MARIA ELENA WALSH HAS PASSED AWAY

María Elena Walsh has passed away. Her poems, novels, stories, songs, essays and articles were enjoyed beyond the frontiers of her native Argentina.

I assume she never knew this. But, her children's song "Manuelita la tortuga" was a key ingredient in one of the most moving telenovela scenes I've ever encountered in my research.

In "La Vida Entera" written by Leonardo Padrón, Olimpia Duque (Beatriz Valdés), is facing the worst and most lonely night of her life. Unexpectedly, it's her daughter Tata (Marisa Román) who puts her to bed, in an inversion of roles between a mother and daughter, who've had a difficult relationship throughout the telenovela. The scene was touching in the script. But the two actors  moved it up several notches by using their talent and deep knowledge of their characters. And, of course, thanks to María Elena Walsh's Manuelita la tortuga.

UNIVISION'S MISTREATMENT OF VENEZUELAN TELENOVELAS

It's almost impossible to watch Venezuelan telenovelas in Univisión. Programming is designed to attract the U.S. Latino population, which is dominated by people of Mexican descent/origin.

The days in which Univision broadcast El País de las Mujeres (1999) at 2 p.m. are long gone. The Venezuelan "quota" is now the 1 p.m. slot, which is now destined to telenovelas produced by Venevisión-Miami (Venevisión Productions). Never by Venevisión-Venezuela. And telenovelas produced by RCTV are not even in the mix. Hence, we rarely find Venezuelan telenovelas in Univisión. And when we do, it's in some terrible time slot like 1 a.m.

For these reasons, I was happy to hear that my most recent object or study, La Vida Entera, is being broadcast by Univisión at 6 p.m. The time slot is somewhat problematic since it coincides with local newscasts in some cities. For instance, in Miami and San Diego the telenovela won't be seen. But, there are plenty of cities and urban centers in which the affiliated Univisión station doesn't have a newscast. For example, Atlanta. Notwithstanding this issue, the 6 p.m. slot is a big improvement compared with the wee hours of the morning, as was the case with telenovela Torrente.

But, the abuses that Univision commits regarding Venezuelan telenovelas aren't limited to scheduling:

1. The synopsis of La Vida Entera on Univision's webpage is a faint image of the one written by the telenovela's author. The telenovela's essence is all but lost.
2. For most of the day today my TV was on Univision. I didn't see a single promotional of the telenovela. La Vida Entera promotionals don't seem to exist. Hence, the telenovela doesn't seem to exist either.
3. Every one hour episode is being edited so that it's duration is only 30 minutes. Therefore, edition is rough and brutal, and lacks respect for the story. My impression was that the editor only cares for the main love story of Kotufa, Salvador and Cristóbal (this is also reflected in Univision's published synopsis). The rest of the characters only show up in scenes in which they're related to the main triangle. By editing in this way the first two episodes, in which the writer and cast first draw characters and present plots, the telenovela loses coherence, meaning, dramatic structure and strength. In other words, a 120-hour telenovela is being dismembered into 60 meaningless hours.

Given all these factors, should we be surprised if La Vida Entera fails in the ratings? Of course not. When that happens, then it will be said that Venezuelan telenovelas don't work out well in Univision. And, it will be several years before another Venezuelan telenovela is given "a chance," always under adverse conditions that are close to impossible.

This is a sorry state of affairs that disrespects all who work in the Venezuelan telenovela industry and the public. It's also another factor in the current precarious situation of Venezuelan TV, which is caused by government measures intended to stifle dissent and by positions assumed by network administrators and owners.

TELENOVELA CONSUMPTION: VANESSA'S CARTOONS

Studying telenovelas has given me the opportunity to meet interesting people. Among them is Vanessa, who I met while conducting the fieldwork for my last case study, telenovela La Vida Entera. When I interviewed Vanessa regarding her decoding of this telenovela, she told me that she drew several cartoons of some of the characters in the show. Following are some of her cartoons, along with photos of the characters. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I have. It's another way of observing telenovela consumption, and how audience members appropriate the characters, as they follow their storylines.

Kotufa (Anastasia Mazzone):




Facundo (Carlos Mata):




Olimpia (Beatriz Valdés):

Tata (Marisa Román):

Guille (Luis Gerónimo Abreu):

And this isn't a character, but the telenovela's author, Leonardo Padrón:

This isn't a character either :-) Thanks, Vanessa!

IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: MARISA ROMAN VISITS US

Last Friday, my students were somewhat nervous while they were getting ready to have a videoconference with Venezuelan actor Marisa Román. They were concerned about their level of Spanish, and whether it would allow them to participate fully in the conversation. Meanwhile, in my office, Marisa Román waited for my signal to come to my classroom and surprise the students. And it happened. We managed to repeat the wonderful experience of two years ago, when Marisa also came to my class as a surprise.

The conversation was fluent and very honest. There were many lessons. Besides deepening their learning about telenovelas, my students were able to appreciate first hand how, beyond the glittering aspects of celebrity, actors are human beings whose craft is centered on feelings and emotions. In addition, my students, who are frequently inhibited from speaking Spanish because they haven't perfected it, watched how Marisa Román privileged her desire to communicate with them over her English level and had no qualms to correct her spoken English as she answered our questions. (You can read some my students' posts about this visit in the class blog: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).

Here's a video of the visit. The quality is far from perfect, but the content is representative of what happened in our class during that hour. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.

AGAIN: WRITER INTERVIEWS ACTOR

A few days ago I posted here Leonardo Padrón's interview of Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramírez. Today I bring from the same TV interview show, "Los Imposibles", the conversation between Padrón and the Venezuelan actor who became the international symbol of Venezuelan telenovelas: Carlos Mata.

Carlos Mata began his acting career accidentally since his passion was the arts. At the same time he developed a music career that earned him gold records in the United States, Spain, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela. His most recent work in telenovelas was as Facundo Montoya in Leonardo Padrón's "La Vida Entera".

Both Carlos Mata and Leonardo Padrón have a great sense of humor, which gives their conversation a lighthearted tone, amidst the many details it provides on the life and career of Carlos Mata:

PRODUCING TELENOVELAS IS TEAM WORK

Everyone who works in a telenovela always emphasizes that telenovelas are team work. In my research, however, I continuously find that the audience doesn't perceive or understand it that way. People tend to personalize when they attribute a telenovela's "success" or "failure." For instance, in Venezuela "success" and "failure" are attributed to the head writer and/or the protagonists. In Mexico, "success" and "failure" are placed on the shoulders of the executive producer and the protagonists. These trends aren't exclusive to the public, since we can observe them in the entertainment press as well. 

For years I've been observing how telenovelas are "made." And, yes, the final product depends on the team work of writers, actors, producers, directors, wardrobe, art, set design, edition and post-production. I've also witnessed that everything happens very quickly. In the end, what we see on the TV screen is really a version of what was written in the script. 

Today I bring an example in which there were significant efforts from the director, cast and production team so that the scenes would be taped as close to what was written in the script as possible. But, due to sloppy/rushed editing what was broadcast ended up not reflecting the writer's intention or everyone else's hard work.

Context: These scenes constitute the end of Chapter 116 and the beginning of  Chapter 117 of Venezuelan telenovela La Vida Entera which had a total of 120 episodes. The scenes are previous to the much anticipated confrontation between Olimpia Duque (Beatriz Valdés) and her husband Napoleón (Gustavo Rodríguez), after he publicly humiliated her by revealing that she has a long standing affair with his professional rival,  Facundo Montoya (Carlos Mata). Olimpia is already home when Napoleón arrives with son Salvador (Jorge Reyes).

If you can read Spanish, you can see for yourself  how the scenes were written so that both the end of chapter 116 and  the beginning of chapter 117 tell us the same dramatic happenings, but from two different points of view. (Notice the fragments I've highlighted in yellow).

Last May I spent many hours on a Saturday observing how these scenes were shot from different angles and perspectives, so that the story would be told according to the script. Moreover, given the rushed nature of the last days of a telenovela, director Luis Alberto Lamata decided to tape the different shots in the same order that they would be seen. In this way he tried to facilitate the assemblage and editing of the material, and avoid any confusion by the editor regarding the two points of view that were written in the script. 

Following are two videos I took of the taping of two of the shots: 

Click To Play

Click To Play

Despite the amounts of time and effort that were dedicated to the taping of these scenes, the editor did not use most of the material and altered the order in which the shots were presented. The end result: the cinematographic quality and dramatic intensity that were present in the script were lost. What a pity! 

End  Chapter 116 (if you can read and understand Spanish, compare with the script):

Beginning Chapter 117 (again, if you can read and understand Spanish, compare with the script):

Conclusion: telenovelas are team work and the probability of imperfection is pretty high when you consider the industrial pace and quality of their production process.

Without RCTV: Venezuelan TV is deformed

Today, two years ago Venezuelan network RCTV was closed. An arbitrary measure that was very telling of the government's character. 

Beyond the terrible loss of a key part of our freedom of expression, the absence of RCTV from the open airwaves has produced an immense deformation in Venezuela's television industry:

• Because RCTV is now only on cable, its revenues have dropped dramatically and so has its level of production.  Furthermore, the network is now almost exclusively devoted to producing remakes and adaptations of literary novels. These telenovela are of uneven quality regarding their scripts, casts and production values.  This has the detrimental effect of  impoverishing the Venezuelan telenovela industry.
• Obiously, both Televén and Venevisión now get higher shares. However, Televén doesn't really compete with Venevisión's high numbers. Hence, the latter wins almost every time slot in the programming grid.
• Without competition in the domestic market, Venevisión aims towards the international market.
• Regarding telenovelas, this means a new "norm" of 120 episodes, regardless of the storylines and their success (or lack thereof). (This is a bit of  a dumb "norm" when we consider the high international sales of Doña Bárbara, which boasts 190 episodes). In this sense, there is no respect for the story, nor for the audience. Because, even though extending a telenovela can be disrespectful to the viewers, not giving it enough episodes to develop correctly also denotes lack of respect.
• The lack of competition in the domestic market ensues a lackadaisical attitude regarding the network's promotion and presentation of its products. I don't see nearly the same energy regarding press releases and  interview opportunities that Venevisión used to show when competition with RCTV kept Venezuelan TV alive.  Also, the network's public relations efforts have ceased to be proactive, for the most part. 
• Regarding programming, it seems that it doesn't really matter if a telenovela is premiered at the wrong time of the year, as it happened with La Vida Entera, whose premiere coincided with regional elections and the professional baseball season. Nor does it seem to matter if transmission is irregular. After all, the local market is secured. (For 8 consecutive weeks, La Vida Entera did not air every day, as it should have).
• Because RCTV produces less and  Venevisión has the local market won, the quality of the work goes down. So do the salaries of those who work in telenovelas and television. 
• In this sense, it's actors who are the most affected. Their job sources are seriously diminished (the problem is even worse when we consider how the government is asphyxiating  both the theater scene and the film industry) and the two networks offer salaries that, in general, do not reflect the experience, talent and dedication of most Venezuelan actors.
• Political polarization, which has invaded almost every aspect of Venezuelan life, also affects the viewing habits of some audience sectors that refuse to watch Venevisión because they believe the network "sold out" to the government when it decided to eliminate political discourse from its programming. This is as sad as those members of the public, who are pro-government, and who've decided not to watch RCTV on cable. These decisions give political ideology the reign over media consumption, when each individual should be completely free to decide what they like or not, and what they will consume. Without realizing it, they're playing the President's game of "divide and conquer." 
• It doesn't help our television that we lose our critical skills because of our political position. As Venezuelans, we must require RCTV, Venevisión and Televén to give us the best possible television. We should not routinely excuse some media outlets because they've been shunned of the open airwaves and blindly indict others for still being there. 
• Maybe the worst problem is the immense fear to be closed by the government that exists in the media outlets that are still on the air. This fear has been transformed into the worst and saddest kind of censorship: self-censorship.  And even though the government has a media law to control media content, it's self-censorship which invasively and excessively regulates the content of a majority of private media outlets in Venezuela. Fear is never a good motivator.

After two years of the closing of RCTV, the panorama doesn't look good. Venezuelan TV is seriously deformed. And, so is our telenovela industry. However, I must say that censorship is always superficial and is never smart. Neither is self-censorship. We can always "turn it around" with intelligence. The ball, then, is in the audience's court. We read what we want and decode as we wish:

LA VIDA ENTERA: TATA'S TATOO

I'm in Caracas documenting the final days of telenovela LA VIDA ENTERA. I have a lot to comment and share, but little time to do so. I must wait until the telenovela's final episode is broadcast so I can sit down to write and share pictures and videos behind the cameras of this final week. 

Meanwhile, here are a couple of images related to one of the most popular characters in the telenovela:  Carlota Duque "Tata" interpreted by Marisa Román.

Here's the tatoo on the character's back:

Here's makeup artist, Jota, drawing the tatoo on Marisa Román's back:

BEHIND THE CAMERAS OF LA VIDA ENTERA-PART 3

In today's post we go back to behind the cameras in a telenovela. This time I focus on the taping of a "sequence shot" or plan-séquence.  

A sequence shot includes a long take and camera movements that are sophisticated because they allow for significant middle ground and background activity to be seen. These are shot and taped as one long shot, which means that any acting or technical error requires that the sequence be reshot from the beginning.

In LA VIDA ENTERA, the telenovela I'm currently studying, the use of a  steadicam and sequence shots is a fundamental ingredient of the visual vocabulary and aesthetics of this telenovela. It is used in particular in the newsroom of magazine "Exquisita", the storylines' main context.

Here you can see a sequence shot that aired on episdoe 85. (Context: it's deadline day at Exquisita. Everyone works feverishly and under stress when lunch arrives in the form of a pizza delivery):
 



Below is a video I took of the first attempt at the sequence shot. Notice at all times the steadicam operator and his movements. Notice also how everyone else moves on the set:

BEHIND THE CAMERAS OF LA VIDA ENTERA-PART 2

In my research with the audience that watches telenovelas and in my classroom, I've found immense curiosity regarding the production of scenes that include kisses. In my recent trip to telenovela LA VIDA ENTERA, I was present during the taping of the scenes of characters Natalia (Daniela Bascopé) and Miky (Roque Valero)'s "first time." This sequence was directed by Luis Alberto Lamata. 

Here's a video I took during the production of these scenes. Turn up the volume of your computer so you can listen to the actors and technical crew. There are a few things to observe in this video:

• The use of the boom (a microphone placed at the end of a long arm, so that it can be located on top of the actors during taping).
• In the first scene we can see the simultaneous use of cameras in two "rooms" of the same set. 
• How the technical crew is dressed in winter-like clothes. TV studios usually have freezing temperatures.
• The importance of music in a telenovela. In my video, you notice the absence of music to set the tone.
• The importance of the different shots by different cameras, and the director's decisions as to the view we will get. Here, we see the scenes through the exclusive "eye" of my small camera.

I would have liked to place here the final--broadcast--version of these scenes. But, these days video sharing systems are closing the accounts of users who place any material related to TV or film, even if it's for educational use. I invite you then to find the scenes on the Web. They belong to Episode 90 which was broadcast in Venezuela on April 2.

CORIN TELLADO HAS PASSED AWAY

A brief post to report that Corín Tellado, has passed away at the age of 81. She was the queen of romantic fiction (folletín). Her real name was  María del Socorro Tellado López and she wrote more than  4,000 novels that were translated into several languages.  She sold more than 400 million copies of these novels.


Telenovelas have an undeniable link to the literature of folletín and Corín Tellado influenced writers who are devoted to the telenovela rosa. Her work suffered the same reception paradox of telenovelas: genres of mass consumption and mass deprecation. 

I should mention also that the telenovela I'm currently studying, LA VIDA ENTERA, has a direct link to Corín Tellado and the literature of folletín. LA VIDA ENTERA is located in a magazine for women. In the telenovela, the character Licenciado Bruno Merchán (Héctor Manrique), writes a folletín under the pseudonym "Crucita Volcán", in which he tells the story of suffering lovers "Lirio del Valle" and "Francisco José" , and the obstacles imposed by the evil "Artemio". It's a novela inside the telenovela. 

BEHIND THE CAMERAS OF LA VIDA ENTERA-PART 1

I haven't written in my blog in too many days. The semester has entered its last month, LA VIDA ENTERA, the telenovela I'm currently studying, has entered its crucial stage, and I don't get to sleep much these days.

In March I was in Caracas studying this telenovela's production process. I do that through hours of participant observation on the set and in-depth conversations with all involved in production. These are long, complex and dense days. There isn't a second of boredom. LA VIDA ENTERA is a telenovela with a particular "look" and its production process is hard. It also boasts a cast in which talent predominates. Hence, it's a great learning experience and a privilege to talk to these actors. This time, in addition to deepening my understanding of how characters are constructed and of the decision processes of all involved, I submitted myself to the exhaustion of the shooting schedule, and to long hours in the set and locations. In the next blog posts I'll share excerpts of what I saw behind the cameras of LA VIDA ENTERA. 

This is a short video I took while they were taping a sequence of scenes in which characters Tata (Marisa Román) and Guille (Luis Gerónimo Abreu) visit an art gallery:

Here's a picture of the actors reviewing their lines before taping a scene:

And another picture of the actors rehearsing in front of producer Verónica and director Edgar Liendo:

IN CARACAS: INSIDE LA VIDA ENTERA

This isn't really a blog post, it's a note so you know that I haven't forgotten about my blog. I'm in Caracas inside the production of telenovela LA VIDA ENTERA. My days are long and intense. This is why I haven't written in my blog for too long.

BEHIND THE CAMERAS: THE USE OF PLAYBACKS

It's relatively common to be able to listen to characters' thoughts in telenovelas. This is done via playbacks: pre-recorded dialogue that is then played in the scene as if the character is "thinking" it. Playbacks can add dramatic texture or humor to a scene.

Following is an inside look at a telenovela scene that uses playbacks. It's from the telenovela that is my current case study,  La Vida Entera.

Context: Guille (Luis Gerónimo Abreu), whose main objective is to take to bed as many pretty women as he possibly can, is at a bar with Clarita (Yina Vélez). Her conversation is not exactly an intelligent one. Guille's thoughts and attempts at distracting himself while she talks make for a humorous scene in which playbacks are a key element. 

Here are the texts of the three playbacks, as they appear in the original script (I apologize to non-Spanish speakers. The gist is that Guille laments Clarita's lack of brains and then decides to sing in his head a kids' tune to distract himself):

GUILLE (SONRIENTE)
Espantoso. La guerra de Bosnia y tú, pa’ lo que salga. (PLAYBACK, CON LA MISMA SONRISA) Clarita es tan bella como tan bruta, de pana. Pero, bueno, Guille: aguanta, que el premio es gordo. (FIN DE PLAYBACK) ¿No quieres otro trago?

GUILLE (PLAYBACK)
Ah, pues. Y encima no la puedo rascar para acelerar el procedimiento.

GUILLE
Soy todo oídos, mi reina. (PLAYBACK, CANTA) Había una vez un barquito chiquitico, había una vez un barquito chiquitico, HABIA UNA VEEEEEZ un barquito chiquitiiico…

Here's the taping of the first and third playbacks (increase volumen in the first one):

And, finally, the scene as it aired on television:

It's always interesting to see the unavoidable distance between the script and mise-en-scene. For instance, the scene was written so that Clarita would talk nonstop through Guille's "thoughts." That's not how it was done.

The scene was taped in the morning hours in a closed bar with only the actors, extras and technical crew. However, the scene's establishing shot (Caracas at night), plus the illumination and placement of extras make the bar night scene believable.

The telenovela production process is always interesting because it has all the paradoxes that are part and parcel of this genre: it has artistic elements, but it's industrial. It involves a lot of hard work, but it's still plagued with imperfections. And this mix keeps me interested, even after all these years observing how telenovelas are "made."

TELENOVELAS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

We live times in which the line between content producers and consumers is blurred. YouTube, message boards and blogs are samples of this. They're also examples of social media, in which communities are created around a certain definition of friendship and/or a common interest. 

Telenovelas are present in these communities. For instance, in Facebook, there are more than 500 groups related to telenovelas. Most of them boast membership numbers in the hundreds:

(NOTE: TO ENLARGE PICTURES, PLEASE CLICK ON THEM)

In particular, the telenovela I'm currently studying, LA VIDA ENTERA, has a Facebook group  with a discussion board in which participants post topics, in addition to the traditional "wall" comments, pictures and press reports:

Outside Facebook there are other communities dedicated to telenovelas. One of my favorites is: Comunidad todotnv, which is an offspin of wonderful webpage Todotnv:

And even though we will never leave completely behind the days in which telenovelas were discussed at our study and work places, these virtual communities definitely extend the conversation as they minimize geographic distance and blur the line between public and private.

Do you participate in any of these communities?

What has been your experience in them? 

TELENOVELAS-VISITING A LOCATION WITH THE WRITERS

I've had many experiencies while studying telenovelas. And, even though I'm equally interested in all aspects: production, consumption, regulation and the different representations we see in those daily episodes, I've learned that most people are particularly interested in production. In short, how is a telenovela produced? is the overarching question in many of the conversations I participate in, and is the most commented chapter of my book "Venezuela es una Telenovela."

Today I share with you a recent experience while studying the production of Venezuelan telenovela La Vida Entera.

The plot: In La Vida Entera, the Duque family owns a media conglomerate that includes fashion magazine Exquisita, which provides one of the main contexts for the telenovela's storylines. The male protagonist, Salvador Duque (Jorge Reyes), is part of this family, also constituted by his father, Napoleón (Gustavo Rodríguez), his stepmother, Olimpia (Beatriz Valdés) and his younger sister Carlota, "Tata" (Marisa Román). The Duque family "lives" in a beautiful house with a breathtaking view of the city of Caracas.

Following is a brief excerpt from Episode 6, where you can get a glimpse of these characters and their house.

Research experience--Visiting the location: I had the privilege of visiting the house with Leonardo Padrón and his team of writers the first time they went to this location. It was extremely interesting for me to be able to observe first hand how each of the house's rooms sparked ideas in these writers: "Here, Olimpia should...", "Maybe we could place Tata there...", "What about sitting Napoléon here and...," etc. Padrón and his writers also noticed interesting angles that the location provides for shots that will contribute to the telenovela's storytelling and its visual vocabulary. Meanwhile, two members of the production team took copious notes.

The experience was fascinating to me. I'm still figuring out its full importance to my research. For instance, I immediately started noticing the influence of the visit in the telenovela scripts. I would have never noticed this, if I hadn't been in the house with the writers.

Writing a telenovela requires much creativity and strategy. And even though telenovelas always have that mix of dream (the love story we all wish we could have) and reality, for these stories to work they must ring true. And I learned that these visits help immensely in writing a script that sounds true.

Here's a short video I prepared of our visit. Don't expect Spielberg, please. But, I think it will give you a good idea of my experience that afternoon:

TO OVERCOME AND LIVE

Studying telenovelas has allowed me not only to study how these melodramas are produced, but also to get to know well those who work "making" them. I've received a lot from everyone who works behind and in front of the cameras. They have opened their homes, dressing rooms, TV studios and offices to me, so that I could understand how a telenovela is made, a character is constructed, and the way these serials take over the lives of those who work in them. 

Behind the glitter that covers everything on the television screen are real human beings who work their magic so that we believe the stories and characters they're telling us. But, there are occasions in which their real lives teach us important lessons. 

Early in 2007, actor Daniela Bascopé was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma at the age of 24. After months of treatment, Daniela recovered and is back on television as Natalia in telenovela La Vida Entera. And this week, Daniela presented her book Vencer y Vivir (To Overcome and Live), in which she shares her experience with her illness. 

In La Vida Entera we can also see Lourdes Valera, who has taped her character Rosa Coronel as she underwent treatment for cancer.

Here's a video of the morning show Portadas in which telenovela La Vida Entera was promoted. In addition to being an example of how a telenovela is promoted in Venezuela, you will be able to watch Daniela and Lourdes as they explain the characters they play and give us their message of courage. (The video is sort of stretched, I don't know why. At the end of the Portadas' sequence, there is an example of a promotional of La Vida Entera).

A TELENOVELA PREMIERES TO THE PRESS

Last week I attended the premiere for the press of my new object of study: telenovela LA VIDA ENTERA. This isn't my first time in these events that, along with the promotional spots, constitute the publicity engine for the new telenovela. 

To be sure, this is a public relations event. The centerpiece is watching the first episode before it airs. In the event, information about the new telenovela is disseminated via a press kit. LA VIDA ENTERA's press kit consisted of a glossy brochure in magazine format and a CD-ROM with photos and interviews with cast members. Additionally, the premiere allows reporters to interview writers and actors. The main outcome of this event is media coverage of the telenovela which creates expectation in the audience.

 

For a scholar, this is a fascinating event to observe. I enjoy watching the telenovela's first episode before it actually airs. Most importantly, I'm able to observe first hand the reactions of the entertainment press and actors. Later, it's truly interesting to read news stories and gossip columns about the premiere. These media stories vary immensely in quality and accuracy. (For instance, the next day a television  gossip show commented how beautiful was the "fuchsia" evening gown that actor Marlene De Andrade was wearing...when she actually wore a black dress!). 

Here's a video I prepared with images from the event. The quality is low. It was hard for me to record from where I was sitting and the resolution isn't too good. But, it will give you a taste of the event and the characters of  LA VIDA ENTERA.

DISTANCE: AN IMPORTANT WORD IN TELENOVELAS

There are some words that continuously pop up in my research about telenovelas. One is PARADOX, and I've written about it before and should probably write a whole lot more about. The other is DISTANCE.

After all these years studying telenovelas, I'm still amazed about the enormous distance that I find between the audience's perceptions of what happens behind the cameras, and what actually happens there. This distance, of course, is influenced by another distance that exists too often: the one between press reports and what is happening. 

There is also an important distance between the audience's perception of the relative importance of a particular telenovela character and what the actor believes about her/his character. I've talked with many actors who adored particular characters and considered them key in their careers, only to read later in Internet message boards how some audience members believe that those characters were unimportant and that the actor's talent was "wasted."

Another distance I must mention is the one between what the public knows/believes about the telenovela writing process and what really happens in a writer's mind and soul as she/he develops characters and plots. 

There is always a distance between the script and the mise-en-scene we see on our TV screens. 

Personally, the word distance defines my research since I have to "go" to it and come back periodically. I get closer and farther away from my case studies. It is in these coming and goings, in this stretching and reducing the geographic distance that I can get really close in an intellectual and academic sense. Soon I must travel and get closer to my new case study. Its first episode is about to be broadcast in Venezuela after I've been following and examining the creative process of its head writer. Meanwhile, the Internet and technology allow us to take a peek into this new telenovela I'm studying--La Vida Entera:

FIRST SET OF PROMOTIONALS OF MY NEW OBJECT OF STUDY: LA VIDA ENTERA

Venezuelan network Venevisión uses 14 of its best known faces and talent in a set of teasers about upcoming telenovela La Vida Entera, my new case study.

Belos the demo for La Vida Entera: