<![CDATA[Although literary-to-film adaptations are widely used in higher education, empirical accounts of how novice or non-expert readers actually receive and organize the multimodal layers of such adaptations remain scarce. This study examines how the C-U-P-C-A-K-E (Character, Universe, Plot, Cinematography, Acting, Key message, and Editing) structures audience reception when applied by novice readers. Employing a qualitative case study design grounded in audience reception theory, the study analyzed the written essays of five English literature students at a private institution in Jakarta before and after engaging with the film adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, using thematic analysis. Findings show that participants' pre-intervention reception was fragmented and plot-centric, reflecting the cognitive demands of processing multi-track visual texts without a structuring lens. Participants focused on similar aspects of the adaptation, including cinematography and editing, which had not been discussed previously. However, they interpreted these aspects differently, resulting in markedly different thematic readings of the same adaptation. This pattern indicates that structured attention can shape the scope of novice audience reception without collapsing individual interpretive agency. Beyond its contribution to adaptation studies, the framework carries practical implications for fostering multimodal literacy in upper-level ELT courses.]]>
