Batman
Media adaptions are becoming ever more popular since the rise of super hero films. DCs Batman was one of the first adaptions from comic books. Batman has been adapted so many times that there has been several films, television series's and video games.
original product compared to its adaptation
The first Batman comic book came out in 1939 and didn't take long before catching on and getting recognized by film creators. The first film adaption of Batman came out in 1943 but was never seen as the most superior Batman adaption. The Dark Knight trilogy is my personal favorite out of the Batman adaptions and is the most critically acclaimed adaption. The first film in this trilogy is Batman Begins, this is the most similar to the original comic book as it uses the original story line for the film. However there are notable differences between the original and the adaption, these are mostly because of the difference in time.
The original product uses a very basic aesthetic that could clearly correlates to the idea that this comic was the basis to a franchise, a single artistic vision that was under developed and primitive. The aesthetic of the film is complex and modern. This aesthetic also makes the film feel for modern, up to date, where as the original feels classic and old.
The dialogue is also very different as there is idiom that has changed over times, for instance the guy
b) success of adaptation
Batman Begins was the first of the trilogy and it set the standard for the adaptions to come. It grossed 374.2 million at box office. Rated 8.3 out of 10 on IMDB's top 250 rated movies.
c) legal/ethical issues
The legal and ethical issues are potentially great with Batman due to how large the IP is. DC are the IP owners and have exclusive rights to Batman which is why most adaptions and spin offs that include batman, have DC as publishers. Batman Begins had DC as the publishers so all copyrighted material and rights regarding Batman wouldn't have been an issue as DC share in the profits of the film.
Ethical issues with the adaption in comparison to the original are not an issue however the filming of the adaption, Batman Begins, was done in new york and with the population density there it would have been impossible to clear every civilian off the street for some of the more public shots. This could lead to defamation law suits, however it would be unlikely as the shooting crew would have been instructed not to shoot any faces or focus on these people. However ethical issues like discrimination will not arise as this film is very diverse and has a vast demographic.
God father
a) original compared
The original godfather book authored by Mario Puzo was released in march 10th march 1969. The book was immediately held in high esteems by critics. The book was then turned into a screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Cappola. The film was released on August the 23rd 1972. This film inspired two sequels and influenced the crime genre hugely.
Both the book and the film have been huge successes and are seen as incredible pieces of work. In comparison I believe that when the different mediums of the Godfather where released they related to different target audiences. This is because of the time of which they were released. The book is focuses on the older target audience due to the nature of the book as a medium, where as the film appeals to a younger target audience. Film as a medium of media was new at this time and was seen and the modern, cool and trendy media. However this of course changed with time and as of now both the book and film are seen as classics.The age of the medium doesn't matter much now. The narrative in the adaption is slightly different to the the original. The original features a more in depth narrative where as I believe only the surface story was used for the adaption. Although there are differences there are also features of the adaption that have improved upon the original. The most significant of these feature I believe is the character choices. The use of the actors personalities to enhance the characters personality for example Marlan Brando as an actor made the character of Vito Coreleone a lot less calm and collected than the character in the original. Although this is subject to opinion.
b) success of adaption
The Godfather adaption has been seen as a masterpiece in film and is one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. Rated second on the IMDB's (International Movie Database) top rated movies. with an incredible 9.2 out of 10.
c)Legal and ethical
It is unlikely that legal issues would be an problem because the author of the original played a key part in the creation of the film, so he would have given them permission to use the Godfather story and all its materials. This means that copyright infringement wouldn't be an issue in terms of the story. However it could be an issue with editing assets such as music.
There aren't many ethical issues that could arise from this adaption process itself. However in the story Vito Corleone came to america as a young child with nothing, he followed the rules until he found himself in a ethical dilemma, be taken advantage of or break the rules. This could relate to the audience if they are american or western by culture.
Halo
a)
Halo was originally a first person shooter video game released on xbox in 2001, since then it has had many sequal games. This inspired media producers to create a television series from it. This was released October 5 2012. This later got turned into a film and took the name of Halo: Foward unto dawn. The creators of this film decided that a straight forward re wrap of the original story would be too boring for the fan base, so instead they decided to write a stand alone film that is part of the overall story of Halo. Although the main protagonist of Halo: Forward unto dawn is a Tomas Lasky, an unknown cadet of the military school. The main protagonist of the game is Master Chief arrives mid way through and takes the lead role. This creates a narrative connection between the Film and the game. In comparison Halo the games narrative is far superior.
B)
The adaption of Halo was successful within the Halo franchise fan base but wasn't really seen as a successful as it failed to fulfill its purpose of widening the Halo fan base. For a moderately low budget film of $10 million, the adaption was seen as a cinematic success as it won a few awards.
C)
Legal and ethical is fairly straight foward as the game was created by a large game studio they would have likely created all the assets for the game themselves so royalties aren't an issue. Copyright from the original wouldn't be an issue either because the books were created by the same game studio.
Ethical issues are not really an issue as both the adaption are of the genre of sci fi fiction cannot create ethical issues like discrimination and defamation.
Sherlock
a).
Sherlock was originally an award winning book by Sir Author Doyle. More recently the book was loosley adapted to a BBC television series. Sherlock started as short stories in The Strand Magazine, these then went on to become books and the author Arthur Doyle was seen as a national treasure thus getting a knighthood. These brilliant books inspired the BBC to create a very popular television series called Sherlock. Sherlock takes the stories of the original books and adapts them into modern recreations. Both the books and the adaptions have been great successes.
B). The original books were largely successful for there time, however the BBC television series seems to have been even more popular. This could be because of how television transcends international borders where as the novel would have only been read by people within British borders. With on demand services like Netflix the series Sherlock has been able to reach a far greater audience than the book ever could. It is likely that the Sherlock Holmes books audience is a different demographic and target audience to the television series.
C).
There aren't a lot of legal and ethical issues that could come from a modernism adaption. The legal issues are minimal for instance, copyright isn't really and issue as the author died a long time ago so there isn't going to be any issues with the Intellectual property owner. As well as this, a Federal judge in Chicago ruled that Sherlock Holmes and all characters within Sir Arthur Doyles novels are now public domain. This made it so that the BBC didn't have to ask for permission to create the series Sherlock.
The ethical issues with Sherlock are minimal as it is quite a modernized and diverse take on the original. However issues could arise from including the general public in shots. As the tv series is filmed in London it is difficult for them to control people being in the background. Anyone one of these people could sue as it is unlikely that the producers of Sherlock got permission to film them
