One thing that I notice a lot during the analysis discussions is that there's a lot of attention paid to how a particular thing is done in this particular adaptation — character X is like this, this, and this; his line of dialogue has this effect, his actions here have that effect.
What I don't see much of is any asking of the question: What if character X was like this instead? What if he'd said this?
Example: Here is what Elrond is like in the Jackson films. It's great that we examine Weaving's portrayal in that movie and compare it to the book; it's very informative to imagine what we get from him as shown on film as opposed to how he is in the book, or think what our impression would be if we'd never read the book first at all. But what if ... what if we said something like: What if Elrond in the movie were "kind as summer"? What would that look like? What would his dialogue sound like? What might he say instead of "men are weak" or "our list of allies grows thin"? How would he interact with the hobbits, instead of his eyebrows-glowering? What kinds of lines might we put in his mouth, and what effect would that have on the story the film is telling?
I keep wishing I were in the live chats so I could throw in a question like that — "hey, what if so-and-so said X or did Y instead? How would that affect this adaptation? Would that have been better or worse than what we got?"
What I don't see much of is any asking of the question: What if character X was like this instead? What if he'd said this?
Example: Here is what Elrond is like in the Jackson films. It's great that we examine Weaving's portrayal in that movie and compare it to the book; it's very informative to imagine what we get from him as shown on film as opposed to how he is in the book, or think what our impression would be if we'd never read the book first at all. But what if ... what if we said something like: What if Elrond in the movie were "kind as summer"? What would that look like? What would his dialogue sound like? What might he say instead of "men are weak" or "our list of allies grows thin"? How would he interact with the hobbits, instead of his eyebrows-glowering? What kinds of lines might we put in his mouth, and what effect would that have on the story the film is telling?
I keep wishing I were in the live chats so I could throw in a question like that — "hey, what if so-and-so said X or did Y instead? How would that affect this adaptation? Would that have been better or worse than what we got?"