PLANNING FOR GROWTH IN YEARS OF RESTRICTED RESOURCES

should be the natural result of the dialogue and the theme of the scene” and “Actionmust match the context of the script.” Nine students recommended the scriptwriter,“note an event such as how the talent or some other object moved” and “to notespecific action incorporated within the production.” And “noting concrete expressions.”Two students recommended, “remembering to use verbs or adverbs. Verbs help thedirector interpret the script structure when describing screen action?” and “Use verbs toshow the audience.”Table 1 is presented to illustrate discrepancy statements between scriptwriter andproduction students. Question statements A, B, C, and D demonstrate that moststudents realize the inherent power of storytelling to facilitate action. Students, as agroup, recognize the inherentiv elements of storytelling. Many students articulated theneed to use verbs and adverbs to describe physical action. The students frequentlymade statements indicating their confusion about noting action in their work asscriptwriters or as directors. The most frequent difficulty for novice broadcast studentsis demonstrated in their difficulty differentiating telling vs. showing while eitherwriting or directing for television. Questions E and F reinforce the student knowledgeregarding inherent techniques for scriptwriting and direction. Students appear to knowthe vocabulary. The difficulty they exhibit comes in the second most responded area.Scriptwriting students most often indicted a need to identify specific cameramovements or effects to intensify their action elements. Production students amplifiedtheir action needs by indicating how people or things move within the screen space.Responses to this question area shows that students are conflicted over the role ofdefining specific framing for writer. Production students do respond to the expectationthat inherent action elements derived from the script drive their directing expectations.When students were asked to give writer or director examples of mental orpsychological action (questions G and H, Table 1) the recognition of inherent actionelements were again dominant for both groups. The second choices demonstrate thereliance on description by both groups to clarify the action they desire.An observation noted from this investigation is the absence of student classificationof action elements relative to the writing or directing task. Classification is importantto the act of writing and direction. The teacher must help the student identify how thescriptwriter and director manipulate and demonstrate action differently. The differenceis illustrated in how and why their respective jobs impact the medium. To do thatefficiently the writer or director must classify action as it appears as script, on thescreen or both. Some classifications are exclusive and some mutual to writers anddirectors. Teachers may want students to practice particular types of action orientedscenes and then have students classify the action so they can see the power thescriptwriter has in actually determining the direction and outcome of their storytelling.Broadcast writing teachers must help students break away from “telling” the action andinstead work toward “showing” the action.ResultsScriptwriting students have a tendency to blend activities of scriptwriter and directorinto what they view as a singular process activity. Some of this fault is attributed to theclear understanding of inherent storytelling techniques students have learned.Confusion relative to functional writing surfaces when students try to clarify their story57Feedback September 2003 (Vol. 44, No. 4)