Writing for Visual Media, 4e

The author wrote a screen adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights for American International Pictures, which was a sequel to their remake of the old black and white film starring Laurence Olivier. The problem was that American International Pictures had killed off Heathcliff in their remake. Since it was successful, they wanted to cash in on that success by filming the rest of the book. Anyone who has read the novel will know that the next generation replays the social drama of the first part and redeems their parent's generation from its hatred and folly. The complete book is a narrative of healing of dark and destructive passions.

We present a treatment for the film which was never made but which the producers wanted to call Return to Wuthering Heights. There is also an exchange of letters with the producers giving a flavor of writer/producer relationships.

Click on the links below to see these documents.

Correspondence 1

Correspondence 2

Correspondence 3

Treatment

The Merchant of Venice

Adapting Shakespeare for the screen is an excellent exercise. Many of Shakespeare's films have been adapted for the screen. Try a search in the IMDB (use the INTERNET tab on this site). As an example, here is the author's adaptation of the opening scene of The Merchant of Venice. Although Shakespeare's dialogue is superb, the visual setting is left to the imagination. That is appropriate for a stage play. A scriptwriter has to put in what the camera sees and make use of visual narration. See what you think!

Read Film Script