RHYTHM IN A TELENOVELA: FROM "NOTHING IS GOING ON" TO "TOO MUCH, TOO QUICKLY"

A couple of years ago, I wrote here about the difficulty of finding consensus in anything regarding telenovelas. I still feel the same way. It's almost impossible to find an aspect of a telenovela in which everyone thinks alike.

This week I've been reflecting particularly on the "rhythm" of a telenovela. That is, on the pace of events that make up the everyday life of a telenovela. This reflection came about thanks to my study of La Mujer Perfecta. I asked my study audience participants about their opinion of this telenovela's rhythm. Their answers varied so much that it was impossible for me to conclude anything! From "there are days in which nothing happens" to "too many things happen and too quickly," and every possible answer in between.

I decided then to list every "happening" or event that has been aired in each of the six main plots of La Mujer Perfecta. The list isn't short. Still, the audience's readings stand, begging for more analysis. Hence, I asked more in-depth questions to some of my participants, and arrived to the following preliminary conclusion:

It seems that each one of us has her/his own measuring stick to assess the rhythm of a telenovela. Sometimes, we're waiting for something in particular to happen, and that doesn't allow us to see the other incidents that are going on in the show. The opposite also happens: we think a lot is going on because what we want to happen is actually on the screen and/or things are happening in our favorite plot. Meanwhile, we might not realize that other plots are somewhat stagnant.

This is one of the many difficulties of writing a telenovela. For things to "happen," the dramatic knot must be constructed carefully. If not, when that knot "explodes," it won't have the force it should have had. At the same time, events and incidents must occur constantly (or write them so that the public has that perception). If not, the audience will feel that "nothing is happening" in the show.

Obviously, "rhythm" is a complex and difficult topic for writers, producers, network executives...and researchers.

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.

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.

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:

LOOKING FOR THE "INTERNATIONAL" TELENOVELA IN MIAMI

I haven't been able to write in my blog in many days. The reasons are mainly two: 

1. The semester presses on with classes to be prepared, exams to be graded, etc.
   
2. I went to Miami on a short, but fruitful research trip.

Miami is now a key destination in the telenovela world. This is where most Latin American production companies have their "international" branch. It's also the place where decision making occurs for the two largest Spanish-speaking networks in the U.S.:  Telemundo and  Univisión. I went to Miami in search for answers to the main question:

What are the requirements for a telenovela to be successful in the international market?

To explore this and other related questions, I chose key people who have worked successfully both inside and outside Venezuela. My gratitude goes to all of them for the time they spent with me. I want to thank particularly Mr.  Arquímedes Rivero and writers Perla Farías, Alberto Gómez, Vivel Nouel and Valentina Párraga for their generosity as they answered my many questions.

Now, it's time to analyze and deepen what I learned in Miami...and to prepare my next research trip to Caracas, where I'll go back to the set and locations of telenovela La Vida Entera.

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."

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:

IAMCR-Stockholm-POPULAR CULTURE

My third and final presentation at IAMCR in Stockholm was in the Popular Culture Working Group. In this presentation I focused on one of the subplots of telenovela Ciudad Bendita: Maru's story, a character that was addicted to plastic surgery. In this paper, a section of my work on Ciudad Bendita, I analyzed the writing, production and reception of this storyline in a country in which plastic surgery is naturalized as "normal."

Following are some of the slides I used in the presentation, including a short clip from Maru's story. At the end there's the video of my presentation. For those readers who have never been to an academic conference, it will be interesting to experience the perils of presenting first in a session: the comings and goings of latecomers and even the placement of extra chairs in a room that ended up being too small for the session. As presenters, we have to be immune to those distractions.

















The session also included a fascinating study of the different versions of Betty, la fea around the world:

Session 3 Appearances and Perceptions
Thursday 24th July 14.00-15.30
Chair: Milly Williamson
In the country of beautiful women: A telenovela’s critique of plastic surgery obsession
Carolina Acosta-Alzuru
Travelling style: Aesthetic difference in national adaptations of "Ugly Betty"
Lothar Mikos & Marta Perotta
Queer gazing and the popular: a study on the representational strategies of queer
representations in popular television fiction.
Sofie Van Bauwel, Frederik Dhaenens & Daniel Biltereyst
Circuits of the Real: Authenticity Work in Reality TV
Minna Aslama & Mervi Pantti

IAMCR-Stockholm-MEDIA PRODUCTION

The conference I'm participating in Stockholm has been very fruitful thanks to the diversity of participants, points of view, theoretical approaches and countries present. My first presentation focused on the writing and production of telenovela Cosita Rica during the historic eleven months that preceded the recall referendum of President Hugo Chávez. Following is a video of my presentation. Two warnings: the video's quality is not high, and it's 15 minutes long, which can prove unbearable to those not used to academic presentations. I share it in the spirit of keeping alive the conversation about telenovelas that I've always wanted my blog to be.



Here's the session's full program:

TUESDAY, JULY, 22nd , 17h45-19H , ROOM HÖRSAL B5
WG-MPA7 - PRODUCTION RESEARCH: DRAMA AND
ENTERTAINMENT
Convenor:
Chris Paterson, Working Group Chair
Chair:
Chris Paterson, University of Leeds, UK
Discussant:
David Hesmondhalgh, University of Leeds, UK
22. Online Game Companies as Media Institutions: A Case Study on The Legend of
Mir II
Qiaolei Jiang, Chinese University of Hong Kong
23. Imagination and censorship, fiction and reality: Producing a telenovela in a time
of political crisis
Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, University of Georgia, USA
24. Reaching New Audiences through Drama Production and New Platforms
Mats Bjorkin and Maria Edström, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
25. Production as reception? A Theoretical Approach to a Production Analysis of
Television Satire
Hanne Karina Bruun, University of Aarhus, Denmark

TORRENTE: THE EVOLUTION OF PRODUCTION AND THE INVOLUTION OF THE TEXT

On April 2,  Venevisión premiered its new telenovela, Torrente, written by Benilde Alvarez and Neida Padilla. The press wrote extensively about the first episode (El Universal, El Nacional, Ultimas Noticias, El Mundo), highlighting the beauty and proliferation of exterior shots in Venezuela's Gran Sabana region, and the central plot of surrogate motherhood.

Torrente is a change from the style of telenovelas broadcast in Venevisión. Some press reports have defined it as a return to the rosa style (see, for example,  El Nacional). Personally, I believe that we're facing an involution of the text (script+incidental music), that contrasts with the undeniable technical and directorial advances that allow the extraordinary display of natural beauty that we see in Torrente:



and the mise-en-scene of sequences like the airplane accident depicted in the following videos (10:30 in the first video and the beginning seconds of the second video):

To be specific, when I say there's an involution of the text, I'm not talking about the theme that underpins the central conflict: surrogate motherhood. This is a contemporary and controversial topic that is perfect for a telenovela. (The topic is so current that Newsweek recently dedicated  its cover story  to the topic. When I say involution, I refer to:

• The flat depiction of important characters (and their stereotypical interpretation). For instance, villain Cayo Gabaldón, interpreted by actor Félix Loreto.
  
• The inclusion of predictable and trite dialogues.
  
• The backwardness of certain dialogues:  "I'm an incomplete woman who was born with a useless womb", "We, women, need to have children. We were born for that", says the protagonist,  Ana Julia. Those words construct a woman that, even though she has a stable and loving relationship, professional success and beauty, has a microscopic self-esteem exclusively based on her ability to bear children.  It's an outdated depiction of women that denies our struggle for an identity that goes beyond being "so and so's mom" or "the wife of..."
  
• There are problems in the connection among scenes and in the handling of the mini-time elipses. The consequence is an irregular rhythm in the storytelling, and sequences that don't make sense. The source of the problem could be in the edition process. But, I think it's in the script's outline. Both the director and editor are trying to minimize this issue, without much success so far.
  
• The incidental music consists of excessively dramatic scores, utilized only to exaggerate the melodrama. The result reeks of telenovelas from decades past. 
  

All of these, coupled with the almost total absence of humor (the only semi-humorous element is the tone of the character Juancho Gabaldón, played by Eduardo Orozco), underpin my perception of  Torrente as an involution.

Having said this, it's still early in the game. The telenovela has the potential of building on many interesting dramatic knots.

I must say, however, that this isn't a good moment for the Venezuelan telenovela industry. With the forced transformation of RCTV into RCTV Internacional, and the changes in priorities of  Venevisión's top management (priority to the international market over the local one), we're beginning to see telenovelas whose best attributes lie on the technical aspects of production (much like the telenovelas produced in Miami). I think this is a loss for the genre because telenovelas are losing their ability to connect with the public not only through the love story, but also through well designed characters and situations that we both recognize and recognize ourselves in since they're ingredients or our dreams and realities. 

BACK WITH A NEW LOOK

When this blog turned six months old, I made the resolution to change its visual look. It's taken me almost six more months to do it since it isn't easy for me to find time for such a task. Finally, it's done! (Hence my wide smile as I look at my computer's screen). And it was possible thanks to the amazing help of my friend dRAGOONS. If you can read Spanish, I recommend you visit his blog, Utópico Real, where you will get to know this bioanalysis student, who moderates the Internet message board TVVI, and who has a real talent for visual communication.

The change in the blog's look comes at the same time as I arrive back to Athens after two intense weeks of research in Caracas, where I documented the current state of the telenovela industry, ten months after the closing of RCTV and its transformation into RCTV Internacional. I still have much analysis to do, but the panorama isn't particularly sunny for actors, writers and the Venezuelan public. Both RCTV Internacional and Venevisión have shifted gears and now privilege the international market over the local one. This will probably mean more remakes of old telenovelas and more telenovelas that follow the traditional model of the telenovela rosa. It isn't a good time for creativity and talent. In addition, the work sources for actors have significantly dried up.

This trip also included several media interviews about my book Venezuela es una Telenovela. It's always both surreal and fascinating for me to talk about my book. Interviews usually center in either or both aspects of my research: telenovelas and Venezuela.

There was an element of serendipity in my visit to my birth city. Two events coincided with my stay. I've commented already about the first one: the premiere of Caramelo e Chocolate, the first telenovela broadcast by government network TVES.

The second event was the end of the production of Arroz Con Leche, a telenovela that's entering its final broadcast week. In all the years I've been studying telenovelas, I'd never been able to witness that moment in a telenovela's biography. Once again I was reminded of the importance of vantage point for the construction of our perceptions, and the immense distance that exists between what people "know" about a telenovela's production and what actually happens behind the heavy doors of every television studio and inside the network's boardrooms.


While I was in Caracas there was an episode of Arroz Con Leche that garnered 15 points of rating, a true feat...even in the current no-internal-competition environment. In this particular episode the character Tomás Chacón beats his wife Amanda. (We don't see him actually hitting her because such scenes are prohibited by the Venezuelan Ley de Contenidos). What does this peak in the ratings mean under these circumstances? Is it because there's a fascination with violence and/or drama? Or is it that Venezuelans can identify with and/or recognize this issue as one of the country's most pressing sociocultural problems? It's worth analyzing since those numbers and the content of that episode provide us with a trap door through which we can examine the social formation.

TELENOVELA PRODUCTION: LEARNING ABOUT IT

A few weeks ago the students in my Telenovelas class turned in one of their assignments: to write an introspective essay about any (or several) of the aspects of the production of Venezuelan telenovelas that we have studied in class. In other words, I wanted them to reflect on telenovela production from a very personal perspective.

Their essays were honest and enlightening for me, both as a teacher and as a person who's now very familiar with the process of producing a telenovela. As a researcher I know well that it's always important to be able to see the familiar with unfamiliar eyes, and my students allowed me to do just that.

Below a summary of two of the topics my students focused on (in their own words):

* The industrial rhythm and complexity of the production process:

I have enjoyed going behind the scenes of Venezuelan production as it has given me immense insight into the world of telenovela creation. Each aspect of production holds its appropriate place in the successful execution of the show. I realize that without the careful attention to detail and collaboration of each group, the telenovela would suffer. Each member of production, from the writer to the actors to the production assistants, is essential in the success of the telenovela (Jackie).

When you view an episode of a telenovela, you are witnessing a small miracle. Before taking this class, I never could have fathomed the complexity and rapidity of a single episode’s production (Amanda).

I am so impressed with everyone in this process’ ability to work under pressure, especially with the actors being able to memorize their lines in only a few hours. I loved hearing the stories about the actors hiding their scripts seconds before “Cinco y acción!”. I was astonished to hear how close some novelas are written to their actual air time. I would not be able to work under that kind of stress! (Alli)

Producers are faced with a difficult task that has potential to create tensions with actors as well. They must know where to draw the line between being a compassionate leader and a strong leader. Being a strong leader without any compassion can lead to a power hungry producer who misplaces their priorities and leading skills. However, being overly compassionate can result in the individual being walked all over and underproductive (Megan).

I found it very interesting to learn about the process by which actors are notified of their taping schedule because scenes are so rarely taped in their final order. As a consumer and someone who sees a telenovela only in its final form with scenes placed in their correct order, it was difficult for me to imagine taping them out of order for the sake of convenience. Learning about the roles of the script as well as the importance of the “pauta” also really amazed me. I had no idea that the sheer taping of a show could be so complicated. Prior to this class, I thought that most programs were taped in order on a set, which seemed much easier than the actual process of bringing certain actors together at very specific times to tape an array of varying scenes, all with the same props, make-up and accessories to ensure that the coinciding scenes are cohesive. To be honest, I felt very overwhelmed when learning about all of the necessary actions that are taken to make sure that each scene comes together as it is mapped out by the writing team. (Jessica)

*The writers' limitations regarding the final product:

I understand now that the director’s interpretation is incredibly important. He, or she, has, in some instances, more power than the writer because if he interprets one scene differently than the writer, the whole feeling of the episode could change. (Alli)

There are often times discrepancies in how a character was written to be portrayed and how a character is played out on screen. The ideas held by the writer do not always match up with the actor’s ideas or style of acting. At times ideas can be tossed around without causing tension, but sometimes a party may become defensive about suggestions or criticism (Megan).

From the perspective of the writer, does an understanding of the process trump what he or she wants? Where do you draw the line between the product and the art form? I think it is sad that writers have to tip-toe around what network executives and government regulations want. But I guess that is just one of the prices that a television writer must pay. Making a telenovela requires the work and vision of many people, so it is impossible for the original idea to be untainted. But I think that the writers should try to be as involved as possible in the production process to ensure that their stories and ideas are not watered down and to maintain the integrity of their original ideas. (Tia)

I should mention also that the students' essays touched on other topics such as the importance of music in a telenovela, the production of special effects within a low budget and the importance given to actoral credits in a telenovela. Their writings reflected what I've learned by now: what happens behind the scenes is as interesting and fascinating as what we see happening on the television screen.


(Photos taken during the production of telenovela Ciudad Bendita)