some questions for fans!

[secondhand-rose]

i'm planning to write a script for a screen adaptation of IT for a school project. i'm going to reread the book, taking notes on things i like and things i would change. however, before even starting, i have some cursory issues that i'm trying to get some ideas for. i also don't really know anyone that has read the entire book and cares about it as much as i do, but i just discovered this forum, so i'm trying it out! also, i don't know if i should have put this in the movie forum, but i'm not talking about the existing movie and i want opinions from people who have read the book, so i hope it's okay to post it here!

long story short, i'm looking for inspiration in the form of ideas and opinions from big fans of the book! if you have any thoughts on the following ideas/concepts, PLEASE reply!!

1. as we all know, pennywise is especially terrifying, not only because It is a shapeshifter that is physically imposing and ever-present, but also because It is psychologically horrifying to the children it attacks. how can It still be scary to audiences viewing a screen adaptation without simply resorting to cheap jump scares and gore? how can It make audiences petrified on the same level the book makes readers feel?

2. i've heard the weird realm where pennywise and the turtle live referred to as todash space. how could this be visually portrayed? what would it actually look like?

Spoiler

3. i can kind of see why
stephen king killed off eddie (the tension building to the idea that Someone Won't Make It Out Of Derry) but i don't see any solid reasons for him dying. is it important that he died? if so, why? if an interpretation kept him alive, would the story lose or gain anything? just a concept i'm curious about.

sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance to those who reply!!

 

[Moderator]

Welcome to the Board!

 

[Spideyman]

 

[secondhand-rose]

thanks!!

 

[do1you9love?]

Welcome to the SKMB! I'm sure you will get lots of feedback from some very big fans. Here are a couple of my thoughts to your questions.

Spoiler: Just in case...

1) Pennywise uses each persons fears and appears as what frightens you the most. Very hard to assign a tangible quality that would translate to the screen and affect every viewer.

2) Todash space, to me, means total darkness and sound. Again, difficult to depict on a screen and still entrance the viewer.

3) Of course there can be a world where Eddie survives. His death caused the others to take on different challenges. If this is a path you choose to pursue, view each scene with the WWED? mentality and see where it takes you.

Good luck! Is this a college or high school course?

 

[secondhand-rose]

Welcome to the SKMB! I'm sure you will get lots of feedback from some very big fans. Here are a couple of my thoughts to your questions.

Spoiler: Just in case...

1) Pennywise uses each persons fears and appears as what frightens you the most. Very hard to assign a tangible quality that would translate to the screen and affect every viewer.

2) Todash space, to me, means total darkness and sound. Again, difficult to depict on a screen and still entrance the viewer.

3) Of course there can be a world where Eddie survives. His death caused the others to take on different challenges. If this is a path you choose to pursue, view each scene with the WWED? mentality and see where it takes you.

Good luck! Is this a college or high school course?

thank you for your thoughts!! especially the part about eddie. and this is for a high school course! well, actually, it's mostly by my own volition as a project for fun, but i'm hoping to get school credit for it as a thesis project.

 

[mal]

Hi secondhand-rose! You picked a big book to play around with! I cannot offer much but the following...
- try to visualize scenes without dialogue and add specific music to enhance the tension. The old adage 'a pic is worth a thousand words' has some merit. Sometimes dread and tension are better than being startled, in terms of ultimate payoff.
- if todash space is not specifically described in the novel then make it what you wish...anything you wish.
- most importantly...have fun with it! All the best, mal

 

[king family fan]

 

[GNTLGNT]

....welcome Rose!.....nice touch, since that beautiful bit of plantdom is important in King's world.....as to your questions, executing what I feel you want will be nigh on impossible since it's trying to interpret everyone's imaginations.......there is no way to portray the novel without blood and scares, it's what made Pennywise the dramatic plot driver that it is....as far as Todash space?......I'm afraid that trying to give that a proper treatment would end up looking comical rather than mystic....and point three?....there are other worlds than this......not trying to poop all over your idea, just keeping it real as I know it.....

 

[secondhand-rose]

....welcome Rose!.....nice touch, since that beautiful bit of plantdom is important in King's world.....as to your questions, executing what I feel you want will be nigh on impossible since it's trying to interpret everyone's imaginations.......there is no way to portray the novel without blood and scares, it's what made Pennywise the dramatic plot driver that it is....as far as Todash space?......I'm afraid that trying to give that a proper treatment would end up looking comical rather than mystic....and point three?....there are other worlds than this......not trying to poop all over your idea, just keeping it real as I know it.....

yeah, i know it's quite a challenge!! and obviously i'm not a netflix exec or anything so i can't make my ideas a reality. i'm mostly just thinking on a theoretical level how it could be done.

 

[GNTLGNT]

yeah, i know it's quite a challenge!! and obviously i'm not a netflix exec or anything so i can't make my ideas a reality. i'm mostly just thinking on a theoretical level how it could be done.

...spitballing is fun ain’t it?....

 

[secondhand-rose]

...spitballing is fun ain’t it?....

for sure!! and i'm making my friends emotionally support me while i do it

 

[Wayoftheredpanda]

I would love to see this book be made into a perfect scene-to-scene screen adaptation (Well except for, you-know, THAT scene).

What makes this book scary is that characters who feel real are being placed in an unnatural situation built around their personal fears. You don't feel scared for yourself, you fear for the characters.

My advice would be to take time to focus on the characters and how they develop in the same way the book does. Cause no one likes a movie with cardboard-cutouts with one personality trait as the lead roles.

 

[secondhand-rose]

I would love to see this book be made into a perfect scene-to-scene screen adaptation (Well except for, you-know, THAT scene).

What makes this book scary is that characters who feel real are being placed in an unnatural situation built around their personal fears. You don't feel scared for yourself, you fear for the characters.

My advice would be to take time to focus on the characters and how they develop in the same way the book does. Cause no one likes a movie with cardboard-cutouts with one personality trait as the lead roles.

thank you for your insight!! and yeah i certainly wouldn't include That Scene. i also plan to leave out most of the gross stuff with, like, patrick hocksetter

 

[Wayoftheredpanda]

thank you for your insight!! and yeah i certainly wouldn't include That Scene. i also plan to leave out most of the gross stuff with, like, patrick hocksetter

Patrick certainly was a disturbing character

 

[Marty Coslaw]

i'm planning to write a script for a screen adaptation of IT for a school project. i'm going to reread the book, taking notes on things i like and things i would change. however, before even starting, i have some cursory issues that i'm trying to get some ideas for. i also don't really know anyone that has read the entire book and cares about it as much as i do, but i just discovered this forum, so i'm trying it out! also, i don't know if i should have put this in the movie forum, but i'm not talking about the existing movie and i want opinions from people who have read the book, so i hope it's okay to post it here!

long story short, i'm looking for inspiration in the form of ideas and opinions from big fans of the book! if you have any thoughts on the following ideas/concepts, PLEASE reply!!

1. as we all know, pennywise is especially terrifying, not only because It is a shapeshifter that is physically imposing and ever-present, but also because It is psychologically horrifying to the children it attacks. how can It still be scary to audiences viewing a screen adaptation without simply resorting to cheap jump scares and gore? how can It make audiences petrified on the same level the book makes readers feel?
My first thought would be to take the opposite approach of what we saw with the 2017 adaptation, in that you can create a different kind of tension by pulling back from the monster and easing off the jump scares. Focus more on Derry as a place permeated by evil. Shots of the barrens and the sewers should be interspersed to show Pennywise's effect. Maybe juxtapose random residents reverting to a more primitive, aggressive self. I'm thinking of Bev's dad, who is, at times, quite civil. Also Henry Bowers; show the transformation from a semi-pscyhotic hooligan to an instrument of evil.
2. i've heard the weird realm where pennywise and the turtle live referred to as todash space. how could this be visually portrayed? what would it actually look like?
Can't even imagine. I'm sure that's why no one has attempted it. I think it's important though. Maybe this would be the scene for close-ups, jump scares and vague impressions.

Spoiler

3. i can kind of see why
stephen king killed off eddie (the tension building to the idea that Someone Won't Make It Out Of Derry) but i don't see any solid reasons for him dying. is it important that he died? if so, why? if an interpretation kept him alive, would the story lose or gain anything? just a concept i'm curious about.

I'm not sure his death was entirely necessary. I think he could be involved in the ritual of CHUD with Richie and Bill without losing anything, and you might add something.
sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance to those who reply!!

 

[AnnaMarie]

WRT todash, I always *see* those scenes as kind of smokey/hazy. You can kind of see what’s there...but you can’t be sure what you see is actually there. A wisp of wind could move the smoke and it’s not what you thought.

Does that make sense?

And since others see todash differently does that mean....this is my own imagination? Awesome. Because I thought King described it like this during the scene with Roland, Alain, and Cuthbert in the canyon.

 

[secondhand-rose]

WRT todash, I always *see* those scenes as kind of smokey/hazy. You can kind of see what’s there...but you can’t be sure what you see is actually there. A wisp of wind could move the smoke and it’s not what you thought.

Does that make sense?

And since others see todash differently does that mean....this is my own imagination? Awesome. Because I thought King described it like this during the scene with Roland, Alain, and Cuthbert in the canyon.

i like this idea!! and yeah the fact thay no one has ever attempted to portray todash space makes sense because it looks different to everyone, but it would be fun to try of course