BRING A BOOK TO LIFE FOR THE BIG SCREEN!
A writing competition and class activity devised by The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS)
for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowing Scheme.
Take part in the ALCS CKG 2017 Writing Competition by telling us how your favourite book
could be made into a great film or TV show.
FROM BOOK TO BIG SCREEN
Have you ever read a book that you thought would make a great TV series or film?
When you read it, you probably imagined it in your mind a bit like a film. You probably had your own ideas of what the
characters looked like, the clothes they wore, how they behaved and how they said things. You might even have imagined
your favourite actor as one of the characters.
Maybe one of your favourite books has already been made for the screen, and you probably had lots of thoughts about it.
The characters might be different from what you expected, or maybe they didn’t say things in quite the way you imagined
when you were reading the story. Perhaps the film or TV show didn’t show everything that happened in the book, or
perhaps the ending was changed.
If you can, try to remember a book you read that became a film or TV show. Think about the things you did and didn’t like
– what would the story look like in your mind? What would you have changed?
WHAT FAMOUS BOOKS HAVE BECOME FILMS?
Carnegie Medal winner A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness was recently adapted for a film. You may have read the book or
seen the film in the cinema. Other Carnegie-winning books that became films include Watership Down by Richard Adams
and The Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman.
Other really famous books that became films or TV shows:
The Harry Potter series, the Tracy Beaker series, the Horrible Histories series, the Goosebumps series,
Peter Pan, The Gruffalo, The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh, Charlotte’s Web, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Alice
in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Jumanji, Beautiful Creatures, Twilight, Bridge to Terabithia, The Hunger
Games, The Maze Runner, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Fault in Our Stars have all been made
into films or TV shows.
ADAPTING STORIES: DIFFERENCES IN BOOKS, FILM AND TV
Novels and screenplays are different mediums for telling stories and include different things. Sometimes when novels are
adapted for the screen, parts of the story can be left out, or particular events or even whole characters may not make it
into the film or TV show.
This could be because the story is too long and has to be shortened, or because it would be too difficult to film some of
the events that happen in films. It took huge advances in computer generated imagery (CGI) technology before the
Lord of the Rings novels by J.R.R Tolkien could be made into film, as the novels were so grand in scale.
Books can often have more characters and more detailed plotlines than films. Some bits of stories won’t always work for
the screen, and sometimes things are added in to make a story more visually exciting for an audience – for instance, a film
or TV show might have action scenes that weren’t in the book. TV shows can often suit quite complicated stories because
they have more time than films.
When a story is adapted for the screen, some things may well be rewritten or left out, but it doesn’t mean a story should
lose its essence! The things that make it a great story can still work, it’s just that screen storytelling has different things
to consider, like how much money it might cost to make; a book can easily jump from Hong Kong to space and then to
Los Angeles, but it’s time consuming and expensive to film in all the locations that a book might include in its plot, so the
location is a key consideration.
WHAT PARTS OF THE STORY BECOME THE FILM?
While you can’t carry over every detail, each story will have important elements that should be included when retelling the
story on screen. These things will include:
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•
main characters
their aims and desires
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•
their problems
how they overcome their problems (or attempt to!)
•
the world they live in.
Stories are about interesting characters trying to overcome their problems or achieve their goals and how they do it. When
adapting an original story, you may want to consider the world they live in. For instance, if the characters in the book live
in the past, you might consider moving the story to the present if you feel their problems and lives are relevant to modern
times. You may even want to change some other things such as the ending, or maybe a character you like dies in the book
and you would prefer to keep them living in the screen version – think about why you’d do those things.
Don’t forget to consider what is exciting about the characters to the audience – what makes us interested in them, do we
care about them – if not, why are we watching them?
BOOKS AND COPYRIGHT: CAN I USE SOMEONE ELSE’S STORY?
Copyright means that if someone writes an original story, that story is their property. One of the ways copyright protects
authors is by giving them the right to allow other people to make adaptations of their work, for example by writing a
screenplay based on a novel or vice versa.
So in real life, if you wanted to create a film or show using someone else’s story, you would have to get permission from
the original writer, usually by contacting their publisher or agent, and pay them a fee. This is often referred to as securing
the ‘dramatic rights’.
Now enter the competition!
SEND US YOUR “PITCH”
Before sending an entire script for a film or TV show to a studio or producer, the writer will write a ‘pitch’, also known as
a ‘treatment’ in the film industry. The pitch should contain the main five parts of the story (listed on the previous page)
which make it an interesting story to tell on screen.
The task
We would like you to write us a pitch for a film or TV show from your favourite book. It should be no more than two pages
long. Has your favourite book already been adapted? If you didn’t like it, you can have a go yourself and do it better.
Or think of a different book of course!
Things to include in your pitch:
The story/plot summary: What is the story about? Is it going to work best as a film or TV show – and why? This is your
chance to show us why this book belongs on screen, with all the best elements of the story – sell it! Include details about
the tone of the story: is it light and funny, is it a serious drama, perhaps it’s a sci-fi with lots of mystical undertones?
Tell us about the characters: Who are they, what are they like? Why are they important to the story? What are their
problems? What would they like to achieve? Are there any actors you would like to play them?
The differences between the book and your screenplay: Earlier on in the introduction we talked about how stories can
change when they go from books to the screen. If you didn’t read that section, go back and have a look.
Now tell us what you’re changing and why.
The music that you think would go with your vision of the film: What artists/songs do you think go with your vision of the
film? If you have a particular song you want playing in the background of an action scene, for instance, tell us why it suits
the scene. What does it add to the film?
A script: You may even want to submit one page of dialogue, but that’s totally up to you. If you decide to submit some
dialogue – that is, a scene where the characters are talking to each other – you can add an extra page, so your entire
entry will be three pages long.
You don’t have to include everything listed above, but the story is the most important bit, so make sure you include that
section. Everything else is optional. We have provided a template at the end of this guide, should you wish to use it to help
you. And remember, we want your pitch to be no longer than two pages - or three if you include some dialogue.
So please go ahead – write a pitch for your favourite book and send it in to us!
COMPETITION DEADLINE
Your story must reach us by 12 May 2017.. Send your competition entry to:
Carnegie Shadowing Scheme Competition, The Communications Department
Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society
1st Floor, Barnard’s Inn
86 Fetter Lane
London, EC4A 1EN
Or alternatively by email to: [email protected]. Unfortunately late entries cannot be counted, so please give
yourself enough time for posting. Please send your entries by either post or email, not both.
THE RULES
You must be signed up to the CILIP Carnegie Shadowing Scheme
If your school hasn’t signed up, your teacher or librarian can do it for you – it’s free to sign up. If you’d like to know more
about the scheme and how to sign up, visit the scheme’s website, ckg.org.uk.
Entrants must write the pitch themselves
You may want a parent, a teacher or your librarian to help you understand how books become films. That’s fine – it’s
probably best reading and then talking about it before entering the competition. It will probably help you.
But make sure you write the entry yourself.
We can’t accept group submissions
We accept one entry per student. Competition entrants must work alone.
Your story should not exceed the page limit
Two pages for entries without a script, three pages for entries that include a script.
Your story must reach ALCS by the deadline
Entries should reach us by 12 May 2017 and can be submitted by post or email – see the entry form for details of
where to send entries.
We need to know who you are!
Your entry should have information letting us know who you are, your shadowing group and how to contact your group
leader. Also, have you told an adult such as a parent or your teacher that you are entering the competition? Sometimes we
don’t have contact details for parents/guardians/teachers. There is a covering page in this pack with everything you need
to tell us, which you can print off and include with your entry.
Proofread your work
You can do this with someone else. Writers employ proof-readers all the time – it’s not cheating, it’s professional.
Have fun!
you.
This is your chance to be creative with something you love and make it your own. We can’t wait to hear from you
THE PRIZES!
...The most important bit
There will be one winner and two runners-up in this competition.
The winner will receive:
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tickets for you and a chaperone to the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards ceremony in London
•
a selection of Carnegie and Greenaway shortlisted books
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a tablet for their personal use
£500 worth of books for your school library
your work published on the ALCS website and in our monthly magazine, ALCS News, subject to ALCS being able to
obtain permission from the author of the original work.
Runners-up
There will be two runners-up in this competition. If your work is selected as a runner-up then you will receive:
•
•
a selection of Carnegie and Greenaway shortlisted books
your work published on the ALCS website and in our monthly magazine, ALCS News, subject to ALCS being able to
obtain permission from the author of the original work.
Entry covering page
This is the page you should print and fill out to accompany your work, so that we will know who you are and how to contact you.
Your name (first and last):
Your age:
Your shadowing group:
Your library or school:
Shadowing group leader’s name:
Your parent/guardian’s name:
Your parent/guardian’s contact details:
The title of the book that inspired your pitch:
The name of the author who wrote the book:
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
The copyright for your pitch will be owned by you, but we’d like to show the winning and runner-up entries on our website
and in our newsletter (subject to ALCS being able to obtain permission from the original author). If you don’t want your
pitch to be to be used in this way, please tick here:
I don’t want my story published online.
The Pitch - competition template
Your pitch should be two pages, or three pages if you include some dialogue. If you like,
you can use the form below to help you. Or just use it as a guide when writing your pitch.
The story/plot summary: What is the story about? Is it going to work best as a film or TV show – and why? This is your
chance to show us why this book belongs on screen, with all the best elements of the story – sell it! Include details about
the tone of the story: is it light and funny, is it a serious drama, perhaps it’s a sci-fi with lots of mystical undertones?
Tell us about the characters: Who are they, what are they like? Why are they important to the story? What are their
problems? What would they like to achieve? Are there any actors who you think should play them on screen?
Entry page 1 (You can print out this page if you like)
The differences between the book and your screenplay: Earlier on in the introduction we talked about how stories
can change when they go from books to the screen. If you didn’t read that section, go back and have a look. Now tell us
what you’re changing and why.
What’s the difference?
You may have imagined some music for the film: What artists/songs do you think go with your vision of the film?
If you have a particular song you want playing in the background of an action scene, for instance, tell us why it suits the
scene. What does it add to the film?
Music
Entry page 2 (You can print out this page if you like)
A script: You may even want to submit one page of dialogue, but that’s totally up to you. If you decide to submit some
dialogue – that is, the words that the characters are saying in a scene – you can add an extra page, so your entire entry
will be three pages long.
Your script
Entry page 3 (optional)
When it’s finished, email it to: [email protected], or post your entry to:
Carnegie Shadowing Scheme Competition
The Communications Department
Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society
1st Floor, Barnard’s Inn
86 Fetter Lane
London EC4A 1EN
Please send your entry either by email or as a paper copy – do not send both of these.
FURTHER INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS
WHO ARE CILIP?
The Chartered Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals (CILIP) is a charity and is the leading professional body
for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom.
What is the CILIP Carnegie Shadowing Scheme, and how do I sign up?
The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowing Scheme is administered by librarians and information professionals
and brings thousands of young people in schools, public libraries and other reading environments together to form book
groups in which the members read and discuss the short-listed titles for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals,
following the same criteria as the award judges.
A two-year Open University study, commissioned in association with the Carnegie UK Trust, has shown that the shadowing
scheme is an excellent way to encourage reading for pleasure in young people and highlights the unique role that
librarians play. Find out more and sign up at: ckg.org.uk.
WHO IS ALCS?
The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit organisation that makes sure writers receive money
when their work has been photocopied and scanned, or when their audiovisual work has been played abroad or in a
school or university. The largest sector we pay money to is writers in the education sector, for contributions to educational
resources and textbooks. We have over 90,000 members and pay out more than £30 million a year to writers. If you know
anyone who writes, whether it be textbooks or anything else, tell them about us: alcs.co.uk.
Why are we involved in the CILIP Shadowing Scheme?
As part of its ongoing commitment to raise awareness of authors’ rights, ALCS has carried out various initiatives aimed at
educating young people about the importance of copyright, especially in the digital age. To this end, we have developed
copyright education programmes for schools, produced and shared informative resources for use by young people, and
analysed the findings of the awareness work we have carried out.
See our copyright education resources on our website alcs.co.uk.