The Hunger Artist is about a man who clings onto his fasting even when others have passed him by, even when it no longer makes sense. The boniness of a man who fasts for so long would be hard to represent with an actual person, it might be a little more gruesome than most people would want to sit through and look at for all ninety minutes of a feature length film. Because of this, I suggest that the film be done as an animated movie. That way, the story would be given more leeway on how emaciated the Hunger Artist is allowed to look without it being disturbing to look at. Besides, a lot of animated movies are able to display feeling much better than live action movies are. They also can be very adept at making serious subjects feel more palatable. Take the film Tower, for example, which is an animated movie about the Texas Tower Shooting.
Now for how I would adapt it, beyond medium, I would like to make some major changes. he character seems to isolate himself to some extent, despite enjoying fasting in the public eye and the attention he gets from it- most of them stemming from how the Artist seems to see himself in contrast to the world and society around him. He seems to see himself as separate from society, perhaps even a little superior due to his ability to fast. Because of this, I would like to try and create as many barriers between him and the rest of the world as possible. I think that one way this could be done is his clothing. I think he should wear something that exposes his whole chest, or at least most of it. Through this, we would be able to see his rib cage- and perhaps throughout the movie we can watch him get skinnier. I remember that, even though it was just dogs, in The Plague Dogs, the dogs got skinnier as the story went on and they were without a consistent means of getting food. It’s a subtle way of storytelling but pretty effectively shocking to anyone who might notice it. The people who stand around watching him would be extremely conservatively dressed- I imagine something Edwardian- perhaps it is set during this time. This would call back to a time of very strict social rules, roles, and etiquette, but also a time in which people saw anyone different as a means of entertainment- freak show worthy. I think this could be exemplified too, if they were different races- I’m thinking that the Hunger Artist might be Indian for those Gandhi parallels. Of course, the two of them do enjoy fasting, and that’s two dots anyone would connect, but at the same time- Gandhi did his fasting for the greater good while the Hunger Artist only fasts for selfish reasons- he can never be satiated. It really brings out the jerk in him. Another detail which I think would be really cool to implement would be use of color. Imagine the whole world as black and white and grey, but him as a yellow. Yellow has both the implications of sickness and of hunger. Yellow and red are used in fast food advertising because of their ability to cause hunger. Imagine him slowly becoming more and more yellow until he dies and he goes all black. Then, one more facet of film making that can be used is camera angle. The Hunger Artist would always be seen at a downward angle. This makes him small, powerless, and it would represent how society views him. Then, shots of society could be looking upward, and it would feel scary, like how people tend to feel when they’re judged, or when they’re in trouble. It also literally places the crowd above him because he and his lifestyle are at society’s whims.
Imagine something like this. But in Yellow.
I did not use generative AI to conceptualize or write this pitch.
Demon 
