Can a vlog be labeled as a true-life adaptation? The title of this post suggests that it can. The term itself is problematic—historically and in the current context of social media. The 2013 edition of A Theory of Adaptation includes an epilogue that discusses the changing media landscape and its impact on adaptation studies. Linda Hutcheon summarizes that some narratives resurface repeatedly in a respective culture. However, while a storyline may be retold, it is adapted for at-that-time new current consumers. “Adaptation is how stories evolve and mutate to fit new times and different places” (176). A vlog can be such a story mutation. A plot that was previously told in book and feature film formats, may now resurface on the small screen.

To explore the matter of expanding the meaning of the term ‘true-life adaptation’ and its label associated with media texts, the vlog The Fifty Project is being used as a case study. It is a vlog about ski mountaineer Cody Townsend’s quest to ski the “Fifty Classic Ski Descends of North America.”

The Fifty Project Vlog

What makes this vlog an appropriate case study? For one, this project is inspired by the book of the same name, co-authored by Chris Davenport, Art Burrows and Penn Newhard. The term “inspired” is accepted in the film adaptation field, signifying that a creator came across some content that inspired them to create media, such as a feature film. One such example is the adaptation At First Sight (1999). The film’s closing credits inform that the plot was inspired by the true-life story of Shirl Jennings, a blind man who experienced a temporary return to sighted life following an operation, and his wife, Barbara. Some similarities exist between the Jennings’ and the fictitious couple in the film, but the movie is not based on their lives. In the case of The Fifty Project, Cody read the aforementioned book, and it inspired him to create the project that would eventually be known as the vlog series The Fifty Project. The book gave him the idea to try to ski all these classics, and he and his partner decided to make a vlog series about this attempt and have Cody be the main character on camera. Neither of these decisions are related to the book.

A second reason this vlog presents itself as a fitting study are its production and post productions contexts. Unlike At First Sight—which was produced in Hollywood utilizing standard practices, such as scriptwriting, casting, building sets—The Fifty Project is shot in real locations as Cody and his partner Bjarne Salen attempt to complete the expeditions. They cast themselves so-to-speak and shot footage during actual expeditions. While they could plan and have expectations as to how an expedition might unfold, ultimately, they had little to no control over these real-life adventures. In post production, they could shape the material, for example, by deciding which footage to use and by scripting voice-overs. Studying one expedition in more depth, this article argues that episodes of this type of vlog can be considered an adaptation, not just because a book inspired the project, but also due to some of their production and post production choices. In other words, a similar type of vlog may not be an adaptation due to different choices during the making of the media text and/or lack of inspiration from a relevant source text.

To illustrate this perspective, let us analyze part of the episode “The Fifty – Line 7/50 – Joffre Peak – Near Death on a Daunting Peak.” It covers Cody and Bjarne successfully summiting Joffre peak. As they ski down, Cody notices a skier falling off of another nearby couloir (10:26-11:01). (A couloir is a gully in a mountainous terrain. It can be used by ski mountaineers to ascend and descend a peak.) Cody had descended prior to Bjarne, had come to a stop with a camera mounted on his ski helmet rolling, capturing a shot that would show Bjarne skiing toward him with the mountain they just summited in the backdrop—an intentional shot for the vlog. As he is recording this shot, he notices an unknown ski mountaineer in distress in the background. With the camera continuing to roll, Cody yells out to Bjarne, summarizing what he just saw. He captures his and Bjarne’s immediate reactions to the situation. Both use expletives when communicating how unbelievable it is what they assume Cody witnessed.

The vlog episode comes to a sudden, raw end, meaning the framing is off, the mannerisms of the two are frantic and uncontrolled in comparison to their established onscreen personas up until that point and the sound quality is lower. In the next shot, captured from Bjarne’s perspective, we see Cody talking with Bjarne about what he is about to do—trying to get help. In the same shot Bjarne’s next actions are implied by what is in the frame—a drone. Viewers may assume that he will fly the drone to the unknown third party to assess their condition. Eventually, a cut to black, with text graphic fading in: “To be continued in upcoming Bonus Episode” (11:03).

Discussion of Episode

This vlog is shot during an actual skimo excursion. Reenactments do not exist. Even if a skimo participant must ski a section twice for it to be captured, it is nonetheless part of the actual expedition; it is just a second take. In doing so, the mountaineers are producing the source text, the primary source footage for their planned vlog similarly to a documentary cinema verité shoot. The material can be described as a historical record. 

Overall, true-life adaptations tell stories that are only known to a few people. These works indirectly reference a “transcendental precursor text but set the master text against an inferior alternative intertext whose competing authority is trumped by the true story” (Leitsch qtd. in Gauthier 89). Therefore, “films based on true stories authenticate themselves by appealing to precursor texts that are nonexistent” (Gauthier 288). The vlog—regardless of ER situation—represents such a scenario. The only people who know what occurred, are Cody and Bjarne and—to some extent—the injured party and SAR personnel involved in the rescue. The aforementioned vlog episode and its Bonus Episode are fully dependent on the audience believing Cody and Bjarne that what they claim happened actually did occur.

In the published vlog, the audience does not see an expedition in its entirety. We see moments that are ordered in post production to create a packaged expedition, just as is the case with non-fiction films, such as Everest IMAX. The lower quality of the visuals shot in the moment signify that this is likely footage that they did not expect to shoot. Related, would we not have seen the abrupt changes in Cody and Bjarne’s demeanor that comes across as unrehearsed and unplanned, we may not believe them as easily. (Also important is that neither is an actor, thereby we are assuming that they could not act in distress to such an extent if they were only imagining the situation.) Finally, the event that results in an abrupt ending to the vlog episode indicates decisions Townsend and Salen made in post production. They opted to create such a raw ending and to reference an upcoming bonus episode via text graphic.

With the vlog sharing some hallmarks of non-fiction adaptation, can it be labeled as a true-life adaptation?

Changing Perspectives to Ask Relevant Questions

In his essay, “Making Adaptation Studies Adaptive,” Brian Boyd raises the essential question whether widening the scope of what the term adaption means resulting in “everything” being classified as an adaption and therefore in a loss of value of the field of study (594). He argues against this and views a widening as an opportunity to alter the questions being asked when approaching an evaluation of a respective adaptation. For each adaptation, its context of origin needs to be considered, such as whether it is a book-to-film adaptation or a true-life adaptation for the big screen. Or, in this case study, for a vlog. Whatever its origin and whatever its adapted media text should result in specific questions that discuss the purpose for the adaptation. Boyd illustrates this by asking whether adaptations “pose the problems well, and are they fruitful problems to try to solve.” This type of questioning works well for The Fifty Project and connects with Kyle Meikle’s perspective on a vlog’s use value.

Meikle suggests that it may be beneficial to shift perspectives when considering what the term adaptation means in the current media landscape. Meikle sees the possibility of finding “an understanding of adaptation itself as a medium” (545). “Asking how adaptation occurs within the brains and bodies or individual consumers could shift scholarly focus from the exchange value of adaptations to their use value, from the forms of adaptations to its functions.” The Fifty Project can be looked at as a media text that invites this perspective of looking at the use value of the vlog.

The ER scenario and the treatment it has received by Townsend and Salen demonstrates the benefits of broadening an adaptation definition, especially as it applies to true-life events, and the discussion of whether the creators pose problems well and provide useful solutions. As mentioned prior, the vlog episode ends abruptly, with a text graphic, guiding viewers to a bonus episode. This bonus episode had not been planned nor had it been expected by the filmmakers. It became their adaptation solution after the expedition, when deciding how to bring this skimo expedition to the small screen. 

One option Salen and Townsend had was to omit the ER event from the episode. Since they had already successfully ascended and descended the mountain, they had shot all essential footage to tell their adventure. They were unable to shoot their by-that-point established epilogue to such an expedition (-returning to the trailhead-), but they could have found a creative solution to nonetheless bring the episode to a conclusion without the audience ever being the wiser that they assisted in rescuing an injured party. Cody and Bjarne decided against this option and instead opted to include the ER situation and to create a bonus episode.

To explore the use value of this choice, a brief summary of the bonus episode is needed. In this episode, both Cody and Bjarne appear on camera and provide summary narration as to what occurred after the abrupt ending of the Joffre episode. They debrief the audience by explaining what occurred off camera and how backcountry search and rescue services work.  They provide some b-roll, including graphic footage of the injured party. Skimo participants benefit from knowing the risks they take in the backcountry and what occurs should they need assistance. (The audience is also provided the answer as to whether the ski mountaineer survived: yes, he did.) 

By providing a learning perspective, Cody and Bjarne found a productive solution as to adapting their personal experiences for the vlogger screen. They prioritize audience education over fun footage of a skimo adventure. This informal learning environment can be linked to the use value Meikle had suggested. Overall, the two episodes provide practical information for aspiring and existing ski mountaineers.

Widening the adaptation concept permits to discuss different media texts from multiple perspectives that enable us to see beyond the question of how something was adapted to related and equally relevant additional goals and outcomes of adaptation decisions.

In the ever-evolving media landscape, terms and concepts that originated in previous decades benefit from reconsideration to remain relevant and useful.

 

Works Cited

At First Sight. Dir. Irwin Winkler. MGM, 1999.

Boyd, Brian. “Making Adaptation Studies Adaptive.” The Oxford Handbook of Adaptation Studies. Ed. Thomas Leitsch. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Davenport, C., Newhard P., and A. Burrows. Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America. Aspen, CO: Capitol Peak Publishing, 2010.

Everest IMAX. Dirs. David Breashears, S. Judson, G. MacGillivray. Miramax, 1999.

Hutcheon, Linda. “Final Questions.” A Theory of Adaptation. NY: Routledge, 2006.

Leitsch, Thomas. Film Adaptations and Its Discontents. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2007.

Meikle, Kyle. “Adaptation and Interactivity.” The Oxford Handbook of Adaptation Studies Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

----. “The Fifty – Bonus Episode – Joffre Accident and Rescue.” The Fifty, YouTube, April 5, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtnzxtuhHR0. 18 March 2024.

-----. “The Fifty – Line 7/50 – Joffre Peak – Near Death on a Daunting Peak.” The Fifty, YouTube, April 3, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHHdnP1dnDI.