PLANNING FOR GROWTH IN YEARS OF RESTRICTED RESOURCES

they function as screen directors?We teach our students the process of scriptwriting. Should we also teach them thatscriptwriting is the functional transformation of literary style into a specific style for thescreen? How action is written for the script empowers the director to make imagesfunction as subordinate to storytelling. That is, true direction is subordinate tostorytelling. For example, action for the television screen as presented on programs likeLaw and Order, Absolutely Fabulous, Crossing Jordan and ER are action orientedtelevision programs requiring the audience to think about and react to the emotionaland physical action elements designed for the program. These programs have grossphysical action but rely on the dramatic characters and situations or portrayals inherentto good storytelling. The programs are developed using action writing presented as ascript for the director to interpret. The director translates the intent of the scriptwriterinto a type of visual, aural, and emotional conversation between the screen and theviewer. A suitable challenge for scriptwriting teachers is to develop an understanding ofhow to teach action in scriptwriting and then implementing student lessons andpractice to illustrate the functional difference between writing and directing the action?It is fair to say beginning scriptwriters must learn to distinguish between the tasks ofdeveloping action for the purpose of storytelling versus the task of interpreting thestory action for screen presentation. How students interpret the action-writing task asperformed by the scriptwriter and the director is a problem. The student may see thetask as the same for both, but it is not. Like many media-writing tasks, the projectconcept and production outcome must work toward the same end. The scriptwritermust work diligently to maintain a separation between the writing and directing taskwhile being ever mindful of the need to direct the production elements toward a screenoutcome. Students attempting to succeed as scriptwriters must demonstrate theirunderstanding of the relationship between scriptwriting, script direction, and action.The aspiring scriptwriter, for example, must practice concepts relative to movement orphysical action toward and away from the lens rather than action of the lens toward theaction. Scriptwriters must also consider the opportunities for mental movement towardor away from the lens. They achieve this writing aptitude by telling the story ratherthan directing the action for the director. The scriptwriter must also reconcile his orher scriptwriting technique of external (physical) and internal (mental) character orsituation cueing to facilitate storytelling. The student who aspires to write and directwell must come to realize and practice the concept that action is a part of the story andnot an enhancer for the story. The need for emotional and physical action is embeddedwithin the unraveling of the story. Teachers need to implement strategies to allowstudents to practice that concept.Should the scriptwriting teacher spend more class time and project time articulatingthe purpose of action? Students typically demonstrate the difficulty of separating thetask of the writer from the task of the director. Despite instruction to avoid “shotcalling”and rambling description, students write to control the director when, in fact,they wish to control the story action. Teachers who understand the reason studentswith this difficulty fail to write effectively can begin developing teaching strategies thathelp young scriptwriters and directors perform with greater success.To illustrate the point, we begin with a question leading to more efficientscriptwriting and direction. Can the purpose of the screenplay or scene shape theBEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 52