The document outlines a proposed adaptation of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' that shifts focus to the villain, Ursula, incorporating themes of violence and ethical dilemmas surrounding parent-child relationships. It highlights narrative elements, production constraints, and opportunities tied to budget and technical resources, aiming to appeal to a teenage audience through fantasy and action elements. The adaptation involves significant use of CGI to create a distinctive visual experience that connects with audiences similar to popular franchises like Harry Potter and Marvel.

1. Katie Field
LO3

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I have chosen to adapt the little mermaid Disney film into a film once again that differs from the
storyline in the original adaption and focuses more on the villain with more presence of such themes
as violence and debatable topics that arise such issues like being forced to give your child away. I
chose to adapt it into this as watching the new movie maleficent with Angelina Jolie influenced me to
change another Disney classic and change it making it slightly more adult with a twist on the original
story line of good vs. evil.
What am I adapting

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The genre of this film would be a fantasy film but also sub genres such as action and drama too as the film
involves essence of fantasy with mystical creatures and characters. There is action involved with the fighting
mainly at the end of the film where obviously the good and the evil fight, it also is classed as a drama to with the
story line involved the fact that Ursula was forced to give her child away, she and her farther clashed and then the
drama with finding her daughter and actually telling her.
Genre

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Narrative
Narrative- situation: the queen of the sea Ursula has changed her ways and become an evil person, complication:
it was because of her father who took her child away as soon as it was born and her partner was sent away/ killed
by her father, her child has grown up to hate her and wants to kill her and they fight, resolution: the little mermaid
is made aware from visions of the past that Ursula is her mother and she was taken away from her she tries to
forgive and they finally drop their weapons, they come together as mother and daughter than go their separate
ways.
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Constraints: Typical issues may arise that would make it difficult for this adaptation to become successful for instance the
Budget, with all the technical stunts involved, the props and cost of the technical resources may cause the budget to be
bigger and the production company might not be able to afford that so the film would be limited to what it can do using
the technical resources making it less successful. In addition ethical issues may arise because the film covers certain
topics like giving your child away this may cause ethical concerns for people with different beliefs and therefore would
cause the film to be less successful. In addition another constraint would be that is an adaptation of an existing text and
people may not be convinced it is a successful adaptation and therefore would prevent the film becoming as successful as
it could.
Opportunities: Although the technical resources is used as a constraint, it could also be an opportunity for this adaptation
to become a success as the technical things that are involved help create the mystical affect for the film which people
would enjoy watching in the film and helps make the film more appealing. In addition the ethical concern of giving your
child away could also actually be an opportunity for the film to be a success as the audience may like the fact that even
though Ursula was forced to give her child away they reunited in the end this aspect may appeal to the audience that there
was a happy outcome.
Constraints and opportunities

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The typical target audience would be teenagers around 12-18 years of age this target audience would
most likely be fan of films like Harry Potter and Marvel films which is similar to my adaptation as like
these films my adaptation has essence of action and fantasy involved and the use of technology such
as CGI would help this make appealing to this audience. It also may be for young adults who have
seen the first adaptation and at this age still enjoy fantasy and action combined similar to Harry Potter
and Marvel films as the film contains action which would appeal to both genders and fantasy.
Target audience

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There are many parts of the film that make it distinctive such as the use of CGI for the effect of the
sea which is used as a weapon in many parts and also because Ursula is part of the sea and actually
the queen of it, and because of that she uses it a lot for a weapon, or even when she materialises and
also as she is in the sea constantly there would be a lot of CGI involved to give the affect making the
film more distinctive, plus the fact that the setting would be in a mystical land there would be a lot of
CGI used to help create this setting.
Cinematic ideas

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Storyboard