Fiction Adaption - Ideas/ Plan

Fiction adaptation

Do not stand at my grave and weep

By Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep:

I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sun on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight.

I am the soft starshine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry:

I am not there; I did not die.

I am adapting this sonnet to a scenario in which a man has been placed into the witness protection programme for a reason not given to the audience, but in doing so he must fake his own death and start a new identity. For this reason to protect his family they must think he is dead which I feel is quite fitting as I feel that when reading the sonnet it is like he would have written it for his daughter. Below is a short description of the shots and plot of the adaptation.

Scene opens with camera behind silhouette of a man sat at a desk, with two suited men infront of him on the other side of the table. He put his head in his hands in what looks like despair, then one of the men pass him a sheet of paper across the desk he pics it up and the camera show an extreme close up of the line “you are hereby placed in the witness protection act”. Camera then cuts to teary woman dressed in all black and saying good bye to young daughter then she turns and exits through front door.

Establishing shot of a house at night lightly covered in snow and noise of wind in the background, then a close up of a man looking through a window, his face illuminated by the light of the room, he looks lovingly through the window and gently presses his hand against the glass, the camera then moves around and pushes in through the window to reveal it is the young girl. She is sat on the floor looking at a photo of her, her mother and the man (her father). She looks up from the photo and turns to the window as though she knew he was watching, however he is no longer there. Screen fades to back and the lines “Don not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die” then those lines slowly fade to leave just the words “I did not die” then they eventual fade. 

UPDATE:

Due to unforeseen circumstances the narrative had to be changed. This latest idea is that the focus of the piece is a young army veteran that has had a friend killed in action however he is struggling to cope with that fact. He turns drinking with anger and loneliness overwhelming him. So now when you read the sonnet i feel as though the young man K.I.A would   be the one writing it to his friend to let him know that he is always with him spiritually.