PLANNING FOR GROWTH IN YEARS OF RESTRICTED RESOURCES

Ritchie’s scenes, the suicide scene from the Royal Tenenbaums? The scriptwriter mustcare that action not be misinterpreted by the audience. Is “action” a critical ingredientin the relationship between the people on the screen and the people watching?Whether action is used in a screenplay like “The Royal Tenenbaums” or in a recruitingvideo for a social service agency, the action elements used in the screenplay are devicesused to connect the story and purpose of the event to the people watching.Timing (pacing and rhythm), continuity (correlating video and dialogue) andmotivation (intended meaning) are keys to creating effective action. These writingdevices serve as “notification” to the audience. According to Whener (1997) thescreenwriter must ask, “Can I picture the action sequence as I have written it?” Toachieve this goal the screenwriter must be able to imagine the opportunities they havepresented for screen direction. Deemer (1995) defines action as, “… short directsentences with few adjectives, verbs are most effective devices for noting action.”MethodInvestigating how broadcast students describe and visualize scriptwriting actionrequired developing a process for collecting information derived from the studentsregarding their perception about scriptwriting and direction. This data collection iscombined with observation of students, particularly as they work at directing scriptsdeveloped by other students. Undergraduate students participating in the questioningcame from three classes. Thirty-eight students enrolled in an introductory productiontechniques course, 13 students enrolled in a radio and television continuity writingcourse and 17 students enrolled in an intermediate level studio and field televisionproduction course.Students were asked to provide written responses to open ended questions and towrite a paper depicting the process they use to define action for a production. Studentresponses were collected and categorized into areas defining actions as defined shots,inherent action elements related to storytelling, descriptive phrasing for clarificationand actions defined by physical constraint or action demonstrated by using verbs andadverbs.FindingsWhen students write about the differences between writing and direction, theirdistinguishing commentary reveal a tendency to rely on traditional prose style and todefine terms (note tasks) by identifying from dictionaries or discovering a source likeestablished writers or critics. Students need to translate the task of writing into afunctional process that allows a director to shape visual and aural identity into scriptproducts.Thirty-eight students in an introductory broadcast production class (audio, studioand single camera field production) were asked, near the end of the semester, “Howwould you recommend incorporating action into your productions?” One studentwrote, “Very Carefully.” The remaining student responses fell into four generalcategories. Two student responses referred to specific camera movement or the need toidentify specific shot frames. The students said “ to demonstrate the action with cameramovement.” And “Use camera and talent movement to enhance the production.”Eleven student responses recommended techniques inherent to the script like “ActionBEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 56