Yesterdays class discussion got me thinking about many things. When we were discussing whether or not the director of a production is enslaved by the author I immedietly thought no. The author of a production is the author, they have their own interpretations of what they've written. The director is simply basing his production on what the author has written. He may use the authors opinion and may not. Ultimately I think the director can do what he wants with a work. Many times directors create works on their interpretations of wha the author has written. When we saw West Side Story, that is an example of a director putting his own spin on something that an author wrote. The original West Side Story did not have any spanish in it. In the current production the director decided to add in spanish to it because he felt it was neccesary. He wanted the audience to feel the way the Sharks did. The play Grease is another example of a production that the director changed from what was originally written. The original Broadway production of Grease is just like the movie. The production that just recently closed down is completely different. The director of this production deffered from what the author originally intended. I have also heard that Mary Poppins is different from the original as well. The director has made it more morbid. I believe that what an author writes can be subject to change by a director. I think the experience for the audience is better when they know the original work by the author and then see how the director interpreted it into something different. I think this allows the audience to gain different opinions and interpretations about a work. Currently, many movies are being remade. I think this can be another example of a director changing something. This time the author happens to be another director. The movie Night of the Living Dead can be an example ( I'm using this because I recently watched it for Halloween) The 1990's version was remake of the 1969 version by George A. Romero. Although the basic story is the same, zombie attacks, the farm house and the similiar characters, the two versions are completely different. George A. Romero's version is in black and white, it has a shocking ending that made a statement against racism and it was revolutionary. The remake differs from this. The director changed things to make it his own. It was his intepretation of Romero's version.