Blog Post #3 Production of La Doña

La Doña is one of the most successfully grossing telenovelas in Mexico. Part of what makes the show so popular is it’s incredibly high production value. More and more, telenovela audiences are expecting more realism out of the novelas that they watch. La Doña broaches many complex, modern issues that viewers face in their daily lives such as corruption, gang violence, kidnapping, and sexual assault and other crimes. The cinematography of La Doña contains sweeping shots of real places in Mexico City where the audience can visualize. Time and time again La Doña provides crystal clear depictions of life in Mexico complete with scenes of street vendors and markets, corrupt cops, and tenement buildings with community living that is common in Mexico City. Another important aspect of production is the music. Like many other telenovelas, the music swells dramatically during climactic scenes to increase awareness to the audience that something important is happening. Something unique to La Doña is that the lead actress, Aracely Arámbula, also sings the theme song of the show which is catchier and more pop-like than other novela intro songs. 

Song link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfwSK1fqEwc 

The thing that interested me particularly in the production of La Doña is that it was inspired by a novel, Doña Bárbara. Therefore, the production team has to navigate the challenges of staying true to the original script of the novel versus creating new content, as this is not the first time Doña Bárbara has been remade to fit the screen. In 2008, there was another novela produced by the same name as the novel but it has distinctively different characteristics than the newer novela, La Doña. I watched some clips of Doña Bárbara and it is incredibly interesting to compare the two and see how drastically the production value has increased in a matter of a decade. The picture quality, while I know this differs by the streaming service, is ultimately of such lower quality as little as 12 years ago. 

The novela, produced by Argos Communication and Telemundo Studios, uses a multi-camera mode of production. This means that the team shoots the same scene on multiple cameras in order to show different perspectives. This alone, is an indicator of La Doña’s  incredibly high production budget and value. The team is also tasked with following a multitude of storylines at once, including the love triangle between Monica, her mother (La Doña), and Saul, the handsome lawyer who’s heart seems to get him into trouble. The show has been so successful that it is still currently airing with plans for more episodes in the future. 

Production Pablo Escobar

The production behind Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal  is high quality that is present through the "true-to-reality" details, the emotion, and the scenery. The telenovela focus is to portray the country of Colombia during the time period Pablo was alive. The series was created by Camilo Cano and Juana Uribe. Both creators have a direct link to Escobar as his actions affected love ones. The actor who potrays Escobar is Andres Parra. Because Parra is a Colombian actor, this further adds to the production's accuracy to the reflection of real world facts. The goal is to be true to the real life events while adding telenoleva flare that people at home come to love.

The scenery throughout the telenovela continues to boost the production's accuracy. The telenovela was filmed in Colombia. The directors are not afraid to put the landscape in focus. The gorgeous landscape, in my opinion, is a artist contrast of the events that occur within the telenovela. Escobar malicious action are taken place in Colombia, a beautiful country. At times, the scene begins with a birds eye view that displays mountains, beaches, and cities.

The emotion in the telenovela was an essential component to make the events touch the audience. One instance of emotion is when Escobar indirectly kills Rodrigo Lara. Lara was striving to end the cartels business and was a obstacle to Pablo. Before the tragic event, the audience is introduced to his wife and kids. Including the family gave more weight to the instance. The audience sees Lara being a husband and a father which gives him some connection to the audience. I even began to like his character. However, he is gunned down (in slow motion) giving depth. After the audience sees the reactions of the heartbroken family. I felt the emotion the director was trying to present.

While watching the telenovela, the production is hard to miss. The telenovela being produced, acted and filmed by Colombians and in Colombia shows throughout. The passion of the people behind this project only adds to the production. The point was to tell of the events of this drug lord for those to remember that the shady business of drug trafficking results in nothing good. The negatives outweigh the positive and the life of those in the drug business end terribly. This is a clear message that is at the beginning of every episode, "those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." The effort and work that is behind the camera is reflected with a telenovela that hooked me and many others into the life of Pablo Escobar.

Corona Virus y Mateo Corona

El tiempo sin clases me ha dado más tiempo para ver mi telenovela, “Falsa Identidad”. El primer tiempo Diego y Isabel conoce, ellos están escondiendo. Cuando ellos huyen el país para los Estados Unidos, ellos salieron una vida secreta para una otra vida secreta. Mientras Diego y Isabel esconden con Ricardo, las vidas de los están en el peligro. Después de miro la telenovela durante cuarentena, estoy agradecido para mi familia y mi seguridad. La cuarentena puede sentir como estoy escondiendo, pero mi situación no es de miedo como las personajes in “Falsa Identidad”. Por ejemplo, Diego no tiene relaciones buenas con su madre y su padre está muerto. Pero, la ayuda de su hermano cuando él lo ayuda conseguir la identificación es un ejemplo de la importancia de la familia. En resumen, las relaciones malas de las familias en “Falsa Identidad” son un recordatorio de agradecer para mi familia.

Un aspecto de mirando “Falsa Identidad” que es más difícil para mí es personajes malos en la telenovela. Por ejemplo, es difícil ver la telenovela cuando odio la antagonista muchísimo. Sé que la antagonista es un parte más importante para la trama, pero personajes como Gavino Gaona y El Corona son insoportable. Ellos lo hacen difícil para mí  a terminar los episodios. ¿Alguien más tiene este problema con sus telenovelas? Deseo que las personajes moriría pero sé Gavino Gaona y El Corona no van.

Durante este tiempo terrible, me pregunto si habrá algunos episodios nuevos de las telenovelas. Desde los actores, productores, y la gente que trabaja en el conjunto necesitan en la cuarentena con sus familias, pienso que no habrá episodios nuevos. Es un tiempo bueno para ver más telenovelas diferentes y mostrar las telenovelas a nuestras familias. Como las telenovelas se unieron durante el tiempo de Hugo Chávez en Venezuela, tal vez las telenovelas pueden unir la gente durante COVID-19.

Production: La Reina del Sur

   When it comes to production, "The Reina del Sur" has conquered all means of it. When it comes to music, the scenery, videography, stunts, etc. Aurelio Valcárcel Carroll and Hugo León Ferrer are the executive producers. Carroll has worked on many well-known telenovelas and productions like "Dame Chocolate" and "La Viuda del Blanco" along with Ferrer who has worked on "La Tormenta."
   The scenery of "La Reina del Sur" was unlike others. This is where you can guess how much really went into production. It took place in Mexico, Spain, South Africa, etc. The camera captured some of the most beautiful places in the world and was able to add suspense to it with different scenes.
   In the second part of the telenovela series, the scenery becomes more powerful and meaningful because of the story behind it all. Teresa Mendoza has been separated from her daughter. Spoiler alert: it starts off in Italy and yes Mendoza returns to Mexico. Unfortunately, it wasn't for any of the reasons we had hoped for. Without the variation in locations within the telenovela, the scenery and videography would have been bland or more common to the viewers. The different places made it so unique.
   The music was what I really didn't expect in the beginning especially the intro song but as I watched more episodes I genuinely enjoyed listening to it. The song is a corrido and it is called "La Reina Del Sur" and it was performed by the Cuates de Sinaloa. I am not a fan of corridos, but I am a fan of this particular one. The lyrics give a brief explanation of what Teresa Mendoza's story is and what is going on with her life.
   Something that I really enjoyed was the videography of the telenovela. I love the transition between the different scenes especially towards the end and how it kept the suspense going from episode to episode. The producers made sure that their content was worth every minute. You knew the next episode was going to be a good one without viewing the sneak peeks or teasers.
   As for the stunts, that was a whole different story– one that deserves its own blog. A lot of thought was put into the movement of the actors and the stunts that were made. These different characters obviously had their stunt doubles in order to prevent getting physically hurt. Now the magic that really comes into including these stunt doubles is making sure that they look like the real actors portraying these characters.
   When it comes to production, you really have to recognize the hard work that goes into it. Especially to create the magic behind these programs. It takes a lot of work and effort and let's not forget that "La Reina del Sur" was the second most expensive telenovela to produce right behind "El Señor de Los Cielos."

Production in a Nutshell

I’ve always had a fascination with the way things are filmed. The magic, the finished product is never that even when being filmed. Everything comes together in the end. Despite this, the head writer and their writers can see the story with all the details incorporated in their head and manage to turn this abstract idea into something concrete. The main director also plays a huge part in carrying out this task as they create the vision for how it's shot. The camera work is essential to the cohesiveness and flow of the story. In novelas, there is always the trademark up close shots of the face of an actor and the back and forthness when there is a dramatic kind of revelation. The one that stands out to me is a clip from a novela where the mother walks in on her daughter kissing a boy, but somehow the mother also had a thing for the boy. I don’t even know the name of the novela, but maybe someone recognizes it. I know that’s sort of vague to be able to pinpoint the novela but the camera work on that scene is honestly kind of funny paired with the acting because it is an older novela. I think one of the most interesting parts is the way the storyboard is made such that scenes are able to be filmed out of order to be as efficient as possible. In class we talked about how certain public settings can only be rented out for so long; this is constricting on the team to make sure the mandatory things happening in this specific scene are successfully shot. On top of this, the actors might be faced with having to situated their character under different circumstances each time. Of course, this comes with the territory, but their skills are put to the test to execute the scenes the way the writer(s) envisions it. Something out of the hands of the production team when they film things out of order is nature which is a challenge in itself. Dialogistas is also a new term that I learned, and it is actually something that I didn’t know necessarily had its own lane per say. To be tasked with creating the verbal speech of scenes to narrate the story definitely takes understanding the head writer's vision on another level to be able to develop the meat of the script. There exists the controversial opinion of whether an actor should stay consistent with the exact script or should they be able to improvise on the spot. I’m not really sure how to feel about it because on one hand the dialogistas have the written what they think fits, but the actor has grown to know the character they are playing enough to be inside their minds. In class, we talked about how sometimes the actor will confide in the dialogista to discuss their choices, and this is probably the best outcome. The script is definitely someone who needs to have a good memory if not a strict routine on how they do things. Although it is something that speaks to me, I think my bad memory would not serve me well as a script. The issue with the mismatched nails when they had shot scenes at different times is something that inhibits a comprehensive plotline. This could only be caught by a few people, but in the end it matters as much as a larger mistake. 

¿Viste eso?

Honestamente, me perdí las conferencias sobre producción. He estudiado las notas por mi cuenta y hablé con los alumnos de la clase. Hay un concepto de producción que me llama la atención incluso antes de ponerme al día con las conferencias que rodean la producción y ese es el concepto de continuidad.

Tomé una clase de producción cinematográfica en la escuela secundaria. Aprendí todas las tomas especiales, cómo tomarlas y cómo editarlas durante el rodaje. Si bien esta era una clase para principiantes, aprendí mucho sobre los secretos detrás de los programas de televisión y las películas. El factor clave que aprendí de esto fue cómo la filmación no se realiza en orden. La continuidad es extremadamente importante para la producción, porque si no notas las pequeñas cosas como los detalles del atuendo, el cabello y la ubicación general, la continuidad puede arruinar una producción.

Sabía tan poco acerca de las telenovelas antes de esta clase que no sabía si la producción sería diferente al filmar escenas en orden o fuera de orden. Es muy similar a la producción de espectáculos estadounidenses a pesar de que está en el aire con más frecuencia. Odio que aunque soy competente en español, me distraigo con los subtítulos y, a veces, los uso para seguir el ritmo de los dramas rápidos. Los subtítulos son definitivamente una distracción para poder encontrar fallas en la producción de El Clon. Sin embargo, en general, no he notado ningún error o falla de producción importante.

Does Production Takes a Back Seat?

As I continue to watch the first season of La Reina del Sur, I find myself getting so into the story that I have to remember to focus on the various aspects of production. I believe it to be the most underrated part of anything on video. Unless you have personal experience in the industry or are deliberately watching something to focus on the production, it is very easy to forget about it. My guess is that the average consumer around the world, regardless of what they are watching, tends to not think about the production. Which is a shame because of how much work goes into each and every second of a show, especially those with high budgets and large audiences.

There are so many things that go into production as we have learned in class: lighting, positioning, sound, makeup, costume design, cameras, temperature, etc. All of these things can easily go unseen and unthought of when you sit down to watch the final product. But behind the scenes, an unbelievable amount of effort, time and money goes into it. We the consumers only experience a small piece of the real show. Watching behind the scenes cuts and interviews has always intrigued me for that reason. I kept wanting to ask: what went into that shot? Why did they choose to put that person over there? How many times did they have to redo this scene? Did the actress do that on her own or was that a part of the script? Are they actually in love in real life, because there's no way they can act out that scene so well?! (That one was from my mother who has recently been watching with me... thanks Corona haha)

For La Reina del Sur, they do a lot of on-site filming instead of in the studio, adding a lot to the production value. When I was actually able to think about the production, I noticed camera angles and lighting the most. Yet, still I would catch myself forgetting about so many other things we discussed in class, it was overwhelming. Dr. A was absolutely right about the fact that once she exposed us to certain things, we would never be able to get them out of our heads. Specifically in the love scenes, like the one we watched in class with the man on the latter, and about how the director was so specific on how the man took off his shirt and where the woman dropped hers... It must truly be a nightmare to be on set for those 15, 16, 17+ hour days.

Not only is production important to create something good, but it's something that is high stakes. The saying "everyone is a critic" would really keep me up at night if I were on the production team because one small mistake and it's almost a guarantee that at least one, if not more, of the millions of viewers of the program will notice. I find it interesting to think about what viewers are paying attention to while watching. For me personally, even when I was trying to think about the production, I would still just get lost and have to refocus my brain. There must be a tough dichotomy there between putting in the effort and the funding into an incredible production versus maybe letting the production lack a little in certain scenes because you expect no one to notice. At the end of the day, this sums up how I would feel working in production:

La producción de Celia

Hasta ahora he estado disfrutando de mi telenovela Celia. Estoy un poco más de medio camino hecho con la serie y creo que la telenovela ha hecho un trabajo fantástico de contar la vida de Celia Cruz. Para hacer esta entrada de blog tuve que hacer una gran cantidad de investigación sobre esta telenovela porque la información era difícil de encontrar, pero los resultados fueron muy interesantes. Celia es una telenovela originalmente en español y producida por Fox Telecolombia para RCN Televisión y Telemundo de 2015 a 2016. Finalmente, Celia fue publicada en Netflix durante unos años en los Estados Unidos, pero fue retirada un poco después. La serie fue creada por Andrés Salgado y Paul Rodríguez y dirigida por Víctor Mallarino y Liliana Bocanegra. No pude encontrar el costo exacto de producción, pero voy a suponer que era muy alto. La telenovela fue filmada a la vista en varios países, como Colombia y Puerto Rico, que se transformaron para parecerse a Cuba de los años 50 y 60. Los actores y actrices de esta serie en adición son muy famosos. También,  los actores que interpretan a Celia, Pedro Knight y Lola Calvo han tenido experiencia emulando la vida de Celia Cruz antes en espectáculos de broadway o música que me pareció irónica y muy interesante. En la telenovela hay dos versiones de Celia, Jeimy Osorio interpretó a la joven Celia, Aymée Nuviola interpretó a la mayor Celia y Carolina Gaitán interpretó a Lola Calvo. Otra cosa que me pareció increíble acerca de las actrices que interpretaron a Celia y Lola, todas cantaron su propia música para la telenovela. Hay un montón de canciones con este biodrama y cada una de ellas es en realidad cantada por estas actrices. Para mí este es increíble porque es raro en la televisión estadounidense que este sea el caso que los actores cantan sus propios canciones. En la telenovela hay un gran cantidad de detalles resguardando el sonido, la iluminación y los ángulos de cámara también. Con la mayoría de Celia siendo filmada en el lugar, la mayoría de las escenas se filman sientan a la audiencia muy natural. No importaba si eran naturalmente soleados u oscuros, las escenas se sentían más realistas debido a esta atención al detalle. El sonido de esta telenovela también es increíble. Es muy evidente que los directores de sonido prestaron mucha atención a sus partituras musicales con el fin de capturar con precisión la vida de Celia Cruz. La telenovela está rodada al estilo de la telenovela con la cámara. Sin embargo, las escenas son muy dinámicas ya que estaba grabado en lugar de en un estudio. Hay algunas escenas que son obviamente filmadas en un estudio porque se sienten menos dinámicas que todas las otras escenas. Esta sería una de las desventajas para grabar en el lugar. Para concluir, creo que Celia hace un gran trabajo está representando la vida de Celia Cruz. La telenovela obviamente encarna cosas para el drama y el entretenimiento, sin embargo la verdadera Celia estaba en el negocio del entretenimiento. Así que estoy seguro de que algunas cosas locas como estas realmente ocurrieron en su vida como la telenovela, pero no exactamente como se muestran en la televisión.

Production: El Clon

In my opinion, El Clon is a production masterpiece. There are so many layers of complexity within the production that all work together harmoniously to create an enjoyable work of art. I think one of the most important production aspects of this telenovela is music. The music is often used in scenes to convey emotion/character introduction, setting changes. If I'm being honest, the music from this telenovela is a huge part of why I continue to follow along Jade and Lucas' crazy, rollercoaster love story.

The music in El Clon is honestly top tier. One of my favorite songs from El Clon is "Ana Baddy" by Mario Reyes, which also referred to as Jade and Lucas' song. This is the song that plays whenever there is a romantic encounter between Jade and Lucas. It conveys so much passion and emotion that you feel as if you are one of them, feeling all the emotions that they do. There are often scenes where it's just Jade and Lucas spotting each other from across a room, but the addition of this song fills it with so much emotion that it gives the scene much more significance and importance. Similarly, Latifa and Mohammed also have a song titled "Habibi Leh" [also by Mario Reyes]. This song is a perfect homage to the couple as they often refer to each other as some variation "Habibi". It is such a pure and romantic song that even the comment section of the Youtube video linked repeatedly describes the song's beauty and heartfelt emotion.

Apart from emotion, music is used in El Clon to distinguish between the two settings of the telenovela: Morocco and Miami. When in Miami, salsa-like music is used to introduce the setting change. Continuing with the theme, Latin songs are continuously used in Miami when showing transition scenes from one storyline to the next. For example, when it comes to a scene where Osvaldo and Dora are present, the song "Baby Baby" plays which further emphasizes the setting being in Miami due to the Latin style of the song. Contrarily, when in Morocco, songs with Arab influence are used to distinguish the change of scenery. A song that is repeatedly used while they're in Morocco is "Ma Titrikny". This song shows the Arab influence that is used by producers when the story is taking place in Morocco. 

The forbidden love of Jade and Lucas in addition to the sci-fi aspect of the clone really draws audiences in. The musical score of the telenovela, however, is the icing on the cake. From the intro song (which I never skip) to the classic character songs, the music from El Clon is really amazing as it draws in both Latin and Arabic sounds and fuses them together to create unique and powerful experiences that can't be duplicated. 

Sen Anlat Karadeniz - Ada Milla

ESPAÑOL

Recientemente, cambié la telenovela que estaba viendo para la clase. Pasé de ver la telenovela mexicana La Impostora a una telenovela turca llamada Sen Anlat Karadeniz, y hay una gran diferencia en estos dos programas. En La Impostora, la trama parecía inalcanzable y fuera de este mundo para una persona normal, y los personajes estaban constantemente hechos para verse lo mejor que podían. En general, se sintió como algo muy difícil para poder relatar. Sen Anlat Karadeniz, por otro lado, es tan convincente que se siente real. El tema del programa trata sobre una mujer quien está tratando de escapar de su abusivo esposo con su hijo, y todos los obstáculos que enfrenta en el camino. En la superficie, parece algo con lo que solo un determinado grupo de personas podría relacionarse, pero la historia es tan cautivadora y los personajes son tan agradables y personales (o odiables, como vemos con nuestros dos villanos) que creo que cada persona quien lo ve se engancha instantáneamente y se relaciona con al menos un personaje y su situación. Incluso, si no lo relacionas con algo específico, como espectador casi quieres comunicarte con el personaje y ser su amigo/a, o regañarlos por tomar una decisión tonta.

Antes de nuestras vacaciones de primavera, discutimos los diversos elementos que se unen para hacer una telenovela, y las similitudes y diferencias tanto en las telenovelas latinoamericanas como en las dramas turcos. Como uo hice el cambio de la telenovela mexicano a una telenovela  turco, pude notar algunas de estas diferencias, pero la que me resultó más obvio (y que también lo que me llamó la atención en clase) es el hecho de que tienen diferentes técnicas para filmar. Las telenovelas latinas se graban en un conjunto cerrado, lo que significa que una escena se puede filmar en cualquier momento durante el día (lo que significa que se puede filmar una escena nocturna a las 9 de la mañana., o una escena del amanecer  a las 11 de la noche). Aunque suena un poco tonto, un ejemplo en el que pensé cuando discutimos esto fue High School Musical 2. Durante el rodaje de "You are the Music in Me", en realidad se filmó a altas horas de la noche a pesar de que la película lo muestra durante una tarde soleada. Tener la capacidad de controlar la iluminación (por lo tanto, controlar la hora del día establecida por los escritores) significa que se puede filmar una escena una y otra vez hasta que el director decida que es perfecta, y aún así coincidirá con la hora del día que tienen los escritores elegido (evitando conflictos entre estos dos grupos, y evitando cualquier equivocación en la trama que pueda surgir debido a ello). Las telenovelas turcas no tienen este privilegio. Los dramas turcos casi exclusivamente usan escenarios en el lugar, lo que significa que las escenas tienen que filmarse rápidamente porque la iluminación o el clima pueden cambiar, o los productores pueden quedarse sin tiempo en un lugar determinado. Para las personas que no han visto una telenovela turca, Juego de Tronos es un buen ejemplo de un programa que se utiliza en la filmación del lugar adonde estén. Muchos de los palacios y paisajes transmitidos fueron filmados en diferentes lugares de toda Europa, algunos de los más famosos son el Palacio Real de Dorne, cual era el Real Alcázar de Sevilla, en España. O el Puente Largo de Volantis, cual en realidad es el Puente Romano de Córdoba, España. Y, finalmente, cualquier cosa al norte del muro con vistas aéreas se filmó principalmente en Islandia.

Mientras leer sobre esto puede no parecer que haya una diferencia grande en los dos programas, verlo es completamente diferente. La filmación a la vista muestra la belleza de un área que no se puede replicar en un set, y brinda la oportunidad de que todo parezca más realista, sin importar cuál sea el área.

ENGLISH

I recently swapped which telenovela I would be watching for class. I went from watching the Mexican telenovela La Impostora to a Turkish one called Sen Anlat Karadeniz, and boy oh boy is there a difference in these two shows. In La Impostora, the plot seemed unreacheable and out of this world, and the characters were all constantly made to look nice. Overall, it felt unrelatable. Sen Anlat Karadeniz, on the other hand, is so compelling that it feels real. The plot of the show is about a woman who is trying to escape her abusive ex-husband with her son, and all of the obstacles she faces along the way. On the surface it sounds like something which only a certain group of people would be able to relate to, but the story is so captivating and the characters are so personable and likeable (or hateable, as we see with our two villains) that I think every person who watches it is instantly hooked and relating to at least one character and their situation- even if you’re not, as a viewer you almost want to reach out and be their friend, or shake them for making a dumb desicion. 

Before Spring break we discussed the various elements that come together in making a telenovela, and the similarities and differences in both Latin American telenovelas and Turkish dramas. Because I made the switch between a Mexican one to a Turkish one I’ve been able to notice some of these differences, but the one that was more obvious to me (and also stood out to me in class) is the fact that they have different techniques for filming. Latin telenovelas are shot in a closed-set, meaning that a scene could be shot at any time during the day (meaning a night scene could be shot at 9 am, or a morning scene at 11 pm). While it seems silly, an example that I thought of when we discussed this was High School Musical 2. During the shooting of “You are the Music in Me”, it was actually filmed late at night even though the movie shows it as being during a sunny afternoon. Having the ability to control lighting (thus, controlling the set time of day) means that a scene can be filmed over and over and over again until the director decides that it is perfect, and it will still match the time of day the writers have chosen (avoiding conflict between these two groups, and avoiding any plothole which could arise because of it). Turkish telenovelas don’t have this privilege. Turkish dramas almost exclusively use on-location sets, meaning that scenes have to be shot quickly because the lighting or weather can change, or the producers can run out of time in a certain location. For people who haven’t watched a Turkish telenovela, Game of Thrones is a good example of a show which uses on set filming. Many of the palaces and sceneries aired were shot on location in many different places throughout Europe, some of the most famous being The Royal Palace of Dorne, which was the Real Alcazar Palace in Seville, Spain. Or the Long Bridge of Volantis, which is actually the Roman Bridge in Cordoba, Spain. And, finally, anything North of the Wall with aerial views were mostly shot on site in Iceland.

While reading about it may not seem like there would be a bif difference in the two shows, watching it is completely different. On sight filming shows the beauty of an area which can’t be replicated on a set, and it provides an opportunity for everything to seem more realistic, no matter what the area is. 

La producción de escenas de tiroteo

Un aspecto muy crucial en narconovelas como “El señor de los cielos” es el tiroteo. Hasta ahora, solo he pensado en cómo reaccionan los personajes cuando les disparan. Si el actor no reacciona como si fuera fusilada, la calidad de la producción baja a la vista del público. Debido a esto, los directores tratan de simular tiroteos reales en escenas como estas.

Después de un poco de investigación sobre esto, averigüé que hay mucho que el director principal debe tener en mente para que escenas de tiroteo parezcan auténticas. Si quiere que los armas parpadeen, se usan armas reales con cartuchos de fogueo. También se puede usar réplicas de armas reales, pero estos probablemente pertenecen a los personajes menores. Con respeto a las reacciones de los personajes fusilados, el impacto de la bala en el cuerpo es importante también. Para simular las heridas de bala, se puede utilizar chalecos con algunas explosiones de sangre como parte del disfraz de un personaje.

Además, el sonido de los disparos es importante en crear una escena envolvente para el público. Hay que capturar el sonido del arma, de la bala durante su trayectoria por el aire, y también de su impacto con el cuerpo. Nunca he pensado en estas cosas, pero ahora entiendo la complejidad que rodea la producción de estas escenas de tiroteo.

La recreación de la historia - la producción de Bolívar, una lucha admirable

Esta telenovela es diferente de algunas telenovelas tradicionales de muchas maneras. Aunque es en español y no está doblado en inglés, fue creado para una audiencia de los Estados Unidos y es un colaboración con Netflix. Debido a esto, es una de las producciones más caras de la red colombiana, Caracol. Se requirió mucha atención al detalle para recrear con precisión este período de tiempo. La escritora principal y "show runner" de la telenovela, Juana Uribe, trabajó con dos historiadores, un investigador y tres otros escritores que leyeron "todos las biografías que existan" para representar precisamente la vida de Simón Bolívar en una telenovela. El objetivo fue de representar Bolívar como el hombre que era, no solo el héroe. Quisieron mostrarlo con todos sus defectos, influencias y errores.

La mayoría de la telenovela fue filmado en Colombia. También filmaron en España, en Toledo. Los productores dijeron que era muy difícil encontrar lugares donde pudieran recrear una escena "colonial" de la telenovela. Esta fue solo una de las dificultades de crear una telenovela histórica que ha sido descrita como una biografía histórica o un drama de época. Por los 400 actores y 6,000 extras, necesitaron crear vestuarios precisos a este período de tiempo. Por ejemplo, para la personaje de Manuela, sus gorros eran exactamente los que se portaron en estas regiones durante este período de tiempo.

En clase hablamos sobre los "scripts" cuyo trabajo es prestar atención a todos los pequeños detalles  para que nada esté en desacuerdo con lo que pasa en esta escena y, asimismo, las escenas anteriores y posteriores. Me imagino que para una telenovela como esta, el trabajo de un script es mucho más difícil porque tienen que prestar atención a detalles como la pintura de uñas, peinados y joyería como siempre, pero ahora tienen que prestar atención a todos los detalles históricos y geográficas también porque la precisión es mucho más importante aquí.

Lo que es muy interesante es que, aunque fue creado para una audiencia de los Estados Unidos, no fue muy bien recibido en los Estados Unidos porque los estadounidenses no entienden las telenovelas. Leí muchas críticas sobre Bolívar de los críticos estadounidenses y todos dijeron que era demasiado dramático y hortera. Un de los críticos escribió que gastaron demasiado dinero en una orquesta, que creó toda la música para la telenovela, porque la música era pegajosa y sería mejor si hubieran usado este dinero para vestir mejor a los actores y extras. Obviamente, este crítico no entiende la importancia de la música en las telenovelas y por qué vale la pena que una red latinoamericana gaste dinero en un orquesta para su telenovela.

A quien le importa... just kidding, production of Rubí

Hola a todos,

     I hope you are all well and staying safe. I am not really motivated right now but hopefully, I make a good blog post. 

     I want to talk about the production of the newest Rubí. The telenovela was produced by W studios and Lemon studios for Televisa. It is part of Televisa's Fábrica de Sueños where they take some of their most popular telenovelas and remake them from a more modern perspective in less than 30 episodes. The original story was written by Yolanda Vargas Dulché while this one was written by Leonardo Padrón.

     I knew I had to watch this telenovela because all of Padrón's telenovelas are amazing. He took this opportunity to write a series that served as both the retelling of the original story and a sequel. He wrote in an Instagram post "En esta adaptación me permití imaginar la vida de Rubí 20 años después de su apogeo como la gran devoradora de hombres que fue."*

     By the author setting the telenovelas in two different times, there were some special effects that were added during post-production to portray the future. One being the technology, I think that everything stayed practically the same except for TVs and phones. Other than that, the transitions of times were obvious with the change in the characters' looks. What I liked was the use of lighting and color scheme that was created during production. Since Rubi's life was destroyed, 20 years later she is a very dark and angry woman and it shows with the lighting, color scheme and setting that they chose for the future. When she is young and she has that hunger to take over the world, the lighting and settings were more alive and colorful. 

    In an interview with Leonardo Padrón published by Produ, the author states "Rubí covers the power duel between the female and the male universes, having ambition as the center of the story about a woman who uses her beauty to rise, while she uses "men as steps". Even so, it is a story aligned with times of female empowerment, because what stands out is Rubí´s intelligence and sagacity to reach her goals" I think the author does a good job showing this throughout all the telenovela, but it is more relevant in the end. Rubí was able to have the life she wished for after 20 years of suffering and she is able to do so without having a man at her side. 

      The music in the telenovela was also magnificent. The intro song is a remake of "A quien le importa" which I'm sure is a very old song, but the version I listened to when I was a kid was Thalia's. It is a pretty catchy song, they made it more modern and it was sung by the main actress. I think the song is a good match for the female empowerment message that Padrón was trying to express. As Dr. A said in the intro songs lesson, it's best when they take the songs from the original telenovela and do a remake. I'm not sure what the intro song for the 1968 version was, but for the remake in 2002, it was "La Descarada which is also a good fit for the plot, but it is sung from the viewpoint of the men she seduced. Either way, I really love "A quien le importa" and I think that the lyrics were a better fit for this remake/sequel. Here is the translation of the song, so you understand why its a good song for female empowerment:

People point me out.

They point their fingers at me.

They whisper behind my back.

But I don't give a damn.

What does it matter to me

if I'm different than they are?

I don't belong to anybody.

They're not my owner.

I know they criticize me.

I'm sure they hate me.

Their envy rots them from inside out.

My life offends them.

Why is that?

It's not my fault.

My ways insult them.

My destiny is for me to decide.

And, that I'll choose for myself.

Who cares what I do?

Who cares what I say?

This is the way I am, and I'll keep being this way

I'm never gonna change.

Who cares what I do?

Who cares what I say?

This is the way I am, and I'll keep being this way

I'm never gonna change.

Maybe it's my fault

for not being like the rest.

But, it's too late

to change now.

I stand firm on my convictions.

I'm reinforcing my position.

My destiny is for me to decide,

and that I'll choose for myself

Who cares what I do?

Who cares what I say?

This is the way I am, and I'll keep on being this way.

I'm never gonna change.

Who cares what I do?

Who cares what I say?

This is the way I am, and I'll keep on being this way.

I'm never gonna change.

https://lyricstranslate.com

     The production value of the telenovela was really good, the mansions they used, the sceneries in Europe, everything was extremely detailed and beautiful. Also, one of the characters was an amputee, which means that there was a lot of effort put in pre-production to be able to prepare Kimberly Dos Ramos for those scenes. Overall, it was a very well-produced and entertaining telenovela.

*In this adaptation I allowed myself to imagine Rubi's life 20 years after her triumph as the seductress she was" ... translating is HARD.

Stay safe! - Nicole

I am the Script's Worst Nemesis

From learning about production in this class, I was incredibly interested to learn about the Script’s role in production. Not the piece of paper with the cast members’ lines on them, but the person responsible for making sure all of the details of a scene look sequential (even though there is a high chance they are not).

Before Dr. A’s lecture, it had truly never occurred to me that scenes would be shot out of order - DUH. Although, in my defense, I did not think about production much at all before Dr. A’s lecture. There is a much more cost and time efficient way that producers follow in shooting their telenovelas out of order. 

However, before this class I did notice lots of times where scenes were not shot continuously because there would be small details that did not match up. For example, in the show New Girl, there are times where the main character, Jess, will have her hair in front of her shoulders then behind her shoulders and then in front again without Jess having touched her hair in the scene. 

No one notices things like this, right? Wrong. I am one of the people who notice it. Scripts probably hate the people like me in their audience. I am a Script’s nemesis. 

Although, I am also the reason their job exists and the motivation to keep them paying attention to all the little details (within their control). I say within their control because, like shown in class, sometimes children in a production lose teeth or the weather changes - components the Script cannot control.

Scripts have an important (and difficult) task of making sure everything in the scene is the same. If details do not match up, audience members can be distracted from the emotional impact of the scene. Personally, I have noticed details that do not match up the most in highly emotional scenes like intense conversations since these are usually close up scenes where details are more noticeable.

In my telenovela, Pasión de Gavilanes, I have not noticed any of the details not matching up that I can remember. I think a large part of this is that I am not fluent in Spanish so I’m so busy keeping up with the subtitles that I don’t have time to analyze all the details of the scene. I imagine someone who is fluent in the language of the show seems many more out or order details.

To prove this, I will use an example from a show produced in English. In our weird time of being quarantined from the Coronavirus, I binge watched a show called On My Block on Netflix. There is an emotional scene between one of the protagonists and his father where the father is helping him tie his tie and apologizing for abandoning him when the protagonist was young. Pretty emotional content very relevant to the show. 

Well, the whole time all I could focus on was that the protagonist’s collar and tie kept changing position without the father having fixed the collar in the scene.

This is a super small detail, but all I could think about was “Dang, the Script messed up” rather than connect with the touching moment between father and son. This is why production is a lot more complex than any of us knew. 

I think in some ways the script has an advantage now. Most of us multitask while watching Netflix; we are either eating or scrolling through social media and so we are less likely to notice small details not matching up. But when a show reels you in (like telenovelas seem to do), you’re so engaged you notice the little details of each scene. The Script better be prepared or the fandom of a show will not hesitate to call them out (on Twitter, on Instagram, on fan boards, etc.).

So maybe I am not the nemesis of a telenovela script (with my lack of Spanish speaking ability), but the fandom is out there so the Script better bring their A game. Every time.

Production

Telenovela Set Differences 

Throughout our class discussion prior to spring break, Dr. A talked about the various elements in making a telenovela, both in Latin American countries and Turkish Dramas. One thing that stuck out to me was the difference between telenovelas and Turkish dramas in the places and locations where they film. In closed-set telenovelas, lighting can be manually handled and changed at any time. That being said, there can be many re-takes and shots done over and over because the lighting remains stagnant over the course of shooting. In outdoor and on-location shoots, where many Turkish Dramas are shot, natural lighting is harder to work with and takes must be done quickly. This is because producers and directors do not want the sun to go down in a mid-afternoon scene. I found the example in class of the Turkish drama to be very interesting, as each person on the set worked quickly.

One of the telenovela set differences that sparked my interest the most was when Dr. A explained how the closed-set shoots are done in extremely cold environments. I found this to be very interesting, and when I asked about why that happened, Dr. A said that she had been told it was to keep the cameras from overheating, however, she said she also did not believe that to be true. Due to her doubts, I searched online "telenovela set production temperatures," and other phrases to find more information on the subject. Interestingly, nothing I searched found any results, leading me to believe that Dr. A's suspicions are correct.

On-location shoots are different from closed-set, and since they are outdoors, temperature can not be manually controlled. Due to warm days spent shooting spring scenes and shooting in warmer latin American climates, I believe that the camera equipment and temperature have no correlation.

Photo source: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/business/23telemundo.html 

The Sound of Pasión - Blog 3

Production within the Romance

The production of Pasión De Gavilanes is tasked with successfully showcasing romantic themes for 3 completely separate romantic storylines. However, the draw and attraction viewers feel towards each couple isn’t achieved simply through a script and the actors portrayal of their love. A large factor in portraying the romance between each couple is found in the post-production editing process. Pasión utilizes recurring music to set the scene and to inform the audience that an intimate moment is about to occur. 

But these repeated scores are not limited to passionate scenes. There are also musical scores designated to comedic scenes, sad scenes, and intense scenes. They guide the audience to laugh, to cry, to gasp and sigh. It’s hard to remind yourself of all the components that make a perfect scene, and sometimes music fades into the background. The music is meant to compliment a character and their actions, and because of this class I’m able to notice the soundtracks more. The soundtracks in Pasión never change, and even the opening credits music is used within the show. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkCN2sSucds&list=RD26aEXDyrpeA&index=2

Pasion’s romantic score

The post-production team is not only tasked with both editing Juan and Norma longing gazes and making sure each transition is seamless, but they also must make sure the music is added in the right scenes. They must make sure the volume level does not exceed the dialogue volume and that the music fading in and out is not choppy or awkward. These soundtracks are not accompanied with lyrical meaning, so choosing a score that perfectly represents and reflects a scene’s emotion is key. 

While comedic soundtracks and romantic soundtracks sound different in meaning and feeling, they thematically match the show as a whole. It is evident that the composers who made the music for this show had an overlying theme in mind to blend scenes and moments together. So a comedic score and a romantic score may have a different sound, but they include the same instruments and key. 

Sound is something that can be overlooked in television and movies as a viewer is mainly depending on visual intake of emotions. Despite the opportunity to overlook the music in Pasión, it still holds a great importance in the construction of a scene. They inspire emotion and compliment actors and scripts. Without the music in Pasión, the romantic gazes between Norma and Juan would just be slightly awkward, very intense, silent stares.