Images, setting, and showing off.

Movies, let's face it, are all about images. It's so easy to get a sense of place within seconds, and not only that but you are prodded emotionally with the images as well. Dark and moody, or bright and clinical, movies get the viewers in the mood almost instantly. And then there are directors who load up each visual with such detail (like Del Toro is famously known for) that it all just leaps off the screen with reality; bammo, the stage is set.

Writers of books have a much harder time, since through description readers create the settings out of their own imaginations. We all have varying levels of ability, and probably varying levels of interest in creating those settings, but the writer can focus and direct the reader's attention with complete authority. Dropping in a detail, without putting focus on it, is a favorite method of mystery writers. Movies can't really do this, because it's up to the viewer to see or not see.

I love that the two mediums have such different ways of getting a setting in front of the audience. At the same time, the writers certainly need to be aware of that fact and adjust accordingly. But, don't feel bad for them, because they picked the job and so did the viewer. Like a magic act, both parties are intimately involved in creating the experience, and I believe both also want very much for it all to work out with awe and wonder.

When it really comes down to it, the audience want a good experience--despite any deficiencies. I'll bet it's always been that way: audience and story combine together, for the wonder of all.

- M