adapting Ligotti to film
 

Hello, just visiting.

I'm interested in adapting a Ligotti story to film. Video actually. What does one need to know, with regards to getting permission from the author?

I'm a great fan of Ligotti and have been since my friend recommended him about a year ago. I shamelessly covet the copy of "Nightmare Factory" I checked out from the library...months ago.

My favorite is "The Red Tower"...maybe my favorite short story of all time. It's not the one I have in mind for filming, of course. (That would be ... totally impossible.)

Is the author responsive to queries of this nature? Anyone? Bueller?

Am already aware of an adaptation of "The Frolic," from news from this website.

Re: adapting Ligotti to film
 

jaime, I am sorry that I can't answer your questions on the protocol and legalities involved in adapting a Thomas Ligotti story to film or video. I am curious, however, about whether or not you intend to return the book to the library. Considering the marketplace, the fines may be cheaper in the long run...

Re: adapting Ligotti to film
 

Jaime,
Unfortunately...

[gotopost=4993:1e010cd1be]Fox Atomic Acquires Option to Buy Rights to Nightmare Factory Content[/gotopost:1e010cd1be]

Since Fox Atomic has purchased this option, it is my understanding that you would have to attain permission from them directly in lieu of Tom. Following my crude understanding of the entertainment business, this would only happen if they deemed that they could benefit greatly from the arrangement without you being considered in the equation.

Given this assumption, you are left with stories that are not included within THE NIGHTARE FACTORY as being potential material, if you managed to receive his permission. In any event, give us your thoughts regarding target stories and implementation. I fancied myself an amateur filmmaker at one point. In fact, I must proclaim that I nailed the first half of the moniker dead-on.

Re: adapting Ligotti to film
 

Oh well...I can do it under the radar, I suppose, if I don't worry about things like theatrical presentation or DVD release. Ha ha.

I want to shoot TG, using the full, verbatim narration. I don't want to spell a whole lot out, explicitly (I'm even a little irritated that TL mentioned that TG was actually a form of ...can't find the spelling, Nethescurial and Animus Mundi and other Lovecraftian things, I like the idea of Ligotti's ideas being independent things without precedent or outside linkage), so I don't even want to shoot the sequence involving the snow-covered alley ("he was getting so small") unless it's just someone talking about it. As tempting as it might be to have moonlit snow and a big action sequence and bloodletting, I don't think it'd be in the spirit of the thing.

Maybe this sounds lame to you guys, but I love Ligotti's use of language and I want to honor it. It's hard to tell if something is set in 1905 or 1995 until he mentions a filmmaker or a security deposit or something.

As for the book, since it's checked out from the BK public library, I can keep extending it and extending it. As long as nobody requests it and it's a situation where I have the only copy (not likely), I can keep it for quite a while. I had the Criterion DVD for "Salesman" for over a year because I let a friend borrow it and he didn't return it (or watch it for that matter) for the longest time. Didn't pay a cent in late fees b/c I kept extending it.

Re: adapting Ligotti to film
 

Hello, jaime:

I'm a former film student (mostly useless when it comes to production, though,) and not too far away from you geographically, so feel free to PM/e-mail me if you want help on a project or just want to shoot the sh... uh, breeze.

As for your idea, well, I'm always leery when a movie is heavy on narration, but obviously it all depends on context and presentation. I've imagined what a Ligotti adaptation might look like, myself, and my main concern has been how to transpose the "vision" of his fiction from written to cinematic language. My own suspicion is that it would drive me crazy to attempt a movie honoring the text itself; to me, a personal depiction of a Ligottian world on film would have to be personal first, and Ligottian only second, if that makes sense. Sure, it might disappoint or irritate some fans if I were to show them what Ligotti's fiction looks like filtered largely through my own imagination, but I think such a disparity might be inevitable when adapting prose that is both as subtle and as evocative as Tom's (is "my" Ligottian world the same as yours or anyone else's?) Then again, TL has written a thing or two about, erm, pure conception....

OK, I'm starting to ramble. Good luck, though, however you wish to pursue your project, and keep us posted!

Re: adapting Ligotti to film
 

Well, I have strong ideas about film and video and don't believe in two ideas that you mention - although both are very popular: one is that a film has to be "personal"...well, this one is tricky. A filmmaker either has a strong way of expressing him-/herself on the medium or...not. From the handful of amateur things I've done, I can't help but to put things in a unique way. Adaptations that have the reputation as "slavish," it's not just a matter of copying dialogue and action verbatim, but also a way of shooting...centered framing, a tempo that matches the way the story reads (frenzied pacing on the page, frenzied editing and shooting).

The other idea has to do with narration, which I guess my thoughts on narration run along the same lines. A director like Bresson made Diary of a Country Priest and A Man Escaped with wall-to-wall narration, and L'Argent, etc., with almost none at all. Masterpieces all. I'm no Bresson but...he was a teacher and I'd like to think I can learn a little. There's also Welles.

What is Fox Atomic? Is it something like an edgy, cheaper Fox Searchlight?

EDIT: Boy, I sound pompous! Sorry. But I wish to make clear that I am an artist, or at least, a highly artistic person. Har har. (My career was demolished not by the TG but by the need to eat and pay the light bill......I rent cars for a living.)

isn't Fox Atomic the company that puts out all of those ####ty horror movies?

Re: adapting Ligotti to film
 

The Hills Have Eyes Deux? Turistas? Those guys?

Uk.

Re: adapting Ligotti to film
 

Yeah, I'd be surprised if anything good (or, actually, anything at all) comes out of the Fox Atomic deal. I guess it could be worse: TNF could be in the hands of the people remaking TCM, The Hitcher, etc. Then again, a bad TL adaptation would hardly besmirch the original writing, but it would probably give Tom a decent pay day.

As for the question of "personal" movies, some sources are obviously better suited to faithful/slavish adaptations than others. I just don't think Ligotti's fiction is conducive to this approach, largely because plot often rides shotgun (I don't want to say takes a backseat) to atmosphere. A majority of his stories would require a pretty formal/fabricated style to achieve a similar effect on screen. I guess it depends on which story you pick, but I imagine a dozen Ligotti fans could adapt the same TL story to film/video, with the result of a dozen very different movies. And the differences would say more about the filmmakers than about the source.

And as for narration... well, clearly, there are no Bressons here. Every film school has probably had a student who's cited Ozu as a justification for breaking the 180 degree rule. The masters can go against the conventional wisdom because they're the masters, of course, whereas pretentious film students/amateurs with overgrown egos and nothing to say are a dime a dozen. Don't worry, jaime, that's not a dig against you, just an observation from my own time spent associating with "film people." My point is: any creative choice, especially an unusual one, ought to justify itself. Saying, "well, so-and-so did it," isn't a good reason for anything. In a sense, the project ought to make the choices, not the filmmaker.

I think I disagree with most of what you say, this most of all...but that's cool. Have a great weekend!

OK, agree to disagree, then. Even though my last post probably came off as uppity (it does to me, now that I've slept on it... sorry about that!) I hope that wasn't clouding my point about, erm, "artistic responsibility" (talk about uppity!) But I sense we just have differing opinions on the matter.

Anyway, good luck again with this (or whichever) project.