# Movie credit question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-credit-question/585308 "2011-06-13T13:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-credit-question/585308/21 "2011-06-15T23:52:00Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > If you’re not directly involved with the process it might be difficult to understand how very different literature or story writing that is meant to be read is different from screenwriting that is meant as a guide for visual presentation. There’s a lot that has to go on, including, as a first step, a major winnowing away of plots, characters, situations, etc., in order to make a subject handle-able for performed or filmed presentation. In this case, it has been broken up into smaller chunks that each requires different types of skills. The adaptation takes a story and makes the first crack at reforming it so that it can be translated into a visual presentation. It will act as an outline or guide for the screenwriters to flesh out with actual dialogue, stage directions, and descriptions of visual sequences. Actually, it really isn’t that hard to appreciate; not if you’ve ever seen a good movie based on a second rate book - or even just a book writt’veen in an outmoded style. When you notice how in one well conceived and executed 30 second shot the background, costume, and expression on the actors face can get across five pages of mediocre writing. I can appreciate that. However, I don’t think in a good movie plots and characters are ‘winnowed’ so much as reduced, as in a really good sauce. But, my original point was just that I had no idea that was the **adapter’s** role. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-credit-question/585308.md?page=1)