trailor

My group's trailor for Catch Me if You Can:

adapting catch me if you can

I saw bits and pieces of this movie back in 8th grade, so I don't remember much from it.
I think some trouble the filmmakers would run into when adapting this book into film would be the lack of characters. The only person that you get to know is Frank, and that is it. There are small people that he comes across the book, but none of great significance. I know from the movie that they did add in the detective that is played by Tom Hanks, so I guess that is one way to solve the problem. I don't have a problem with just following Frank and seeing how he fools all these people, but I can also understand that some people want more dynamic. Other than the character issue, I don't think that there is much to change with the book. The book is fast pace, and very interesting. I think that is something different, and it's also exciting that it is all a true story.
Three main points in the book that NEED to be in the film would have to be:
1) How Frank got into being a con artist. In the beginning of the film I think it should be just like the book. It's fairly short, so they can fit it in. I also think that it is very important to emphasise Frank's age. At the beginning of the book, he is only 16 when he impersonates a pilot. Sometimes through out the book, you lose track of his age, and just how amazing it is that he is doing all of this criminal business when he is 16-20 years old.
2) I don't know if this can count as one point, but... I think that all his "firsts" need to be in the film. The first time Frank is able to get on a plane in his pilot uniform undiscovered. The way he gets into the mess of being a doctor. Also the way he gets into being a lawyer. I am not sure if the movie shows all three, but I think it is important to show that he moved on to different things, he was not pretending to be a pilot the whole time. Frank is very smart and can get through any situation. I think showing all three of these parts will really show that point.
3)(Spoiler... I guess...) I think the movie needs to show how Frank was able to escape the law after being caught and being sent to jail. First he was caught in France and spent time in their prisons, then he went to Sweden for more jail time, then he was to be sent to the US to spend time in their prisons. When he has landed in the US he gets away. He is able to sneak out of the plane's bathroom through the toilet. That is crazy. When I read that part in the book, I was shocked that he was still able to get past people and not be caught. They had no idea that he was able to escape the plane. That was one of my favorite parts in the book, and I would not want to see it left out of the movie.
Two parts of the book that could be left out...
1) When he is first impersonating a pilot, he seems to stay a pilot for a while. I think that it would be okay if they fast forward through the parts where he spends weeks as a pilot cashing checks over the country. I think that you could show the first one, but I don't see much need to show every single event.
2) When Frank is caught in France and sent to their prisons, he has a horrible time in prison. It's a tiny room with no light and he is suppose to live there for a year. The book goes into great detail about what he lives through while he is there. I think that it is important to show what the prison was like in France, but I think the complete details of the event could be left. It is quite graphic and gross, so people can pick up the book and see exactly what happened to him while he was there.

book one project: slaughterhouse-five

ATTENTION! ATTENTION! Are you interested in life beyond our world? Do you want to be involved in an experiment? Did you read Slaughterhouse-Five? Then come right down to the Tralfamadore Observation Center! You have two line choices, and you can only choose one. You may either become one of the human in the experiment, or you may dawn out alien suit and become one of the creatures from Tralfamadore.

Now for some background on the story. This attraction is from the book Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. "Listen: Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time" (23) writes Vonnegut at the start of the story. We follow the life of this Billy Pilgrim and what makes him a little different. He fought in WWII, married his wife, and became an optometrist. Then he was in a plane crash. After the plane crash, Billy was not quite the same. Billy is visited by the Tralfamadore creatures and is taken up in their ship. They place him in a human habitat filled with furniture that the Tralfamadorians stole from shops on Earth. They have not captured Billy to harm him, but to find out more about human beings. There is an observation deck above the habitat, where other Tralfamadorians are able to see the live human they captured. But Billy is not alone. He was set up with another earthling, Montana Wildhack, and they lived together in the human zoo.

But the whole book is not about the Tralfamadore creatures. The whole story is based on Vonnegut’s experience in WWII, specifically the bombing of Dresden. So, when Billy is coherent with the WWII part of his life, we find out that he has been taken by the Germans and is now a Prisoner of War. He and hundred of other Americans are sent to the city of Dresden, and are held in a Slaughterhouse. And hence the name of the book, “Their address was this: ‘Schlachthof-funf.’ Schlachtof meant slaughterhouse. Funf was good old five” (153). While they were in that slaughterhouse, the bombing of Dresden happened. The men were safe, but after everything subsided, they saw the destruction and aftermath. The city was completely destroyed, and not another person other than the prisoners to be found. This was the whole point of Vonnegut writing this book. He wanted and needed to tell what he had seen, and did so vividly.

But back to the attraction. A person will need to choose between being a human or a Tralfamadorian. As the human you will be able to follow the path of Billy Pilgrim, and his experience of being abducted by the Tralfamadore creatures into a human zoo. They placed them in a small area that they tried to recreate to look like a human house. People will be able to walk through and see the space where Billy lived in space. As the Tralfamadorian, you will go up to the observation deck, and will be dressed up as a traditional Tralfamadore creature. You will take notes of the human behavior and see the world from the Tralfamadorian point of view.

I think that this could bring in more readers because it different and out there. People can come to this attraction and see how it is, and that could spark the interest of reading the book where it came from. This will also attract people who have read the book and are fans, so it offers a way for them to connect even more with the book. They will be able to see our interpretation of the Tralfamadore creatures, and also what the surrounding looked like for Billy. For the new guests who have not read the book, we could have staff around to answer questions and explain what is going on. There will also be a gift shop where you can purchase the book and some small souvenirs.

“The letter said that they were two feet high, and green, and shaped like plumber’s friends. Their suction cups were on the ground, and their shafts, which were extremely flexible, usually pointed to the sky. At the top of each shaft was a little hand with a green eye in its palm” (26).