ISU- The Hunger Games transition from book to film

          

          

          Have you ever left the theatre after watching a movie that was transitioned from your favourite book? Maybe you thought it was the worst movie ever, that the book was a million times better. Maybe you thought that the movie was better than the book, making it your favourite movie. Or maybe you thought that the book had better sections, but so did the movie. I’m here to talk about the book to movie transformation of The Hunger Games and why it is so popular.

          I read The Hunger Games books before the first movie came out in 2012 with my Grade 8 class, and I really liked them, the way you knew exactly what Katniss felt while she was in the games, almost like you were in the games yourself. Books that included their reader were always favorites of mine. When I went to see the first movie with my class later that year, I was really excited, and the movie didn’t disappoint. Some parts of the movie were a bit off, and parts out of the book were missing completely, but I understand why it had to be that way, because the book was written in first person by Katniss, and a movie wouldn’t be able to show her thoughts easily. Taking this into consideration, and the way the directors of the movie worked their way around this and added certain scenes, the movie was very well done, and it provided the same atmosphere as the book did.  

I think the most important changes between The Hunger Games book and the movie are as follows:

1         1.  In the book, after all of the tributes have been chosen for the 74^th Hunger Games, Peeta’s mother mentions that District 12 might actually have a winner, and the audience thinks she is talking about her son, but she quickly clarifies, referring to Katniss, saying that “She is a survivor.” This scene doesn’t exist in the movie.

-The level of this change is minimal, but personally I would have liked this scene in the movie because it would have established that fact that Peeta’s mother doesn’t have a lot of faith that Peeta will win the games, so it’s yet another reason he would prefer for Katniss to survive rather than him, because she actually has a family that believes in her.

-I think the director of the film chose to cut this scene out of the movie because they wanted the audience to figure out for themselves later on in the film why Peeta wanted Katniss to live rather than him.

2        2. In the book, Cinna states that Katniss’s Mockingjay pin “barely cleared the review board,” but in the movie, Cinna smuggles in the pin so Katniss can wear it into the arena.

-The level of this change is fairly big compared to the book, and I know that some people like the book version of this scene better, but personally I like the fact that Cinna smuggled it in because it shows that Katniss is not just another tribute that he has to designs costumes for, that he genuinely cares for her and appreciates how she volunteered for her sister at the Reaping. I think this was also a personal  ‘friend to friend’ moment between them, because Katniss earlier witnessed how the Capital handles things, so she knew that Cinna took a big risk for himself to smuggle it in for her.

-I think that the directors decided to change this scene because they changed previous scenes about where Katniss had originally gotten the Mockingjay pin (from the Mayor’s daughter), and what it symbolized (a sort of rebellion against the Capitol). So since they removed that scene from the film, there would not be any reason why the review board would decide not to let Katniss have the pin in the games, other than the reason than she might have an unfair advantage over the other tributes, while in the book, Cinna would be forced to smuggle the pin in because the Capitol would not allow it as it was seen as a rebellion symbol.

3        3. In the book, when Katniss befriends Rue and they work together to blow up the Careers’ mountain of supplies, Rue gets caught in a net and is speared and dies while still in the net. After Katniss grieves over Rue’s death and it becomes clear that she was a real friend to Rue, she receives a gift of bread from District 11 to thank her for befriending and being kind to Rue. But in the movie, Rue’s death is more dramatic as she escapes from the net but is later killed. Katniss receives no gift from District 11 in the movie.

-I like how in the movie, Rue escapes from the net before she is killed, as it almost gives the audience a false hope that Rue might live. It also sets up how Katniss mourns over Rue’s death, which I found to be a very emotional scene because of how well it was edited.

          When The Hunger Games movie first came out, I saw lots of people wearing the mocking jay pin, and I swear there was an increase of girls braiding their hair just like Katniss’. The movie was a huge hit, selling $152.5 million movie tickets on opening weekend, only to be followed with Catching Fire’s $158.1 million, making it the 4^th largest box opening weekend ever! Just like most popular movie series, including Twilight, Harry Potter and Divergent (even thought Allegiant hasn’t come out yet), Mockingjay was split into 2 parts, which would bring in more money as you would be paying to see 4 movies instead of 3, which is very smart for the businesses, especially since Mockingjay part 1 cut off with a huge cliffhanger. I've read all the books as I've mentioned earlier, but I'll be sure to see the Mockingjay part 2 when it comes out!

Kaylee's 3 Mini Reviews

THE SHINING Mini Review

To view the summary of the shining, click here.

         I think this movie was very well done. When it first started with Jack being interviewed for the job as caretaker and when he is warned about what had happened previously, I think it grounded the movie for being considered a horror film. I think the music in this movie is very overdramatic, which adds to the film’s atmosphere, but sometimes it was too dramatic. For example, when Wendy and Danny were walking through the maze, the music was rising and the audience was getting ready for something to happen, but nothing out of the ordinary occurred, so I think it was almost a waste to use the music like that.

          There are also many unanswered questions in the movie, like what really happened in room 237, and the picture at the very end of the film. I find these unanswered questions very annoying and makes me more curious as to what the answers may be, but I also understand why they are there, because it also adds to the movie’s creepiness. 

           I’m not a big fan of horror/ thriller films, but I really enjoyed this movie because there wasn't a lot of blood and guts, but the suspense and creepiness was still there throughout the whole movie. Overall, I rate this movie 4 out of 5 stars.

PSYCHO Mini Review

         
To view the summary of Psycho, click here.
          I’m going to be honest here, when the movie first started and I saw that it was done in black and white, I thought it was going to be a really boring movie. I think the fact that I grew up in an age where movies were made in colour contributed to why I thought that black and white movies were always boring, which I now know is very untrue. But during the first few scenes when Marion was getting ready for and while she was at work, I was a little bored and I felt like some of the scenes could have been shortened to move things along. In the spur of the moment when Marion decided to keep the money and run away, I thought the scenes, especially with the camera angles and dramatic music, did an amazing job in making the audience feel as if they were the ones who took the money, and it really made me wonder if she was actually going to get away with it or not because of all the people she kept running into.

       

          
          When Marion arrived at Bates Motel, I knew right away that something bad was going to happen because of how stereotypically creepy the place looked and how weird Norman was acting. After Marion was murdered, I had a quick thought that Norman and the old woman was the same person, but as the movie progressed, I told myself that it didn’t make any sense because of how Norman was acting. At the end of the movie when Norman busted into the room dressed as the old woman, I instantly though “I KNEW IT!!”

          This movie did a great job at making the audience think one way when it was really another, and I really liked some of the camera angles and transitions. I think that since this film was black and white, it made the movie seem creepier than it would have been if it was done in colour. Overall, I would rate this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars.



THE TRUMAN SHOW Mini Review

 To view a summary of The Truman Show, click here.

          I really enjoyed this movie because of the unique story line of how Truman Burbank, an insurance salesman who lives in a “prefect” world on the island of Seahaven, happens to be the star of a very popular TV show, but he doesn’t even know it. I think the huge plot twist is amazingly well done when Truman realizes that his whole world was made up and his decisions were being manipulated by the God-like director of the show, Christof, in order for Truman to essentially live the “perfect” life. It was very interesting to see how Truman slowly finds out that his life was fake, like at the very beginning of the movie when a stage light falls from the sky, seemingly out of nowhere, or when he accidentally tunes into a radio station that is broadcasting his every move. I found it really cool to see how Christof decides to explain to Truman through a radio station the explanation of the fallen stage light, reporting that a passing plane shed some parts. 

          I liked the whole “star-crossed lovers” kind of feel between Truman and a girl he met in college, Lauren, but whose real name is Sylvia. When she is fired for having a forbidden interaction with Truman, it seems that she is the only one who has a problem with the fact that Truman is being lied to. 


          

          It was really creative how Truman decided to leave Seahaven via boat, and I was kind of amazed at how no one noticed him leave. I found it very weird how Christof was okay with risking Truman’s life just so Truman would go back and forget the whole thing ever happened. My favourite part of the whole movie was when Truman’s boat crashes into the end of the dome and when Christof has this whole speech planned out about how Truman should stay and continue to live in Seahaven away from the depressing pains of the real world, and how Truman dismisses this offer with the traditional greeting he has heard every day for many years of his life: “In case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.” I thought it was the perfect way to end this movie. Overall, I rate this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars