Music: The Make or Break Factor of a Telenovela

Watching telenovelas all my life with my family, I never thought about all the people and time making a novela entails. As a viewer, you just want to know what will happen next with your favorite characters. The production side of a telenovela always gets put to the back of everyone’s minds. The viewer wants to experience the glamourous side of their favorite novelas, not the mishaps, long hours, or tensions between some of the members in the production team. I assumed that the telenovela was made much like a movie, in which the actors know where their character is going in the storyline and production wraps up as the telenovela is about to come on the air. This not the case. The writer and his team have to write scripts that consist of about 40-45 pages everyday which then are approved and begin filming. After that, the actors meet with the director on the floor and then the booth. Once the scene is taped it is decided whether it is kept or it has to be redone. This processes continues until the whole episode is filmed. The episode is then sent to post production where it is edited, music is added, and each negro is measured. The promotional is done and the process begins all over again. This seems really tedious and stressful to me. I understand that the network wants to have the best ratings possible and in order to do this it needs the input on the viewers to see where the storyline goes, but in my opinion the production like that of a movie would be much easier on everyone. 

  Another aspect of the production process that surprised me was the importance of music. It is used in all kinds of ways to bring about tension or romance to a specific scene that would otherwise not convey this emotion.The specific timing of the music in each scene is so important that it sometimes determines whether a scene is understood by the audience the way the writers intended or not. One of the most interesting aspects of music in the production of a telenovela is the song and scenes chosen to used at the beginning every night.It is almost like a small music video in my opinion. The entrada, as it is known, sets the tone to how the telenovela is going to be and in the end helps to grab the attention of the viewer. Strategically the music in the beginning of a telenovela every night brings in a viewers that might be watching the previous telenovela in that channel. Without the right musical choice or the right scenes being shown, the telenovela might be a complete flop. 

     An entrada can be told in many different perspectives. These perspectives may include the perspective of the protagonist, the antagonist, or the basic storyline of the novela. In the scenes chosen the characters are introduced and the basic storyline is showcased. In the case of Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso, the entrada used showcases, the assembly of barbie dolls by a man, and all the extravagant things that can be bought by large quantities of money. He chooses what he feels makes them beautiful and sale able. While he is making the dolls, the song gives the perspective of many of the characters in the story that live in Catalina’s neighborhood or are of low economic status. The girl that sings the song describes how she wants to get out of the hole she is currently in while the man sings about how he wants to have money to be able to buy whatever he wants. This in turn sets the tone for the telenovela and grabs the viewer. It definitely worked for me. I was able to learn more about the incentives of the characters in a one minute song. This entrada was done so well that I knew all the words by the third time I watched it and I still associate this song and scenes with Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso. 

Theme Song of Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso :