Adapting ASOIAF For the Screen...

[Maester Yobjascz]

Well, there's a reason why the first thing new screenwriters are told is 'no voiceover, no flashbacks'. And we don't have a choice with the flashbacks.

Well, yes. One, it's hard to do well. Two, use it too easily and it becomes a crutch... opting to take the easy flashback or voiceover route when better writing would yield the same result, but cleaner.

However, there are rules that can't be broken, and there are rules that can be broken. I think this is one of those that can be broken... but you'd better be darned sure you know *why* you're doing it. In other words, if you're going to include flashbacks or voiceovers, there needs to be something gained from it, as opposed to doing it simply to get information across.

What I'm suggesting, is that there are opportunities to use voice-overs to bring across more than just internal exposition. Using different techniques (muttering under breath, diary writing), we can show things about the character. Even if we never actually *heard* what Cersei was muttering, or *read* what Sansa was writing, the very act of them doing these things would tell the audience a lot about their characters. Thus, using those as techniques may be viable.

All I'm suggesting is that there may be options like this available... and was looking for other possibilities.

[Zulofritter]

I think you've got it.

To push my point farther then I need to, not giving everyone a voiceover will indicate that some of the POV characters are less important, and giving everyone narration will be messy. Maybe we could use one narrator per episode, but even that sounds like too much.

[Maester Yobjascz]

Well, it's not that some are less important... just that some characters think in different ways.

For example, Eddard Stark is constantly reliving his past... he's about as brooding as they come. So for him, there's no real voice-over of his thoughts... instead, we use flashbacks. Not full flashbacks, just hazy images that come up from time to time, perhaps sepia-toned to indicate that they're memories of the past. Perhaps using some disembodied, distant voices too... not Ned's, though... he's never really the focus of his memories...

Catelyn comes to Ned and tells him about Jon's death. We then hear two young boys, laughing and roughhousing, while we hear Jon's voice laughingly calling them both to come inside... takes a couple of seconds, doesn't change the scene visually, but the context will explain who the people are (or perhaps their names are dropped in), and the laughing will suggest that they were all very close.

Or perhaps there are times that Ned looks at Robert and sees him young again... with the image slightly faded and moving strangely (stuttering, like cutting two of three frames) but then Robert will say something and Ned shakes his head to clear it, and sees the old fat Robert trying to catch his attention...

Like MJS' suggestion of having scenes and characters look slightly different based on PoV, we'd use different techniques for each PoV. So long as they don't all have narrators, it shouldn't get messy.

[Antacid]

The rule I try to apply to everything is, does the story require using a particular technique for a character's actions to make sense? If it's only there to try and convey the 'feeling' of a passage from the book, it can probably be edited. Beyond that it's difficult to make any real rules.

So, the idea of showing Dany's entire youth suggested earlier would not be justified IMHO, because we don't need to see everything that's happened to her, either to like her or to understand her basic problem at the start of the story. Seeing pictures of someone's childhood isn't necessarily the best (or most dramatic) way to get to know them, and we can get the exposition about who she is from any number of different scenes between her and Jorah and Viserys, and even from characters in Westeros in scenes where she isn't present.

On allowable V.O.: the existence of ravens carrying instant messages letters could be a good excuse for one-off uses of voiceover - if a character gets a letter telling them something important concerning them has happened, it's legitimate to show them reading the letter and put the information over as a voiceover from whoever wrote the letter.

V.O. of characters praying (in the Sept or Godswood) I think can usually be gotten away with. You can convey a lot of other information like that without it seeming like obvious exposition.

Yobjascz,

Personally I'd ONLY give Eddard V.O. and flashbacks in the entire first season. That would get round his taciturn nature whilst helping to get across the enormous amount of backstory we learn from his POV in the books, give his flashbacks a bit more context, plus reinforce the idea that he's the main character. If he's the only character with V.O., when he gets executed, it'll be more shocking than if he's one of a number of characters whose mind we've been allowed into.

[The Scabbard Of the Morning]

The more I think about it, the more I think that the story should start at the end of Balon's uprising.

You can have Balon defiantly say to Robert "you can start a rebellion to become King, why not me?" or some such, which establishes to the audience the notion of Robert's Rebllion without going too much into it. You also can have still warrior like Robert which makes Ned's shock at seeing Robert later translate to the audience as well. You also can have a Ned takes Theon as ward scene that establishes that, and as well as Ned introduces young Theon to his household and children which can serve as exposition to the audience of the Starks without seeming intrusive. You can also have some Stark kids scenes such as Sansa insist calling Jon her "bastard half brother", how Jon and Robb trains together (Practicing their voice as commanders, Robb saying that he can never be Lord of Winterfell ) etc. Then you jump to 8 years later.

[Maester Yobjascz]

Scabbard... that's an interesting idea for a lead-in... I'll think about that a bit...

[Zulofritter]

The rule I try to apply to everything is, does the story require using a particular technique for a character's actions to make sense? If it's only there to try and convey the 'feeling' of a passage from the book, it can probably be edited. Beyond that it's difficult to make any real rules.

I agree, unless it's a very strong feeling. I don't think Bran gets any concrete info from his first dream sequence, but for me it's too good to leave out. On the other hand, there might be something to leaving his wolf dreams offscreen. Maybe he just talks about them for a long time, then suddenly he possesses Hodor.

So, the idea of showing Dany's entire youth suggested earlier would not be justified IMHO, because we don't need to see everything that's happened to her, either to like her or to understand her basic problem at the start of the story. Seeing pictures of someone's childhood isn't necessarily the best (or most dramatic) way to get to know them, and we can get the exposition about who she is from any number of different scenes between her and Jorah and Viserys, and even from characters in Westeros in scenes where she isn't present.

I agree, but there's plenty of borderline scenes. How bad to we need to see the duel between Brandon and Littlefinger, for example? I don't think we learn the details outside of flashback. (Dany's sequence as conceptualized also didn't fit the rules of a flashback; outside of Dany's perspective it was just out there.)

On allowable V.O.: the existence of ravens carrying instant messages letters could be a good excuse for one-off uses of voiceover - if a character gets a letter telling them something important concerning them has happened, it's legitimate to show them reading the letter and put the information over as a voiceover from whoever wrote the letter.

I considered a voiceover when Ned was writing the letter to Stannis, but I think we hear most of the info we need afterward. Most other caught ravens have the characters talking about the message, so I think we can mostly skip this.

V.O. of characters praying (in the Sept or Godswood) I think can usually be gotten away with. You can convey a lot of other information like that without it seeming like obvious exposition.

We could do this, but these religions are made up. We can have the pious say everything out loud if we want.

There are also several scenes where characters that don't normally talk to themselves say something out loud. (Forgive the misquotes.)

'Fear cuts deeper than swords.'

'I will say her name. Melisandre.'

'I had a dream where I was old.'

I don't make a habit of talking to myself, but I can relate to this. Now, if we were inclined, we could stretch this convention a little bit further. Much of what Arya says to herself translates well to the screen, so we can leave that alone. The second line is said by Maester Cressen to a nearby gargoyle. Once he works up the nerve to say that, maybe he says a little more; as much as we need to know why he poisons Melisandre. There are several other lines that are just too good not to have said aloud. Bran's statement at the end of CoK comes to mind.

Yobjascz,

Personally I'd ONLY give Eddard V.O. and flashbacks in the entire first season. That would get round his taciturn nature whilst helping to get across the enormous amount of backstory we learn from his POV in the books, give his flashbacks a bit more context, plus reinforce the idea that he's the main character. If he's the only character with V.O., when he gets executed, it'll be more shocking than if he's one of a number of characters whose mind we've been allowed into.

I'll check my outline when I'm done with it. I may have unintentionally used this.

[PhoenixFlame]

The Balon idea is certainly interesting! I like how that can introduce characters and relationships. Just reading that I'm probably imagining it differently than you are, but by the way it was written, I saw some of the introductions taking place because Theon was new to Winterfell. "Yeah, that's just Jon my bastard half brother."

However, there is one weakness I see in it.

In film (at least good film) everything needs a reason. Balon does not have much of a role in the story. He pops up in narration as a rebel, snaps at Theon, and croaks. Giving a very pivotal moment --the opening-- to a character without much use could get...um, I don't know the word for it. I know the book's beginning has characters who only appear in that chapter and a little after but they show a huge thing that sets the tone and is a red flag.

Your idea gave me an idea though. Introduction through introduction.

If any of the characters are presenting a problem at being introduced, they could always be introduced to the Lannister children. "Myrcella, this is my sister Arya *whisper* She's rather terrible at needlepoint." *Arya spazzes* Of course it would be done much less bluntly than that, but that's the basic idea.

[Zulofritter]

Your idea gave me an idea though. Introduction through introduction.

If any of the characters are presenting a problem at being introduced, they could always be introduced to the Lannister children. "Myrcella, this is my sister Arya *whisper* She's rather terrible at needlepoint." *Arya spazzes* Of course it would be done much less bluntly than that, but that's the basic idea.

A lot of this will probably be done when Robert's entourage comes to Winterfell, I'm thinking. Instead of Jon thinking about who he's seeing, maybe he tells Rickon who is who.

[Antacid]

In film (at least good film) everything needs a reason. Balon does not have much of a role in the story. He pops up in narration as a rebel, snaps at Theon, and croaks. Giving a very pivotal moment --the opening-- to a character without much use could get...um, I don't know the word for it. I know the book's beginning has characters who only appear in that chapter and a little after but they show a huge thing that sets the tone and is a red flag.

This is the reason the furore over how to start (ToJ, prologue) got me so worked up - the first 10 minutes of any TV series or movie are the most important. Ppl expect to be told what kind of program they're watching (the tone), who the main character is, and what the precipitating situation is, all within the first reel. If you introduce characters that aren't actually going to play much of a role in the story too early, or if you spend too much time introducing characters that the audience doesn't need to invest themselves in (e.g. because they're going to die very soon, like Will, Gared and Waymer), you risk totally confusing the audience right from the start.

[Maester Yobjascz]

Antacid -

Just to play Devil's Advocate here...

Ppl expect to be told what kind of program they're watching (the tone), who the main character is, and what the precipitating situation is, all; within the first reel.

But why should we give them all that they expect? I'm not being facetious here... I'm not suggesting that we withhold *all* the information, but that we don't have to adhere to stock formats.

For example, by starting with a slightly expanded Prologue for AGoT in Season 1, we toy with the audience a bit. We give them a main character (Will), we give them a precipitating situation (hunting wildlings), and we give them the tone of the program (mystery, fantasy, dark).

At the end of the Prologue, however, we pull the rug out from under them... but not all of it.

We pull the main character (Will), by killing him off. However, the precipitating situation remains, but shifts, from the issue of Wildlings in the North to the Others. The Others can easily be viewed (from what we currently know) as *the* central story arc of the series... everything else, from power struggles, to Dany's fated conquest, to a Stark restoration... all is tied to the Others and the War for the Dawn. The tone also stays... it's still fantasy, and there's still mystery... and most of all, it's still dark. If anything, the audience knows more about what to expect than they did before. This is gritty realism, and anyone can die... including major characters.

At the end of the Prologue, the audience will know the main threat facing the world of Westeros, and they'll know what kind of show they're watching. The only thing they won't know is who the main characters are... but this is ASOIAF... who the hell *are* the main characters? If they're anyone, they're the PoV's. But the PoV's shift from book to book; Cat was one in the first three books, but isn't for the rest. Jaime Lannister only became a PoV in book 3, and played large roles in all the books before that.

I don't think there's a good way to introduce *all* the main characters in the first episode, let alone the first 10 minutes. However, so long as the story is good (which it is), and it's presented well (which I hope it will be), then I think the audience will forgive this one lapse. And confusion can also be a reason to return to a show... if the rest of it is strong. That's why mysteries work, and why shows like LOST have a strong audience; they're confused, and they know that only by watching it more can they hope to figure it out. We're not dealing out that much confusion, and at the end of the Prologue, we turn to a good, stable, set of characters who will last us through most of the books.

Thoughts?

[Besselfunction]

I dont know if this has been mentioned: but dont you think that an Intro (which gets repeated before every episode) might be a good idea to explain the basic situation? This could be similiar to Galadriel's introduction to Middle Earth in the cinema-version of Fellowship of the Ring. This Intro could be altered for every season and would offer a possibility for casual viewers to enjoy the series in spite of not watching every episode.

Plus, i imagine that this would be a possibility to give viewers a feeling for the geography of Westeros - I mean you need a map in order to understand things. If you show no maps at all, people will always be confused where the action is taking place right now. A well made intro would solve this problem.

You could even pass the information concerning the Targaryen Invasion 300 years ago and Robert's Rebellion in this Intro. A mix of flashbacks and a camera that zooms into a map for the different locations (and a viewof the specific location in reality after zooming) supported by a voiceover-comment telling everything of importance would serve this purpose.

[CryHavoc]

I don't know if we ever decided whether we liked the map idea or not, and if we did, if we wanted characters on it as well. However, a narrated introduction at the beginning of every episode would drive me totally insane ala Battlestar Galactica. Once, maybe, is helpful, but when you see it every time, it makes you wish you could fastforward. (Alas, no Tivo).

[Zulofritter]

It was talked about, but as a credit sequence. What you describe wouldn't bug me so much. Maybe better would be to cram this info in the 'Previously...' sequence. Many shows constantly use the same scenes in this sequence if there is a big plot or plots that affect every episode.

The problem with maps is that many of the main characters don't have access to maps. ROME gets by without maps, and they jump all over the place.

[Zulofritter]

I don't think there's a good way to introduce *all* the main characters in the first episode, let alone the first 10 minutes. However, so long as the story is good (which it is), and it's presented well (which I hope it will be), then I think the audience will forgive this one lapse. And confusion can also be a reason to return to a show... if the rest of it is strong. That's why mysteries work, and why shows like LOST have a strong audience; they're confused, and they know that only by watching it more can they hope to figure it out. We're not dealing out that much confusion, and at the end of the Prologue, we turn to a good, stable, set of characters who will last us through most of the books.

Thoughts?

I think my version introduces Ned, Bran, Jon and Theon in the first 10 minutes, and all the POV characters in the first 30. If the aspiring writers here are hellbent writing an intro that isn't in the book, I dare you to beat these times.

By the way, I changed my mind on the prologue to Clash of Kings; Maester Cressen's story. I think it could be done in under 10 minutes. It's tough to do; he's the most sympathetic prologue character, he's old, and I think that this is the longest prologue in the books. However, his story has a lot of tension, and we can imply how long and painful it is for him to get from place to place without showing him climb each set of stairs. There's no good way to explain Patchface, but maybe it's better that way.

[Zulofritter]

Episode 9 - The Banners

1. Arya wanders around the devastation. [several locations.]

2. In the stable, Arya kills the stableboy.

3. Arya goes back to the underground passage. [several locations.]

4. Lord Commander Mormont and Ser Jaremy meet Jon to examine the corpses Ghost discovered. [J7 split in 3.]

5. Sansa is trapped in her room for several days. [i'm not sure how to do this. Maybe a montage, or limit it to Jeyne thrown in on the first night, then the day Sansa is taken to Cersei.]

6. Cersei summons Sansa, sells seashells by seashore.

7. Rickon and Shaggydog hide in the crypts.

8. Grey Wind bites off two of Greatjon Umber's fingers.

9. Robb goes to Bran's chamber afterward.

10. Robb reads Sansa's letter.

11. Bran watches Robb and his men ride off to war. [Alright, Bran VI is a pain in the ass! Much of it summarizes previous events that Bran may not even have seen. There are more scenes that I haven't listed, and no good way to string them together onscreen. This chapter also makes the continuity of the other chapters hard to determine. I've grouped them all together as an act of desperation.]

12. Commander Mormont tells Jon that Ned has been arrested. Jon attacks Ser Alliser, and is thrown in a cell.

13. Drogo tells Dany that he won't invade.

14. Dany goes to the bazaar and is offered poison wine. Jorah rescues her.

15. Back in Dany's chambers, she tries to burn the dragon eggs. Drogo flip-flops.

16. At Moat Cailin, Cat meets Rob and strategy is discussed.

17. Jon opens his cell, finding Ghost and a dead guard. Zombie Othor attacks... [Maester ended his ep. 9 with Sansa V, which is also a fine ending. The only problem I see with this ending is that the continuity is trickly.]

Episode 10 - Longclaw

1. Jon kills Other, burning his hand. [A composite scene.]

2. Tyrion approaches the Lannister camp with his clansmen.

3. Tyrion meets Tywin and Kevan inside the inn.

4. Robb's host approaches the Twins. [C9 split in 2.]

5. Sansa watches Joffrey's first court. Traitors are named, positions are shifted, 6. and Sansa begs for Ned's life.

7. Varys comes to see Eddard. [if the flashback scene is used, we can show this earlier in the episode.]

8. Robb meets Walder's sons outside of the Twins, and Cat offers to negotiate.

9. Walder Frey drives a hard bargain.

10. Cat congratulates Robb on the upcoming wedding. Robb: 'Wedding?'

11. Commander Mormont checks on Jon, gives him Longclaw.

12. Jon shows Longclaw to his friends.

13. Jon shows Longclaw to Ghost. Sam tells him Aemon wants to see him.

14. Aemon gets nostalgic.

15. During a town looting, Dany stops a rape. [i would change this scene slightly. 16. Mirri Maz Duur should be the woman raped here. This might just be me, but if you ask an actress to appear in a scene this harrowing, they deserve to have a bigger part to play. Mirri's actions make a little more sense if she's in this scene. For similar reasons, I would cut all the other rapes.]

17. Drogo is injured, and Mirri offers to heal him.

18. At dinner, Tyrion learns that he will be in the van.

19. Tyrion heads back to his tent, where he meets Shae.

Episode 11 - Wind Witch

1. Tyrion wakes up to trumpets and dons his armor.

2. Tyrion holds the left, killing one and capturing another.

3. Tyrion gathers his men, then asks Tywin to stop trying to kill him all the time.

4. Drogo falls off his horse. Dany has everyone make camp. [D8 split in 2.]

5. Cat watches Robb kick ass and capture Jamie.

6. In the tent, Drogo seems to be dying. Mirri arrives, saying that Drogo can only be saved by blood magic. She asks everyone to leave the tent.

7. Outside the tent, the Dothraki start killing each other. Dany goes into labor, and she gets dragged back into the tent.

8. Arya tries to board the Wind Witch, but backs out when she doesn't recognize the sailors.

9. Arya climbs a statue to see Ned confess. Joffrey gives order #66, and Arya bum rushes the stage looking to skewer some fools. Yoren grabs her first. [This will easily be the most expensive episode of the season. I'm wondering if it would be possible to use the same extras in all three big scenes. There's more action in this episode, so the timing may be off - if it needs padding I'd shift Aemon's speech to this episode. Also, Yoren doesn't pull the knife yet. One slight change to this scene is that for a second Arya sees Sansa screaming, instead of just hearing her.]

Episode 12 - Blood and Fire

1. Bran, Summer, and Maester Luwin watch Ser Rodrik train new recruits.

2. Maester Luwin and Osha visit the crypts with Bran. Shaggydog goes wild!

3. Maester Luwin takes the boys to his tower and tells them some backstory. The dark 4. wings bring dark news.

5. Joffrey has the Kingsguard abuse Sansa.

6. Joffrey takes Sansa to the tower, then shows off Ned's head.

7. Dany wakes up and learns the birth didn't go well.

8. Outside, Dany sees who is left, and has Mirri bound.

9. After waiting all night, Dany smothers Drogo.

10. Tywin gets some bad news. He plots, and sends Tyrion to Kings Landing.

11. Tyrion lets Shae know they're going.

12. Jon tries to desert, and his brothers bring him back. [J9 split in 2.]

13. Rob & Cat enter Riverrun by boat.

14. Cat sees Hoster, her dying father.

15. Jon talks with Commander Mormont.

16. Cat talks to Robb in the godswood.

17. Robb gathers the lords to discuss what to do about Renly declaring himself King.

18. Dany lays Drogo on the pyre, with his possessions. Dany promotes everyone, then dumps oil on Mirri. As the fire is lit and the comet appears, Dany enters the flames.

19. [Right about here I'd put a montage. These quick scenes will be linked by music, possibly the sound of fire and the opening eggs, and maybe some of the dialogue from Robb's meeting. We see Jon wrapping his hand, Tyrion heading for King's Landing, a distraught Sansa looking at her room window, and Yoren pulling a knife on Arya.]

20. Jorah finds Dany and the dragons.

[CryHavoc]

It was talked about, but as a credit sequence. What you describe wouldn't bug me so much. Maybe better would be to cram this info in the 'Previously...' sequence. Many shows constantly use the same scenes in this sequence if there is a big plot or plots that affect every episode.

The problem with maps is that many of the main characters don't have access to maps. ROME gets by without maps, and they jump all over the place.

I'm fine with using a map and maybe even a few important characters as the credit sequence, and with having a "previously on" segment when it's needed. As to what I didn't like, I was referring to the sort of narrated introduction that Battlestar Galactica has on every episode (We created the cylons, they're too powerful, some look like humans, Earth is gone, they're hidden among us, etc.), and then, the whole "previously" sequence.

[Zulofritter]

After organizing the first season, I've narrowed down a few trouble spots.

How do you adapt Bran VI? Most of it is Bran thinking back to unrelated events of the past few days. Do you just string them together sequentially?

Keeping secrets. How do you do the conversation Arya hears in the tunnel? Do you hide that Mormont is a spy?

Scenes with lots of extras. There are about three varieties. Scenes in King's Landing, scenes with armies fighting, and scenes with armies doing something else. For budget reasons we'd want to keep the number of extras low, but how?

Character thoughts. How much of what the characters think needs to be clear to the audience?

[Masha]

L'Sana pretty much beat me to it!

GRRM is not Dan Brown - he doesn't write his books with Hollywood in mind, he just writes them as books. But books and films are very different mediums. I like Stephen King's analogy - "Books and movies are like apples and oranges: both delicious but in very different ways." What works on the page won't necessarily work on the screen. Adaptation requires change, not just copying and pasting

There is so much backstory about how Robert came to be king which needs to be known early on for anything to be understood. The only ways to do that are to actually show it or to have some expository dialogue. But that the latter option would be the worst kind of clunky exposition. "Now as you know Robert, fourteen years ago you and I started a rebellion..." Ugh. Showing it would be far more powerful.

You could possibly get away without showing the ToJ, as there is the scene in the crypt early on and Ned's dream later, but Jaime killing Aerys would be the climax of the prologue, it would have to be in there! And Ned and Robert don't need to recap the war on their ride - they have plenty to talk about with Dany. In fact, that scene is a perfect example of the difference between books and films - in print that's a great scene. We can imagine it all as we read. But if you were watching these two men talk about these exciting events you'd wonder why on earth we couldn't see it for ourselves. If transferred directly onto the screen, that scene would be static and dull. Film is all about the visual - if something can be shown, it should be shown.

Actually, I think in the same article that announced that HBO will be picking up SoIaF it was mentioned that GRRM used to be a screen writer and his books were written as if to be a adopted into screenplay. Maybe GRRM didn't mean to write it this way, but when he started writing this series which he (rightfully) considered to be his "blockbuster" book from the beginning, he unconsciously adopted a style of writing he used when he was a screenwriter. He is essentially writing something to be easily adopted into screenplay.

[Michael Jon Snow]

How do you adapt Bran VI? Most of it is Bran thinking back to unrelated events of the past few days. Do you just string them together sequentially? I would string them together somewhat sequentially. I would keep them all together in a Bran segment and not intersperse them among other charaters.

Keeping secrets. How do you do the conversation Arya hears in the tunnel? Do you hide that Mormont is a spy? I think you reveal bits and pieces. Avid fans who rewatch every episode a dozen times should be able to figure out what they are talking about where casual viewers catch on later.

Scenes with lots of extras. There are about three varieties. Scenes in King's Landing, scenes with armies fighting, and scenes with armies doing something else. For budget reasons we'd want to keep the number of extras low, but how? This one is easy. They just post a message here about where and when they need extras and they will have a flood of volunteers who don't want to be paid. And we won't need much direction since we know what we are supposed to do.

Character thoughts. How much of what the characters think needs to be clear to the audience? I think voice overs can be done tastefully. In some cases muttering would work better (Cersie)