Film Study p.3 The biggest difference between the way films and books tell stories are that films actually show you what is happening, movies have more symbolism than books do and films tell more about the characters.
In movies you get more of a feel for the main character or other characters than you would if you read a book. For example, in the movie "Oedipus Wrecks" Woody Allen's character-Sheldon shows a lot of different facial expressions and the way he reacts to certain things. Like when he is talking to his psychiatrist about his mother, you can see the frustration and confusion on his face. And when he finally finds the right women and realizes that she's just like his mom you can see the relief he feels from his facial expression.
Something that a lot of books do not have is a picture to illustrate an important event that happens in the story.
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film...
Sheldon Kinser 1986 Photo By Ted Van Pelt
English: Woody Allen in concert in New York City.In movies you see everything that happens. You see the tiniest details of an important part of the story. For example, in Oedipus Wrecks you see the scene when Sheldon gets a message from his fiance saying that she wants to have a quick and clean break-up. Once the message ends you see Sheldon grab a drumstick of chicken that Shreva had made for him, and he brings it to his nose and sniffs it. That's when he realizes that she's the one for him. Those types of scenes are the ones that books don't give you a good feel for, in my opinion.
Movies also seem to show more symbolism than a book does. Like in Oedipus Wrecks, you see Sheldon's mother in the sky talking to the people of New York City. That symbolizes that Sheldon can't get his mother...