Adaptations and Transformations
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee (1962) Mike Nicholls (1966)
You are to compare the meaning created in the print text of the play
Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf to the way in which meaning has been
adapted and transformed in the film version produced in 1966.
Specifics of the task:
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Select a scene or several scenes from the film.
1. You may investigate one or two scenes and discuss how the
messages are conveyed or
2. Take one of the key concerns of the play e.g. Truth and Illusion
and show how this is explored in different scenes throughout the
play/film.
Compare and contrast the meaning created by your selected film
scene/s to that of the print text. You need to look at key
elements such as:
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characterisation
Omissions and/or deletions
Actions and gestures
Relationships
Key moments
Setting
Music
Imagery
Editing
Camera angles
You need to be able to discuss and use effectively the language of
both the print and film form

You must identify the element, provide an example of it and then
analyse and explain the way it is used to create meaning and how
meaning has been transformed through the adaptation of form. You
must do more than simply provide an analysis of the scene, this will
not allow you to achieve to a very high standard. You MUST explain
the effect of these changes and adaptations on your reading of
the text.
Have the written text in front of you while we watch Act 3.
Element
Characterisation
Omission/deletions
Actions/Gestures
Relationships
Key moments
Setting
Music
Imagery
Juxtaposition/editing
Camera angles
Written text
Film
How to start
Your audience, students and staff, know ‘the story’ so don’t re-hash the plot.
Introduce both texts and give an appraisal of what the aim of both is, perhaps by
mentioning an area of concern where you see the texts as being similar and an
area of concern that has a different emphasis. You are not being asked to judge
whether one is better than the other, you are being asked to show that you
understand and can demonstrate that a written text has different demands of the
playwright and audience in comparison to a film’s demands of its director and
audience.
Next
You will now speak about the texts in detail. You may do it as two blocks (written
and film), then bring them together in your conclusion, or you may go backwards
and forwards between written and film, making constant comparisons.
Conclusion
You should have said it all by now, sum up by
1. Making a statement about the difference between written and film text
Or
2. Finish with a strong example of the effect of the written or film text that has not
been used.
Vocabulary- You should be using words that are specific to plays and films.
Some of the following words should be in your presentation.
Adaptation, scene, dialogue, visual detail, camera- which may track, pan, pull
back, tilt or produce a wide shot, close up, establish setting, rotate, point of view
shot etc, character, plot, viewpoint, audience, reader, director, playwright,
images, actions, speeches, monologues, narrative, gestures, expressions, body
movement, portrayal, casting, confrontation, turning point ,conflict, resolution,
absurd, mise en scene, tone, studio setting, dramatic, terms to describe music,
lighting, backdrop, dramatic tension, constraints, existentialist, soundtrack,
mood, theatrical, props, costumes, acting techniques, editing, juxtaposition,
context, structure, style, volume, speed of delivery