When Amazon Prime's series The Wheel of Time premieres, fans of the book series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson will be looking for faithfulness to the source material in all areas, from character development to set pieces. This is a normal part of books being adapted to the screen, but unlike most fantasy literature, there's one aspect of the story that might be impossible to accurately depict with special effects.
The Wheel of Time has long been lauded for its unique system of magic, usually referred to as "channeling the One Power." The Power is divided into two halves, one being accessible to men and one to women, but that's not where the oddities end.
Men are more likely to have an innate proficiency with the two aspects of the Power called Earth and Fire, while women tend toward talent with Water and Air, and both are equally adept with Spirit. These five elements will be familiar to anyone exposed to modern fantasy in any medium, but The Wheel of Time's mythology gives them a new spin by requiring the channeler to combine them in "weaves."
Someone born with the potential to channel, therefore, not only has to undergo an inner struggle each time they attempt it, but must memorize a complicated pattern for every different use of the Power.
According to the books, weaves are invisible to non-channelers, but if the audience never gets to see them, the complexity of the One Power won't come through and a trademark part of the story's universe will be lost.
On the other hand, adding visual effects to symbolize the weaves carries the risk of a cheese factor -- it's hard to make some animated glowing lines on the screen look dignified, and they could also obscure the show's action or confuse viewers with what's real and what's simply there to represent a weave. Even official art for the books has often failed to satisfy readers with its interpretations of channeling.
In addition, special effects in media are always balanced against budget concerns, and The Wheel of Time already has to allow for typical elements of fantasy like horses, sprawling sets and non-human races. At this point, the creative team's priorities for the production are unknown. Although showrunner Rafe Judkins' updates have been optimistic, fans should be prepared for parts of the books to be changed or discarded for purely practical reasons.
Executive produced and written by Rafe Judkins, The Wheel of Time stars Rosamund Pike, Josha Stradowski, Marcus Rutherford, Zoë Robins, Barney Harris, Madeleine Madden, Daniel Henney, and Michael McElhatton. A premiere date has not been announced by Amazon at this time.
November 24, 2020 at 03:45PM
https://www.cbr.com/wheel-of-time-visual-challenges-magic/
The Wheel of Time’s TV Adaptation Has a Unique Challenge in Portraying Magic - CBR - Comic Book Resources
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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