Story Condensation Quotes

What's great is that each medium has a unique set of things that it does and does well. Film is a visual medium, and obviously, you can't fit a whole book into two hours unless you're really economical about it. Obviously, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and on some level, it's sort of true.

It's hard when you make a film from a book that so many people love, because there's no way to get the entire story into a two-hour movie. But I was pleased with the reaction [for Kite Runner].

When you adapt a book to a film, you take all the best parts and put them into an hour and 15 minutes and have to compromise on the characters.

Film is drama. You've only two hours, so you lie by exclusion, and try to make up for it by portraying the environment.

Every song is a long process. First I have to write a story for it, and then to make it into a song, I have to make it short and then shorter - so it's not easy!

I'm used to adapting my novels for feature film - it can be challenging to cut and compress three or four hundred pages into two hours of dramatic action.

Adapting a book is the most difficult thing because half the time you are wondering what to remove.

It's hard enough condensing 500 pages into a movie, and it would have been impossible to condense 800.

Sometimes we misunderstand what films can do. We just throw a whole book in there, with people just talking, talking, and talking. The picture can tell, the frame can tell.

A novel is challenging, because you have more story than you need and you have to select and narrow.

Films have gotten leaner and leaner, cutting out all variations from the story line.

We wrote 'Olive Kitteridge' as six hours, and they asked us to make it in four.

Although I'm very lazy when it comes to writing, I'm not that lazy when it comes to thinking. I like to develop the plan of a short story, then cut it as short as possible, try to evolve all the necessary details. I know far more about the characters than what actually comes out of the writing.

I just think a lot of movies are too long. I want to know how to make my movie as tight as possible.

When you adapt a book, you really have to cut it to the essence.