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adapting content
Adapting content is a useful approach in several ways:
Quick start- Research and development can be kickstarted because the wealth of content already conceived from an existing intellectual property. And creators may already be familiar with content and not require as time consuming initial research and development in building back story, plot, and characters, etc.
Solid foundation to build on- Content is time proven to have a strong foundation and a creator can be confident in its core elements. It can be surprising how much time indecision and lack of direction can occupy, being able to jump right into something you know has proven to be successful could cut down on time lost to procrastination.
Established audience- Content will already have a following that can be tapped in for distribution of a new adaptation. Although creators most often focus on content creation, a reality is that finding an audience requires an equal amount of consideration, starting with a built in audience can simplify this.
Comparison- Creator can directly compare adaptation to original and previous adaptations which can make for a stronger critical analysis and an outside perspective on how the adaptation is progressing. Also audiences including potential employers and clients will be able to clearly see the creative potential of the adaption and the creators creative abilities.
Adapting content can be challenging in several ways:
Expectations- The audience can have expectations that can be landmines for creators especially with the reverberating power of social media. Likewise the creators can be blinded or handcuffed by their own expectation of what is expected and not be able or willing to push the content in different or new directions.
Relevancy- The content can be outdated and express ideas that do not resonate with modern audiences or contain outmoded ideals. Younger audiences in particular may not connect on principle because the content is from a previous generation.
Overexposure- Content may have been adapted so many times it feels tired and clichéd no matter how cleverly it is adapted.
Copyright- Copyright needs to be researched to established that the content is out of copyright and in the public domain. Creators also need to be wary of adapted content coming from later adaptations of the original content which have their own copyright outside of what is in public domain. Example: Dorothy’s ruby slippers was added in the film adaptation and did not appear in the original stories so that detail would be still copyrighted by the film makers. Trademark is different than copyright and does not expire as long as it is in commercial use, characters can be trademarked indefinitely.
Ultimately the creators goal can be defined as developing an adaptation that builds on the original content, makes it relevant to a new audience, and does justice to the original. Generally a faithful adaptation may not be enough unless it is in a medium it has not appeared in before. A creator needs to expand on the original to justify its existence to an audience.
At this point in your educational career be wary of creating art for art sake. Academic progress is important, but ultimately the goal is not simply to get better at what you do. You should start considering what you are really looking to achieve or get out of working on these projects. It’s also worthwhile to look beyond your work as labour, the greater value of a creators work is the content they create. The content or intellectual property that a creator creates has value that goes far beyond how it was created. The greater value is how it is used, you need only look at how much larger companies such as Apple or Disney protect and profit of their intellectual property. This goes to a discussion of content creation being a business or service, and content being a product.
Finally to take it a step further, a creator might also consider why they are creating content, and its cultural contribution. But that’s an even bigger discussion.