene, event, lighting and situation) is calming. For instance, the scenes when Ponyboy and Johnny were relaxing, reading Gone with The Wind and watching sunsets at the Church, are contrasted with background music "which texture would be described as light, calming and warm (the instrumentals that are heard during these scenes are inclusive of the acoustic guitar and strings, which are lightly layered to achieve the calm mood). Since the music stimulates the viewers’ emotions, the film has a high advantage against the novel. This fundamentally means that the film is more successful in emotionally impacting the audience than the novel. [1]

Other than the emotional stimulation of sound, imagery plays a vital part in why the film is much more successful than the novel. In comparison to the film, the novel has to have a more sophisticated and appropriate (e.g. suits the situation the characters are in) choice of vocabulary that causes the reader to fabricate and construct an image cognitively. This is the section where certain flaws can develop misconception to the reader due to their background context. Alternatively, the reader’s social, cultural and historical background. Unlike the novel, the film has the actual “visual impact” on the audience. Factors such as lighting, camera angles, specific distance shots, the actors body language and facial expression can leave stronger impressions on the viewers, foreshadow without dialogue (e.g. body language can indicate what may happen next since the viewer is engaged in the story. This is because they would guess what might happen next by observing the body language of the actors) and also emotionally justify the scene/audience altogether. Other than the dialogue and appearance of the actors, a combination of lighting, camera angles and camera placement can give the reader an efficient perspective of the situation" like a visual language! For instance, at the scene where Johnny and Ponyboy entered the party to receive advice from Dally [after when Johnny killed Bob], the lighting was warm and misty. And, as Johnny and Ponyboy walked in, the camera was placed further inside the house, as if you were someone partaking in the party, observing the two boys. From this, the viewers feel like they are experiencing the culture, setting and mood of the situation. For me, I felt uneasy for the characters (Ponyboy and Johnny) because they have just been traumatised since they have been jumped by the Socs and that Johnny killed one of them. And to be placed in such a calm, easy going setting (the party scene with warm, misty lighting) suddenly made me feel this way. That is why imagery plays a vital part in why the film is much more successful than the novel.

Representation of the storyline is expressed more creatively in the film. Apart from the very beginning and end of the film, the film did not have narration. Therefore, the film had to present the context (i.e. social, cultural and historical background) of the characters differently from the novel. For instance, instead of Ponyboy narrating that his parents died in an auto-wreck, the film represented this by showing one of Ponyboy’s dreams "or flashbacks. This is beneficial in engaging the viewer since the audience would put more thought to unravel the characters’ background that they may have been delineated from. Another example of this is that Johnny’s behaviour slightly differs from when he is just with his own gang and when the Socs are present. As a viewer of this film, Johnny’s actor (Ralph Macchio) portrayed this well. Macchio alters his voice tone, facial expression and body language in scenes in which the Socs are present. These factors easily reveal to the viewers that Johnny feels extremely uncomfortable when the Socs are present. Also, these factors are used as social cues to help communicate to the film’s viewers that something may have happened between Johnny and the Socs (i.e. Johnny was jumped by the Socs, outnumbered) ultimately foreshadowing a historical context to the audience.

Despite both of the mediums being successful in presenting the storyline, the film has extra features such as music, film techniques and a unique way of representing the context that has later developed the characters. This ultimately leaves a much stronger impression on the audience. Usually, it is more common for a book to be considered better than its film adaptation because most film adaptions do not fulfil the original storyline of the novel. But this is not the case for The Outsiders. The storyline of the film is deemed identical to the novel "despite having a few minor action differences. Next time you are frustrated at a film adaptation of your favourite novel, enjoy the small features such as the music, visual language and the way the whole story is expressed. You might find something hidden, waiting to be unveiled.

 

Reference

 

Boothby, S. (2017, April 13). Does Music Affect Your Mood? Retrieved October 2017, from Health Line: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-listening-to-music-lifts-or-reinforces-mood-051713

Goldstein, B. (n.d.). Music and the Brain: The Fascinating Ways That Music Affects Your Mood and Mind. Retrieved October 2017 , from ConsciousLifestyleMag: https://www.consciouslifestylemag.com/music-and-the-brain-affects-mood/

IMDB. (n.d.). The Outsiders (1983). Retrieved October 2017, from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086066/

IMDB. (n.d.). The Outsiders (1983) - Full Cast & Crew. Retrieved October 2017, from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086066/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm

Swirk. (n.d.). Camera shots, angles and movement, lighting, cinematography and mise en scene. Retrieved October 2017, from Skwirk - Online Education: http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-54_u-251_t-647_c-2411/camera-shots-angles-and-movement-lighting-cinematography-and-mise-en-scene/nsw/camera-shots-angles-and-movement-lighting-cinematography-and-mise-en-scene/skills-by-text-type-film/film-overview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pun of the year; “There was so much grease on it [Fried Chicken] that the Socs started jumping on it” " Sachi’s former cooking teacher

(P.S. I always wondered what my teacher meant by that. He would always say it when I put too much cooking oil on the food…now I know. J )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date Finished: 25^th October 2017

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[1] Music by Camine Coppola