5-6 shows per week for months... that's a lot of episodes. Feature film production takes close to the same amount of time, but only has between 1-2 hours worth of the final film. A big difference: production value.
Films will take days setting up for one shot or waiting hours for the sun to be in the right place. It's not something you see so much in Telenovelas. Can you blame them? No way! Again... 5-6 shows per week for months, maybe even over a year. That is insane. Think about this:
1) Pick your favorite show on NBC, ABC, etc. How often do they have a new episode? A safe assumption would be once a week.
2)Now, is it shown continuously for months? Most shows come in seasons and definitely don't play year-round. My all-time favorite show is "The Sopranos," not really the best example, but each season had about 13 episodes. A telenovela does that in about 2-3 weeks.
Honestly, the biggest problem for me to overcome when watching telenovelas is the production value. As a telecommunication arts major, my professors spend all semester stressing production value, but we also spend all semester producing something that is generally less that 10 minutes. We are supposed to analyze everything in the shot from lighting to camera angles so that each element enhances the story.
It took me time to realize, this isn't film. This is a Telenovela, one of the most beloved types of media in the world. There are telenovelas for everyone: telenovelas roasas, telenovelas rapturas, telenovelas para los ninos, etc. People follow Telenovelas because of the stories.
Production value is something I also had to overcome in analyzing telenovelas. And even the stories seem so basic at times that it's difficult to read between the lines. In any type of cinematic art I usually look for something groundbreaking and innovative. I guess the relationship between production and consumption is something I have previously overlooked though. It's amazing to see how the writers can so quickly respond to ratings and save their story, and also that they can be so flexible with their plots while staying faithful to their characters' development. It's neat to see the audience as an active participant in the creation of telenovelas. The production of telenovelas is such an interesting and unique process. I think a lot of us have wholly changed our outlook on what telenovelas represent to us since the beginning of this semester.
ReplyDeleteThe production in telenovelas is something that I wondered about so much before this class. Whenever flipping through channels and seeing a glimpse of a telenovela, I would think "wow, that lighting,the settings,the sounds...". I used to think the production was quite poor. But after this class, I have realized the true value of a telenovela. Just like you say, the story of the telenovela is the strongest element.
ReplyDeleteI also no longer look at telenovelas and think about the poor quality of production, I am so fascinated how fast an episode of a telenovela is produced! I am really amazed at the day by day process of telenovelas, and how the whole crew stays on top of their jobs, enthusiastically, and gorgeous.