Under the title 'The First Scene... The First Act: Adapting the Novel for the Screen', American writer and screenwriter Matt Witten and Icelandic author Ragnar Jonasson participated in a dialogue session at the Sharjah International Book Fair. They discussed the art of transforming the written word into a moving image.
Witten, author of the famous series 'House', stated that working in this field is not as glamorous as some might think, but rather a difficult job that requires patience and flexibility.
Jonasson, whose famous novel 'Darkness' was adapted into a television series, spoke about his experience with visual literature, saying that the Icelandic nature is 'the hidden character' in all his works. He added: 'During filming, the biting cold was part of the scene, it looked realistic and the audience could actually feel it. This realism is not created by special effects, but by the environment itself'.
