CREATIVE

INVESTIGATION

PRESENTATION Tara Burton

Introduction/Aims

How fairytales have been repeatedly reinvented in order to engage with contemporary cinema and society

For my creative investigation I have decided to look at adaptations, specifically the adaptations of Fairytales. As the vast majority of existing Fairytales have been transformed into films, I have narrowed down my research to solely looking at Cinderella variations.

The aims of my research is to find out how famous children’s Fairytales are adapted into films and how they keep on getting regenerated and still have great success, even though the basic storyline is followed throughout each adaptation.

I will be considering how the macro and micro elements

determine how successful fairy-tale adaptations are with a

contemporary cinema and society.

I am hoping to conclude my research by seeking to

determine the success of the reinvention of fairytales within

film, and whether certain aspects in film such as narrative,

genre or the advance in technology have the greatest

impact on the regeneration of these fairytales on a modern

audience.

Key Texts

• My three key texts are focal films that I am analyzing.

Each of these films are adaptations of the classic fairy-

tale ‘Cinderella’, and are useful in identifying how each

film has re-told the story to appeal to a contemporary

society.

Focal Film

Ever After : A Cinderella Story [Item1]

Ever After: A Cinderella Story is a 1998

film inspired by the fairy tale Cinderella,

directed by Andy Tennant with an all star

cast including Drew Barrymore and

Dougray Scott. In this adaption the usual

pantomime and comic/supernatural

elements are removed and the story is

instead treated as historical fiction, set in

Renaissance-era France. It is often seen

as a modern, post-feminism

interpretation of the Cinderella myth.

Focal Film

A Cinderella Story [Item2]

A Cinderella Story is an American 2004

teen romantic comedy adaptation of the

classic Fairy-tale. The film stars Hilary

Duff, Jennifer Coolidge, Chad Michael

Murray and Regina King and was directed

by Mark Rosman. The film's plot revolves

around two Internet pen pals who meet at

a school dance and fall in love but two

different worlds keep them apart. This

adaption follows the basic ideology of

Cinderella but includes new ideas such as

the use of modern influences like the

Internet to reinvent the classic to appeal to

a modern audience.

Focal Film

Another Cinderella Story [Item3] Another Cinderella Story is a 2008 teen

romantic comedy musical dance film

directed by Damon Santostefano and

starring Selena Gomez, Drew Seeley

and Jane Lynch. It is a thematic sequel

to the 2004 film A Cinderella Story,

reprising the same themes and

situations but not containing any

characters from the original film. The

film is a re-telling of Cinderella in a

modern setting, as for the iconic scene I

will analysing in this adaptation a school

dance substitutes for the ball, with the

role of the glass slipper filled by a Zune.

Representation

The female protagonist;

[Item1] [Item2] [Item3]

The idea that a woman’s value is determined based on how they look, is

represented in each adaptation of the fairy-tale as when ‘Cinderella’ attends the

ball her transformation into a glamorous and impeccably dressed young

bachelorette reinforces the beauty ideal. As shown in my above screen shots

taken from my focal films each female protagonist is represented similarly

therefore a specific ideology and stereotype is carried out through each

adaptation.

Hybrid Genres

• The majority of fairytales are categorized as fantasy films, as ‘The events in fantasy films break the normal rules of what is possible in the real world through the use of the supernatural, myths and legends’. [Item4] The quote taken from a film studies book recognizes the point I make about how ‘fairytales’ are categorized and defined as fantasy films, however in todays contemporary society modern adaptations still follow the ideology of a fantasy film but add various other genres to create a hybrid genre to appeal to a modern audience, for example with ‘A Cinderella Story’ [Item2] the film is categorized as a fantasy, romantic-comedy. Also ‘Another Cinderella Story’ [Item3] is categorized as a fantasy teen romantic comedy-musical.

Source

[Item4]

Benyahia, Casey Sarah, Gaffney, Freddie and White, John, 2009. A2 Film

Studies The Essential Introduction, London and New York: Routledge.

‘This is evident in the way that fantasy is used in cinema as an expression of

our unconscious – of creativity and imagination which is not repressed as it is in

the real world. Fantasy is an explanation of desires and dreams which can

uplifting and exiting but which are just as likely to be dark and disturbing.’

As fairy-tales are categorized as fantasy films, the above quote links to my

creative investigation short film as I am looking into the dark side of the

ideology behind fairy-tales and applying a twist to the ‘Cinderella’ original plot

by creating a fantasy/thriller rather than just a fantasy version of the classic.

Item 5 – Stills taken from George Melies’ adaptation of

Cinderella.

Iconic characters and props associated with

the Fairy-tale are noticed in Melies’ adaptation

such as the Fairy-godmother (dressed in

Pink), a rat transformed into a human footman

and the kitchen setting where she is seen to

be a maid before her transformation.

• As mentioned and shown in the previous slides, iconic

elements within the mise and scene are recognized by the

audience to have association with Cinderella are carried

out through each adaptation of the fairytale. This is

backed up by one of my sources, George Melies was a

French film maker from the late 1800’s and adapted

Cinderella into a film, his adaptation was a great success

and iconic characters and props have been transferred

into re-inventions of his adaption. The re-generation of

this early adaptation has appealed to a contemporary

society through the influence of technology and modern

twists on the storyline as seen in my focal films.

Item 7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McQ_cCBaiac

One of my sources is a Trailer taken from Disney’s upcoming release of ‘Cinderella’, the trailer is a 3 minute advertisement of the new adaptation. This source can help me understand how through the years the classic Cinderella tale has been adapted into different ideologies to fit society. From the trailer it is noticed that the story largely follows Disney’s 1950 animated adaptation, with several twists. Relating back to my creative investigation question on how Fairy-tales are reinvented to engage with contemporary cinema and society, the use of new technologies is evident to make the classic more appealing to a modern audience.

Conclusion

In response to my aims I have found that the main success

for the reinvention of fairytales to appeal to a contemporary

cinema and society, is mainly down to several factors those

being; the various use of certain macro and micro

elements, for example genre and narrative twists will give

the fairytale a new image appealing to a modern audience.

Also technological advances that have allowed simplistic

adaptations of fairytales to become more visually pleasing

and interesting appeal more to a contemporary society.