Tone vs. Narrative
Not all poem adaptations are created equal. In addition to the middle school genre of simply narrating a poem with random images overlaid as a slideshow, there are two main categories of cinematic adaptations of poems. They are the “tone poem” style and the “narrative journey” style. What are the differences?
Tone Poem:
Little to no story element
Montage-based
Evokes a feeling
Poem narration is optional
Narrative Journey:
A story forms the structure of the film
More cinematic
Evokes a theme
Usually relies on narration some ideas to help
