FILM ADAPTATION FRIDAY: The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Welcome back to Film Adaptation Friday, a series where I write about my ideal adaptations for some of my favourite books. Last time we talked about The Raven Cycle and today we’re talking The Infernal Devices.

I’ve wanted to do this trilogy since I started this series but I’ve been so nervous since it’s so well loved and I feel like people do have a lot of ideas about what this series should be. But I’m finally doing it now. Some news recently came out Constantin was developing this series as a TV show, that there was a pilot written and Cassandra Clare helped work on it. All this news coming out had me thinking about what I wanted from this series and I just had to get it all down! So this is that post. Lets get into it.

standard disclaimer: This series is just for fun and I obviously have no involvement in a film or anything like that. The casting will be totally just a dream cast situation and therefore not everything I wish will / could possibly happen. Just !! This isn’t gonna be That Deep okay. ALSO, A SPOILER WARNING FOR THE INFERNAL DEVICES.  Though I do try to keep spoils to a minimum.

Format: TV Series. This is already being developed as a TV series and I think that is perfect. We saw City of Bones and Shadowhunters as adaptations of this series and I personally think Shadowhunters worked a lot better in terms of format and maintaining character arcs. Even when City of Bones came out everyone thought it should have been a TV show. Especially since TV shows have much larger budgets for SFX these days, I think a show would be much better. Especially since The Infernal Devices has a constant plot arc running over the three books rather than separate complications in each one like The Mortal Instruments.

Director & Distributor: Constantin is doing this and needless to say I’m worried since they’ve already messed this up TWICE. I think they always do the casting well, which gives me hope, but they always mess the storylines up. I know the new writer has read the books which does give me hope though. For this series, I want them to keep the focus on character they had in Shadowhunters. That was my favourite part of the show. I also hope the keep up making the adults a part of the series. The script needs to be way less corny though. So much of Shadowhunters, especially season one, was super cringey. Overall, The Infernal Devices has a much darker tone than The Mortal Instruments and a more dark aesthetic too so I hope the take that into account and lessen some of the “teen romance + monsters” line they took with The Mortal Instruments.

Poster: This is the poster I came up with for this series. I kinda took inspiration both from the books and also from the Shadowhunters/City of Bones movie poster. The books always have the character above the city so I kinda went with that in putting London & the Thames below and then Tessa above. But I tried to incorporate the font of Shadowhunters and the style they use which is much more close up face shots than the books.

Also, I made this much more darker like the books covers rather than the show ones because I think this is overall a darker series in tone and content. Plus it has that dank, grimy London aesthetic which just lends itself to that grey/black palette in film.

 

FANCASTS:

 

Tessa Gray → Astrid Bergès-Frisby

I think this is the most popular Tessa fancast but I LOVE IT. This is exactly how I imagined Tessa in the series and genuinely, Astrid looks just like the model on the cover of Clockwork Princess. Astrid is also, an actual actress, and I’ve seen her in Pirates of the Caribbean and I really feel she could pull off Tessa so well.

 

 

Will Herondale → Douglas Booth

Ever since I saw Great Expectations with Douglas Booth as Pip I can’t not see this. The period outfit got me. But I thought Douglas Booth has that real Generic Attractive look Will has, like the strong chin and soft hair kinda look. Also, if you’ve seen Great Expectations then you Know Douglas Booth can pull off that tortured man, but also humour that Will is all about

 

 

Jem Carstairs → Jonathan Ho

I really liked Jonathan Ho as Jem in Shadowhunters. Jonathan is Chinese like Jem, and I really liked how he played the role so far. Also, I’m literally all about universe continuity and it’d make me feel good knowing it’s the same actor/person in both timelines.

 

 

 

Jessamine Lovelace → Gabrielle Wilde

Gabrielle Wilde is such a perfect Jessamine. She looks exactly how I imagined her. She has such a soft looking face and a delicate, pretty look that is exactly how Jessamine is supposed to look. This is an extremely popular fancast but I literally cannot picture Jessamine any other way.

 

 

Charlotte Branwell → Jenna Coleman

I’ve never watched Doctor Who but I used to see gifs of Jenna Coleman on tumblr and think that she reminded me a lot of how I imagined Charlotte. When I watched her in Victoria I was set on Jenna ad Charlotte. I think she is so good at portraying characters who are both soft and hard which is what Charlotte is, and she looks just like I imagined Charlotte. Also she has the kind of young look Charlotte is supposed to have.

 

THINGS I’D LIKE TO SEE:

• A darker aesthetic: The Infernal Devices really has this grimy, dirty London aesthetic that kinda characterises the setting. Even though Will and Jem love London, it’s still depicted as being a little bit dark and dangerous. This actually fits in with London really well which is beautiful but .. kinda dirty and smoky. I’d love to see that reflected in the aesthetic. Most of this series is quite dark in tone, there’s lots of violence and events happening that are pretty creepy and weird, especially compared to TMI which is a bit lighter in tone. I think to reflect the sinister atmosphere having a darker aesthetic would really benefit this series.
• Setting porn: okay, maybe this is just a personal thing but something I love about this series is how much it made me fall in love with London. The setting is so important in this book and Victorian England is just one of those setting everybody loves. I want them to SHOWCASE IT. Seriously, I’ll take as many aesthetic London street shots and skyline shots and Thames river shots as they can give me. In all seriousness though, I do feel like the setting is so central to the characters and the London Institute is like, iconic, in the Shadowhunters world so they should showcase that.
• Good costuming: This is obviously a period piece and there is nothing worse than when the costuming doesn’t look good in a period piece. This is tricky because there has to be a good balance between period costumes and Shadowhunter outfits but getting that balance is so right in constructing the setting and aesthetic the book has, as this weird Victorian England/fantasy hybrid world.
• Excellent character writing:  We all KNOW the best thing about this series is the characters. Their arcs are really important to this story and getting it right on screen will make or break this series. Will especially has such an important character arc and it needs to be done right otherwise everything falls apart. Jem and Will’s relationship needs to be properly communicated and the adaptation needs to invest in the time to explain and properly explore the depth of that relationship.
• Harry Shum Jr as Magnus Bane: Listen. Keeping with the continuity I just really would love to see Harry Shum Jr reprise his role as Magnus. First off, I think he played it perfect in Shadowhunters. He really nailed his mannerisms and conveyed his character so well. I can’t even see anyone else as Magnus now. But second of all, I think it’s just really cool to keep the same actors for the immortal characters. It really drives home the themes around immortality in both series, like how kind of sad it is all the world and the setting and the people change but you remain one constant.
• That Good Shit™ angst: Angst is the heart and the soul of this series, and it fuels me. I don’t want them to go too serious here that they miss out on keeping how kind of melodramatic it is at times? The character angst and especially Will’s inner turmoil is what I loved about this series and honestly what drove me to keep reading it because it’s just .. so bad it’s good? Absolutely fucking delicious. I can’t imagine this series or any adaptation of it existing without the ANGST.

 

THINGS I DON’T WANT:

• Extra bullshit drama: This series is DRAMATIC but I’m literally terrified they will add the wrong kinda drama to this series; that being, relationship drama. Look, this series hinges on the fact Will and Jem love eachother as much as they both love Tessa. I swear to god, if they add any annoying boy drama, the whole “postering male” trope, some “I hate Will/Jem because he’s into Tessa” drama I’m gonna riot. That completely negates the point of the love triangle and just destroys while it’s so good – that being that everyone involved is equally in love with everyone else.
• Bad special effects: This is something I HATED about the Shadowhunters show. The effects were so bad and made the series feel really, really cheesy. The villains and monsters in The Infernal Devices are genuinely creepy. The automatons freak me out for real and even though not as many monsters appear as in TMI the ones that do are much more scary, especially the one thats connected to Will. If they’re going to maintain the creepiness of the books and the sinister atmosphere they need to make sure the special effects aren’t too cheesy and ruin the mood.
• Ignoring the cast outside the main three: I am always wary of this with adaptations. Often they take the main characters and ignore everyone else. But everyone in this series is so important. If they don’t include Charlotte and Henry and Jessamine, and later Gideon and Gabriel and Cecily, it’s just not the same. The side characters inform the motivations of the main characters a lot and also just add so much to the series? But Shadowhunters did a really good job at incorporating the side characters so I just hope they can keep it up.

And that is everything I have to say on that today! Let me know your thoughts on this series and what an adaptation should look like below. I’m so jazzed this could become a real thing sometime soon and that Cassie Clare seems excited about it. I just hope it can live up to expectations and capture the essence of the series really well.

As usual, drop suggestions of what FAF you’d like to see next in the comments!

until next time!

FILM ADAPTATION FRIDAY: The Raven Cycle

Welcome back to Film Adaptation Friday, a series where I write about my ideal adaptations for some of my favourite books. Last time we talked about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and today we’re talking The Raven Cycle.

Now, you may or may not know this series has always been picked up for adaptation and Maggie Stiefvater tweeted a picture of the pilot screenplay earlier this week so it is all happening! That is why I’m getting in NOW before casting and things are announced! Time is running short! (and hey maybe Ms Stiefvater will see this and incorporate my ideas and create my ideal adaptation). Lets get into it folks.

standard disclaimer: This series is just for fun and I obviously have no involvement in a film or anything like that. The casting will be totally just a dream cast situation and therefore not everything I wish will / could possibly happen. Just !! This isn’t gonna be That Deep okay. ALSO, A SPOILER WARNING FOR RAVEN CYCLE SERIES.  Though I do try to keep spoils to a minimum.

Format: TV Series. This is confirmed as a TV series already and I think that is best. Though, I do think a mini series with limited episodes could work well for this. Each book could be a few episodes. As it stands now, I think each season will be a book and that isn’t too bad a format. I just hope they don’t do the thing where they randomly expand out the season by adding new storylines and lose the flow of the plot.

Director & Distributor: Syfy is producing this and I actually think that is a really good home for this series. They’ve done some pretty cool fantasy based shows before and generally production quality is really good. But I do know some shows on this platform are a bit cringey so I hope they avoid that because The Raven Cycle actually has a more serious feel than lighthearted and corny.

Catherine Hardwick is directing the pilot which I think is kind of exciting. She is of course the director behind Twilight. I’m interested to see what she does with this but nervous because Twilight is the exact corny, tropey take on supernatural I don’t

wanna see. The Raven Cycle is more edgy and dark than anything. But I like that a woman is directing the show.
Poster: I looked at Syfy posters and lots of them use kind of abstract imagery on plain backgrounds so thats what I tried to go with here. I also tried to make the title bit similar to whats on the front of the Raven Boys hardcover. I actually quite like this poster, it conveys the ominous and soft edgy aesthetic The Raven Cycle has. Lots of the series focusses on destabilising the security of the environment and the loss of security for liminal spaces. Essentially, the nightmarish invading the psyche and other assumed secure spaces. That is why I thought this image resonated with The Raven Cycle. It suggest that invasion of nightmares in personal spaces.

FANCASTS

Blue Sargent → Tashi Rodriquez

I have always loved this concept. Tashi just looks so much like I imagined Blue and all her photoshoots have this kind of mischievous energy I think really suits Blue.

 

 

Richard Campbell Gansey II → Blake Steven

For years this boy has floated around on Pinterest and has looked like the perfect Gansey but I searched for his name with no success. AND THEN I GOT TOLD IT’S BLAKE STEVN AND LIFE IS COMPLETE. He reminds me so Gansey soo much, from the glasses and the air and just his demeanour in his pictures. Ride or DIE.

 

Adam Parrish → Billy Vandendooren

Adam is really hard to cast how I imagie him shifts all the time. I think this is because how he’s typically fancasted doesn’t actually match his physical description. This is the only fancast I’ve ever felt good about sticking with, though I do like Froy for Adam as well.

 

Ronan Lynch → Dudley O’Shaughnessy

First of all he’s literally Irish did I nail this or what. This is a really popular fancast but I’ve always seen it, probably because I get the edge. Also, Dudley has actually said that he would audition for Ronan if given the chance!

 

 

Noah Czerny → Paul Craddock

Listen, Paul Craddock actually kinda looks smudgy since his hair is so white and isn’t that pretty much the only way Noah is described? I always felt like Noah kind of had that look I imagine for Noah? I don’t know how to explain it (also spoilers) but I see it.

 

 

THINGS I’D LIKE TO SEE

• A solid mix of whimsy and edge: The aesthetic is one of the most important parts of this series. It’s all about the vibe. And the vibe is partly magical, party dangerous. There’s always a sense of dread mixed with a sense of wonder throughout this series. That’s because all of them a pretty much human disasters but Gansey makes them see the magic in the everyday and capturing that kind of wonder that Gansey and the whole gang brings to eachother is so important.
• Drama at all the right points: I don’t want this series to be cliche and cringy but I also think it has such a good oppurtunity to play with suspense and drama. I mean this series IS dramatic and there’s lots of cliffhangers and twists and suspenseful moments. I think playing with cutting and scene transitions could really add to the suspense. Flicking between narrative point of view and intercutting the shots in clever moments could create all that mystery and intrigue that was a huge highlight of the book for me
• Good production: Capturing the aesthetic is so important and one part of that is good production. Finding the perfect setting location is so important, especially for Cabeswater. I also think making sure the costuming is good, with Blue’s wild wardrobe and taking attention to how Ronan/Gansey dress in comparison to Blue/Adam is so important!
• A bomb soundtrack: This series lends itself to a badass soundtrack. I can just PICTURE scenes of them exploring overlayed with the perfect musical track. I think music can bring so much dimension and it’s such a fun medium to play with since it can’t be accessed textually.
• Attention to character: Lets face it. The best thing about this series is the characters. They are all our children and we love them. I really don’t want a show to sacrifice character work for action. Keeping the characters the focus and looking at their relationships in depth is going to be so important to me and if they don’t pay attention to character arcs then I don’t think I’ll like the series that much.
• Actually include the parents: Shows have this bad and annoying habit of removing the adults probably because there isn’t time but I LOVE the women of Fox Way and they must be included as much as possible.

 

 

SOUNDTRACK:

 

 

That is it for this edition of Film Adaptation Friday! As usual, let me know your thoughts & suggestions for books to do next. I can’t believe this show is coming out for real, that is so wild to me. It’s definitely going to be interesting to see what the creators do with this, and I just hope it lives up to my expectations.

until next time!

THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO BY TAYLOR JENKINS REID

Welcome back to Film Adaptation Friday!  If this is you’re first time here – this is a blog series I started in which I discuss what my perfect adaptation for various books would look like.  Last week I did The Wayward Children Series and this week we’re doing The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid! This is one o my favourite books I have read this year and so I am so excited to be writing up this post.

Also, if you missed my twitter announcement, I’ve decided to make this a bi-weekly rather than weekly post. These posts a lot of work and it’s much easier for me to manage a post every two weeks! So yeah, sorry all but I hope you can understand !

If you have a suggestion for future posts in this series feel free to leave them in the comments because I’d love more ideas.  With that being said, lets jump into the post!

standard disclaimer: This series is just for fun and I obviously have no involvement in a film or anything like that. The casting will be totally just a dream cast situation and therefore not everything I wish will / could possibly happen. Just !! This isn’t gonna be That Deep okay. ALSO, A SPOILER WARNING FOR THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO.  Though I do try to keep spoils to a minimum.

Format: Movie or limited TV series. I would actually love this as a movie. And this is coming from me, a big TV show fan. But this specific format that Evelyn Hugo uses translates really well to movies, and we’ve seen that in big hits recently like I, Tonya. So movie, although a limited series with each episode covering one or two different husbands would work GREAT as well.

Director & Distributor: I would love to see Reese Witherspoon produce this. First of all, she picked up Daisy Jones & The Six (Taylor Jenkins upcoming novel!) which means I just feel like it’d work if she had Evelyn Hugo too. Reese Witherspoons production company puts out some excellent titles like Gone Girl and Big Little Lies with well-written, female-centred narratives which is what we need for Evelyn.

Poster: So I basically started by looking up posters for similar style movies and there was a lot of range but what I did notice for ‘adult’ movies is that there’s always a title on a block underneath. I decided to try and incorporate that with a reimagining of the paperback book cover which I think is beautiful and perfect

I don’t know if this really captures what this movie is about but I did think it was at least kind of glamorous like Evelyn Hugo.

FANCASTS

There is ALOT of fancasts for this series. All the characters would need multiple actors since this book tracks their lives over years. So I decided to just go with younger flashbacks that would be used for the majority of the flashbacks.

Monique Grant → Logan Browning

I love Logan Browning, she’s an excellent actress and I love her part in Dear White People. Browning is biracial like Monique. Maybe it’s because of her role in Dear White People but I definitely could see her portraying Monique perfectly, especially as she developed and becomes more outspoken and feisty.

 

 

Evelyn Hugo → Priscilla Torres @thefashionmuse_ 

Priscilla Torres is Cuban, so lets just put that out here first! Evelyn Hugo CANNOT be whitewashed in this movie. Priscilla Torres is an instagrammer and I just think her whole look captured Evelyn Hugo perfectly. I can totally see her with the blonde hair and the full Evelyn look. She’s stunning and has a totally classic look.

 

 

Celia St. James → Darya Lebedeva

I don’t exactly know what Darya Lebedeva does but ever since I her saw her picture I thought she looked like Celia. She has that girl next door like whilst also being really, really pretty which is what Celia is supposed to be. Also, I could totally see Amy Adams playing adult Celia because the two look SO SIMILAR.

 

 

Harry Cameron → Colton Haynes

Okay casting Harry was kind of difficult. I don’t know he was always just described as dapper and charming. I could see Colin Firth as adult him maybe. But Colton Haynes is who I chose, I just thought he had that kinda classic handome dapper look that Harry is supposed to have. Also I think it’s a double bonus to have a gay man play a gay character.

 

THINGS I’D LIKE TO SEE

• ALL the glamour: One of my favourite things about this book was how glamorous it felt. I really want them to LAYER that on in this. It will not only make it more authentic but it’ll definitely capture the atmosphere I loved so much about the book. The fact is, we all love Old Hollywood Glamour
• Actually show the diversity: I don’t trust film companies AT ALL. Honestly they’re just as likely to be like “oh the f/f romance isn’t central to the story”. fuck that noise. I want them to actually be faithful to the characters and show that Evelyn is bi and Cuban, Harry is gay and Celia is a lesbian. It’s what we all deserve
• A good mix of current events and flashback: one of my favourite things about the book is how the events in the past are connected to those now, and that Monique feeds off Evelyn’s stories. Monique’s perceptions of her life shift because of Evelyn and that is shown by contrasting the current and past events. So I would like them to mix up the past and present rather than showing it chronologically.
• Focus on all the characters: It would be such a shame if they didn’t focus on all the characters like they do in the books. I really want Celia, Harry and John to have all their stories explored like in the books!
• Realism: One thing I thought was really cool about the book was that it seemed so realistic it was like Evelyn Hugo was a completely real celebrity. I think they really should maintain that hyper realism because it was one of the best parts of the book.
• Cast Old Hollywood celebrities: Kinda related to the above, I think it would be cool if they cast some real celebrities from the time to appear in the movie. It would only need to be a moment but it’d really  add to the idea that Evelyn Hugo is embedded within the zeitgeist and cultural history of Hollywood.
• Beautiful shots: I think this would be so much better if it was beautifully shot and had a really lovely aesthetic. It’s a heavy book but it’s so beautiful and I feel like shots that aren’t highbrow but are really beautiful would suit this perfectly.

Things I don’t want to see

• Too dramatic a soundtrack: I think too much music and too campy music would really break the realism and tension of some scenes. A clever soundtrack, or even some silent parts, would be much more effective and capture the mood of the book better.
• Something tacky: I know this is right on with point one but I so don’t want this to feel tacky and cheap. It should feel like a high class well produced and well shot piece. Kind of like the book in how it feels like every piece is perfectly placed.

That is all for this weeks Film Adaptation Friday! Thankyou for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post. As always, please let me know what you would like to see in this adaptation. I can’t wait to talk with you all in the comments.

until next time!

FILM ADAPTATION FRIDAY: Wayward Children Series

Welcome back to Film Adaptation Friday!  If this is you’re first time here – this is a blog series I started in which I discuss what my perfect adaptation for various books would look like.  Last week I did The Foxhole Court and this week we’re doing The Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire! You may also know this series as the Every Heart a Doorway series since people commonly refer to them that way too!
This was suggested by Cade so thankyou for the suggestion!  If you have a suggestion feel free to leave them in the comments because I’d love more ideas for this series.  With that being said, lets jump into the post!

standard disclaimer: This series is just for fun and I obviously have no involvement in a film or anything like that. The casting will be totally just a dream cast situation and therefore not everything I wish will / could possibly happen. Just !! This isn’t gonna be That Deep okay. ALSO, A SPOILER WARNING FOR THE WAYWARD CHILDREN SERIES.  Though I do try to keep spoils to a minimum.

Format: Movie or movie length TV series. I think Every Heart a Doorway would work as both a movie and a movie length TV series. If it was a TV series, it should be one of those ones where every episode is an hour and a half long, and each episode can be one book. Otherwise just regular movies. Movies are so long though nowadays, I feel like this adaptation would only need 90 minutes per book rather than 120+.

One thing that is great about this format is that, since Seanan McGuire keeps making books that are loosely connected, it wouldn’t necessarily be a linked series. You could watch them in any order even though they’re part of the same wider universe.

I also think this would be really neat as an animation! Especially the later books set in other world. Animation leaves room for some really fun designs and colour palette and I definitely think this would translate beautifully as an animated fantasy.

Director & Distributor: I think BBC would actually be a really cool home for this if it was a live action TV show. BBC makes some super unique shows and the thing about this is, there’s not much else like it out there. It’s got children as the main characters but is kinda written for adults and has fantasy elements? Plus they’ve tried and true for long episode tv show formats.

Animated, I would honestly love to see the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender do this because they created my favourite animated fantasy world ever and I’d love to see how they imagine and create the other world like The Moors and Candyland especially.

Poster: This isn’t my favourite poster but it’ll DO. I wanted to incorporate the kinda whimsy feel of the book and sort of capture that concept that the kids are caught between two worlds. I also kept the text like that to match the book cover. But this model is too old to be any of the children and I think it doesn’t really capture the portal element.

FAN CASTS:

Deviating from the usual path, I decided not to do fancasts for this series. First of all, I think it’d be most effective as a series if they actually cast kids and not adults playing kids. I feel kind of weird about fancasting child actors,  but all I’ll say is I definitely would like to them to ensure they keep the characters accurate to the age of the book characters. Because the point of the book itself is that all of them are just kids. Also, they need to cast accurately in terms of representation. Like, Cora has to be a fat girl and Kade should be played by a trans boy ec cetera.

SETTINGS CASTS:

So instead of doing fan casts, I decided to do something else and so some SETTING CASTS. These are basically just gonna be some pictures conceptualising what the setting could look like for each world.

THE MOORS

CANDYLAND

THINGS I WANNA SEE:

• LOTS OF COLOUR! These books are so fun and bright and just have a really warm vibe and I’d love that to be reflected through having a kinda more upbeat aesthetic. I love how wholesome these books feel so I wouldn’t want an adaptation to be too gritty or anything
• ACCURATE CASTING. I already said this earlier but it’s so important they get this right. The diverse cast is such an important part of these books and the way they interact with eachother, the world, and their worlds. So it needs to be represented in an adaptation.
• GOOD CAST CHEMISTRY. one of my favourite things about these books is the dynamic between the kids. They’re so cute together and I just love all the scene of their banter and conversations. So the cast having really good chemistry would definitely make this aspect stand out!
• NEW CHARACTERS! I would love to see some new characters, while I love the original cast seeing some original characters could be really fun. I would definitely be here for it, and there’s SO MUCH potential for backstory given the worldbuilding.

THINGS I DON’T WANNA SEE:

• Grittiness. I swear to GOD. So many shows have to make the drama so gritty and violent and this movie/show doesn’t need it! It can be sweet and fun just like the books. While there is still drama and bad things happening (murder!) it’s not super gritty or violent. It’s mostly still about each characters individual growth!

And that is it for today folks! I hope you enjoyed this post even though I changed up the format a bit. I am loving this series so much,  and I’m glad so many of you have been so enthusiastic about it too! As always, leave your ideas for this adaptation in the comments. I would love to see some other ideas.

If you liked this post consider buying me a Ko-Fi. It shows you enjoy my work and supports me so I can keep blogging and putting out content for you guys!

until next time!

FILM ADAPTATION FRIDAY: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

It’s round two of Film Adaptation Friday, the series I started last week. If you missed that, be sure to read it right here. If this is you’re first time here – this is a blog series I started in which I discuss what my perfect adaptation for various books would look like.  Last week I did Six of Crows and this week we’re doing The Foxhole Court! This was requested to me a couple times and I am more than happy to deliver the goods since you all KNOW I love this series. Also, I just finished rereading the first book so it’s fresh in my mind! Anyway this is gonna be a long one so STRAP IN.

standard disclaimer: This series is just for fun and I obviously have no involvement in film or anything like that. The casting will be totally just a dream cast situation and therefore not everything I wish will / could possibly happen. Just !! This isn’t gonna be That Deep okay. ALSO, A SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FOXHOLE COURT SERIES Though I will try to keep spoils to a minimum.

THE BASICS:

Format: TV Series. So I thought about a movie for The Foxhole Court but I’m 100% sure a TV series would work better. One thing I love about the books is the really long character and romance arcs that develop across all three books and I think that type of arc lends itself best to a tv adaptation rather than film. Also, if it was a series there could potentially be seasons after the ending of the book, about the new team that Neil captains.  I also think I would like this live action. I have seen suggestions it be animated, which would be fun, but I think it’d work better live action to really capture the exy scenes.

One thing I would really, really think would be cool to see with The Foxhole Court is a make it like a web series. Similar to Skam, except maybe longer clips. Lots of The Foxhole Court’s action is broken down into specific scenes and moments. At least in the first book, whichI just read it’s something like this: “Now I have class then I’m meeting for training at 3pm”, “I need to meet at 9pm with the upperclassmen”, “our game is at 7pm”. I think taking these sorts of time slots and actually uploading the clips live time would be super fun, and would lend itself to the sport aesthetic since watching sports is a lot of sitting down at a certain time to do it. Maybe this sounds too wild, but I think it’d be really fun. Also, The Foxhole Court has lots of ongoing elements of plot which are confusing because they’re never adequately explained until the end. The web series helps to conceal and keep information from viewers. It’s something Skam did really well since the clips were only ever in one characters point of view but it was implied action existed outside the clip. The Foxhole Court is from Neil’s perspective and the fact he A: doesn’t know most of the teams secrets and B: they don’t know his, super lends itself to this web series format.

Director & Distributor: Okay, I would love to see Netflix on this. I can’t think of any distributor that could do it better. Hulu tends to be a *little* too serious but Netlix has some good teen shows that find that balance between serious and kind of ridiculous like The Foxhole Court.

I had the hardest time deciding on this because there is a few options for me. Teen Wolf’s developer Jeff Davis stood out to me because the lacrosse scenes are Ideal and want I want for the Exy scenes. On the other, everyone cites Yuri On Ice as a show similar to The Foxhole Court’s concept which is true and I’d love a kind of narration similar to what Yuri has so Sayo Yamamoto who directed that is an option. Than, of course, Julie Andem came to mind since she did Skam and I’m set on the web series idea, but honestly I don’t like what she did with some plot lines (ie. the sexual assault one) in Skam and that makes me nervous. I also think the show really should have a gay man direct it if possible, because I think not only would it add some more nuance to the relationship, it’s also important the perspectives of the community come through. Some gay directors I can see doing good with this are John Krokidas (Kill Your Darlings) and Jeff Davis as mentioned earlier.

So I’m not really sure who I would choose myself, Jeff Davis is probably the top of my list but also, I’m not sure?

Poster: This is my mock up poster. I actually kinda like this. I tried to incorporate something sports related at first but that wasn’t working and didn’t seem serious enough so instead I thought about portraying identity. A large portion of the series revolves around the fact Neil is on the run and presents as multiple people. People being not what they seem is a large theme of the book so I tried to incorporate that into this poster by giving the “fracturing lines” through Neil’s (or that could be Kevin I suppose) image. Anyway, I think it looked kind of cool and a matching character set of all of them would be NEAT

 

FAN CASTS:

So if this was a show I gotta say, I’d definitely want actors who actually look like athletes. It’s so hard to find fancasts for people who have both the face and the body to play them because they’re all supposed to be strong and muscular but I did my bEST okay.

Neil Josten → Froy Gutierrez

Listen. Froy has read the series and literally tweeted multiple times implying he would like to play Neil if this ever happened GIVE THE MAN WHAT HE WANTS. Honestly he looks a lot like a pictured Neil and he looks great in orange so I’m here for it.

 

Conor Doherty → Andrew & Aaron Minyard

The Twinyards are the hardest to choose in the whole cast. I don’t know why they’re hard to capture. Dane DeHane is popular because of his role in Kill Your Darlings and In Therapy and I agree with that, but Conor Doherty looks younger and more how I imagined. So I chose him, but maybe with Dane DeHanes attitude.

 

Nicky Hemmick → Callum Stoddart

I don’t know why but he gives me Nicky vibes. I think it’s the hair. He’s a model so he doesn’t have lots of photos but I like what there is out there. I also really like Diego Bonata as Nicky but I like that Callum looks a little more the right age (he’s 22)

 

Line Brems → Allison Reynolds

I love this fancast so much. Something about Line Brems face gives me massive Allison Reynolds vibes, I think it’s the kinda sharp and pouty look. I’ve seen Hayley Kiyoko suggested a lot too and I could be down for that too. Line Brems just gives me all the glamorous but badass energy though.

 

Aiyana Lewis → Dan Wilds

I think this is one of the more popular Dan fancasts but I don’t care because I love it. She looks so similar to how I imagine Dan in my head, maybe her hairs just a little longer than I imagine but STILL.

 

 

Laurence Coke → Kevin Day

RIDE OR DIE KEVIN. I love Laurence Coke for Kevin so much, he looks like I imagined Kevin plus he actually has an athlete looking body. Kevin Day is supposed to be really attractive and Laurence Coke is and just his whole LOOK and energy screams Kevin to me.

 

Reece King → Matt Boyd

Another popular fancast but I can’t see Matt as anyone else. When I read the books I imagine Reece King. He has the soft bubbly energy Matt has, and he’s tall enough. Also, Reece used to have hair that stuck up a lot and that is what Matt has. When I try to picture anyone else but I can’t do it.

 

Karen Yeung → Renee Walker

Karen Yeung is adorable and reminds me of Renee a lot. When I saw her picture come up as a suggested Renee ages ago I was like YES. Sometimes I cast her as other people but then always come back here. She just reminds me of how I picture Renee SO MUCH.

THINGS I WANNA SEE:

• NARRATION. Not too much, but I would kind of like to see some narration from Neil. You’re in his head the whole way through the books and I think if they could replicate his thought process in a way that isn’t too corny would be really, really cool.
• Leading on from narration, I have this specific scene I would love to see. At the beginning when Neil introduces all the Foxes to the reader, he goes over their stats and things he knows about them in is head. I’d like to see some sort of ‘stat screen’ like it’d be a shot of each Fox, and then Neil’s narration over the top. This is a ridiculous comparison but you know the Mean Girls clip about Regina George and the different cafeteria groups? Something like that. But less corny.
• Interesting use of slow motion. This is what I meant when I said I liked the Teen Wolf sport scenes. One reason they’re cool is that they use narration to hype up the drama and impact of the games. Obviously the games are so important to the book and also Neil has moments where his attention fluxes and shifts throughout the games to important points, like that Andrew or Kevin is doing, or how he feels about the team winning or losing. I think they could capture this with slow motion and it would help perpetuate the importance of the sport and the violence of the sport on camera.
• Dramatic soundtrack. Neil, and all the Foxes, are massive drama queens. This scene NEEDS an iconic soundtrack. I’m talking interesting use of music in scenes and scores where the lyrics encapsulate what the scene is about in some way.
• Speaking of flashbacks, this show should have them. Mid action, but also use flashbacks with a present day voiceover. So an example, when Andrew tells Neil about his history, the flashback with the explanation over the top. When Wymack is explaining to Neil what happened between Riko and Kevin, it should be flashes of them playing amazing together, and showing them dreaming of playing court, but it should have this dark edge to it because it’s a bad past, and a narration over the top.
• A way to visualise the betting joke. Like, I don’t know how. But maybe shots of the money pot, or like even something like the characters randomly drawing money out of places for the bet. I don’t know, it’s a funny recurring joke in the book and I think the show could benefit from actually having something humorous.
• Focus on all the characters. One of my favourite things about The Foxhole Court is the relationship between all the team members and how they all interact so I don’t wanna see all that cut. Give all the characters decent screentime and maybe even give each at least one episode that explores their individual backstories.
• Symbolism. There is a lot of symbolism and foreshadowing through imagery in The Foxhole Court. eg, the keys, Andrew tripping Neil with the exy stick, the tattoos. I’d love to see the adaptation pay some attention to portraying these symbols. I only need something basic, a lingering shot on a key for example. But it’s gonna just take some notice of that.

Things I don’t want to see

• too much graphic imagery. Honestly this is because I don’t trust this fanbase. I really think that way too much horrible stuff happens in this book, especially to Andrew, and I really don’t think it needs to be shown graphically or explicitly. I’d even be happy with the graphic scene in the Raven King being cut because I think things are much harder to watch than read. The risk of a show coming off as tragedy porn is very high and some of the fans already get off on the tragic gays element way, way too much. I don’t think removing some of the graphicness of the books would be a bad thing especially since theres more room in film to imply.
• An aesthetic thats too dark. I think there is elements of this that are very dark and that should be captured but I think the show overall should have a brighter aesthetic, ESPECIALLY the court itself. One thing I thought is that flashbacks should have a darker aesthetic and present day a brighter one. The current day for most characters is supposed to be a better and more hopeful moment then the past so that could reflect it.

SOUNDTRACK:

This is just an embedded link to my foxhole court playlist but some of the songs could contribute to a playlist. I definitely think a few of these would be an interesting title theme.

That is it for this week! This post is SO LONG so thankyou for sticking around until the end if you made it this far. As always leave your suggestions for what series/book I should do next in the comments!

until next time!

FILM ADAPTATION FRIDAY (A new series to this blog!) – feat. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Hi everyone! So I’m here debuting a new series on this blog, – FILM ADAPTATION FRIDAY. I was going to call it FANCAST FRIDAY but went with this for now, as an FYI it could change. Essentially what this series is gonna be is me .. talking about what the ideal adaptation for different books would look like for me. So that’s gonna include fancasting the characters, exploring the aesthetic, talking about who should direct it, what format should it be, and on what platform, and more!

Today I will be talking about Six of Crows. If anyone has suggestions of series/books you would like to see more do let me know! Anyway, lets just jump into the post so you can get a feel for what this series will be like.

Also, a disclaimer: This series is just for fun and I obviously have no involvement in film or anything like that. Also, the casting will be totally just a dream cast situation so obviously not everything I wish could happen could possibly happen. Just !! This isn’t gonna be That Deep okay. ALSO, A SPOILER WARNING FOR THE ENTIRE SIX OF CROWS DUOLOGY.

THE BASICS:

Format: Limited series. Six of Crows is great because it’s a tight duology that perfectly raises tension and then resolves it in the second book. I think this would be really cool as a mini series. I’m thinking 7 parts. The first three would be book one and the next four would be book two. I think the first book has three distinct parts so it makes sense to have it in three episodes, the second book is more complex so it gets more episodes.

Director & Distributor: I think Netflix or Amazon Prime would be the best home for Six of Crows because it’s a show that needs to be released all at once rather than per episode. I think Bryan Fuller would be a good director for Six of Crows. I would want it to be super metaphorical and have artsy shots and he does that a lot, plus he directed American Gods and therefore can be trusted to make adaptations. Another director who could fit is Jean-Marc Vallee, he directed Big Little Lies and I think that series has a lot of elements I would like to see in Six of Crows.

Poster: This is my mock up poster. I ain’t no graphic designer but I did my best. I think showing Kaz over the buildings is kinda symbolic as in showing how he wants to dominate Ketterdam itself. But I would also love to see a poster that features all the characters with the “six dangerous outcasts, one impossible heist” tag line more exaggerated.

FAN CASTS:

So, if this was to be a show,  I would kind of like to see the characters aged up a little? I always thought that they didn’t really feel like they were 16/17 in the books but I do think it’s good they’re that age in the books since it’s YA. However, TV shows can have older characters with younger audiences and that’s something that happens all the time, so I feel that would be something they could do with Six of Crows.

Regardless, for the sake of fan casting I had to age them up since it’s hard to find teen actors to cast as characters.  Also, I just want to reiterate this isn’t based on acting ability it’s literally all based on appearance ! Anyway, here is some fan casts!

Kaz Brekker → Thomas Hayes

I don’t know why but he’s so hard to fancast Kaz, no one looks like I imagine him. I ended up choosing Thomas Hayes because something about his face, especially his eyes, gives me Kaz vibes. If he had his hair changed a bit I feel like he would look a lot like I imagine Kaz.

.

Nina Zenik → Barbie Ferreira

Okay, this is THE most popular Nina fancast but I don’t even care I love it so much. Barie Ferreira is so stunning and gives off some real “mess with me and I’ll fuck you up” energy which happens to be Nina’s exact energy.

 

Matthias Hevlar → Christopher Mason Brown

He looks like a young Chris Hemsworth and for this exact reason he has to be Matthias. I mean, Matthias is described as being blonde, having blue eyes and being really conventionally attractive and that is what I’m giving you here. Also, this guy is BUILT and Matthias is supposed to be too.

 

Inej Ghafa → @ItsIrisia

When I first saw this fancast I speng ages cross searching the images to work out who it was. And I found out it’s an Instagram model called @ItsIrisia. They are of Trinidadian descent and I just think everything they post a picture that they remind me of Inej so much.

 

Wylan Van Eck → Max Barczuk

This is my RIDE OR DIE Wylan fan cast. Honestly Max Barczak looks exactly how I imagined Wylan. He has the soft kinda innocent looking features and the curly hair. The only problem is he’s not a strawberry blonde but I’m willing to work with it.

 

Jesper Fahey → Adonis Boss

This is a popular fancast I believe, but ever since I saw a picture of Adonis Bosso I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind for Jesper. I feel like it fits so perfectly, they’re even super tall and lanky like Jesper is supposed to be.

 

Kuwei Yul-Bo → Will Jay

Finally, my favourite chemistry nerd son. Will Jay gives me so many Kuwei vibes because he has this kind of cheeky/playful thing going on that Kuwei has too. Also, he looks so similar to how I imagine Kuwei, though in my head Kuwei has freckles? Regardless this is a perfect fit for me.

 

THINGS I WANNA SEE:

Like I mentioned earlier, I feel like this adaptation would work best if it was kinda dark and relied heavily on symbolic imagery. The book itself is already like that. For me one big thing I loved about the book is how it Went There. None of us expected Kaz Brekker to remove a mans eye in the first half of the book but he DID. I think the grittiness of the  story and how the characters are like, truly awful people, is one if it’s strengths. So I’d love to see them continue that by making the adaptation dark. Even aesthetic wise, having dark shots and a serious music score would kinda create the image of Ketterdam I see in my head.

I think symbolic imagery would be really important limited series, and that is why I chose Bryan Fuller as the director. He does this SO WELL. If you’ve seen either Hannibal or American Gods you know what I mean. The book relies on symbolism a lot – especially in regards to showing character development. I would love to see an adaptation carry this on.

One thing I would like to see changed from the book is the way flashbacks are handled. In the first book at least, the format is essentially: one chapter of action, one chapter of flashback. I think since this is a film format and there’s more chance to play around with flashback it would be cool to see some flashbacks intercut with the actual action. I would love to see some arsty things, like intercutting young images of Kaz with him now. Also, flashbacks at the beginning of the episode would work really nicely.

One thing that will be interesting about this is that Six of Crows itself relies heavily on timing to tell the story. Certain things are hidden from the reader depending on who’s narrating, and Leigh Bardugo very carefully chooses who will have each chapter to keep the reader guessing. I think maintaining this is so important, which is why I think it might be cool for them to give each episode to a different character. Each chapter is told from a different point of view, which is hard to do in movies, so making each episode “dedicated” to a different character would be neat. Obviously they would all still appear in each one, but having one episode explore one specific characters backstory and current situation would work well I think.

I also, finally, would love to see lots of banter scenes. This is one of my favourite parts of the book and I just would be upset if they cut out all the fun banter between the Dregs.

Things I don’t want to see
VOICE OVER. It’s too corny for this type of show.
BRIGHT SETS. I’m not joking the book itself has such a dark aesthetic I want this show to be DARK AND GLOOMY AND SPOOKY.
DREAM SEQUENCES. This is weird, but often when movies adapt books they put the flashback in a dream sequence. I think this kinda kills the point of the flashbacks in the book? The flashbacks contrast how the characters are now versus what they used to be like to make the motivations behind their actions more obvious and the loss of innocence becomes so obvious when you see the characters “then” and “now”. Thats why the flashbacks should be AMONGST the action because it forces you to confront the stark different between the character in the past and now while dream sequences don’t work as well to highlight that difference.

Okay that is everything for today! I hope everyone enjoyed this post, because I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else do a series like this and therefore I’m unsure if anyone cares. So please let me know if you would like to see more posts like these. I have a few weeks worth planned in my head so far.

I want to exaggerate this is entirely my own interpretation and opinions on what this adaptation should be and if you disagree that is fine. I don’t want people thinking I’m saying IT HAS TO BE THIS. This is just the kind of thing I think in my head when I dream about this adaptation. I’d love to know what everyone else thinks.

Okay, thankyou for reading! That really is everything. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this in the comments. I think it’s so interesting reading how other people interpret the characters and the potential look of an adaptation.

until next time!