Stories were first communicated orally throughout history before the written text. In its written form, the storyteller's tone is weak which allows the freedom of interpretation by the reader. The reader is mentally able to visualize the content of the novel, as well as to determine the overall tone and atmosphere of the story. Within this century, another form of storytelling has developed, which are films, particularly films adapted from these novels. Films select specific scenes from the novel to portray to its audience using various stimuli which replaces the reader's own personal view of the novel. The film provides the audience with a specific person at a specific location whereas the novel describes the characters and the setting in detail. Therefore, the reader must mentally visualize these features by themselves. Throughout Bram Stoker's Dracula and its film adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992, Bram Stoker's Dracula, it is evident that the screenwriter uses specific scenes in the novel to be put on film. Although many of the scenes are well represented in the film, Dracula himself, has been given a different interpretation. This new interpretation is created by the change in his appearance and in his objectives.
To begin, Dracula's appearance varies from the novel to Francis Ford Coppola's film adaptation. When the reader first encounters Count Dracula in the novel he is described by Jonathan Harker as having a "hard-looking mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory" (Stoker 23). As the story progresses, the reader discovers that beneath his aristocratic charm, the count possesses a dark and evil soul. In the movie, the audience is first introduced to Count Dracula while he is still human, having not yet been transformed into a vampire. This scene allows the audience to sympathize and attach themselves to Count Dracula since he is portrayed as a human and not yet a 'monster'.
