By Kaitlyn Melore
For my short story film adaptation of “My Flamboyant Grandson” I will be taking a more technical and different approach to how it will be filmed and shot. I think I would start the film with a scene of the grandfather holding his newborn grandson in the hospital. This shot will look older and like it was filmed in a past normal world. The shot will immediately pan after to the grandson and grandfather getting off the subway in New York City and immediately rushing down the street. This film will have zero dialogue in it, the only sound will be the grandson singing his version of “Baber Sings” the whole film. The next scene that follows will be another past shot that pops up as another medium shot from the past of the grandfather teaching his toddler grandson how to play baseball. The film will then pan back to the wide shot of the duo making their way in a rush through the streets of NYC, looking stressed and the grandfather constantly checking his watch. We then are brought back to another past medium shot of the grandson tap dancing and singing in front of his grandfather who is sitting on the couch. The grandfather has a look of admiration but also confusion at the same time. We then pan back to a shot of the grandfather and grandson being stopped by the citizen helper in the street where we can see by their faces and lips moving that they are clearly arguing. After this we get a close up shot of the grandfather yelling back at the citizen helper, and then we flash to another past memory. This time the flashback is a close shot of the grandfather in his childhood. He has a look of defeat on his face while he is being scolded by his own grandpa. We then flash back to the scene where they run past the citizens helper and finally make it to the theater. We get a close up shot after this of the grandfather and grandson sitting in theater seats and we can’t see the show only their reactions. The grandson is watching the show with a huge smile on his face, showing clear adoration for what he is viewing. At the same time we can see the grandfather not even looking at the show, he is staring at his grandson with a look of joy and love in his face, where we can assume he is completely happy. At this point we get a final flashback. The shot pans from the grandfather looking at his grandson in the theater to the grandfather looking at the grandson after he handed him one of his now favorite cds. We can see the look of love and acceptance on the grandfather’s face in that scene as well and then the screen goes black. This film will be a live version film shot in a comforting looking home for most of the flashbacks and then also on the regular streets of New York City. The grandfather will be played by the actor Robert De Niro because you can tell he grew up in a different generation but he can still vividly display the love for his grandson. The grandson will be played by the actor Jacob Tremblay because he is a young teen and hw will be able to play into the big personality of the grandson. The grandfather’s grandpa in the scolding scene will be played by the actor Sam Elliot because he has a naturally cold look and will be able to portray the small mindedness of the great grandpa.
A film adaptation of my flamboyant Grandson
By Marshall Knight
To adapt the story of “My Flamboyant Grandson” into a film, I would showcase various elements of the sorry world in a blockbuster sci-fi dystopian manner where the ad-driven consumer-based society is depicted dramatically. I would need it to be conveyed in a way that emphasizes the different futuristic technology. I would use a director such as Steven Spielberg, who has historically been known for showcasing grand sci-fi elements that always astonish audiences. As far as the grandfather, I would make him the focal point and main character as he undergoes the most significant character arc in developing his newfound acceptance for his grandson. I would cast a veteran actor *who portrays emotion well. Maybe Al Pacino or Harrison Ford, who is comfortable with dramatic roles and many previous sci-fi-fi roles such as Blade Runner, which is also a role in a dystopian society. However, instead of Teddy’s talent being singing or dancing, I would make it a more peculiar futuristic talent that would fit into the dystopian image of the movie. Maybe the skill could be a knack for the invention of futuristic technology, proving himself to be an aspiring inventor. In the movie adaptation. Instead of seeing Babar Sings, the centralized event in the story. The characters go to an event to showcase the newest prominent inventions. One of which, Teddy, has been selected to showcase in the event. To portray Teddy, I would use a more recent up-and-coming kid actor with sci-fi experience, maybe one of the actors in Stranger Things.
As far as camera techniques. I suggest implementing many wide panning shots of the dystopian society and city. This would illustrate the advertisement capitalist-driven society in the story and allow for more of a dramatic effect in the film adaptation. I would also use a variety of long takes where the camera isn’t cut to convey the emotion of a couple of hypothetical talks between Teddy and his grandfather about their opposing and different understanding of life shaped through each of their circumstances. I would also use CGI to implement the hologram depicted in the advertisement throughout the story. However, maybe as a twist, I would make it so that the characters see themselves on billboards when they pass them or depict it as even more of an add-driven, personalized aspect of dread in everyday life that the characters can’t escape. I would also use a futuristic soundtrack from Hans Zimmer to illustrate the gravity that this society holds on the aforementioned characters. I would also use some comedic relief, maybe in the sense of the way the ads are portrayed, to stay true to the story and the ridiculous nature of it, thus staying true to the author of the short story’s vision. I would put a lot of the CGI towards the critical event of the invention showcase, as well as some close-ups of the characters’ reactions to show how this is the emotional convergence that both characters undergo that ultimately brings them close together.
I like that you want the story to have zero dialogue in it because with all of the actions of the short story itself. The visual images of the instances the grandfather remembers himself you can easily just show and not have to tell the story at all. It can be more like a Pixar short film even. But it seems that you want it in live action which also works because I think Robert DeNiro as the grandfather is perfect casting. Like when I read the story the first time, I pictured Robert DeNiro as well in my head when reading it.