From what I gather, Stephen King does not like Stanley Kubrick's film for his work, The Shining. Kubrick made some changes and had a vision perhaps different from what King had. Those of you who have seen the film probably agree it is a masterpiece of cinema on every level: one of the best horror movies of all time. But it's not the novel.
I bring this up because the lovely folks at EDGE Publishing have been hard at work with the proposed cover for Beltrunner II: Aftermath and have sent me some proofs and drafts to discuss. It's a fascinating process--I'll tell you my experience with it: I'm not claiming this is how it works with everything, but...well, let me just get on with it.
Without going into too much detail about the cover, let me say that the scene depicted there is indeed one which happens in the story, more or less. I say "more or less" because some of the details are not quite as I pictured them, and some artistic choices were made that are factually wrong from a scientific standpoint. But I couldn't be happier with the choices made.
The artist did much more than simply draw or paint the scene as written. The artist seemed to use the scene to capture a tone, a feeling, that very much matches the tone I was trying to strike in the novel. In my mind, that's a lot harder. And it's also more rewarding. To see that the artist had the feel of the work was much more fulfilling than if the artist had simply translated words to images.
I think that's probably true in any adaptation. The writer's words exist in a certain medium that uses none of the five senses (yes, I know the reader has to use their eyes to see the words, but they can't see the story with their eyes). In a novel, the story has no existence in the physical world. It is wholly a concept. Once it becomes a picture, or a radio show, or a movie, it has color, and shape, and even sound. Whatever those sights and sounds are, they "fix" the story in place.
Have you ever read a novel, especially a fantasy one, and then seen a movie of that same novel? And you hear a character's name pronounced very differently than you were pronouncing it in your own mind? My friend Steve and I had that happen many times with Frank Herbert's Dune and the subsequent David Lynch movie of the same name. The same thing happened with regard to the way characters looked. (I love me some Patrick Stewart, but I did not see him as a Gurney Halleck!)
What I'm getting at is that when an artist has to try and move a concept into a reality, they have to make choices. I know there is some ambiguity in the visual arts, but nowhere near the same level as there is in the written ones. The artist who designed the cover for Beltrunner II: Aftermath had the difficult task of capturing not only a scene but a feeling, without ever having met me or even communicating with me. That they were able to do so is a credit to their skill.
As soon as the cover is finalized and official, I'll be able to show it to you elsewhere on this site, and you can take a look for yourself!
Be seeing you!
I bring this up because the lovely folks at EDGE Publishing have been hard at work with the proposed cover for Beltrunner II: Aftermath and have sent me some proofs and drafts to discuss. It's a fascinating process--I'll tell you my experience with it: I'm not claiming this is how it works with everything, but...well, let me just get on with it.
Without going into too much detail about the cover, let me say that the scene depicted there is indeed one which happens in the story, more or less. I say "more or less" because some of the details are not quite as I pictured them, and some artistic choices were made that are factually wrong from a scientific standpoint. But I couldn't be happier with the choices made.
The artist did much more than simply draw or paint the scene as written. The artist seemed to use the scene to capture a tone, a feeling, that very much matches the tone I was trying to strike in the novel. In my mind, that's a lot harder. And it's also more rewarding. To see that the artist had the feel of the work was much more fulfilling than if the artist had simply translated words to images.
I think that's probably true in any adaptation. The writer's words exist in a certain medium that uses none of the five senses (yes, I know the reader has to use their eyes to see the words, but they can't see the story with their eyes). In a novel, the story has no existence in the physical world. It is wholly a concept. Once it becomes a picture, or a radio show, or a movie, it has color, and shape, and even sound. Whatever those sights and sounds are, they "fix" the story in place.
Have you ever read a novel, especially a fantasy one, and then seen a movie of that same novel? And you hear a character's name pronounced very differently than you were pronouncing it in your own mind? My friend Steve and I had that happen many times with Frank Herbert's Dune and the subsequent David Lynch movie of the same name. The same thing happened with regard to the way characters looked. (I love me some Patrick Stewart, but I did not see him as a Gurney Halleck!)
What I'm getting at is that when an artist has to try and move a concept into a reality, they have to make choices. I know there is some ambiguity in the visual arts, but nowhere near the same level as there is in the written ones. The artist who designed the cover for Beltrunner II: Aftermath had the difficult task of capturing not only a scene but a feeling, without ever having met me or even communicating with me. That they were able to do so is a credit to their skill.
As soon as the cover is finalized and official, I'll be able to show it to you elsewhere on this site, and you can take a look for yourself!
Be seeing you!
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