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Diary of a Wimpy Kid online resource

Adaptation Process

The book to film adaptation process for Diary of a Wimpy Kid went something like this:

1. A team of writers turned the book into a screenplay (like a play script, but with a few extra instructions for the camera crew).

Task: choose a page of either Diary of a Wimpy Kid or a book of your choice. Try changing it so that it could be used as a script for the film version. Think about what each character needs to say (the dialogue) and how you can show the descriptive passages on the big screen.

2. The screenplay went through ten different drafts before filming began.

Task: check through your work, making sure you have no spelling mistakes and that your work is original and funny. Make changes if you need to.
3. Thor Freudenthal, the film’s director was hired.

Task: Thor decided to use a combination of live action and animation in his version. How would you do it? Would you do the whole film in animation? Would you have just the Wimpy Kid animated all the way through the film?
4. The ‘Wimpy Kid’ and the rest of the actors were cast after a nationwide hunt.

Task: the auditionees for the lead role in Diary of a Wimpy Kid had to read the opening lines of the film in front of a camera. Try it yourselves! You have to be a convincing Wimpy Kid: i.e. you have to be a bit of a jerk, but you have to get the audience to root for you.


Here are the words:
‘First of all, let me get something straight…This is a JOURNAL, not a diary.’
5. The two main actors, Zachary Gordon (Greg) and Robert Capron (Rowley) were asked to write an essay about their characters to help them get into character.

Task: choose either Greg or Rowley, and write 100 words about starting big school from their point of view.

6. The filming location was chosen.

Task: pretend that the film company for Diary of a Wimpy Kid want to use your school for the location. Create a map of the school layout, suggesting suitable filming areas for key scenes in the book.

7. A shooting schedule and storyboard was put together.

Task: storyboard your ‘scripted’ piece. Then create a shooting schedule taking into account the time of day you need to be filming and the locations. Instead of moving the camera inside and outside all the time, shoot all of the outside scenes together and then the inside scenes.
8. The costume designers set to work creating a look for each character.

Task: costumes are more than just clothes. They give us clues about the character. Design a typical costume for Greg, Rowley and Fregley, making sure that the clothes give information about the characters.
9. Filming begins!

Extension task

Once the film is made, the film distribution company need to make people aware of it. One way of doing this is by creating a poster and a tag line that sums the movie up.

Create a poster for your version of the book extract, showing key characters, location and a clever tag line that will get people interested in your film.

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