<p>Hello everyone! I am interested in Film and for a good number of the colleges I am applying to, they require a portfolio film. However, I don’t think I’m creative/imaginative enough to come up with a genius idea or concept for a film… but I know I could execute it well! Is it okay to find like a short story, or a novel to make a film out of or is that wrong? Would that be like cheating? Please help me! Thanks.</p>
<p>Contact the publisher of any short story or novel that you might be interested in using. It could be a copyright violation to use published material without permission, and you certainly won’t want that in a college application. </p>
<p>Be sure to credit the author so that you do not commit plagiarism.</p>
<p>The best way to answer this is to think who would you want to come to your school or production. Would you rather want someone who can create original content and know they will be capable of adapting something? Or someone who will strictly focus on adaptations?</p>
<p>I went heavy on the creative route and in my ucla interview that’s what we mostly spent talking about. I could see one professor in particular wanted to keep talking about it. Went as far as to ask me what the feature film would look like and I had an answer which was followed by a “oh ohhhhhh” and was left really impressed. I’m sure you can do that with an adaptation but its hard to impress with something that’s not yours. Plus filmmaking now a days comes with the territory of being able to hold your own, even in writing. So although there really is no answer to your question, you have to be honest and accept the fact that you may be rejected because the material wasn’t original. I’m sure you’d rather fail by your own merits than someone’s else’s because I think that’s where knowledge happens, progress. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Creativity and imagination are pretty much requirements for the job unless your goal is to film weddings and bar mitzvahs.</p>
<p>You don’t need to do it all yourself. You can use someones script, with their permission, and giving them full on screen credit. You cannot adapt someone else’s work without their express permission (which is unlikely to be granted). How about asking friends who write fiction? Or collaborate with others to come up with a good idea.</p>