An adaptation of Hamlet that’s filmed like it’s an episode of like Keeping up with the Kardashians, and every soliloquy is just a character doing a talking head interview
This is actually so brilliant that when I do a filmed Hamlet adaptation I will do this, pay you for the creative direction, and give you the concept byline.
I’ll be real, this post was like 5% joke, 95% realization that the purest preservation of the soliloquy in modern culture is the reality show talking head, a confessional both private and performative and essential to understanding the emotional underpinnings of the actions being played, all in a format of direct address that we accept.
The reality show as the modern melodrama
Tag Archives: Expectations for the adaptations
They need to hurry with the show! I’ve been waiting forever.
I KNOWWWWW… beLIEVE me, I know that feel.
…and yet, I, personally, wouldn’t want them rushing it out just bc they CAN, like with movie!Queen of the Damned. I mean, hey, I don’t know the backstory on that production, so maybe they DID put a lot of thought and effort into that movie… and let’s not forget that ppl DID enjoy that movie and even now they find it nostalgic, ppl liked it as an adaptation or as a standalone (if they hadn’t read the books, they probably weren’t judging it for being non-compliant w/ canon), for whatever reason (Aaliyah! Was actually great, IMO!). So I’m not the arbiter of taste, and neither is any one fan. I’m glad some ppl enjoyed it bc hey, maybe whatever success that movie had is part of why we may get the VCTV series! And whatever failure it had, that can be learned from (like, maybe, don’t rewrite canon to the point of switching around makers for whatever reason, like making Marius Lestat’s maker? BC that just screws up so many connections, among other issues?).
If the VCTV series happens at all, it’s inevitably going to disappoint some fans no matter what it does or doesn’t accomplish, no matter how canon-compliant* it is or isn’t. There is NO PLEASING EVERYONE! Our headcanons DO vary. Everyone projects their own ideals of beauty and everything else onto these stories, the act of reading a story involves adding your own experience, supplying it with your own imagination.
(*Altho, AR has said that she DOES want to make it as canon-compliant as possible, and hopefully that means she won’t try to shoehorn in the later ALIEMS into the story before they contaminate it come in much later in the series.)
I think it’s great when we can agree on some things, like I would say we all agree that Lestat’s red velvet cloak was RED in color, but then we could debate DARK RED or BRIGHT RED until we are blue in the face so like… even little details like that can be a point of disagreement *shrugs*
ALL THAT SAID, it would be WONDERFUL if this adaptation gets like a B+ with the majority of the fandom, that’s how low I’m setting the bar lol.
if you are annoyed over the fact that brad pitt and tom cruise did not sleep in the same coffin, clap your hands
Good Omens: a gentle reminder
Your headcanon is your headcanon. The characters in your mind are what they are, and nobody is trying to take them away from you. Think of the Good Omens TV series as a stage play: for six full hours, actors are going to be portraying the roles of Crowley and Aziraphale, Shadwell and Madame Tracy, Newt and Anathema, Adam, Pepper, Wensleydale and Brian and the rest. Will they look like the people in your head? The ones you’ve been drawing and writing about and imagining for (in some cases) almost 30 years?
Probably not. Which is fine.
The people in your head and your drawings are still there, and still real and still true. I’ve seen drawings of hundreds of different Aziraphales over the years, all with different faces and body-shapes, different hair and skin, and would never have thought to tell anyone who drew or loved them that that wasn’t what Aziraphale looked like. (And a couple of years after we wrote it, I was amused to realise that the Aziraphale in my head looked nothing like the Aziraphale in Terry’s head.) I’ve loved every instance of Good Omens Cosplay I’ve seen, and in no case did I ever think anyone was doing it wrong: they were all Aziraphales and Crowleys, and it was always a delight.
Good Omens has been unillustrated for 27 years, which means that each of you gets to make up your own look for the characters, your own backstories, your own ideas about how they will behave.
The TV version is being made with love and with faithfulness to the story. It’s got material and characters in it that Terry and I had discussed over the years, (some of it from what we would have done it there had been a sequel). Writing it has taken up the greater part of my last three years. You might like it – I really hope you will – but you don’t have to. You can start watching it, decide that you prefer the thing in your head, and stop watching it. (I never saw the last Lord of the Rings movie, because I liked the thing in my head too much.)
Remember we are making this with love.
And that your own personal headCrowleys and headAziraphales and headFourHorsemen and headThem and headHastur and headLigur and headSisterMary and all the rest are yours, and safe, and nobody is ever going to take them away from you.
takemetocoffin-or-losemeforever:
Another typical evening at the Rue Royale.
The (Forever) Young and the Restless, coming soon on IWTV.
SO!!! There was a VCTV livestream today with Anne AND Chris. This is for anyone who wants to watch, study, yell at, whatever! I’M barely 2 minutes in right now. Apparently Chris loves Riverdale sooooooooooo…take that as you will!
Thanks @miralain for dL’ing this! Here’s the link to their FB posting of the vid, How much is Coke paying them for product placement? Hmmmm. How much does Brooks Bros. pay AR for product placement??? Hmmmmm???
Thanks again to @firelight-fading who did a gr9 recap of this!!!1 if you don’t want to watch through the vid.
The Vampire Chronicles Facebook Interview **Recap**(5/4/17)
The Television Show
Production
- As many know now, they will be working with Paramount Television and Anonymous Content
- They want to stay fully engaged with fans in the production process
- No set broadcaster, all options open (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) (Chris joked about it being on Facebook)
- Next announcement will be when that network is decided
- No timeline for production. They have no idea how long it will take. Script-writing is next. Chris is the one who will be script-writing, Anne will review
- Chris: “She finished writing season 1 when she wrote the books!”
- Pilot is done. Next are more episodes. They are starting the process and having several meetings with Paramount and Anonymous Content
- Anne SWEARS the series will be 100% loyal to the books. (They named GoT as an example of doing this though soooooo)
- Anne said compromises are inevitable but artistic control comes from good will
and respect; you make it work by picking people you admire and trust. They worked with Paramount and Anonymous Content since they all agreed on a common vision and the end result of the series- No idea about locations of sets and whatnot
- Don’t know if they will keep with the 80’s period of the books, however Anne wants to do Lestat’s pre-vampire period period-accurate
Neil Jordan may end up helping out on the projectCasting
- Still taking suggestions from fans and looking fancasts up on imdb
- Anne: “Lestat is always shaking his fists to those who would break him down…Scrappish impish…lovable hero”
Chris: “–and he’s hot!! 😀 He’s gonna be hot. #LestatIsHot”- Chris and Anne might want to cameo in the series (joked about making a game out of it)
- Some characters may change where “ethnicity is flexible”
- Anne and Chris agree that POC being casted are important and will be
considered in casting. The Millennial vamps (older gang) will most likely
be largely POC.- Anne says she has taken notice of black fans showing
their admiration of Aaliyah playing Akasha.
- Anne gave a story about
meeting an Akasha cosplayer who mentioned that she and her friends feel
left out of high fantasy for being black and how Anne was moved by this.- Anne: “Akasha isn’t written as black or a person of color…she’s middle eastern”
Me: ??? (Those aren’t…mutually exclusive???)
Anne: “–but she could be a person of color.”- Marius was played by a black man in the musical and Anne thought he
did a great job. Marius can be any ethnicity so long as he’s half Roman. She’d prefer to have Marius as blue eyes and blonde haired like Lestat but it’s “not imperative for him”.- Anne: “Louis at least has to be beautiful”
- Armand has to look as described as well.
- Anne wanted Cher to play Gabrielle.
- Anne and Chris to be inclusive, but will always focus more on how fine the actor is. Talent is needed to get the role, not just looks.
- Armand will be casted as someone who looks 17, but will be technically older. Not sure about age for
Lestat and Louis (Anne is thinking early 30s)- Physical and emotional aging will
be put into consideration (she gave Marius as an example as him looking like he’s in his 40s but being mentally older)Plot and Episodes
- They will tell the story chronologically in Lestat’s eyes so wolves-paris-so on. Basically, how knowledge unfolds for Lestat is how it will unfold for audience
THIS MAY CHANGE depending on when they talk to producers, however this is not
what they want in terms of how the events should happen.- Don’t want to cheat on Lestat’s life and skip out any details of it (go figure)
- Stay faithful to the books and to Lestat’s story
- Chris warns for us to be mindful of news that doesn’t come from official page
- Lestat and Gabbi’s journey to be expanded
- Origin stories of Marius and other older vampires will be shown and expanded on (done through the flashback stories Marius gives)
- Blood and Gold will be involved but they won’t DO the story (so using that material for possible spin offs)
- A lot about the Talamasca and especially David. Jesse too, but mostly David
- (Anne: He’s close friends with Lestat in TOTBT
Me: Is that what you call it? lmao)- TVL could be 2-3 seasons. IWTV may be one. Depends
- Anne and Chris want to know what goes wrong in the translation from book to media in other series so they can avoid it
- They’re keeping eroticism the same as in the books.
- Lestat turning Gabrielle will be a big scene, as they feel this is when the series starts to truly bring the
vampire world into view and Lestat really starts becoming a vampire. This scene is significant in
asking the audience what they would do in that instance. Lestat turning will also be significant.Characters and Character Relations
- SOMEONE FUCKING MENTIONED LOUSTAT AS THE LOUIS / LESTAT SHIP NAME AND THEY BOTH LOST IT (which one of you was it? Hm?)
- There will be a lot about Louis and Lestat’s relationship in the series (and Lestat and Nicki)
- Anne says she understands how important queer relationships are and how they have driven the series
- *On expanding on other characters*
Chris: …human characters like Jesse or Daniel Mollo-
Anne: OR LESTAT WHEN HE’S HUMAN
Me:
- Anne doesn’t feel a need to make new characters.
- More info on
Théâtre des Vampiresand the characters in that part will expanded as well
- Chris and Anne openly acknowledge Lestat as bisexual and this will be depicted clearly within the show
- On the topic of Armand, what that character means to Anne will shine, so he will gain a more
sympathetic role outside of just the IWTV perspective. Both his dark side and his more childish, light-side will be shown- Jim Morrison of The Doors was Anne’s inspiration for Lestat’s singing voice and for the band (I forget but I think this was the song Anne named as being a good example. Though, I’m partial to their sexy song “5 to 1″). She describes Lestat’s voice as somewhere between a “barratone and tenor…Melodic”. (Something about Jon Bon Jovi also a little bit)
Mayfair Witches
- Rights of Mayfair Witches not available to them (?) and thus, the crossover books are not a part of the VC TV series and, thus no show for them right now
- Maybe Mayfair TV series in future. Anne doesn’t want them to play second fiddle to the vampires
Anne and Chris
- They talked about the recent April Fool’s Joke. Anne apologized to Justin Beiber?? Why?? I don’t know (they weren’t behind the joke article)
- Chris likes Riverdale (ew)
- Chris worked with Anne on Ramses the Damned.
- Someone in the VC Discord Server brought up the question of if Chris could/would carry out the VC books after Anne. Based off this interview, I think it’s very likely depending on how well the VC TV series goes. He seemed a little apprehensive about it, but he’s worked with his mother on writing and is familiar enough with her characters to care about them. I think it’s possible
- Chris went to the VC balls in New Orleans as a kid
- Chris’ A Density of Souls may get a chance to be a film. Chris is in discussion with someone about it (?? that’s what I got from the interview anyways)
- *After Anne leaves to get Chris a Coke*
Chris *to the camera*: She won’t let me out of the house. She won’t let me leave!!
Me: SameThe Facebook Page and Other Information
- Anne, yet again, made a little speech about how nerds mean a lot to Hollywood nowadays
- “Readers know things about the novels that are valuable”
- They have a record of fan comments that Anne reads every so often
- They mentioned some of the fights going on in the FB thread
- (Chris: There are some people with…strong casting choices.
Anne: I got into fights with people lmao)- Anne prefers if you message her over the page rather than through emails
- They cannot do much about given resumes and asking about jobs related to production. There will be a time for that later
- Anne is in contract for two more VC novels. It sounded like her next novel is also included in the TV series’ contract, but I could have misinterpreted.
- Anne asks about any regrets or things she would change from the books as she goes into the series. More fleshing out but that’s about it
- Disappointing the fans is their biggest concern and worry
“the older gang will most likely be largely poc” that would be awesome tho. like i’m super hesitant to get excited about this thing but this sounds cool
More Vampires of Color yessss! *Grabby hands* if they want to change anything, that’s a good change that I, for one, can get behind.
Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles Optioned by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content – Dread Central
Mostly the same information as the Looper article with a few added tidbits.
“It is undeniable that Anne Rice has created the paradigm in which all vampire stories are measured against. The rich and vast world she has created with The Vampire Chronicles is unmatched and sophisticated with 90’s Gothic undertones that will be perfectly suited to captivate audiences, … We are thrilled to collaborate with Anne, Christopher, and the team at Anonymous Content on this epic series.” – Amy Powell, President, Paramount TV.
IT’S maybe possibly like 2 molecules closer to HAPPENING!
“Together with our partners at Paramount Television, we are embarking on a fantastic journey with Anne and Christopher Rice to bring Anne’s unparalleled imagination to television at the moment when the medium is experiencing a global apex in the demand for the most outstanding, exciting, and heightened premium dramatic programming”, says Anonymous Content’s David Kanter. “The Vampire Chronicles, in its entirety, is not only a phenomenally complex universe of storytelling, it is also a world-wide readership whose connections to the books and their author are deep and abiding. It is a tremendous responsibility to help bring the books to television, and we are thrilled to have this opportunity.”
^OK IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS PEOPLE ARE LEGIT VC FANS. That’s a requirement, in my mind. Are they fan enough to help pull off a mostly faithful-to-canon adaptation? As my Dad says, ‘the proof is in the pudding.’
I checked out the Anonymous Content website, and they seem to be able to pull off a wide range of projects. From commercials to music vids to movies like the Revenant, which I still haven’t seen but I’ve heard great things about, I think they have a generally solid mix of glitz & glamour and dirt and grunge and intellectual stimulation and yes, even some comic relief, all things I think we need in VC. Amy Powell is right, VC is “sophisticated with 90’s Gothic undertones”, so where movie!QOTD certainly USED 90′s Gothic aesthetics, I would recommend that Paramount and Anonymous Content should watch that movie and see what parts worked, and what parts didn’t. Along with movie!IWTV and Lestat the Musical.
BTW Anonymous Content did the following which I really enjoy…
- Johnny Cash’s cover of Hurt video – of the MANY reasons I love this song and video is that it has that beauty and strength in decay/decline… idk it’s gorgeous.
- Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
- Beyonce – Run the World
Also, re: the story line, from CBR.com:
Anne Rice Plots Vampire Chronicles TV Series:
Anne Rice previously noted that the series likely will not touch on the events of “Interview with a Vampire,” but will instead pick up with its sequel “The Vampire Lestat.”
So it will start w/ TVL. Makes sense.
@firelight-fading had done a great breakdown of stuff directly said by AR re: the story line of the TV series, go check out the post with that info, bc I would bet that AR is sticking to her guns on all points. Would we expect anyone to be able to bully her to compromise on her vision? NOPE.
This casting thing is really stressing me out. I’ve come to realize that my headcanon of lestat is much different from atleast the ppl on the VC Facebook… I see him much less masculine than a lot of ppl want, I think a part of this is all the part on tumblr makes them all a lot more feminine and beautiful which I really like. AR is suggesting these big hairy guys and FB and I just think.. nooo. Also, is she really catering her audience to fb? Does she know the amount of young ppl that read vc?
*hugs* Sorry this casting stuff is stressing you out, Anon. I feel ya, some of the POTP’s suggestions are really so out there I wonder how they read the same books I/we did. Some of their headcanons are also… laughable at best and downright offensive at worst, but I’m not going there.
TL;DR: I don’t think AR and CR are that easily influenced by the suggestions they ask for on FB. They’re probably trying to generate and maintain the hype so that as they make their rounds looking for a producer/showrunner/etc., they can point at the fanbase that wants it! I think they also like the attention and enthusiasm (who wouldn’t??!).
As with her writing, AR will cater a VC adaptation to her own tastes primarily, but thankfully she’s been very public about standing her ground re: making the current adaptation as faithful to canon as possible.
Anon: “I see [Lestat as] much less masculine than a lot of ppl want, I think a part of this is all the part on tumblr makes them all a lot more feminine and beautiful which I really like.”
[I think you meant “…all the fanart on tumblr…”] Yes, the fanart we have is great! It has a wide range, the idea of what’s feminine and masculine is somewhat subjective.
IMO, this is more feminine: (gonna post a little bit of fanart here and if the original artists want it removed, I’ll remove it, just illustrating a point.)
^X L/L by @claquesous, kind of androgynous to me, but one could say more feminine than masculine, too.
^X L/L by @icestorming. Also what I would consider feminine.
And this is more masculine:
^X Lestat by @jodeeeart, to me, this is more heavily masculine, but there’s still some feminine elements.
Keep in mind that finding someone who looks like fanart is asking a lot; we’ll have to give the actors a chance to prove that they can ACT like the characters, and hopefully their talent will overcome whatever physical limitations some of us are bound to disagree on (I probably have the WHAT DOES LOUIS’ HAIR REALLY LOOK LIKE??!! Debate 1-2x/month, most recently w/ @wicked-felina lol).
Anon: “AR is suggesting these big hairy guys and FB and I just think.. nooo.”
I haven’t seen her suggesting “big hairy guys”… I know she liked Chris Hemsworth at one point or another, and he’s big, not really that hairy to me? But he’s bulked up as Thor right now. He seemed less built up in Ghostbusters, but you make a fair point. My headcanon of Lestat is not a huge mountain of dudebro, so to speak.
You should read @monstersinthecosmos‘s post about the VC series bc it’s got some very good points about more than the casting aspect that are worth keeping in mind. I asked permission to post a few snippets here, my emphasis added in bold:
I think the posts on FB are mostly just to get everyone excited; I’m sure they’re taking the general temperature of everyone into consideration but LIKE THE IDEA THAT MAJOR CASTING DECISIONS ARE GOING TO BE MADE FROM FACEBOOK IS JUST REALLY NAIVE AND STUPID AND IMO NOT EVEN WORTH DISCUSSING BECAUSE IT’S COMPLETELY PREPOSTEROUS.
^See, this is why I don’t go on AR’s or the OVCFB pages* that often bc it would take too much time for me to attempt to keep up with all the posts and comments, and tbh yeah, I think @monstersinthecosmos is right!
(*ppl submit links/screencaps of posts that seem to be newsworthy to me, which I really appreciate bc if it’s really something TRULY newsworthy and not just hype, I do share it here.)
BASICALLY the thing everyone needs to keep in mind is that for this to get greenlighted there has to be a viable expectation of profit.
^YES, they’re trying to generate hype and excitement in the fandom bc that’s a good thing to do when you want producers, etc., to get on board w/ your project (”Look, our audience is SCREAMING for this TV series, we have the audience READY!”) and also I think CR and AR like the attention (who wouldn’t??!).
… this has to please and appeal to like MAINSTREAM REGULAR MORTALS who haven’t read these books. It can’t only be fanservice.
^EXACTLY.
I’m kinda cautiously optimistic about all of this. I’m obviously super paranoid that it’s gonna suck and I would hate for it to be on some shit network, and I would also hate if they had to change it SO much that the core themes of the story are unrecognizable, but I’m also personally open to changes if it’s gonna make for a compelling show.
^AGREED.
Hit the jump for more, cut for length.
But to return to the casting thing briefly, there are ppl suggesting Brad and Tom currently when that is TOTALLY ridiculous, HELLO? they are both 50+ yrs old, not gonna happen but I would take them in cameo roles, or have Tom as the Marquis de Lioncourt *begging the universe*
Anon: “Also, is she really catering her audience to fb? Does she know the amount of young ppl that read vc?”
We are getting an influx of new VC fans from the recent books, and some of them are young ppl, and some of them find her FB page, so idk that you can divide those groups; (a) young ppl and (b) her POTP, bc there is probably some overlap. I personally couldn’t make a blanket statement like “All the POTP want X; and all the young ppl want Y” bc of that overlap and that there are plenty of other factors at play. Cultural and personal tastes in beauty being one of them.
I-want-my-IWTV 