Compare and Contrast: Film And Literature
Simple question; what is your first reaction when a person tells you something you hardly believe? I assume it is the usual statement, “show me, and I will believe it.” This statement clearly shows that humans value vision more than hearing. If they cannot see something, then there is a high chance that they would not believe in the validity of that object. It does not matter whether the event had occurred earlier that day, in the movie or news. Through films and literature, we are able to learn dissimilarities in the perception of cultural conflicts and norms in various parts of the universe. They provide powerful teaching resources that enable people to learn differences and similarities among different cultures, therefore enhancing the consciousness of their cultural view of the world. Moreover, both literature and films also enable them to comprehend their differences better and learn a thing or two from them. In his book “Film and Literature,” Timothy Corrigan states that watching films and reading literal works can blossom trainees’ humanism and capability for comprehending(Corrigan). The authors and actors only give further insight from what is already happening or will happen in their societies. Both literature and films have fascinating interconnection and are sometimes intertwined in various ways that one could know. They are both written by someone whose desire is to impact viewers or readers in some way. With that said, the big questions are always: Did the author accomplished his/her purpose? Are the audience impacted in the way the author hoped? Is the author’s object prevalent to the audience? How authors can shape the reader’s or viewer’s thoughts is another factor that must also be examined when trying to answer these questions. Film and literature often tackle social issues such as racism, gender, class, and sex. This paper aims at providing a clear comparison and contrast between films and literature.
Films and literature promulgate reality in similar ways. To begin with, they both serve the same purpose. The difference sets in the way they express it to their audience. The literature presents its motives with a literal description of the characters and the scene in a particular story. This allows readers’ minds to plunge into the imagination as they are viewing or reading. This is usually achieved by an observer or possibly a character of the situation; this again will depend on the author’s decision. It inculcates “pictures” into the reader’s mind, which then fabricates small “plastic” disports that are used in the entire narrative. In literature, the virtual images created in the mind of the reader becomes the object of reality; but for it to be termed as an object of reality, it must be presented well through the detailed elucidation and intricate use of adjectives.
Also, the perceptible reality is vital to the effectuated reality of a narrative; readers must still figure out the characters’ emotions through the art of the story. Literature disseminates the characters’ feelings in the entire narrative once again through elaboration, and precise narration features such as facial expressions and imagery provide the reader with visual images in their minds. Time and place factor is another very essential factor of reality in literature. Scenes must happen in the order in which they appear; laws of casualty must be followed. For instance, if the storyteller narrates two scenarios that happen simultaneously, the person reading will automatically assume that the one he or she reads first occurred. This feature of literature takes ready from the imagination world.
Visuals or sounds mainly bring the audience to reality in films. Films are preferred by many over literature in that they show two concurrent events occurring in different places without confusing the viewer. This is something that is impossible in literature. Nevertheless, both are equal counterparts as far as reality is concerned. It just depends on the targeted audience preference. There are those who will prefer literature while those who will go for film viewing at a snap of a finger. Literature and film give passable illustrations of including inclusions but not restricted to setting, characters, thoughts, and feelings; nonetheless, the way in which each goes about It is totally different. Films implant the viewers into a sitch by anticipating a perceptible portrayal of a setting of the narrative. It clearly shows the spectators how characters are reacting to a particular situation, thus seeing their emotions and feelings. Moreover, it provides the viewer with an opportunity to see the images of those “plastic” visuals that are created while reading the literature. This explains why many people prefer films to literature before it takes them a shorter time to identify the story in the film and also less effort to form images. Besides, the film also provides figures, lighting, and three-dimension objects.
Just like literature, novels, and book, films also tell a story. Moreover, they tackle the same genre of romanticism, historical events, adventure, horror, and fiction. However, films also include other sub-categories under these major themes; for instance, tragedy, comedy, actions, and animation. The methods used to analyze films are also closely related to those used to analyze literature, although films are multimedia; this implies that films can take commands of viewers’ senses to create a special atmosphere, emotions, and feelings. Plot, setting, characterization, structure, and themes make up the screenplay. Just like literature, there are also several techniques that filmmakers use to tell the story. The viewer has to pay attention to the camera angles, background sounds, and music, and editing. He or she focuses on how all these elements are intertwined to make up a good film.
In both films and literary works, power is an essential factor In excellent storylines. Reality does not have much intervention when it comes to the characterization of the leading roles. At times, literature can have a fascinating connection with the film. Actually, in some circumstances, both forms of entertainment correlate in several ways. Their objectives are to impact the members of the societies. In the case of their functionality, both films and literature share the same purpose. In films, it is very much very easier for film directors and producers to let their viewers know their intention completely. For instance, in the television series Handsmail Tale, it is clearly laid out in the first few episodes. The viewers can right away tell the storyline and the background of what is happening. Similarly, in the movie, Hannibal, the audience can quickly tell the leading character as Hannibal Lector. Another feature that clearly gives the viewer a hint of the main character is that most times, they are masculine, aristocratic, and heterosexual; this is very common in action films. In the case of literature writing, the author must vividly describe these characters in order to create the visual in the reader’s mind.
Literature and films get the themes by compiling stories and pass them across to their audience in the most effective way. However, the means in which these two deliver their message differ. Literature solely relies on the description and words to create a visual environment in one’s mind, where they can picture everything he or she is reading. On the other hand, the film uses sound and visual upshots to achieve perceived reality. In order to have an impact on its audience, films use several techniques such as camera angle, angle settings, background music, and sounds, lighting, and physique of the characters. Most times, film producers and directors allocate characters’ roles depending on the physical body, structure, and the way they talk. Similarly, the film can only use words to create images in the viewer’s mind. For example, in the instance where a character describes a place, person, or a thing, and the audience could hardly get what he or she is talking about, therefore. However, literature and film differ in the way they create visuals in the audiences’ mind. It is so clear they both eventually achieved their purpose.
When considered the strategies of sound and silence, films enhance audiences’ understanding. Film viewers receive the message in both visuals and sounds while literature readers get it from the only text. The sounds in the films can be categorized into three; that is music, dialogue, and noise. In some cases, one of these features can achieve the purpose of the film. Moreover, sound in the film instills a certain feeling or emotion that can make viewers relate to the characters. Another advantage of sounds in the film is that it duplicates sounds that viewers could relate to in real life. For instance, instead of describing a gunshot, the viewers hear the gunshot, and they could judge it themselves. In contrast, literature could not describe these sounds through words, which may not be very effective as some readers might make a different judgment based on how they understood the reading. Thus it is evident that film is more powerful in creating real-life than literature. On the other hand, the weak point of literature can also be advantageous as it can provide the reader with silence, peace of mind, and adequate space.
In both literature and films, analogy stands out. The basic structural units of a literature worker can be replicated in films. In movies, the main focus is on the frame, scenes, and sequences. On the other hand, the literature focuses on the chapters, sentences, and words. Words in literature and the visuals in the films are similar so far in that they both create “pictures.” However, films are perceived with the eye where else literature is perceived through the reader’s mind. Moreover, filmmakers and writers use one language or several languages. Nevertheless, some differences may arise in this. For example, films are multi-sensory in that immediacy is emphasized by communal experience where else literary works are mono-sensory as privacy is preferred and is more productive; people prefer watching a movie in groups in order to have a better experience. On the other hand, literature is typically an interaction between the reader and the author.
In conclusion, it is evident that films and literature share more similarities than differences. The film is actually an advanced branch of literature. Authors of literature communicate the intended message to their audience through writings where else filmmakers use images, wounds, and videos to pass their message to the audience. Also, both film and literature create visual images in one’s mind to make them related to the incidences and the characters. Moreover, most of the film producers and film directors get their content from previous literary works such as novels and storybooks. Literature has various such as imagery, irony, flashback, and many more. Finally, both literature and film educate their audience on social issues such as terrorism, racism, and theft, among others.