Are video game to film adaptations really a good idea?

By Chris Evans [edited by Lianne Jones]

Video games have a torrid history of being made into movies, there have been very few successful adaptations; commercially or critically. This is a problem that has been apparent since one of the first game to film conversions appeared with Mortal Kombat and such like. However, we have seen more success recently with the Resident Evil and Silent Hill films.

One of the key problems with turning a video game into a film is dealing with the fans of the game. Gamers are similar to many other die-hard fans of other entertainment types. You will see fans of a specific film up in arms when a remake is announced; this applies in a similar way with gamers. A large proportion of games which are made into movies have this die hard group of fans, and for them, if anything is slightly different in the film version of their game, well then they will be in uproar.

This was seen with Doom. The games in the series focus on a demonic invasion of Mars by legions from Hell but, the film took a different perspective on the story by introducing human biological engineering and doing away with the darker more evil aspects of the story.

The decision by the film makers to ignore the story and setting of the games meant that their target audience was turned away from the film. It must also be noted that the film wasn’t very good; the inclusion of a first-person sequence where the audience was treated to a view solely of The Rock’s gun barrel was not a good cinematic decision. While it was an attempt to garner the support of the gaming audience, it turned them away as the sequence felt artificial. Likewise for the every day moviegoer, it was something too artificial that altered how the audience interacted with the film.

The issue of interactivity between the audience and the film has long since been a problem when it comes to making a film based on a game. The trouble is that games are all about the interaction between the gamer and what they are playing. Creating this sense of interaction in a film is near impossible, and for this reason many gamers are dismissive of a cinematic interpretation of a game.

Non-gamers can also be dismissive of a film that has been based on a game and they can feel isolated when watching it. Games often come with a story and sense of place that can only be understood when someone is actually playing.

Games which have been transformed into films, such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil, have created a long standing narrative over the series of the games. Looking at the film conversions of these games is interesting; the Resident Evil movies have moved away from the settings of the games with a key sequence in the latest movie taking place in Las Vegas.

This change of setting means that people who are not interested in the games are more likely to pay attention to the movie. In this way the Resident Evil movies have made a conscious effort not to isolate a wider audience.

We have seen through films such as Hitman that not all game to film adaptations are able to avoid isolating their audience. The problem with the Hitman movie was that it failed to deviate away from the games to gain a new audience, and also failed to stay true enough to the franchise to maintain the support of the fans.

Transferring a game into a film is a much more challenging task then creating a movie based on a book. Attempting to create an enjoyable and critically successful film that is based on a game requires great skill from the makers. The different aspects present in a game, be it the story or the interaction with the player, cannot be readily transferred onto the big screen but, despite the difficulties, the number of poorly received game to film adaptations and the heavy criticisms of pretty much every adaption made, the studios continue to churn them out and ready them for the crossfire of comments from both film and game fans alike. There have been a few successes amongst the rubble of bad adaptations so, there is some hope for this type of film and as both industries evolve and develop their relationship, we are more likely to see improvements and more successful ones beginning to appear.

Student's music video makes the Ffresh Film Festival 2009

Emma Louise Bosley, 21, has an excellent opportunity coming up as she has been chosen to have her music video screened at the Ffresh film festival.

Emma, who is studying a BTEC National Diploma in Film and Media at Coleg Glan Hafren in Trowbridge, said: "My tutor was so proud of what I had achieved in my music video; he thought it was stunning and worth submitting into the festival. He sent me an email congratulating me as it was put into the Ffresh trailer. I then received an email from Ffresh telling me they had chosen my music video to be screened."

Ffresh, which will be kicking off mid-February, is a great opportunity for students to screen their work and meet the professionals. Emma said: "I am looking forward to meeting new people and people that are already in the film/TV business; this gives me an opportunity to ask questions about the industry."

"I would say I am nervous about people not liking my music video and nervous about people who are in the industry watching my music video as again they may not like it."

Emma, who would one day like to enter the film industry and work in cinematography and art direction, has loved film for a long time : "I knew I wanted to study films after watching Moulin Rouge; the way it looked made me want to look further into how it was done and how they achieved such beautiful cinematography. Then I started watching a wide range of films which made me want to learn more about filmmaking."

"My college course consists of many areas to help me with a career in film; film studies, camera techniques, pre-production, production, post-production, sound, lighting, editing and Photoshop; this gives me great knowledge and helps me to understand the stages of filmmaking so I am able to make my own independent films."

Emma is going on to do a Foundation degree in film next year which will be based at Coleg Glan Hafren for Two years and Glamorgan University for a further year.

Horror remakes and sequels

Horror and thriller films have a terrible habit of rising from the dead and coming back to haunt us as sequels and remakes are constantly floating in and out of the cinema.

It’s enough to make you scream really…not the content but, the concept; it seems sometimes that filmmakers just don’t know when enough is enough and when a horror or thriller should be laid to rest.

So what am I talking about exactly? Well, let’s take the SAW series for our first example.

When SAW was released in 2004 it took everyone by storm; everyone was talking about it as they were both repulsed and intrigued by the idea of it. When Saw II and III came out in 2005 and 2006, we all wanted to see how the gore could progress…naturally. Then SAW IV hit our screens in 2007 and it started to feel like the series was being stretched a bit too far, although this sequel did give us an insight into the methods behind the madness. When SAW V was announced, it all started to seem a bit ridiculous; Jigsaw and his accomplice were both dead so where could the story possibly go now? Well the studios managed to push it even further and I have no doubt we haven’t seen the last of the SAW sequels yet.

In 2007 we witnessed the train crash that was psycho Michael Myers gracing our screens once again in the remake of Halloween and now we are facing another possible remake gone wrong as Friday the 13th brings Jason back to the cinema next month (though I’ll reserve judgement on this one…for now) and we have just been enlightened with the re-imagining of My Bloody Valentine in 3D, which was just laughable as a slasher horror.

Sometimes the remakes work but, they really are in the minority. The Ring (2002) was a decent remake of the 1998 Japanese original and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) was a gripping rehashing of the original 1974 version (though I’m sure critics would argue the original is better) but, these really are lost amongst the majority of poor remakes and sequels.

Horror’s and thriller’s are usually really good the first time around, we can just look at the Hammer Horror classics to see that but, the problem is that all too often they get overdone and then the audience gets bored. We’re in a modern age now and so we need modern horror films with the ability to scare us, it’s just no good rehashing all the old stuff because we’ve seen it all before.

The female stereotype

Stereotypes are an integral part of films and this can often be seen to have a negative effect due to their misrepresentations of groups or individuals.

Women are frequently stereotyped on the big screen and we can all identify what these stereotypes are; we have the house wife, the super mum, the femme fatale, the sex kitten, the career-driven business woman, the dumb blonde and the girl next door – on the surface such stereotypes may not seem damaging but, when you consider that we are bombarded with such images in our film consumption on a regular basis, certain problems can arise. These stereotypes put women into very simplistic categories which can in turn perpetuate inequality and even cause the representations to be taken on by some as a reality.

Such stereotypes are accentuated in films such as Legally Blonde where Reese Witherspoon’s character is the typical dumb blonde, in Pulp Fiction and Double Indemnity where Uma Thurman and Barbara Stanwyck both play the roles of stereotypical femme fatales and in The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep falls into the category of the tough career-driven business woman.

We are also all too familiar with the weak and unintelligent female roles presented to us in the horror genre in particular. Women often play the helpless victim, screaming and trying to run away from the killer before falling over or running somewhere where they are obviously going to find themselves trapped and defenseless. It is hardly an inspiring stereotype to be presented with.

Body Image.

Women are also often stereotyped in films as being perfect, thin and beautiful, which can create a huge array of problems as society can accept this image of women as the ‘norm.’ Women will then often want to conform to such an image to feel attractive and if they can’t achieve their goals, their self-esteem and confidence can be damaged by it.

Maria Hooper, a journalism student writing a body image dissertation, said: “women aspire to look like what they see in films but, they don’t realise that it’s a distortion which can be damaging to their self-perception. From my own personal view, men are not always attracted to the image of being thin but, women feel obliged to look sexy for their man and then self-reflect on their own image and may take drastic action.”

The ‘Male gaze.’

This stereotype of perfect, thin and beautiful women on the big screen leads on to the notion of the ‘male gaze’ whereby female protagonists are the object of desire and are on screen just to be looked at by men.

Laura Mulvey is heavily associated with the ‘male gaze’ theory in film. She comments that there are two distinct modes of the ‘male gaze’ (particularly in 1950’s and 60’s cinema); ‘voyeuristic’ and ‘fetishistic’, again reinforcing that female protagonists are on screen purely for the pleasure of male eyes.

This is evident in many of the early Bond films; the female characters are all helpless and need to be protected by Bond (another common female stereotype), their purpose is merely as an object of desire for Bond and also for male audience members.

The camera angles used on women in films is also an indicator of the ‘male gaze.’ The camera shots often show segments of a woman’s body, this will sometimes start at the shoes and legs before trailing up the rest of the body and the camera will often linger on a female protagonist, encouraging a voyeuristic gaze. These techniques objectify women in films and reinforce them as a stereotypical image of desire.

Challenging the stereotype.

In recent years, however, we have seen attempts to challenge these stereotypes and to create a more positive image of women. The concept of women as strong, confident and independent protagonists has begun to emerge in many films. We can look at Uma Thurman’s character of The Bride in the Kill Bill series, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as Natalie Cook, Dylan Saunders and Alex Munday in Charlie’s Angels and Angelina Jolie as both Lara Croft and Jane Smith in Mr and Mrs Smith, to see prime examples of strong women in films.

All of these characters wield weapons and behave more akin to a male protagonist than a female. They are independent and set out to fend for themselves without the help of a man to protect them.

Despite the fact that the characters mentioned above are moving away from the stereotypical roles of female protagonists, they still retain some stereotypical aspects. All of the characters still simulate the ideal of perfect, thin and beautiful objects of desire and despite them acting out a more male role, they still wear sexy attire and are therefore satisfying the ‘male gaze.’

The objectifying and lingering camera shots are also still frequently found in films, meaning that women are still in their roles to be looked at by male protagonists and audience members.

The future of stereotypes?

So where are stereotypes going to end up? Well women’s roles in films have changed a lot over the decades and attempts have been made to reform female characters, as I have acknowledged but, is there any room for further change?

I think we need to see more strong women in films so it’s not so much of a random occurrence and we need to have less objectifying camera angles, though that is something that is not likely to change unless we get more of a ‘female gaze’ appearing in films.

There needs to be much less emphasis on thin and beautiful women but, that is a stereotype that cannot just be blamed on the film industry and must be tackled on a much wider scale.

Perhaps the ultimate answer is to have more female director’s in the industry as there is an obvious lack of them at the moment. This would likely readdress the balance of male vs. female, not only on-screen but, off-screen as well and would give women an opportunity to defy the stereotypes we have grown so used to seeing.

Ffresh trailer 2009

If you haven't already seen the Ffresh film festival 2009 trailer, then take a look at it here:



Ffresh Trailer 2009 from Ffresh TV on Vimeo.


It looks set to be a good festival, if this trailer is anything to go by.

I'll keep you posted.