Fidelity of the film adaptation of the novel "The Hunger Games"

Abstract

Film adaptation is a trend in mass media today. Books, comics, and stage plays have been adapted to film. However, some people complain about the film adaptation and issues about fidelity were being raised. This undergraduate thesis is a critical analysis of a book and its film adaptation. It answers the question, what is the fidelity of the film adaptation of the novel “The Hunger Games”. This thesis looks into the elements of both the book and film and the relationship that these media have in the process of adaptation. Elements of the book were determined and analyzed if they were carried over in the film adaptation. The reasons for dropping and adding some elements in the film adaptation were then discussed. This study uses descriptive research design. It was found out that the film adaptation of the novel “The Hunger Games” falls under the category of a close adaptation. There were dropped and added elements involved in the process of adaptation, but these did not create major changes that affected the overall flow of the film’s narrative.

This study was able to draw the following conclusions. The novel Hunger Games was a typical example of a dystopian novel. The film medium had distinct characteristics that affected the novel in the process of adaptation. Characters, settings and plot had all undergone both dropping and addition of elements. Both medium were involved in the process of adaptation. The film adaptation presented a ‘close’ type of adaptation.