“The Picasso Summer” Adaptation

By: Margaret Stapleton

I believe that “The Picasso Summer” by Ray Bradbury would make for a good movie, with a couple of adaptations. In Bradbury’s version George Smith is a huge fan of artwork, specifically Picasso, he tells his wife how badly he wants to own one of his pieces. In the movie I would rewrite George in a way that he isn’t actually an art or Picasso fanatic. He would simply know art but it would not be his life’s passion. 

In the movie adaptation I want to change the relationship that George has with art. This will cause a completely different reaction from him when he sees Picasso and his painting. Rather than being impressed, I think George will have a crazy fan reaction and want to get as many pictures as possible however, he doesn’t have his camera. This will mean that he has to go back upstairs to grab it, however when he comes back down he is disappointed to see that the art piece that Picasso was working on was not only finished but had already started washing away with the tide. This means that he wasn’t able to get any pictures of the artwork or with Picasso. However, rather than being upset about not getting to enjoy the art, George is more upset that he can’t brag to his friends and family about Picasso. 

While filming I would be careful about the camera angles. Starting with George walking down the beach, I would be following him from behind, making sure to get the whole beach in the frame. While George approaches Picasso I would get closer to George’s back and eventually circle around him and show Picasso’s hand holding the popsicle stick and drawing in the sand. I would be very careful only to show Picasso’s hands or legs and fully avoid his body, head, and face. I believe that this would add to the mysteriousness that he has especially from George not being successful in documenting this moment. When George decides to run up into his room to grab the camera, I would have the music change into something intense and suspenseful. Then, George would get into his room and not be able to find the camera, this would lead to him and his wife fighting however, we would only see their mouths move and body language, we wouldn’t actually know what they were saying. While George was in the room the cameras would cut back to the beach, here, Picasso would be setting down the popsicle stick and walking away, never looking back. Then the camera would cut back to George and Alice, following the two of them running back down to the beach, this would be done from an above angle. Finally, when the two got back to the beach Picasso would be gone and the piece of art would only be half finished, already washing away in the tide making George very sad and even a little bit angry. 

This adaptation would lead to a very different ending than the original story.At the end of Bradbury’s version George was very content with his experience at the beach, because he actually cared about Picasso and the art. In my adaptation George didn’t care about either and it made him angry and bitter.