A Series of Unfortunate Events is a book series I read as a child, It follows three orphans, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, after a tragic fire in which their parents perish. Perish here meaning killed, but I'm sure you know what perish means. If you a looking for a blog post that is well written look away...look away.
The books follow the trio as they are being chased by the villainous Count Olaf who is after their enormous fortune which Violet inherits when she turns 18, The books were written by Lemony Snickett which is a pen name for one Daniel Handler who is the executive producer and writer for all of the episodes of the TV Series.
In 2004 a feature length film was made after Nickolodian brought the rights in 2000, Originally Barry Sonnenfeld was picked to direct the feature along with Daniel Handler writing the script, however the producer Scott Rudin left due to budget concerns.
There are several accounts of Director Barry Sonnenfeld leaving for the same reasons however in an article from Vulture.com (3) Barry states the head of Dreamworks disliked working with him and when the producer was looking for backers he warned against Dreamworks.
"I said, “Go to anyone but DreamWorks. If you go to DreamWorks, the head of DreamWorks over there, Walter Parkes, will fire me the next day because he was the producer on the Men in Black movies and we didn’t get along.” She went to DreamWorks and the next day I was fired." - Barry Sonnenfeld.
After this Daniel Handler was also released from the project, the film was then made by a different director and writer. A few years later Netflix brought the rights to the film and approached Handler to remake the franchise as a series, Handler agreed and recommended Sonnenfeld. Netflix however were unsure of having someone who worked however briefly on the feature film work on the series, Sonnenfield pitched himself to them and won them over, going on to direct half of the series.
Sonnenfeld remarks when asked what it was like working with Netflix that he was given a lot of freedom than a traditional studio, they would provide notes on things they would like him to change but wouldn't enforce them.
"Netflix gave me notes when I finished each episode and they would say, “Well, here are our notes. You can take them or leave them.” And I said, “What do you mean? It’s your money.” They said, “Yeah, but it’s your show.”" - Barry Sonnenfeld
What I loved about the series is they kept to the original books, something that big production companies seem to shy away from, such as with the film " A seventh Son" the film adaption of the Spooks Apprentice series.
The film was terribly written and was nowhere near what happened in the books, it felt like the studio was cashing in on the fanbase with a subpar movie. In regards to the Feature length version of A Series of Unfortunate events they cut down 3 books into one film. This led to an almost rushed feel.
What I like about the series is that the episodes are written by Daniel Handler (AKA Lemony Snicket), this meant that whilst there were changes to keep the audience engaged and on the edge of their seat it was by the original content creator and therefore not changed by someone else thus taking away from the experience of the story.
I also like the way the acknowledge the audience sometimes, not in key scenes but sprinkled through the episodes are small lines, such as Poe shouting its off book when the orphans run away, something which didn't happen in the books and as he shouts this line he grabs a fish monger who is none other that Daniel Handler.
From a technical standpoint there are many aspects of the TV Series that are well done.
Set Design - Netflix gave the show their biggest budget so far, surpassing the Crown and Daredevil, the majority of the budget went on set design as most of the series is filmed at studious in Vancouver. The effect this gave was an almost surreal effect, which was intentional as to mimic the imagination when reading a book.
Colour - There is a lot of contrast within the show, bright colours against greys and blacks, there is also contrast in locations, often within the same shot, such as the reveal from Justice Strauss house to Count Olaf's mansion.
Sound - Since the filming took place on a set the sound is very clear and allows for sound design to be used in interesting ways, such as when Count Olaf slides across the table with a tray of cupcakes.
Narration also features a pivotal role in the series, the alter ego of Daniel Handler - Lemony Snicket is an actual character within the narrative, who within the actual scenes tells information in an almost deadpan fashion.
This form of breaking the fourth wall gives another layer of narrative to the story, as we are told about Beatrice and see Snicket as he searches for clues in the orphans story, almost every episode he tells the audience that this is not a happy story and they should go elsewhere and look away.
The title sequence changes dependent on what book is currently being portrayed, Neil Patrick Harris, who plays Count Olaf sings the title sequence, with the chorus being changed depending on who he is pretending to be in the episode, such as Stefano, Captain Sham and Shirley.
What I wish to take from this series is the abstract nature of the story and the environment, along with sound design being used to add or take away from individual scenes. I also greatly admire how the story is not altered to a different ending, something which rarely happens in Film adaptions, the fact they kept Daniel Handler as the lead writer means that any changes come from the authors mind and are not merely some arbitrary changes to shorten or cheapen the story told.I also really like a certain shot in the last episode, where Count Olaf sits before a mirror with a drink. The slow dolly in adds a certain tension to the scene, which inspired me to do a similar shot in my own project where the camera would slowly move in on the main characters face to reveal an evil smile.
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http://www.telegram.com/entertainmentlife/20170113/daniel-handler-barry-sonnenfeld-and-neil-patrick-harris-on-perfect-storm-that-led-to-lemony-snicket-on-netflix
http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/753767/Lemony-Snicket-movie-Jim-Carrey-A-Series-of-Unfortunate-Events-director-Barry-Sonnenfeld
http://www.vulture.com/2017/01/barry-sonnenfeld-a-series-of-unfortunate-events-netflix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5v3khefaxs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5YMcXy0x_g
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/01/a-series-of-unfortunate-events-netflix-creator-kicked-off-movie-barry-sonnenfeld-1201767932/
http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/10/14228706/a-series-of-unfortunate-events-netflix-tv-show-review
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