Aimee Saunders

1304213
BA(hons) TV Production
Fiction Adaptation Essay
Helen Cursten
12th December 2014
Word Count: 2101

Discuss the view that with a successful adaptation, the original work if
transformed into something new and different although retaining many traces of
what it was formally with reference to at least one text adapted for broadcast on
television.
In this essay the chosen topic of Dracula will be explored through whether the
adaptations of the original book by Bram Stoker are good adaptations and
whether they hold the importance of the story and impact on the audience, using
the gothic genre and comparing other vampire films we will be finding out
whether Dracula has been a good influence and kept its integrity over the
century. Using quotes from various books to back up the question and each
statement to help prove that the series of Dracula is a good adaptation of the
book and holds most of the same traits as the original making it a successful
adaptation.
Dracula is the oldest story and original story about vampires, Dracula originates
form the early 18th century from eastern Europe, Transylvania. Over the century
he has gone but many names such as vlad and dracul but if you mention the
name Dracula everyone knows the story that he was the first every vampire that
lived in a castle and drank human blood, but over the years the myths have
changed and other vampires have manifested. In the original film based on Bram
Stokers novel Dracula is known by the name Dracul and often called it but in
neither the film or the series is he called Vlad as in the series he goes by
Alexander to hide his name so people dont know who he is.
The book was published early in the 1900s but the first film was not made till 20
years later and the series nearly 80 years after the film, with such a big gap
between the adaptations does this mean they are going to be so different and not
keep the original traits. Even if there is such a big time gap between the
production of the film and the series this means that the series could have been
modernized to attract new viewers or if could be set back when the film was
made meaning it should attract the same viewers, either way they both could be
good adaptations as the essentials have been kept and the books integrity is in
both. The characters could also be the ones to help make the series a good
adaptation as a believable character means you engage with them and follow,
suggesting that the series was good. As we have seen in the embracing of
gentrified adaptations of Austen such as Clueless (1995) and Bride and Prejudice
(2004) shifting location and ideologies can also yield new readings (Cartmell &
Whelehan, 2010:100) This quote states and backs up what has been said because
it is saying that an adaptation could bring the original back to live and more
people could watch and be introduced to the story from which would have been
in the original being the book, this might bring back the book or even yield in
people to watch the other adaptations for example Dracula has many as the
whole vampire genre is set around him but the series and film are set loosely on
the book from 1897. The films in the quote are from books by Jane Austen and
are both adaptations of the original Clueless (1995) is adapted from the book
and Bride and Prejudice (2004) is an adaptation from the same book just
modernized the film by 9 years.

Since vampires first came about with Dracula people have started to act and
take on the role of vampires by liking the taste of blood and dressing in black,
people even avoid the sunlight and go out at dark this gives the suspicion that
vampires can actually exist in reality. This creates the myths and legends and
beliefs which people hold on to and adapt their own lives to welcome vampires
by even acting like them themselves or people have adapted their career to
proving that vampires exist and this has all come from a story once told thats
ending did not kill the story creating the idea that Dracula could have lived on.
Vampires have been a genre to add sex and erotic different countries have
different ideas on vampires as Romanians have sex and they die of exhaustion
rather than loss of blood (Pirie, 1977:12) This quote is saying that since
vampires were created each country has changed the genre to fit their culture
and to adapted what already exists as the same story will get boring with the
changes and these are not always good, but adaptations in people have been
inspired and have changed the way people can behave but they are not really
vampires they just adapt to society and what they believe in, but without Dracula
we would not have the vampire genre and the gothic and ways that have inspired
people today.
Characters that were present in the book, film and series of Dracula like Van
Helsing and Mina have moved on from just Dracula films and have moved into
other films as Mina was the vampire in the film League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen (2003) now Dracula was no where to be seen in this film and Van
Helsing has his own film (2004) where he hunted vampires and killed Dracula.
Now these films all have the essences of Dracula and the original which makes all
of these adaptations of Dracula as they keep the characters but changing the
story and where they are based but this doesnt necessarily mean that they are
adaptations like the Bram Stokers book and thats adaptation to the film and
series which is actually supposed to be based on. over 15 years from 1957 over
10 countries there was over 200 vampire movies of every kind (Pirie, 1977:6)
This says that back when vampire were just starting out and people/directors
were experimenting with the genre or vampires and gothic plus what they could
do to adapt what already exist to make it new and original to their country,
people experimented on making different types of vampires in different settings
to make either good or bad adaptations, this was done to bring the genre to life
and to help bring the essence along as Dracula inspired to make films seriess
and characters to life and with everyone trying the genre we have got to the
stage where the new Dracula film is about the back story to how he became the
monster where Bram Stoker did not really cover in his book.
Many films have span off since Dracula came out nearly a century ago, films such
as Twilight, Blade and Underworld have come out in the last 10 years and each
one is unique but keeping the idea of vampires and the thirst for blood, but each
one has come up with a new idea of vampires as Twilight have created vampires
that can walk in sunlight but sparkle rather than burn, Blade is half vampire half
human so he has the strength and thirst but can walk in daylight and kills
vampires and Underworld is the same vampires but they fight Lycans
(werewolves) at night and drink blood. Dracula and the original story does have
werewolves in it but they dont play a major part just the howl but they are

controlled by Dracula, whereas in the film Van Helsing which is based on a

character from the original book a werewolf is the only thing that can kill
Dracula which is why he controls them, this is never told in Bram Stokers book.
Story telling is always the art of repeating stories (Hutcheon, 2006:2) This is
true for every film series and book out there, as most things you read and see
have been copied from somewhere making them an adaptation of some sort
whether its recognizable or not, books are more of originals as films and seriess
are normally always based on a book or a true event making them adaptations
but this does not necessarily mean all of them are good, as some movies out
there people dont like whereas others do so saying something is a good
adaptation could be just an opinion rather than a fact, it just has to follow some
rules and keep some similarities to be considered a good adaptation.
Not just films have spun off from Dracula and vampires but series have been
made such as Vampire Diaries and True Blood. True Bloods vampires are similar
to Dracula as they cant go out in sunlight and feed on blood but in this series they
make a synthetic blood so vampires can survive without human blood, the way
they turn people is by draining their blood and giving the human theirs and
sleeping underground with them whereas Vampire Dairies feed humans their
blood and then kill them and they then wake up and need to feed to complete the
transition. This has got some of the same elements as the original vampires but
these themselves are adaptations without even trying to be. All 3 adapted texts
share at least 1 feature in their narrative strategies and that is to shift either
historical or geographical location or both in order to update the story itself
(and in doing so, underlining its timelessness) (Cartmell & Whelehan, 2010:97)
This is saying that you either have to change the time or place of the setting to
make the item new and something different but also basically changing
something which could be small to make it new but by making sure it holds that
one thing that makes it special and unique. This also fits with the statement as
these films are different, set in different time zones and places but they all keep
the same thing which is that they are vampire stories and they feed on blood and
burn in the sunlight, meaning they have been based on Dracula.
The series was created 80 years after the first film and a century after the book,
with all these years in the middle this could affect the content of the material but
not in every adaptation is the content ruined by the new version as some
adaptation which are modernized and brought to the currant times can be good
adaptations and be reborn and bring to old book back to life and interest readers
again. To make a good adaptation is to keep the integrity and the main things
that made the story the story, for example the characters and the story plot. The
series is very similar to the early and currant films which from what has been
stated the series is then made to be a good adaptation on the book as it holds the
same characters even though Dracula has been given a different name so people
dont suspect him, plus Mina who is the same character who Dracula falls for and
chases. The story stays the same but with added storyline as the series is longer
than the films and book as the book is 500 words and the series last 10 episodes
each lasting 40 minutes which means more content and emotion can be put in
place. The main storyline of Dracula finding Mina falling in love with her and
then stealing her from her fianc is the same in all films and the book.

Bibliography:
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Dracula (1992) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola [DVD] USA: American Zoetrope,
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Dracula (1931) Directed by Ton Browning & Karl Freund [DVD] USA: Universal
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Dracula: Series 1, Episode 1-10. (2013-2014) NBC : 25th October 24th January.
22.00 hrs.