NARRATIVE COMEDY SCREENWRITING: FACILITATING SELF-DIRECTED, TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING

Susan Anne Cake B.A., Dip. Ed., M.A.

Principal Supervisor: Dr Phoebe Hart

Associate Supervisor: Dr Sean Maher

Industry Mentor: Mr John O’Grady

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctorate of Creative Industries

School of Media, Entertainment and Creative Arts, Film, Screen & Animation

Faculty of Creative Industries

Queensland University of Technology

2018

Keywords

Creative practice, critical reflection, narrative comedy, practice-led research, reflective practice, screenwriting, scriptwriting, transformative learning, self-directed learning

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning i Abstract

This creative practice-led research examines a journey of self-directed transformative learning through immersion in creative and reflective writing processes. Writing narrative comedy screenplays for a television series titled Fighting Fit, enabled the researcher to examine how critical reflection on screenwriting processes and the sources of inspiration for the screenplays facilitated a perspective shift indicative of transformative learning. Mezirow’s three types of reflection, (content, process and premise or critical) were documented in a reflection journal and triangulated against external feedback from a critical community, industry mentor and professional script reading. Critical feedback used to inform reflections on script development provoked a cycle of inquiry into lived experiences which inspired the screenplays. The screenplays themselves were examined to identify how the essence of lived experiences insinuated itself into the development of characters and themes in Fighting Fit. This allowed concerns about identity and alienation within the workplace to be identified and reframed within a humorous perspective. Critical reflection informed by transformation theory encouraged deeper engagement with sources of inspiration and provided insights for examining influences on creative practice. The research suggests an approach to scriptwriting as professional development which has the capacity to increase creative capabilities and facilitate self-directed, transformative learning.

ii Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning Table of Contents

Keywords ...... i Abstract ...... ii Table of Contents ...... iii List of Abbreviations ...... iv Statement of Original Authorship ...... v Acknowledgements ...... vi Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 7 1.1 Background ...... 9 1.2 Context ...... 14 1.3 Purposes ...... 16 1.4 Significance, Scope and Definitions ...... 19 1.5 Thesis Outline ...... 21 Chapter 2: Research Design ...... 24 2.1 Methodology and Research Design ...... 25 2.1.1 Methodology ...... 25 2.1.2 Research Design ...... 26 2.1.3 Types of Reflection ...... 27 2.2 Research Tools and Participants ...... 30 2.2.1 Critical Reflection – Reflection Journal ...... 30 2.2.2 Critical Reflection – Writer’s Method and Action Research ...... 32 2.2.3 Process Reflection – Critical Community ...... 34 2.2.4 Process Reflection – Industry Mentor ...... 35 2.2.5 Process Reflection – Table Reading ...... 36 2.3 Procedure and Timeline ...... 37 2.4 Ethics and Limitations ...... 38 2.5 Data Analysis ...... 38 Chapter 3: Contextual Review ...... 40 3.1 Narrative comedy and humour theory ...... 40 3.1.2 Humour and learning ...... 44 3.1.3 Screenwriting pedagogy ...... 51 3.2 Screenwriting ...... 56 3.2.1 Structure, conflict and character ...... 59 3.2.2 Awkward realism and cringe-worthy characters ...... 63 3.2.3 Australian examples of contemporary narrative comedy ...... 68 Chapter 4: Creative Work ...... 75 Chapter 5: Analysis ...... 81 5.1 Writing Narrative Comedy as Resistance to Corporate Control ...... 82 5.2 Table Reading: Sharing the Load in Creative Collaboration ...... 90 5.3 Extracting Lessons from the Screenwriting Practice ...... 106 Chapter 6: Conclusions ...... 117 Bibliography ...... 123 Appendices ...... 141

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning iii List of Abbreviations DCI: Doctorate of Creative Industries DET: Department of Education and Training LVT: Lead Vocational Teacher TAFE: Technical and Further Education TVET: Technical Vocational Education and Training QUT: Queensland University of Technology QLD: Queensland VET: Vocational Education and Training

iv Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning Statement of Original Authorship

The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made.

QUT Verified Signature Signature:

Date: January 2018

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning v Acknowledgements

When Lewis Carroll’s Alice begins her journey through the looking glass, she unites her imagined self with the self entrenched in the normal world. My own research journey has enabled me to use critical reflection to unite my imagined self as a screenwriter with my professional teaching practice. This journey would not have been possible without the guidance and support of my supervisors, Dr Phoebe Hart and Dr Sean Maher whose feedback brought academic rigor to the development of the exegetical component of this project. My thanks to Associate Professor Geoff Portmann and industry mentor Mr John O’Grady for their advice and provocations which encouraged me in the development of the screenplays. Thanks also to panel members, Dr Donna Hancock, Dr Chris Carter and Dr Ruari Elkington for their feedback which provoked deeper reflection and consequently learning. Special thanks to Colin Schumacher, Lauren Solomon, Grant McLay and Kate O’Sullivan for being such great DCI sounding boards and supporters. Thank you also to Rebecca Wolgast and Liz Hynd for their valuable feedback. Special thanks go to professional screenwriter and screenwriting lecturer, Susan MacGillicuddy, for her excellent advice and encouragement. My thanks also go to Mr Ted Emery for his generosity and insight in the table reading process. I couldn’t have done this without the love and support of my family and friends who not only supplied me with ridiculous stories from the boardroom to the gym but also kept me on track by asking if I had finished yet. Thanks to Dad, Sarah, Steve, Andrew and Karen. Thank you to Krissy, my metaphorical, pom-pom wielding, friend and cheer squad: Lizzie, Linda & Kell. To my daughter, Hannah, thank you for your patience, easy going nature, and keeping my ‘mother of the year’ nomination alive and well, despite my prolonged journey through the looking glass. Thank you to my fellow escapees who shared a laugh and kept me sane: Kev, David, JT, Steve and Kelvin. Last, but definitely not least, thank you to Sharon for setting me on this path all those years ago.

For Mum, who taught me that letting go doesn’t necessarily mean you fall.

vi Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

Chapter 1: Introduction

Truth is not manifest in experience; it must be inferred by a process of learning that questions preconceptions of direct experience, tempers the vividness and emotion of experiences with critical reflection, and extracts the correct lessons from the consequences of action (Kolb 2015, xxi).

This creative practice-led research examines the process of writing three episodes of a proposed narrative comedy series titled Fighting Fit. In doing so, the exegesis maps a self-directed transformative learning journey facilitated by the interaction of creative and reflective writing processes. The narrative comedy screenplays as creative practice outputs, were inspired by a critical incident or what Mezirow has characterised as a disorienting dilemma. Mezirow (1997) has argued that disorienting dilemmas challenge our worldview and can often lead to a reconfiguration of our belief systems. He refers to this as Transformative Learning. As an adult educator in screen and media production, I was motivated to reinvigorate my teaching practice by repositioning myself as a learner through immersion in screenwriting processes. By examining these processes, this research sought to “extract the correct lessons from the consequences of action” (Kolb 2015, xxi); lessons which contribute to understandings about writing narrative comedy and the process of transformation which can lead to increased agency in professional teaching practice. This exegesis examines the creative and reflective writing processes which facilitated a perspective shift indicative of transformative learning. Research into management theories to inform Fighting Fit introduced alternative perspectives on the lived experiences that inspired the screenplays. Critical reflection on creative and reflective writing processes introduced flexibility into personal and professional frames of reference which in turn facilitated creative capabilities such as adaptability, openness and confidence to take creative risks (Steers 2009). Creative and reflective writing processes are proposed as effective, if complex, strategies which can support self-directed, transformative learning of screenwriting.

The desire to use humour to challenge my personal experience of bureaucratic processes and the corporatisation of Queensland Technical and Further Education (TAFE) prompted me to write Fighting Fit. These experiences are discussed in the

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 7 background section of this chapter and are the source of inspiration for themes explored in the screenplays. Using the metaphor of a rundown gym competing against 24/7 access and competitive personal trainers, Fighting Fit explores notions of identity, alienation and change within the workplace, within our bodies and within our relationships. This chapter further outlines the impetus for the research, its context within a professional doctorate in creative industries and the creative practice outcomes.

Writing narrative comedy as creative practice-led research involved a spiralling interaction of creative, reflective and academic inquiry which is evident in the variations in tone throughout this exegesis. First person, ‘I’, is used to foreground the personal nature of the inquiry that guided the self-directed, transformative learning journey. McNamara has cautioned against the use of ‘I’, suggesting that its use can indicate that “the research topic is becoming blurred or lost entirely” (McNamara 2012, 5). Rather than abnegate self as the site of practice or try to disguise these variations in tone or exaggerate them, they are maintained throughout the exegesis to reflect the complex way in which critical reflection and creative processes interacted with the academic voice of research. By doing so, I hope the exegesis can also contribute to debates about the nature of creative practice-led research within the academy.

In order to facilitate this contribution, the structure of this document follows a traditional exegetical format. Section 1.2 outlines the context for the research and describes how critical reflection was influenced by the competing perspectives of adult educator, curriculum designer and screenwriter. These perspectives enabled contributions to knowledge beyond the creative practice itself to be identified. For example, professional experience as an adult educator and curriculum designer informed reflection on screenwriting practice to identify lessons which might help other adult learners of screenwriting. This is explained in more detail in Section 1.2 alongside transformation theory which provided a framework for informing critical reflection.

Using critical reflection to guide and examine the self-directed learning of screenwriting was central to the aims of this research. The specific research questions used to direct inquiry into the creative and reflective writing processes are discussed in Section 1.3. Different types of reflection were embedded within the

8 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

research questions and directed the action research methodology. The findings from the research questions suggest strategies for supporting self-directed learning of screenwriting. The framework for supporting self-directed learning is arguably applicable to creative practices beyond screenwriting and vocational learning contexts. The significance of the research and its contribution to knowledge is explained in more detail in Section 1.4. In allowing the creative practice to lead the research, the scope of this project evolved over the course of the research journey. The scope and limitations of the research are also discussed further in Section 1.4.

Section 1.5 of this introductory chapter outlines the structure for the rest of this document. The appendices are an important component of the exegesis. They contain the screenplays as creative outputs and examples from the reflective journal. The journal entries have been included to explicate how the research design facilitated creative and reflective writing processes and to allow for a more seamless reading of the transformative learning journey within this exegesis. The catalyst which prompted the transformative learning journey and provided the impetus for this research is described in the following section.

1.1 BACKGROUND

The transformative learning journey discussed in this research was triggered by the dissolution of all permanent Screen and Media teaching staff at Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (MSIT) in 2013. I was a Lead Vocational Teacher (LVT) in a team of five permanent full time teachers. During the fifteen years I worked at MSIT, the Institute underwent numerous restructures and the screen and media production team had demonstrated the ability to adapt. We had accommodated organisational changes, adapted to various management styles, maintained pace with technology and responded to evolving training demands. Working in this team was a collaborative, inspiring, positive experience though not without moments of professional disquiet. In the mid-1990s, when I first started at Alexandra Hills campus, TAFE was a public training provider that serviced the community by engaging disenfranchised youth and adults returning to education. TAFE provided alternative pathways to further education and employment through its Adult Community Education (ACE) and Adult Tertiary Preparation (ATP) programs. By 2006, the digital media ACE programs were cut from our suite of offerings. [ATP was cut at Alexandra Hills campus in 2014 (Kerr 2014, np.)] The curriculum seemed

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 9 to be increasingly driven by an emphasis on economic rationalism over educational accessibility. I presumed that as a team we would be able to adapt as MSIT prepared for legislative changes introduced by the 2013 TAFE Queensland Act. This Act followed similar legislative changes in other Australian states, and established TAFE Queensland as an independent statutory body operating within a fully contestable funding model alongside private registered training organisations (RTO’s).

In the lead up to the legislative change, TAFE Queensland began the restructuring process. In 2012, two permanent staff within my team were identified as ‘surplus to requirements’ and offered voluntary redundancy packages; one accepted, the other reluctantly so. They were replaced by casual staff. In the year that followed I struggled to resolve the tensions between what I valued about my professional teaching practice - collegial, collaborative, creative, and interactive teaching - and the emerging corporate values of the organisation. These corporate values continued to manifest as our class sizes increased and course delivery time decreased. I eventually took a voluntary redundancy and by the end of 2013 all permanent screen and media staff had been replaced with contract and casual staff. Over the course of the restructure, TAFE Queensland made over 350 redundancies state wide (Remeikis 2013, n.p.).

The challenges that TAFE faced in entering the competitive training market are mirrored in funding cuts to the higher education sector. Widespread redundancies within the higher education sector have been variously described as attempts to “regenerate the university’s academic workforce” (Viellaris 2016, np.) and “a destructive ideology of relentless cost-cutting, out-sourcing and insecure employment” (McGowan 2016, np.). These funding cuts have been juxtaposed against corporate practices of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in performance bonuses to vice-chancellery university management staff (Houghton 2016 np.).

Cranton has proposed that within higher education, financial decisions “are not necessarily in the best interests of faculty and students - larger classes, an ever- increasing use of technology...and the large-scale use of adjunct faculty” (Cranton 2011, 78). She has suggested that these conditions often go unquestioned and are seen as normal (Cranton 2011). McNamara has argued against using practice-led research to “make sense of a practitioner’s own life or experience” (McNamara 2012,

10 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

6). However, Fighting Fit attempts to examine the personal experience of corporatisation and thereby question practices which often go unquestioned. Writing narrative comedy provided a unique perspective through which to examine, reconceptualise and re-present experience. The role of humour in providing a different perspective is explained in the next section.

Why narrative comedy?

Whilst the original idea for Fighting Fit came about many years ago when I was a regular gym-goer, the concept gathered momentum during the lead up to taking a redundancy. This was a stressful time due to the uncertainty about on-going employment. To cope, I tried to find humour in everyday occurrences and found the rhetoric of change management to be a rich resource. Westwood and Johnston have suggested that humour can be used to “resist an organization’s normative control attempts” (Westwood and Johnston 2012, 788). Normative control refers to human resource management practices, often described as professional development activities, which seek to impose organisational values (Westwood and Johnston 2012). Laughter and humour have been identified as valuable mechanisms for coping with stressful situations by “replacing negative with positive affect” (Wilkins and Eisenbraun 2009, 349). Morrison has proposed that “learning to use humor as a lens for life challenges can increase your confidence in your own internal ability to adapt” (Morrison 2008, 2). Similarly, Berk’s extensive analysis of research into the psychophysiological effects of humour and laughter identified numerous benefits such as “reduces negative emotional consequences of stress, anxiety and tension” (Berk 2014, 36).

Consciously, I wanted to use Fighting Fit to parody some of my more ridiculous bureaucratic experiences. Subconsciously, the intention to write narrative comedy can be explained by the role humour plays in helping us deal with stressful situations. Wilkins and Eisenbraun have suggested that humour “based on incongruities, or things that appear inappropriate for their context, is particularly well suited to reappraising negative situations from different, less threatening perspectives” (Wilkins and Eisenbraun 2009, 349). Transposing a problematic work environment into a humorous context provided both a source of inspiration and a metaphor for reappraising a negative situation. It also suggests that humour has a role to play in facilitating a perspective shift - something it shares with

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 11 transformative learning. Critical reflection on writing narrative comedy created opportunities to identify how sources of inspiration incorporated into scripts manifested as humour. Incongruity theories of humour use inappropriate juxtapositions to defeat expectations; this both creates humour and can help shift perspective.

At the same time the screen and media team was being dismantled, my mother’s body was slowly being eroded by cancer. Her amazing resilience, frustration and acceptance of her failing body was inspirational and a significant factor impelling the research. Bolton has suggested “writers draw upon memories of experiences which have touched them deeply: art is nearly always a working out of complex unresolved, unsorted-out areas of experience” (Bolton 2010, 210). Revisiting journal entries documenting my memories of the last few years at TAFE, I identified surgical metaphors used to describe both what was happening in my workplace and what was happening to my mother’s body (Cake et al. 2015). For Bolton, “metaphor is a frame through which we perceive, understand and feel” (Bolton 2010, 221). Locating the narrative comedy within a fitness centre where the physical body is revered, provided a metaphorical platform for exploring perceptions about physical appearance and the fragility of the human body. Kline has suggested that humour’s “largest function is to detach us from our world of good and evil, of loss and gain and enable us to see it in proper perspective” (Kline 1907, 438). Writing Fighting Fit as a narrative comedy enabled me to reflect on the sources of inspiration, challenge beliefs and place difficult experiences in proper perspective. In this respect, humour has assisted me in learning about life and death and in dealing with the uncertainties in between.

I have also used humour to set a positive, relaxed tone in professional teaching contexts such as the classroom or the production studio. Skinner argued humour promotes learning, creates a constructive learning environment, maintains students’ attention, and reduces anxiety (Skinner 2010). Using humour for learning has been shown to increase the ability to recall and understand information (Hackathorn et al. 2011). Much of the research into the educational benefits of using humour continues to focus on face-to-face teaching contexts. These benefits are discussed in more detail in the contextual review.

12 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

Little research has been conducted into the use of narrative comedy as a tool for instruction within online learning environments. As a curriculum designer, I am concerned with using humour and storytelling to create engaging learning experiences which may be applied beyond face-to-face learning contexts. Early in my teaching career I was inspired by training videos produced by Video Arts. Comedians such as John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Rik Mayall appeared in training films such as Managing Problem People (1988). Through the curriculum design lens, I imagined Fighting Fit might potentially translate into an interactive management training resource with narrative and humour at its core.

Reflecting on the creative practice of writing narrative comedy scripts through the lens of a curriculum designer was proposed as a method for identifying principles which may be applied to online learning resources. My willingness to embrace online learning was motivated by and is reflective of my ‘buy-in’ to corporate cost- cutting strategies by reducing face-to-face teaching time and accessing alternative revenue streams. Selwyn, Bulfin and Pangrazio have identified that the discourses surrounding online learning, particularly the massification of online learning, have predominantly aligned with “massification, marketization and monetization” as opposed to pedagogical considerations (Selwyn, Bulfin and Pangrazio 2015, 175). Massification refers to online courses with unlimited enrolments offered to students at reduced or no cost. Selwyn, Bulfin and Pangrazio have proposed “MOOCs are perhaps best understood as a conduit for long running struggles over the nature and form of higher education in the digital age” (Selwyn, Bulfin and Pangrazio 2015, 191). Section 1.3 explains how my focus on online learning obscured other ‘lessons’ to be learned from immersion in screenwriting practice.

The creative and reflective writing processes discussed in this research forced me to examine my perceptions of the lived experiences that inspired Fighting Fit. Reflective practice also enabled assumptions about the creative writing processes to be identified and examined. The assumptions underpinning reflective and creative writing processes are discussed in more detail in the analysis chapter. Reflective practice was directed through the overlapping professional frames of adult educator, curriculum designer and screenwriter. This is discussed in more detail in the next section which outlines the research context.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 13 1.2 CONTEXT

In this creative practice-led research, the multidisciplinary reflective perspectives converged to focus the research on examining both creative and reflective writing processes. (see Fig. 1). Writing narrative comedy scripts enabled me as adult educator/ curriculum designer/ writer to effectively immerse myself within the creative practice of screenwriting. As a form of professional development, writing Fighting Fit was intended to extend my knowledge and skills in screenwriting. From the screenwriting reflective perspective the research examined ideation, iterative and creative writing processes and a table reading.1 These processes are described in more detail in the Methodology Chapter Two and Analysis Chapter Five.

As the learner in this research, I was highly motivated and engaged in formal learning opportunities to develop screenwriting craft skills beyond immersion in the creative practice as research.2 In Knowles (2015) concept of adult education theory, motivation and engagement are assumed to be embedded in the disposition of adult

1 A table reading is a professional script development process in which director, writer and performers conduct a script read-through. 2 I enrolled in an undergraduate screenwriting unit and later became a sessional academic in the course.

14 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

learners. My perspective as a learner was informed by my experience as an adult educator and my professional knowledge of adult learning theory (andragogy). ‘Andragogy’ “is simply another model of assumptions about adult learners to be used alongside the pedagogical model of assumptions” (Knowles 1980, 43 cited in Lawrence 2010, 17). The assumptions about the adult learner include such things as “(1) the learner’s need to know, (2) self-concept of the learner, (3) prior experience of the learner, (4) readiness to learn, (5) orientation to learning, and (6) motivation to learn” (Knowles 2015, 27-28). This professional knowledge informed and facilitated a metacognitive approach which focused analysis on research findings to assist other learners of screenwriting. These findings are organised into a framework for self- directed, transformative learning and are discussed in the Analysis Chapter Five.

Foregrounding creative practice was also intended as a strategy for re- invigorating teaching practice which “has the potential to act as a significant source of teacher and academic professional renewal and development because learning stands at the core of this renewal through the production and circulation of new knowledge about practice” (Sachs 1999, 41). Transformation theory provided insight into reflection on experiences which inspired the screenplays. In this respect, transformative learning was not just about acquiring new knowledge but questioning the very premise upon which knowledge acquisition is based. Jarvis (2006) has referred to this as “epistemic perspective transformation” and suggested that in questioning how knowledge is made and by whom, one can begin to understand how social and political structures impact upon individual assumptions about knowledge and truth (Jarvis 2006, 70). Reinvigorating my professional teaching practice was perceived as both a need and goal of this research project. Christie et al. have observed that “transformation rarely occurs unless the individual is convinced it is necessary” (Christie et al. 2015, 17). The ten phases of transformative learning proposed by Mezirow (2009) were used to guide reflective practice and are discussed in more detail in the Methodology Chapter Two.

The transformative learning theory applied to this research encompassed other ways of knowing, beyond the rational and cognitive domains. Dirkx (2001) has argued that a perspective shift can be facilitated not just through rational, critical analysis but through engagement with one’s unconscious via imagination. The creative practice was integral to this transformative learning process. Writing

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 15 Fighting Fit facilitated the affective and extrarational domains of learning which provided imaginative, creative lenses for reflection. The extrarational perspective concerns itself with “facets of adult learning, such as feeling, imagination, intuition, and dreams” (Kucukaydin and Cranton 2013, 45). The creative practice served as a metaphor for dialogic reflection in which creative writing processes enabled me to explore different perspectives on lived experiences that inspired the screenplays. The Analysis Chapter Five explores this in more detail and demonstrates how critical reflection on creative practice facilitated transformative learning. It is important to note that the scripts themselves are a synthesis of experience, memory, observation and imagination. They are not autobiographical and are to be ‘read’ as entirely independent creative works. Transformation theory enabled questions about lived experience and creative practice to be re-framed and critically examined. The specific questions guiding the focus of this research are outlined in the following section.

1.3 PURPOSES

The original aim of this research was to reflect on writing narrative comedy as a method for identifying principles which may be applied to the development of learning resources to support blended delivery. That is, the principles of storytelling and humour that can be applied to learning resources which support a mix of face-to- face and online teaching. The motivation was to identify ways to support learners within the context of a competitive training market where funding cuts put pressure on the time learners had to develop skills and knowledge. However, engagement with creative and reflective writing processes challenged the assumptions underpinning this question. Dirkx has suggested our ability for perspective transformation can be enhanced “by developing a conscious relationship with emotionally charged aspects of experience” through an “imaginal approach” (Dirkx, Mezirow and Cranton 2006, 137). This ‘imaginal’ approach shifted the focus from blended learning resources to identifying strategies to support self-directed and potentially transformative learning of screenwriting. The research objectives emerged from attending to the creative and reflective writing processes underpinning writing narrative comedy scripts. The specific questions are explained below.

1) How can content, process and critical reflection support self-directed learning of scriptwriting?

16 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

2) How can writing narrative comedy screenplays facilitate transformative learning?

Mezirow has distinguished between three different types of reflection: “content (reflecting on what we perceive, think, feel and act), process (reflecting on how we perform the functions of perceiving), and premise (an awareness of why we perceive)” (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009, 7). The first question seeks to examine how these three types of reflection supported self-directed learning. The three types of reflection are explained in more detail in the methodology section. Self-directed learning refers to the nature of my own learning journey through immersion in screenwriting practice within the formal educational context of the professional doctorate. Part of the formal learning context involved early scaffolding of learning via an introduction to research processes and reflective practice. The term self-directed assumes a motivation on the part of the adult learner to engage in autonomous learning processes. Within a broader context, self-directed inquiry assumes the learner is supported within structures of learning (scaffolding) which can facilitate increased levels of autonomy. Self-directed learning references Vygotsky’s theory of learning which suggests that learning precedes development and therefore adult learners “should be placed in situations where they have to reach to understand” (Lawrence 2010, 21).

In the second question, writing narrative comedy screenplays refers to the creative and reflective writing processes which led to the production of creative artefacts such as character notes, dialogue, draft scripts; and engagement in processes such as ideation, flow writing, reflection on sources of inspiration, role play in the form of dialogue with characters etc. The second question seeks to identify how these processes influenced transformative learning. Transformative learning has been described as “a rational process of learning within awareness...a metacognitive application of critical thinking that transforms an acquired frame of reference...by assessing its epistemic assumptions” (Dirkx, Mezirow and Cranton 2006, 124). The rational process was enhanced by creative processes which facilitated a perspective shift. The stages of transformative learning are explained in the methodology chapter and the perspective shift is examined in the analysis chapter. The creative practice was integral to facilitating transformative learning and the outputs are described in the next section.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 17 Creative Research Outputs The creative outputs include three narrative comedy scripts and a pitching document which outlines the series premise, the characters and a brief synopsis of each episode. A series mini bible was initially created in an attempt to mirror industry practices where mini bibles for television series are developed over time to provide background information for writers new to the series. It was designed to be a comprehensive description of character motivations and conflicts. It is included in the appendices as a reference document for the analysis of the table reading discussed in Analysis Chapter Five. The scripts included in this document were never intended, and are by no means, final drafts ready for production. Baker has suggested that “screenwriting does not begin or end with production, clearly there is scholarly value in the analysis and discussion of both the practice of writing for the screen and screenplays as creative and critical artefacts, irrespective of their stage of development and irrespective of production” (Baker 2016, 76). The screenplays as creative research outputs are discussed in more detail in the analysis and conclusion chapters.

Fighting Fit is a narrative comedy about Tom, a lazy, incompetent, narcissist, who has to turn a rundown gym with its staff of misfit trainers, into a going concern. This eight part television series explores themes of bureaucratic folly and how we deal with changes in our bodies, our relationships and our workplaces. As the manager, Tom applies his narcissistic charm to influence the trainers but his laziness means he only partially understands the various management theories he thinks will save his business. Lean management does not mean firing fat people, and it’s up to the staff at Fighting Fit to keep the gym wheezing along. The characters and themes in Fighting Fit are inspired by observations of different managerial styles and approaches. The concepts underpinning each episode are inspired by reflection on and research into a variety of corporate behaviours, many of which seek to normalise control measures within organisational structures. As an example, the second episode titled A Strong Core embodies widely used corporate strategies which seek to instil organisational values into individual behaviours. Research for the creative practice investigated management theories and concepts such as blue sky thinking and blue ocean strategy. It also drew upon personal experiences in large organisational workplaces populated with seagull, country club and micro managers who kicked

18 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

goals whilst striding down two-way streets or engaged in corridor conversations outside the open door of thought leaders. The incongruity of incorporating management rhetoric into the gym context was a deliberate attempt to highlight and question the absurdity of corporatizing education. Observations were also drawn from years of working out in gyms, working with personal trainers and from filming trainers’ workout videos and body builder competitions.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

This research contributes to the expanding field of screenwriting research in identifying creative and reflective processes which can inform both screenwriting practice and the learning of screenwriting. Analysis of creative and reflective writing processes enabled a journey of self-directed learning to be mapped and identified a perspective shift indicative of transformative learning. The research proposes strategies to support self-directed learning through immersion in creative and reflective writing processes. Content reflection to direct investigation, process reflection to seek critical feedback and transformation theory to inform critical reflection have been synthesised into a framework for guiding self-directed inquiry. This framework is not intended to replace other forms of learning, rather to support self-directed learning, ideally within supported learning contexts.

Using transformation theory to guide critical reflection can arguably support creative practitioners in examining their own creative practice, their experiences which inspire it and their assumptions underpinning creative choices. Transformative learning can also increase creative capabilities such as openness and adaptability in creative problem solving. This research also contributes to the existing body of knowledge concerning transformative learning and reflective practice. It confirms the efficacy of incorporating imaginal approaches and humour into transformative learning and encourages reflective practitioners to consider how screenwriting can simulate communicative learning through imaginative, dialogic reflection.

Writing narrative comedy scripts, as action research, has enabled a deeper understanding of the craft of screenwriting which directly benefited my teaching practice and screenwriting skills. Increasing individual agency was not the only goal of this research. In Doing Practitioner Research, Fox, Green and Martin (2007)

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 19 suggested that the primary goal of practitioner researchers should be to “use action research to facilitate change in themselves” as the first step in trying to effect change in their field (Fox, Green and Martin 2007, 7). As Christie et al. explained, “if enough individuals within a field change, the field itself has a chance to change” (Christie et al. 2015, 22). This professional doctorate occurred alongside teaching within a higher education context where findings from the research have already been applied to the field. For example, the Writing Dialogue unit co-ordinator considered the table reading to be such a beneficial learning experience for the screenwriting students that a table reading has now been scheduled as part of the course structure for 2017 Writing Dialogue screenwriting unit at Queensland University of Technology.

Though it is beyond the scope of this exegesis, findings from the literature review indicated that screenwriting craft skills have much to offer the field of instructional design. Encouraging flexibility in screenwriting programs to allow for a multidisciplinary approach which encompasses instructional design skills may create opportunities for screenwriters to diversify beyond the traditional field of film and television production. This multidisciplinary flexibility has the potential to empower screenwriters to apply their skills to the increased use of online training and possibly benefit from it. Bridgstock and Hearn argue this kind of “disciplinary agility” is a necessary capability for creative practitioners in the twenty-first century knowledge economy (Bridgstock and Hearn 2012, 108). According to IBIS World Industry Report into Online Education in Australia, Louisiana State University’s Omniacademy has found ways to collaborate with other universities to “syndicate their courses so that students of any university can take them for credit” (Magner 2014, 9). They report that lecturers receive royalties for the course materials they develop. This has interesting parallels with the film industry and the way screen credits and royalties are distributed for writers. It may provide additional incentive for course developers to employ screenwriters to create more engaging online content, particularly with online education revenue of $5.4 billion and expected growth of 8.9% in 2016-17 (Anning 2016).

The review of literature identified the convergence of education or training with game formats which encompass notions of ‘fun’ as opposed to humour. The field of instructional design is rapidly developing and includes notions of

20 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

edutainment, gamification, serious games, simulations, virtual reality, augmented reality and transmedia storytelling to describe the way in which instructional resource design has become more learner-driven and interactive. Whilst these terms are described in more detail in the contextual review, the literature indicates that the effectiveness of these types of resources for learning is inconclusive. More research is needed which specifically identifies the features and types of games which encourage learning and which kinds of learning outcomes they produce. This field is outside the scope of this research; however a brief overview has been included to demonstrate the craft skills which screenwriters possess that may be transferable to instructional design. The particular technologies or platforms which might support self-directed learning are also outside the scope of this research but certainly present worthy avenues for further investigation.

The creative practice-led research was confined to narrative comedy screenwriting. Transformation theory suggests an interesting strategy for approaching life narratives or other autobiographical or auto-ethnographic approaches to screenwriting. Similarly, critical reflection on lived experiences suggests an auto-ethnographic approach. However, writing narrative comedy was preferred as it afforded opportunities to examine how humour can challenge existing perspectives.

The literature review also identified that both transformation theory and the Hero’s Journey provided frameworks for mapping emotional progression towards change. The twelve stages of the Hero’s Journey proposed by Vogler (2011) provided interesting parallels to the ten stages in Mezirow’s (2009) transformative learning model. I hoped that linking transformation theory to the Hero’s Journey could enable screenwriters to translate the emotional truth of lived experiences to the emotional journey of their protagonist. However in attempting to find these parallels, I identified that this was an overly simplistic supposition; worthy of future investigation but outside the scope of this project.

1.5 THESIS OUTLINE

This chapter has established the background and context for the research problem which emerged from reflection on lived experiences that inspired the writing of Fighting Fit. The rest of this thesis examines the reflective and creative

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 21 writing processes involved in narrative comedy screenwriting as creative practice-led research. The contextual review seeks to identify best practice in narrative comedy screenwriting and examines literature on both humour theory and screenwriting in order to establish a theoretical basis for the creative practice. Identifying principles of narrative comedy was used to deepen craft knowledge and provided a theoretical point of reference for reflection on the screenplays and screenwriting processes. The review also includes a brief section on screenwriting pedagogy to identify strategies or activities which can support self-directed learning of screenwriting.

Screenwriting requires more than just the application of theoretical principles. In striving for authenticity in the creative practice, this research drew upon a range of experiences and observations. Critical reflection was integral to the process of unearthing and examining experiences. McKee has proposed the key to successful writing is the capacity for “deep reflection” combined with an awareness of screenwriting craft skills (McKee 1998, 419). Practice-led research methodology required immersion in scriptwriting practice which aimed to develop both craft skills and deep reflection. The research design chapter explains this methodology including the role of critical reflection in more detail and its significance to the creative practice.

The analysis chapter is divided into three sections which roughly correlate to the multidisciplinary professional frames of adult educator, screenwriter and curriculum designer. The first section examines how critical reflection on the creative process of writing narrative comedy and artefacts such as character description, dialogue and draft scripts created opportunities to challenge assumptions and shift perspective. The second section uses a table reading of episode eight of Fighting Fit as an example of process reflection to examine the collaborative aspects of script development. The third section in the analysis chapter seeks to synthesise findings from the creative practice-led research into a framework to support other self-directed learners of screenwriting to potentially facilitate their own transformative learning experience. The conclusion chapter outlines the practical implications of this study and makes recommendations for future research. Reflective practice has been critical to creative practice and for examining frames of reference in transformative learning. It is an important methodological tool and is discussed in the next chapter on research design.

22 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 23 Chapter 2: Research Design

I have returned from the depths, where stories are kept, with the treasure of self-knowledge, shared here, in the hope that other self-directed learners may find a useful road map for their own transformative learning journey.[Reflection Journal 11/02/2017]

This chapter outlines the qualitative research methodology which underpinned inquiry into creative practice. Qualitative research has been described as research which “forms around assumptions about interpretation and human action” and as such qualitative researchers are “interested not in prediction and control but in understanding” (Clandinin 2007, 3). Action research was identified as most appropriate for examining and understanding the creative practice of screenwriting. McNiff (2007) has proposed that action research concerns learning about practice. She has suggested that it is “about problematizing practice so that practice does not become the implementation of rules to fit action into a predetermined model” (McNiff 2007, 313). Engaging in action research through immersion in creative practice and critical reflection was intended to improve learning about screenwriting practice and reinvigorate professional teaching practice. The first section in this chapter discusses the action research methodology used in this study. It also outlines the research design which was organised through content, process and premise reflection informed by transformation theory. These are described in more detail to outline the qualitative data collection method. Section 2.2 details the specific research tools used to collect data and the participants in the study. The timeline and ethical considerations for the study are described in Sections 2.3 and 2.4 of this chapter. The final section in this chapter is titled 2.5 Analysis to explicate the link between the data collection methods and the way the data was analysed. Examples of ‘data’ from the reflection journal are included in Appendix A to demonstrate how the action research methodology influenced the creative practice and supported self- directed learning of screenwriting.

24 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

2.1 METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN

2.1.1 Methodology In his examination of creative practice research activity, Desmond Bell (2006) examined methodological approaches historically employed in the field of film and media research. He outlined the various approaches that creative practice researchers have taken to “legitimize their practice-based work as a modality of systematic investigation that fits within a generic template of academic research” (Bell 2006, 85). He suggested that creative practice as research can best be validated by understanding the “generative performance of the art work” (Bell 2006, 98). That is, articulating knowledge about practice requires engagement with creative practice as a performed activity. In this context, the performed activity has been writing narrative comedy scripts. Critical reflection on “concrete engagement with art practice as performance” was employed to generate a “communicable knowledge of art practice” (Bell 2006, 98). Bell has argued that this is the “appropriate knowledge object of creative practice as research” and creative practitioners as both the “subject and object of this investigative process” are most likely to be engaged in a form of autoethnography (Bell 2006, 99).

Denzin suggested that autoethnographers “use personal experience and memory as the point of departure for writing about things that matter in everyday life” (Denzin 2003, 137). Whilst this research drew upon memory of a range of personal experiences and these autoethnographic accounts were documented in a reflection journal, the Fighting Fit screenplays do not seek to recount or represent individual persons, organisations or specific situations. Rather, the action research cycle provided an opportunity to direct critical reflection on personal experiences and memories which were in turn used to provoke creative processes. It is worth reiterating here that first person, “I”, is used in this exegesis to foreground the personal nature of inquiry. The personal inquiry was informed by multiple perspectives as an adult educator, curriculum designer and screenwriter. For example, using the reflective lens of an adult educator enabled understandings about creative practice to be informed by knowledge of pedagogy and andragogy. The curriculum lens enabled these understandings to be organised into a framework for supporting self-directed learning of screenwriting. These perspectives enabled critical reflection to focus on research contributions beyond the creative practice

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 25 itself. Fox, Green and Martin have suggested that encompassing approaches that “challenge the current structure of knowledge within the field” can create greater opportunities for knowledge to be generated (Fox, Green and Martin 2007, 38). The multidisciplinary perspective was intended to provide alternative reflective lenses for focussing inquiry into creative screenwriting practices.

Action research has been described as an iterative process involving planning an approach, executing the plan, observing the effects or results of the action, reflecting on and analysing the results and evaluating their effectiveness (Christie et al. 2015, 15-16). This approach shares similarities with the writer’s method and is described in more detail in the research methods. Critical reflection was embedded in the creative practice-led research and involved a spiralling process of reflective and creative writing. This cycle allowed understandings about screenwriting practice to be examined and facilitated perspective shifts. Transformation theory provided a framework for approaching critical reflection on the sources of inspiration for Fighting Fit and influenced the data-gathering process. This is discussed in the next section on Research Design.

2.1.2 Research Design This section seeks to outline the data collection procedures used to identify strategies to support self-directed, transformative learning of screenwriting. Critical reflection was integral to examining creative processes and the action research process. The research design did not solely rely upon the “dominant propositional knowledge in the field” (Fox, Green and Martin 2007, 38). Fox, Green and Martin (2007) have suggested that reflexivity is “about being aware of one's own values and motivations, and the social, cultural and political context in which one makes decisions about what is valid about the research and the way the research was carried out” (Fox, Green and Martin 2007, 189). In the background section, I acknowledged the intention to use humour to challenge perceptions of lived experiences which informed the screenplays. The intention of the screenplays was to poke fun at the corporatisation of education and organisational practices which treat individuals as commodities. Dormann and Biddle have argued the validity of “subversive humor” which can challenge “oppressive cultural realities” (Dormann and Biddle 2009, 818). Critical reflection enabled the values and motivations which influenced the writing of Fighting Fit to be examined.

26 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

In their analysis of transformative learning in doctoral education, Stevens- Long, Schapiro and McClintock suggested that transformation or perspective shift “can also endow us with more power to explain our experience and the power relations in which we are embedded” (Stevens-Long, Schapiro and McClintock 2012, 184). The opportunity to examine power relations resonated with me in my reflections upon changes in my workplace. Kennedy has argued the capacity for transforming practice and increasing professional autonomy relies upon “an explicit awareness of issues of power” (Kennedy 2005, 247). Kennedy suggested that “only through the realisation and consideration of conflicting agendas and philosophies, can real debate be engaged in among the various stakeholders in education, which might lead to transformative practice” (Kennedy 2005, 247). Using transformation theory to inform critical reflection enabled me to perceive conflicting agendas in experiences which inspired the screenplays. The different types of reflection afforded a systematic approach to data collection, interpreted through the framework of transformative learning. The three types of reflection used to reflect on my self- directed, transformative learning journey are discussed below.

2.1.3 Types of Reflection Mezirow (2009) proposed three forms of reflection which can help learners transform their perceptions. These were mentioned briefly in the introduction and are discussed in more detail in this section. Mezirow (2009) described content reflection as reflection focused on perceptions, feelings, thoughts and actions. Kreber (2004) has suggested content reflection asks What do I know? This type of reflection focuses on describing a problem and draws on existing knowledge and beliefs to interpret the problem rather than questioning the assumptions underpinning it. Content reflection was directed at developing screenwriting craft skills and was informed by the contextual review and engaging with creative practice. This extended my personal propositional knowledge - what I know - about screenwriting. Mezirow, Taylor and Associates have proposed content reflection facilitates instrumental learning which is primarily concerned with improving performance (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009, 20).

Process reflection focuses on an examination of methods or how we perceive. Kreber has suggested this is encapsulated in the question how do I know my method of problem-solving works? (Kreber 2004, 30). Applied to screenwriting, process

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 27 reflection asks how effectively have I applied my knowledge of screenwriting to this screenplay? Kreber explained that this type of reflection requires external feedback (2004). In questioning the effectiveness of my screenwriting method, external feedback was used to critically reflect on the creative practice. Similarly, engagement with literature and self-reflexive industry texts such as behind-the-scenes interviews with screenwriters provided another external source for informing reflection on process. Critical feedback from an industry mentor, critical community, and table reading with professional actors and director informed process reflection. Process reflection sought to expand procedural knowledge (the application of screenwriting craft skills). Seeking external feedback to test the ‘effectiveness’ of the creative practice encompassed communicative learning, the purpose of which is to come to some kind of shared understanding or agreement. Kreber (2004) has argued that “communicative learning is very valuable if the goal is to reach greater understanding within a framework of given norms” but that it does not call into question how those norms came into being (Kreber 2004, 32). The methods for facilitating process reflection are described in the research methods section and examined in the analysis chapter.

Premise reflection examines the assumptions underlying our perceptions. Reflection on premise asks: Why is this problem important? What assumptions am I making if I pose the problem in this way? Why do I believe this to be true? Critically reflecting on the premise (or norms) underpinning a problem “has the potential to lead to transformation of our meaning perspectives” (Cranton and King 2003, 35). ‘Frames of reference’, ‘habits of mind’, ‘world view’, ‘meaning perspectives’ are terms used throughout the literature on transformative learning to describe the underlying beliefs that individuals draw upon, consciously or subconsciously, to deal with problems. Premise reflection requires openness and a willingness to identify and question the basis of one’s beliefs, attitudes, values or judgements from which the interpretation of a given problem originates.

Mezirow (2009) has described premise reflection as the basis for critical reflection which challenges our preconceived ideas and beliefs. Critical reflection is often triggered by the realisation of a conflict between our assumptions and our experiences and can sometimes lead to perspective transformation (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009, 7). Critically reflecting on the scriptwriting process required

28 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

me to question epistemic assumptions; that is, what assumptions have I made about using lived experiences to inform creative practice? Critically reflecting on the lived experiences themselves was informed by the ten phases of transformative learning. Mezirow identified these phases as:

Mezirow’s Ten Phases of Transformative Learning 1. Disorienting dilemma 2. Self-examination 3. A critical assessment of assumptions 4. Recognition of a connection between one’s discontent and the process of transformation 5. Exploration of options for new roles, relationships, and action 6. Planning a course of action 7. Acquiring knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plan 8. Provisional trying of new roles 9. Building competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships 10. A reintegration into one’s life on the basis of conditions dictated by one’s new perspective (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009, 19)

In examining my transformative learning journey, I was mindful not to ‘shoehorn’ findings into the framework but to remain open to possibilities which may not follow the ten phase model such as the “nondetermining start” to Nohl’s five phase model (Nohl 2015, 39). In his critical review of the empirical studies around Mezirow’s concept of transformative learning, Taylor (1997) identified that whilst the ten phase model was confirmed by a number of studies, there were many others that found “the process of perspective transformation to be more recursive, evolving, and spiralling in nature” and that “the process does not always follow the exact sequence of phases” (Taylor 1997, 44). Critical reflection on my journal entries confirmed the recursive process. Mezirow has suggested there are “two paths to perspective transformation: one is a sudden insight into the very structure of cultural and psychological assumptions which has limited or distorted one’s understanding of self and one’s relationships. The other is movement in the same direction that occurs by a series of transitions which permit one to revise specific assumptions about oneself and others until the very structure of assumptions becomes transformed” (Mezirow 1981, 7-8). Whilst my initial disorienting dilemma could be described as ‘epochal’ in its unexpectedness, my reflective journal entries demonstrated perspective shifts were more incremental in nature. These perspective shifts are

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 29 discussed in more detail in the analysis chapter. The use of a journal as a research tool was instrumental in mapping and examining the transformative learning journey and in developing the screenplays.

2.2 RESEARCH TOOLS AND PARTICIPANTS

2.2.1 Critical Reflection – Reflection Journal Critical reflection was integral in challenging assumptions about practice and facilitating transformative learning. Documenting my reflections in the Reflection Journal (also referred to as Reflective Journal) was ongoing throughout candidature. Though not included as a research output for reasons discussed below, the journal is a word document, approximately 79,000 words and contains critical and personal reflection, drafts of dialogue and scenes, notes from discussions with industry professionals, reflection on and feedback from critical community and focus groups, diagrams, images, evidence of creative writing processes such as ideation and stream of consciousness writing, and about fifty references.

This research incorporated Dirkx’s perspective on transformation theory in which he has argued that “personally significant and meaningful learning is fundamentally grounded in and is derived from the adult’s emotional, imaginative connection with the self and with the broader social world” (Dirkx 2001, 64). Dirkx’s holistic approach has advocated an integrated view which “also seeks to account for the ways in which the social, cultural, and embodied as well as the deeply personal and transpersonal aspects of our being potentially play out in the process of transformative learning” (Dirkx, Mezirow and Cranton 2006, 125) For Dirkx, this has meant being attentive to our inner world of thoughts, dreams, deep feelings and emotions, which complements Mezirow’s critical rational approach. The different levels of reflection documented in the Journal included the personal, rational, and collaborative. However, reflection was not necessarily corralled within these categories. Critical reflection in one area often triggered reflection in another as described in the following paragraph. Personal reflection was triggered by “emotionally charged images” (Dirkx 2001, 64). These arose from creative writing processes such as ideation and did not always find their way into the creative work. However, these creative processes created a connection or dialogue for reflecting on

30 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

deeply personal or emotionally charged areas of experience which were thus brought into awareness by the creative process.

The visual metaphor of intertwined spirals reflects the way in which creative and reflective writing processes interacted. As an example of the interaction between these two writing processes, the first entry in my reflection journal titled Reflecting on the writing process to date, aimed to identify my existing approach to screenwriting. In the entry, I described how snippets of scenes appear to me as creative inspiration, how I had a firm understanding of the practicalities of shooting a scene and how this both enhances and restricts my creative process. I then described examples of short film concepts my teaching colleague and I devised as a practical task for students to shoot. Documenting this memory provoked reflection on some of the bureaucratic frustrations I experienced while trying to teach screen production. This is a pattern which continued to evolve during the journaling process; reflection on creative practice often triggered reflection on lived experiences. In applying an arts-based method to transformative learning Brigham identified that “storying can help us to see ourselves reflexively and expose distortions in our interpretations of our experiences” (Brigham 2011, 50). Using scriptwriting which incorporated reflection on experience was intended to create both authenticities in the storying process and opportunities to challenge assumptions about experience. In the early stages, not all of my reflection was critical and it was only when I began to study transformation theory that I was able to revisit some of my entries and apply more critical reflection.

The journal provided a platform for creative risk-taking and critique. It was important to me that the reflection journal was a private space so that both creative and reflective processes could flow uncensored in a safe environment (Finlay 2008). The journal incorporated reflection on a difficult workplace. Taylor has argued that critical reflection “is more about ideological critique, where learners develop an awareness of power and greater agency (political consciousness) to transform society and their own reality” (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009, 5). Keeping the journal private enabled me to question assumptions about power and influence in the workplace at both individual and organisational levels. Sections of the journal have been included to explicate how critical reflection and creative practice are

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 31 interconnected. This next section describes the approach taken to the creative practice of screenwriting in more detail.

2.2.2 Critical Reflection – Writer’s Method and Action Research This research was practice-led; “research initiated in practice and carried out through practice” (Gray 1996, 1). This included identifying and conducting research into corporate practices and management theories to inform the screenplays. It also involved stepping out of the creative process to examine screenwriting practice. Creative and reflective writing processes were interwoven in an iterative process of action and reflection intended to create a systematic approach to the creative practice. However, as discussed in the analysis chapter, this was not as straightforward as intended and created tension in the creative practice. The iterative approach drew upon McKee’s (1998) writer’s method to reflect upon the process of screenwriting and synthesising feedback from personal observations and external sources. McKee has observed that “self-knowledge...life plus deep reflection on our reactions to life” is the key to the art of telling stories (McKee 1998, 21). Regarding the craft of screenwriting he has described the following reflective cycle: “You write, you read; create, critique; impulse, logic; right brain, left brain; re-imagine, rewrite” (McKee 1998, 26). By employing this writing process, inspiration for characters, stories and themes arose from a wide variety of sources both external and internal - born out of observation and reflection. Stroobants suggested the “capacity to see things from another angle is not only a necessity for the reflective learner, the comedian also needs to be able to change perspectives” (Stroobants 2009, 9). Recollecting previous experiences, observing and engaging in everyday interactions and being attentive to each moment were integral to the writing process. As a participant observer in the act of writing I reflected not just upon the immediate process of writing but mused upon the pool of memories from which the urge to write emerged. Strongest of these memories were observations of duplicitous, bullying and controlling behaviours which provided the main source of inspiration for characters in Fighting Fit. In this respect, writing narrative comedy drew upon autoethnography as a way of reflecting upon experience and viewing it through a comic lens.

McKee’s method of writing, reflection, revision, evaluation and re-writing shares similar cyclical, inductive processes with action research. Gravett has described action research as a “form of inquiry that is intended to have both action

32 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

and research outcomes” (Gravett 2004, 261). Action research was used to engage with and examine creative practice. This involved both reflection on learning about practice and the writing of screenplays as creative research outputs. Action research processes included problem definition, planning methodological approaches to address the problem, executing and reflecting on the research process such as journaling and creative writing, analysing and evaluating the effectiveness of the methodology. In allowing the practice to lead the research, these processes were often revisited as the creative practice and critical reflection were refined. Problem definition is an example of this as indicated by the shift in focus from identifying narrative comedy principles applicable to online learning to identifying strategies for supporting self-directed learning of screenwriting.

McKee’s writer’s method provided structure to reflecting in-action and on- action during the early phases of script development. Synthesising the principles of screenwriting and comedy and turning these into questions provided additional focus

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 33 for critically reflecting upon the writing process. For example, asking questions such as: Have I entered the scene late and left as early as possible? What is the purpose of the scene? What is the character’s want in the scene? Is it funny? [This was a far more problematic question than I could have imagined.] Does the character seem authentic? These questions became less specific as the scriptwriting practice developed and the drafting process became more reflexive, incorporating external feedback. I wouldn’t claim to have adopted the habitus of a professional screenwriter but the process felt like it was becoming more intuitive the more I immersed myself in the writing process.

Process reflection via external feedback was used to improve script development. Critical feedback was sought from a critical community, industry mentor and a professional table reading. Critical feedback was documented in the reflection journal and formed part of the action research process of planning, reflecting, analysing and evaluating. Feedback also included suggestions for triggering creative processes such as ‘interviewing’ characters or finding objects to develop character traits. An example of how critical feedback (as data collection) was actioned within the research is included in Appendix A.

2.2.3 Process Reflection – Critical Community Interaction with a critical community was an important source of feedback data in the early stages of the research as it provided a collaborative perspective to ensure perceptions about the creative practice were authentic and reliable. Campbell and Gilroy described a critical community as a group of friends, colleagues or fellow researchers who act as “peer reviewer, asking questions in supportive yet challenging ways” (Campbell and Gilroy 2004, 85). The critical reflection within this community provided a sounding board for concepts and script development and helped articulate problems within the screenplays.

Invitations were sent out to seven potential participants and three formal responses were received. One of the respondents had extensive professional experience as an actor, writer and director in theatre and television. This respondent, coded CC1 in the reflective journal also had film, television and performance teaching experience. Another respondent, coded CC2 in the reflective journal had a keen interest in screenwriting though worked in a related field of media communications. The third respondent, coded CC3, had worked in the screen and

34 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

media industry and had experience of both teaching in higher education and screenwriting.

The critical community were asked to respond to the same questions as the script editor listed in the next section. Due to the dispersed nature of the critical community feedback was provided via email. Scripts and episode outlines were emailed with accompanying questions to focus the feedback. The critical community were encouraged to offer ‘any other comments’ about the work and provided valuable encouragement in the creative practice. For example, one member of the critical community suggested I find a symbol for each character to help flesh out their identity. This triggered a cascade of creative processes which enabled me to interrogate characters to identify their internal motivations. An example is included in Appendix A.

2.2.4 Process Reflection – Industry Mentor Professional critical feedback was also incorporated into the Reflection Journal via feedback from screen industry perspectives. These perspectives were provided by an Industry Mentor, Mr John O’Grady and Associate Professor Geoff Portmann, Head of Discipline for Film, Screen and Animation at Queensland University of Technology (retired). Associate Professor Portmann’s previous experiences as ABC’s Head of Comedy and as a Producer and Director of Mother and Son (Atherden 1984-1994) ideally positioned him to provide a Producer/Director perspective. As he was also my principal supervisor for part of this research, his feedback was provided verbally during face-to-face supervision meetings. Feedback from the meetings was used to reflect on the creative practice and was documented in the reflection journal as FG1_B. Associate Professor Portmann retired part way through this project and Dr Phoebe Hart, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker, took over his role as my principal supervisor.

Mr John O’Grady was Executive Producer and Script Editor on Mother and Son and has many screen credits as writer, script editor and producer for a range of television programs. His perspective, coded as FG1_A in the reflection journal, was garnered through his role as script editor. He provided written feedback on the scripts and participated in Skype discussions. Early in the development process, scripts were emailed with accompanying questions. The questions were designed to provide a common starting point for comparing feedback on the creative work. Sample

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 35 questions included: Is it funny? Do the character descriptions suggest opportunities for conflict? How effective are the characters? Sufficiently fleshed out or do they seem predictable or stereotyped? Are the themes clearly evident? Does the dialogue sound authentic to each character?

The feedback from this perspective was collated and compared with feedback from the critical community using questions such as those listed above to provide a common reference point for reflecting on the creative work. This reflection was documented in the reflection journal and incorporated into subsequent drafts and cycled back through the iterative scriptwriting process.

An additional industry perspective was provided by Mr Ted Emery, venerable director of many successful Australian comedy programs such as Kath and Kim, Full Frontal and Welcher and Welcher. His participation is described in the following section.

2.2.5 Process Reflection – Table Reading

A table reading is an industry term used to describe a script development process in which actors and other stakeholders such as writer, director and producer gather to read through the script (Goldman 1983). The process has also been described as a ‘cold read’ and actors are not usually expected to give a performance. The table reading was used to gather feedback from professional actors and director on a draft of the last episode of Fighting Fit titled Lean Management. Previous drafts had been developed and re-written based on critical feedback from my industry mentor and critical community and whilst the draft was “nearly right” there were still sections that were “too flabby” (FG1_A 25/09/2016). Originally, Associate Professor Geoff Portmann was going to direct the reading however, after his retirement, Mr Ted Emery agreed to direct. As writer, I was a participant observer in the process. O’Reilly has explained that many participant observation discussions occur within groups and “can be incredibly dynamic and creative and revealing of all sorts of shared meanings, underlying structures and implicit norms” (O'Reilly 2009, 2). The table reading was identified as a method for obtaining feedback through observation of the actors’ embodiment of the characters and listening to the dialogue come to life. Within the context of the table reading the actors, director and audience effectively

36 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

performed the role of a focus group. The table reading is discussed in the analysis chapter as an example of process reflection on script development.

2.3 Procedure and Timeline

The first year of the professional doctorate incorporated course work and research activities designed to facilitate research skills. During this time the research focused on reflective practice and reviewing literature on screenwriting and humour. The second year continued the focus on critical reflection and beginning creative practice. The written, spoken, pictorial or symbolic texts created during the practice of screenwriting were examined in terms of how they contributed to the construction of the script. Feedback data from the critical community and industry perspective was examined and reflected upon in order to enhance the creative work. The questions used to seek feedback provided the starting point for data analysis but additional feedback provided by participants was also taken into account. The feedback data from episode outlines was used to draft scripts which were then sent out for further feedback. The cycle repeated once more and ‘final’ drafts were sent out for industry feedback only. This was to minimise the ‘load’ on the critical community but also at the recommendation of my supervisor to run the feedback from the critical community and other focus groups past him before introducing more changes to the scripts. This culminated in Project One milestone which presented initial findings from the research in an exegesis and two screenplays.

Creative practice continued and produced another script, an episode outline and more script revisions of Episodes 1, 2 and 8. During this time, I continued teaching in two second year screenwriting units at Queensland University of Technology. Professional teaching practice influenced critical reflection and directed inquiry into how lessons learned from the creative practice might help other learners of screenwriting. Critical reflection on my own teaching practice and the learning activities I devised were also documented in the Reflection Journal. My teaching perspective enabled me to apply my knowledge of pedagogy and andragogy to identify strategies for supporting self-directed learning within the creative practice of scriptwriting.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 37 2.4 Ethics and Limitations

Ethical clearance was approved on 29/04/15; approval number 1500000258. [See Appendix B] Permission was sought and approved from the table reading participants, audience and critical community to include their feedback in the research. Approval was also obtained to conduct an audio recording of the table reading. This was deemed a low risk research project.

One of the potential weaknesses of this research design was that feedback from the research participants might conflict and confuse or hinder the development of the screenplays. In an attempt to mitigate this risk, my supervisor recommended I prioritise the industry mentor’s perspective due to his extensive industry experience. This assumed that replicating the dominant industry paradigm would best simulate the industrial script development process. As discussed in the conclusion, this complicated the positioning of the screenplays as potentially commercial and research outputs.

2.5 Data Analysis

In the early stages, feedback from the questions posed to the critical community and industry mentor was collated and organised according to each question. The responses were compared to identify common criticisms or suggestions about the characters, draft script or episode outline. The feedback was examined and incorporated into the next draft of the script. The second draft of each screenplay was sent to the industry mentor and supervisor only. Feedback on second drafts was received via email and Skype discussions. This was further analysed to identify how it provoked either reflective or creative writing processes. In this respect, the feedback data was also examined for its capacity to inform transformative learning processes. The interaction of creative and reflective writing processes which facilitated transformative learning is described in more detail in the analysis chapter. An example of the creative writing process triggered by critical feedback is included in Appendix A.

The analysis of reflection journal entries was not linear and due to the time between receiving feedback from the various participants some advice was actioned sooner than others. For example, one of the more experienced members of the critical community (CC1) responded swiftly and provided very detailed feedback. The

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feedback provoked creative and reflective writing documented in the reflection journal. Whilst the critical feedback was systematically analysed, the reflective and creative writing processes inspired by the feedback was more spontaneous. As the creative practice progressed and creative and reflective writing was re-examined the process became less structured and more responsive to creative and reflective impulses.

This chapter has outlined the research design to address the research problem through immersion in and reflection upon writing narrative comedy. Action research through immersion in creative practice facilitated theory-building about screenwriting informed by critical reflection and transformation theory. Another important facet to the methodology was the contextual review. The next chapter examines existing theories about screenwriting and narrative comedy in order to ground practice in theory. It is worth noting that most of the authors of screenwriting manuals referred to in the contextual review suggest that they provide principles for developing the craft of screenwriting as opposed to hard and fast rules. Batty has identified “tensions arising between ‘how to’ books and what we might call ‘screenwriting studies’” (Batty 2014, 3). Whilst acknowledging that the screenwriting manuals are not necessarily the result of traditional scholarly research they are referred to here to broaden the audience for this research to include self- directed learners of screenwriting. Batty has argued that “we might be missing something by undervaluing work intended to assist writing practice” particularly when the aim of creative practice research is to “interrogate and intellectualise it in order to generate knowledge about new ways that we can practice” (Batty 2016, 60). This argument aligns with the purpose of this research to examine my own creative practice of writing narrative comedy.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 39 Chapter 3: Contextual Review

...it is by deceiving expectation, by satirizing the tempers of others, by playing humorously upon our own, by comparing a thing with something worse, by dissembling, by uttering apparent absurdities and by reproving folly that laughter is excited... (Cicero cited in Kline 1907, 432) This chapter examines the literature pertaining to writing narrative comedy and refers to screenwriting manuals, industrial discourses and scholarly analysis of the nature of screenwriting. The review also reflects the multidisciplinary perspectives of adult educator, screenwriter and curriculum designer. The first sections focus on the pedagogical applications of humour and narrative to identify connections between learning resource development and narrative comedy screenwriting. This includes a section on humour theory to establish a theoretical basis for understandings about narrative comedy. As there is an absence of literature on screenwriting pedagogy in the vocational education sector, the second section sought to identify existing approaches to learning screenwriting in higher education which might support self- directed learning in a range of formal and informal learning contexts. The third section of the review examines literature relating to screenwriting craft and includes examples of narrative comedy. The purpose of this section was to identify current best practice in the field of narrative comedy in order to deepen knowledge of the craft of writing narrative comedy. Observations have also been made throughout the review to identify elements of screenwriting craft that can be applied to instructional resource development. The final section of this chapter summarises the conceptual framework and the context for the creative work.

3.1 Narrative comedy and humour theory

One of the aims of this research is to identify how writing narrative comedy screenplays can facilitate transformative learning. Therefore, it is first necessary to identify what is meant by ‘narrative comedy’. Within the context of this research narrative comedy is the overarching term used to describe the genre of situation comedy (sitcom) and its associated hybrids or sub-genres including ‘docusoap’ and ‘mockumentary’. Mills’s (2009c) extensive research on the evolution of the sitcom acknowledged the complexity of formulating a single definition and instead

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suggested it can be identified by its intention to be humorous. He argued that conventions of the genre such as “its length, its domestic setting, its character types, its shooting style – can therefore be understood as conventions through which that comic impetus is expressed and demonstrated rather than tropes which define and characterise the genre” (Mills 2009c, 49). Whilst many traditional sitcoms focus on a domestic or family settings this research was more concerned with workplace contexts. Distinguishing ‘narrative comedy’ from ‘sitcom’ was not to suggest that the texts referred to in this review cannot be categorised as sitcom or that ‘narrative comedy’ carries any more cultural capital than ‘sitcom’. The main purpose of using the term narrative comedy was to foreground the concept of storytelling and humour as opposed to situation and comedy. This provided the opportunity to distinguish between principles of narrative and principles of comedy and introduced flexibility in terms of how they may be applied to learning contexts. The following section outlines types of humour and identifies how humour can enhance learning in specific contexts.

3.1.1 Humour Theory

In the Chapter One Introduction I suggested that humour theory can provide insight into creative choices through its use as a coping mechanism and in challenging perspectives. Raskin has argued that “any adequate theory of humor should be truly multidisciplinary, as indeed the phenomenon of humor itself” (Raskin 2014). Humour research is not a unified field. In his introduction to the Encyclopaedia of Humor Studies (2014), Attardo explained the interdisciplinary nature of the field spans cognitive and social psychology, sociology, linguistics, literary theory, anthropology, medicine and other disciplines (Attardo 2014). In The Primer of Humor Research, Attardo reproduced Raskin’s 1985 tripartite classification into three main categories: Incongruity Theories including Contrast and Incongruity/Resolution; Hostility Theories including Aggression, Superiority, Triumph, Derision and Disparagement; and Release Theories including Sublimation, Liberation and Economy (Attardo in Raskin 2008, 103). The origins of these theories date back to Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian (Perks 2012). Even within these theories, Morreall has warned against referring to a unified theory as there is disagreement on details of the theory such as “disappointed expectation, absurdity,

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 41 discrepancy, or contradiction, such as how they are related to laughter” (Morreall 2009, 12).

Phiddan and Noonan (2014) have suggested our current understanding of humour dates back to the fourteenth century (Phiddan and Noonan 2014, np.). Superiority theory, as the name suggests, distinguishes humour as a response to the behaviour of others, where ‘others’ are perceived as inferior and the target of the humour. Perks has explained, “[A]musement, seen through the lens of superiority theory, emerges from elevated feelings of self-worth after verbal denigration of a target” (Perks 2012, 120). Berger cited seventeenth century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes who proposed “[T]he passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from a sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly” (Berger 1987, 7). Superiority, or disparagement theory relies on a sense of superiority over the ‘butt of the joke’, be that another or our own previous failings. An extension of superiority theory, disposition theory, suggests “we are more likely to view humor attempts favourably when they target individuals we dislike or when the targets are not recognized as part of our referent group” (Wanzer, Frymier and Irwin 2010, 4). The potential for humour to unify or alienate a group is an important consideration in educational contexts. A less aggressive view of humour is explained by incongruity theories.

In the Encyclopaedia of Humor Studies, Phiddan and Noonan (2014) traced the history of incongruity theory to its acceptance in the eighteenth century marking a shift away from views of humour as aggressive or disparaging. They cited Immanuel Kant’s conception of humour as “the sudden transformation of a strained expectation into nothing” (Kant 1790, cited in Phiddan and Noonan 2014, np. Incongruity Theory). Morreall suggested the “core concept in incongruity theories is based on the fact that human experience works with learned patterns” and that humour is derived when our perceptions contradict our expectations. (Morreall 2009, 10). In incongruity theories, perceiving humour relies on cognitive processes where “the bringing together of two normally disparate ideas, concepts, or situations in a surprising or unexpected manner” result in mirth (Raskin 2008, 25). The expression of mirth is alternatively explained in Relief Theory of humour.

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The Release or Relief Theories of humour describe laughter as the discharge of nervous energy and the release of tension. “The excess nervous energy that is relieved by laughter, according to Spencer, is the energy of emotions that have been found to be inappropriate” (Morreall 2009, 17). Freud continued Spencer’s view of humour, explaining it as a release valve for repressed urges. As Olin explained, “when the tendentious subject matter is revealed as part of a joke, listeners become free to release the energy saved for the repression of baser impulses and laugh” (Olin 2016, 341). Morreall has suggested Freud focused on jokes involving sex and aggression because these were perceived as “the big urges which society forces us to repress” (Morreall 2009, 18).

While Superiority, Relief and Incongruity theories offer diverse perspectives as to how humour functions, Perks has noted that these theories “are not discrete, and several scholars argue that they should be viewed as complementary” (Perks 2012, 121). An alternative view of humour theory has more recently been proposed by McGraw and Warren. They described humour as a “benign violation” which they argued can explain humour in a variety of circumstances where Relief, Superiority or Incongruity theories are insufficient (McGraw and Warren 2010, 1142). They proposed that humour is elicited when a situation is simultaneously perceived as both transgressive (a violation) and non-threatening (benign). They defined violations as “anything that threatens one’s beliefs about how things should be...or departs from a norm in a potentially negative way” (McGraw and Warren 2014, 75). The influencing factors that enable violations to be perceived as “OK, safe, acceptable” include “a playful motivational state, cues that a situation should not be taken seriously, the presence of an alternative norm or explanation suggesting the violation is acceptable...a safe environment, psychological distance...or a low commitment to the person or norm threatened by the violation” (McGraw and Warren 2014, 76). McGraw and Warren have suggested that this theory of humour can explain why some people find certain humour offensive or disturbing because the violation is not perceived as benign. Each of the humour theories suggest humour has the potential to cause offence or alienation which is an important consideration if applied to learning contexts. The next section reviews research exploring the benefits of using humour in educational contexts to establish the link between writing narrative comedy and learning.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 43 3.1.2 Humour and learning There is a long history of research connecting the use of humour and learning. Most of the studies report the benefits of using humour in face-to-face educational contexts whilst acknowledging the potential for humour to negatively impact learning (Powell and Andresen 1985; Teslow 1995; Banas et al. 2011; Skinner 2010). Humour has been shown to encourage understanding, promote learning and retention of information, attract and maintain attention, improve disruptive behaviour, reduce anxiety and create a positive learning environment (Powell and Andresen 1985; Skinner 2009; Teslow 1995). Skinner (2009) suggested the use of humour to facilitate a constructive learning environment can contribute to positive course evaluations, particularly where the subject matter is perceived as difficult or tedious. He concluded that “judicious and appropriate use of humor (sic) facilitates the teaching-learning process” (Skinner 2010, 21). Though Skinner (2009) did not clarify exactly what constituted judicious and appropriate use, Powell and Andresen (1995) were careful to note studies which reported the effects of too much humour, which can be distracting, and negative types of humour which disparages or marginalises students and increases anxiety (Powell and Andresen 1985). Teslow’s (1995) review reiterated that humour has “the potential...for positive affective impact” (Teslow 1995, 22). These studies suggest the potential for narrative comedy screenwriting to assist in fostering positive learning experiences.

Banas et al. (2011) examined research into the use of instructional humour primarily within higher education contexts. Their research revealed a variety of taxonomies and typologies for examining humour dependent on humour’s function (e.g. to facilitate group bonding, self-enhancement, or boundary setting) or form (e.g. jokes, anecdotes or nonverbal humour). Of all the taxonomies of humour types and their appropriateness for educational use, most were context dependent and “funny stories were the most commonly used humor type” (Banas et al. 2011, 125). Their research again suggests that principles of narrative comedy screenwriting are not incompatible with fostering positive learning experiences.

Hackathorn et al. provided what they call “the first ecologically valid evidence that humor may maximize learning outcomes in college classrooms” (Hackathorn et al. 2011, 116). Their findings were the result of a semester’s analysis of the controlled use of humour within a college classroom. Students who were taught with

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the use of humour scored higher than those who were taught without humour. Hackathorn et al. (2011) found that humour increased the ability to recall and understand information, reflecting improvement at the level of knowledge and comprehension on Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy. They noted that learning was not increased on the application level of Bloom’s taxonomy. One of the reasons they suggested for this is that often humour is derived from incongruent examples of how not to apply a concept and whilst this may enhance students’ ability to comprehend it may not provide adequate opportunity to develop skills in applying concepts. They explained that “humor is often employed by showing a construct being misused or applied in a situation that is bizarre or inappropriate” (Hackathorn et al. 2011, 120). The scenarios in the Video Arts (2016) training films often demonstrated this principle with much of humour being derived from the inappropriate actions of a character that had a ‘lesson to learn’. The character would typically be shown the error of his or her ways and given advice on how to correct his or her behaviour. The scenario would then repeat with the character modelling the more desirable behaviour, often with a humorous payoff at the end. Though learners are shown the ‘correct’ response, they are not required to apply what they have learned within the linear, passive viewing of the film. Strategies for including humour in learning resources can benefit from opportunities for learners to apply skills as well as recall information and develop understanding (Hackathorn et al. 2011). Whilst there are software programs such as Articulate Storyline or Captivate which may be modified to incorporate learner interaction, the discussion of these tools are outside the scope of this review.

The example of Video Arts indicates connections between narrative comedy screenwriting and other screen based learning resources. Houser, Cowan and West (2007) conducted a study of CD ROM lecture material which compared video of two different lecture styles; one formal presentation and one in which the presenter used humour. The study was inconclusive in proving the benefits of using humour and the researchers surmised this may have been due to the lack of continuous exposure which might encourage greater affinity with the presenter. The notion of affinity is an interesting link to the concept of a protagonist in storytelling and the empathetic relationship the audience develops with the characters on screen. McDonald (2009) identified the notion of authenticity in instructional learning resources and its

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 45 importance in facilitating audience empathy. Authentic stories have the capacity to “change a long-held belief or behaviour” and affect “some type of personal transformation or self-improvement (Seger, 2003)” (McDonald 2009, 117). A story that engages an audience on an emotional level is a key goal in screenwriting. Schank (2002) has suggested that “good education requires good stories...that students can participate in and feel deeply about” (Schank 2002, 26). Arguably, good education also requires good storytellers which suggests that screenwriters possess craft skills that can be transferred to the development of engaging learning resources.

In his interviews with eight filmmakers, McDonald (2009) identified similarities between storytelling principles and instructional design processes such as clearly identifying the target audience, having a clear aim to determine the direction of the story or design and an iterative approach including testing and incorporating feedback. His analysis highlighted the use of conflict and the three-act structure to scaffold learning. This structure was explained by one of the interviewees as “a train of choice-consequence-choice-consequence-choice-consequence” (McDonald 2009, 117). McDonald proposed this as an example of how instructional designers might examine the content of their stories to improve the dramatic structure. The use of humour or suspense was also suggested for creating engaging learning resources. McDonald advised that stories which overtly set out to give a lesson may have the opposite effect (McDonald 2009). He suggested leaving some information for the learner to discover for themselves to encourage deeper reflection or action. Similarly, McKee has encouraged screenwriters to “respect the intelligence and sensitivity of your audience” and create stories which encourage audiences to “draw their own conclusions” (McKee 1998, 279).

The notion of entertainment, in the form of humour or suspense, identified in McDonald’s study points to directions in educational resource development commonly referred to as ‘gamification’, ‘edutainment’ and ‘serious games’. The use of games in educational contexts is also outside the scope of this research but they are briefly discussed here to identify the connections between storytelling and the use of games for learning. Gamification, edutainment and serious games incorporate the notion of ‘instructional design’ to mean the way in which instructional content is paired with certain game features to meet specific learning outcomes. Green and

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McNeese used Okan’s (2003) definition to describe edutainment as “a hybrid game genre that relies heavily on visuals and narratives or game formats but also incorporates some type of learning objective” (Green and McNeese 2007). Critics of edutainment have suggested that the entertaining features of games such as graphics, animation and audio content can be distracting. In applying cognitive load theory to an examination of multimedia resources, Mayer and Moreno identified the potential for the design of interactive screen-based resources to overload the learner with too much variety or conflicting information such as onscreen illustrations and text which both require visual processing skills (Mayer and Moreno 2003). Their study concluded that “concise narrated animation fostered meaningful learning without creating cognitive overload” (Mayer and Moreno 2003, 51). In screenwriting terms, this is writing ‘off the pictures’ and ‘show don’t tell’ which creates a more seamless screen experience.

Garris, Ahlers and Driskell (2002) identified there is “little consensus regarding the essential characteristics of instructional games” (Garris, Ahlers and Driskell 2002, 441). ‘Serious games’ are those which are specifically intended for educational purposes as opposed to edutainment which is perhaps more focused on learner engagement than learning outcomes. Dormann and Biddle suggested humour can improve learner engagement with ‘serious games’ that deal with issues of social justice and change (Dormann and Biddle 2009). Citing Zijderveld, Dormann and Biddle explained “the comic has long been a vehicle to confront oppressive cultural realities” and that “subversive humor challenges conventions and norms and beliefs” (Dormann and Biddle 2009, 818).

In learning how to respond to particular social situations, Richards and Szilas (2012) argued that applying interactive drama techniques to social simulations in virtual worlds can deepen learning experiences by exaggerating aspects of the experience relevant to particular learning concepts. They proposed that “[S]imulations of fictitious and yet engaging and thought provoking experiences are particularly relevant for learning how to behave in social situations” (Richards and Szilas 2012, 2). They referred to an example of a virtual world in which fantasy aliens are used to encourage children to develop awareness of prejudice so they might become more culturally sensitive to refugee classmates. Richards and Szilas

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 47 concluded that creating these learning experiences required creative story writing ability.

In Novak’s (2015) review of storylines as a game design element in digital learning materials, she found only eleven studies which specifically addressed the instructional effectiveness of narratives. Her study aimed to identify the types of storylines and their benefits to learning. Six experimental studies revealed that “including a storyline either decreased or had no effect on learning and mixed effects on motivation and engagement” (Novak 2015, 447). Novak suggested that the interactive elements which required the learner to actively engage with characters and events “probably increased working memory resources that may result in higher cognitive load which then negatively affects learning” (Novak 2015, 447). This observation confirms Mayer and Moreo’s (2003) earlier study on the effect of visual and auditory elements on cognitive load.

Novak suggested further research is required to investigate the effect of narrative length, presentation format, degree of interactivity, topic or context of the story presentation formats and the effects on academic achievement (Novak 2015). One of her findings indicated that locating the learning objective within familiar contexts such as family and school can positively affect learner performance and motivation; whereas fantasy storytelling can be problematic in terms of its appeal, or not, to the target audience and the corresponding level of engagement or disengagement as a result. This complicates Richards and Szilas’ (2012) suggestion that exaggerating aspects of the learning experience through fantastic scenarios can engage learners. “In spite of these perhaps discouraging findings, the researchers argue that narrative based learning environments can improve student confidence, self-reliance, and creativity...provide contextual anchoring and facilitate better knowledge construction and information organisation” (Novak 2015, 451). Novak’s findings suggest that incorporating narrative into learning resources requires close attention to the learning outcomes desired, the target audience, the topic, genre, length and format in which the story is presented. Screenwriting requires an understanding of how to appeal to an audience and how genre, format and length affect the narrative. This suggests screenwriters have skills which can be transferred to the field of instructional design. There are also parallels between ‘learning outcomes’ and the concept of the ‘lesson learned’ by a protagonist in a screenplay.

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Engaging screenwriters in the development of learning resources has the potential to address Novak’s (2015) concerns about the use of storylines to facilitate learning in digital learning materials.

Boyle et al. (2016) reviewed research on the impact and outcomes of ‘serious games’ in education and found that the “research on games was very diverse with respect to the focus of the studies, the outcomes reported, underlying theoretical models and methodological approaches” (Boyle et al 2016, 179). Their findings suggested that games for learning can promote knowledge acquisition and retention, “and to a lesser degree skill and social skill acquisition and behaviour change” (Boyle et al. 2016, 188). The review of literature in the area of serious games conducted by Tsekleves, Cosmas and Aggoun (2016) revealed that “[A]lthough a number of education benefits can be associated with serious games, there is no clear pathway of how to adopt best practices and align them with the curriculum” (Tsekleves, Cosmas and Aggoun 2016, 180). Additional barriers they identified included the lack of evidence of skills transference from engagement with serious games, assessment practices in serious games and costs of purchasing (or producing) serious games. The lack of direction in how to incorporate serious games into the curriculum suggests curriculum designers may have a role to play in the early stages of game design to facilitate greater alignment across content areas.

The concern with how screen based artefacts may be incorporated into the curriculum is also echoed in the research of Maher and Elkington (2015). Maher and Elkington argued that “[E]merging e-learning initiatives are unleashing ‘adaptive learning’ approaches that are invigorating traditional pedagogies” and that the “digitally enabled educational environment requires a steady flow of innovative and evolving content” (Maher and Elkington 2015, 154). Adaptive learning refers to technology-mediated learning which adapts to learner responses. Maher and Elkington suggested the Australian education sector is a viable market for the consumption of screen texts which align with the Australian National Curriculum and higher education sector. The demand for screen content which aligns with educational markets would suggest that screenwriters who have an understanding of curriculum requirements or instructional designers who have an understanding of screenwriting principles can bring a multidisciplinary perspective to the development of learning resources which supply the education market.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 49 There are many examples of how existing screen texts have been incorporated into the curriculum documented in journals such as Screen Education and ATOM; many accompanied with learning guides for integration in the curriculum. In an example of how storytelling can support independent learning, Kalogeras (2013) used a qualitative approach to test an e-module based on the concept of transmedia storytelling delivered within a university history course. Kalogeras defined her transmedia storytelling approach as one where the story drove independent learning. Kalogeras proposed that transmedia storytelling “can be considered a student- centered pedagogical approach to education” (Kalogeras 2013, 2). The study was limited to five student volunteers and used an online digital story, in the form of an interactive screen text, to ‘hook’ students’ attention and encourage independent inquiry. Links within the screen text connected students to a variety of “aggregated and assembled” transmedia content as well as additional content to enable students to “gain deep knowledge of the topic” (Kalogeras 2013, 8). Kalogeras’ own original screenplay was one of the texts used in the transmedia approach. Kalogeras argued positive benefits of student engagement with the story challenged the concept that a “typical user wants to minimize extraneous cognitive load and optimize germane cognitive load” (Kalogeras 2013, 8). She cited a variety of sources which demonstrate that emotional engagement can facilitate learning and retention of knowledge and concepts. Though her study was not concerned with the use of humour it reiterates the role storytelling can play in facilitating learning.

This section of the review has focused on establishing the role of humour and stories in learning. It has shown that judicious and appropriate applications of humour and storytelling can facilitate learning by creating positive, constructive learning environments, reducing anxiety and disruptive behaviour, improving knowledge acquisition and retention, grabbing and maintaining attention, and having positive affective impact. Emotional engagement with stories and humour encourages learners to apply problem-solving skills to resolve incongruity. Authentic stories and subversive humour can facilitate engagement with the content and trigger perspective shifts. Consistent use of characters or presenters can help learners build affinity with the onscreen persona. Stories which contain conflict, suspense or humour and leave room for the learner to make connections and solve problems are more likely to engage learners. However, the type and purpose of the humour or

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storytelling is an important factor. That is, the learning goal must be intentional rather than secondary to the humour or story. Applying humour to storytelling for educational purposes requires careful consideration of the types of humour used, who or what the humour may be directed towards and the negative attitudes or beliefs it may perpetuate, such as racist or sexist humour. The use of interactive storytelling in the form of games also suggests a tension between the effectiveness of ‘edutainment’ and ‘serious games’ for learning. The games identified as more effective for learning were those purposely designed with an educational goal in mind. The review also suggests there are challenges in the capacity of games to adequately assess application of knowledge or skills gained from interaction outside of the game context.

The review of literature on the use of humour in learning contexts suggests there is a gap, where screenwriting, curriculum and instructional design overlap, in the conception and application of educational screen-based texts which incorporate narrative and humour. Beyond the creation of learning resources, this has implications for learning screenwriting. The growth in online training and the use of video would suggest that there are opportunities for screenwriters and educators to collaborate to create engaging and effective screen based learning resources. Using a multidisciplinary approach to learning screenwriting which includes opportunities for screenwriters to develop instructional design skills (or educators to learn screenwriting skills) may expand opportunities in writing for screens beyond the traditional field of film and television. In the following section, the review focuses on literature which examines existing approaches to learning screenwriting in higher education.

3.1.3 Screenwriting pedagogy The literature pertaining to teaching screenwriting in higher education described a range of methods for idea generation and script development which demonstrated both creative and reflective writing processes. Nelmes (2007) suggested the creative ideas for screenplays are “triggered off in some way by the need within the writer to tell a story ... At a subconscious level he or she is driven by the need to say something...” (Nelmes 2007, 109). Similarly, McVeigh (2014) identified the desire to share a story as the “first step of the creative process” (McVeigh 2014, 60). McVeigh argued the contemplation and inspiration stage is

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 51 vital for allowing students to experiment, explore, research, and find their own screenwriting voice (McVeigh 2014). She described a “powerful exercise to encourage inspiration” in which sharing the meaning behind a significant childhood object helped students to identify values which were important to them (McVeigh 2014, 61). As a creative writing strategy, this mirrors reflective writing strategies in which learners examine critical incidents or disorienting dilemmas that can lead to transformative learning. Dirkx (2001) has suggested an ‘imaginal’ approach to reflecting on powerful experiences. Examining the trigger for their stories may help learners of screenwriting to identify a disorienting dilemma. Developing an understanding of the process of transformative learning may enable learners of screenwriting to examine their sources of inspiration to both identify the theme of their work and potentially lead to transformative learning.

Batty has argued exploring theme with other stakeholders in the script development process “can bring collaborators together to remind them of the core of the story” and avoid “development hell” (Batty 2015, 120). Both Nash (2013) and Batty (2015) have proposed a more intuitive, collaborative approach to screenwriting in which screenwriters are “encouraged to feel their story” and involve other stakeholders such as director, producer and script editor in the script development process (Batty 2015, 115) The encouragement to feel their stories suggests emotional engagement. Nash has argued that allowing space for experimentation and the interplay of “logic and intuition; of passion and reason” is a vital component of creative screenwriting practice (Nash 2013, 159). Nash found showing unconventional work triggered creative responses and suggested screenwriting teachers encourage learners “to enter a discovery-driven process that quickens their pulses and fuels their creativity” (Nash 2013, 152). Nash’s organic, intuitive approach to screenwriting closely aligns with Dirkx’s (2001) emotional, intuitive approach to transformative learning.

Brigham (2011) used an intuitive, creative approach to transformative learning through flow writing techniques (stream of consciousness) to trigger storytelling and art-making. These techniques allowed migrant teachers to identify and challenge assumptions about practice. Brigham proposed the “dynamic interplay of flow writing, art making, storying and dialogue in a safe setting, helped to unblock blind spots necessary for creative thinking, critical reflection and revisioning micro and

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macro power structures” (Brigham 2011, 50). For Batty (2011), reflexive thinking within the screenplay narrative, “relates to characters undergoing inner, emotional transformations which are closely linked to undertaking and reflecting upon their undertaking of physical action” (Batty 2011, 9). Batty identified the importance of the protagonist’s inner journey in creating an emotional connection with the audience. Again, this suggests that learners of screenwriting can benefit from a deeper understanding of critical reflection in order to translate it to the action of their characters. In his redefinition of the Hero’s Journey, Batty “separates physical action and emotional transformation into units which specifically map how the protagonist moves through each stage of a narrative” (Batty 2011, 82-83). The connections between the stages of transformative learning and the Hero’s Journey present an interesting avenue for future investigation.

In reflections on many years of teaching screenwriting, Jan Worth (2005) observed that students’ scripts become “more resonant as the student begins to recognize more clearly there (sic) own preoccupations and begins to question their own assumptions” (Worth 2005, 118). This suggests the importance of embedding critical reflection on sources of inspiration into screenwriting pedagogy. Worth identified a disconnection between teaching strategies that foreground craft skills and “a form of education that engages the individual with any sense of themselves or their own formation of their place in the world” (Worth 2005, 118). She used a range of learning strategies such as personal interviews, self-reflections and writing treatments which recounted personally meaningful experiences. These activities promoted empathy and self-awareness by placing learners at the centre of their own and each other’s experiences. Worth (2005) suggested that by incorporating autobiography into learning strategies students were encouraged to question assumptions about individuals. In turn, querying assumptions prompted students to examine representations of character and engage with other perspectives which helped inform the development of multidimensional characters. Encouraging learners to perceive widely suggests a sharing of experience or perceptions which can foster collaborative understanding and meaning-making.

The collaborative strategies proposed by Batty (2011), Nash (2013) and Worth (2005) have parallels in transformative learning. Mezirow has suggested collaborative learning can help us examine our assumptions about the world and our

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 53 place in it (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009, 24). Cranton has recommended activities such as “role plays, simulations, journals and case studies...media-based analyses, exploration of fiction and imaginative activities” can foster transformative learning (Cranton 2011, 81). Moon (2006), Jarvis (2006) and Brigham (2011) have also identified creative writing activities which can encourage transformative learning. Jarvis has proposed that reading or watching fiction can “encourage the development of particular kinds of transformation” (Jarvis 2006, 76). She argued fiction that contains themes which resonate with learners can provoke disorienting dilemmas (Jarvis 2006, 76). Moon has suggested that “the integration of story activity with journal-writing extends the value of the latter by widening its context from the world of the individual perception into the social, political and historical context of the individual” (Moon 2006, 122). Embedding critical reflection in creative screenwriting processes can create opportunities for learners to develop screenplays which resonate with them on an emotional level. Exploring ideas or themes which resonate emotionally has the potential to challenge assumptions about the social and political context in which they are created and might also lead to the acquisition of what Cranton refers to as emancipatory knowledge (Cranton 2011, 77).

It requires courage and openness for learners to confront critical incidents or disorienting dilemmas and examine their inner world. Moon has suggested a journal can “give learners an experience of dealing with ill-structured material of learning” (Moon 2006, 26). A journal can help make sense of a “discovery-driven” self- directed learning process and provide a platform for learners to document “new insights into or even dream about the ideas they have collected” (Nash 2013, 152; McVeigh 2014, 61). In their teaching of screenwriting, both Nelmes (2007) and Worth (2005) recognised critical reflection as a useful source of inspiration for learners to generate ideas and reflect on the assumptions underpinning their scripts. Documenting reflective writing can provide learners with idea-generating opportunities to create stories which explore authentic, meaningful experiences. Learners engaged in collaborative critical reflection, sharing journal entries or other creative collaborations require a safe setting and an atmosphere of trust (Hämäläinen and Vähäsantanen 2011, 175). Arguably a journal provides a safe space for learners to explore personal experiences, tune into their inner world and contemplate how it

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relates to the stories they create. However, using screenwriting as ‘therapy’ is cautioned against in the industry texts about screenwriting.

In professional screenwriting, Michael Hauge has warned there is “a real danger” in writing from personal experience and argued against using a script to work through personal emotional issues (Hauge 2011, 40). However, he also acknowledged the “depth, richness, believability, and emotional impact” of scripts such as The Hurt Locker (Bigelow 2008) which he attributed to screenwriter Mark Boal’s experiences as a journalist entrenched with a bomb squad in Iraq (Hauge 2011). Hauge’s perspective suggests learners of screenwriting need to be mindful of both using writing as therapy and measuring their scripts against industry benchmarks. In higher education Macdonald (2004) referred to the craft-building skills described in various screenwriting manuals which propose ways of constructing ‘good’ screenplays. He argued that over-reliance upon their 'principles' risks producing works which replicate the rules and therefore are considered 'good' by virtue of compliance. Nash (2013) echoed Macdonald’s concern and cautioned against over-reliance on industrial criteria in approaches to developing screenplays. She has suggested that screenwriting wisdom which follows conventional paradigms such as those found in screenwriting manuals rarely enter “the intuitive and passionate spaces of creativity where ideas are fluid and in a shifting process of constant change” (Nash 2013, 160). Rather than relying on established, industrial approaches to screenwriting, Nash and Macdonald have proposed a more flexible, collaborative approach to developing and assessing screenplays.

In assessing screenplays, Macdonald has suggested “[A]ssessing the script (product) alone may be industrially favourable, but is limited. Assessing the learner is also limited, because the script is an essential component whose very purpose is to demonstrate ability and the screen idea” (Macdonald 2001, 70). Incorporating critical reflection into screenwriting processes may add another level of ‘evidence’ for assessing both the script and the writer’s competence. Macdonald considered it may be useful to “pay significant attention to reflective work produced by the student, or to require additional reflective work designed to assist clarity in assessment (particularly subjective assessment)” (Macdonald 2001, 78). Incorporating transformative learning theory can support critical reflection as a valuable strategy in both learning and assessing screenwriting.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 55 This section has identified a variety of creative and reflective writing approaches which can support learning screenwriting. It also identified that assessing scriptwriting in higher education sits problematically alongside industrial expectations of the script. Whilst screenwriting manuals can offer advice about craft skills, they risk confining script development to known criteria. Screenwriting pedagogy in higher education would appear to foreground creative capabilities and intuitive processes such as ideation, reflection, thematic development and creative risk-taking (Steers 2009). There are also synergies between reflective and creative writing processes that can encourage learners to consider their motivations for writing and potentially help identify disorienting dilemmas. Translating powerful emotional experiences into themes which resonate with an audience can imbue work with authenticity but risks the ‘danger’ of becoming screenwriting as therapy. Critical engagement with creative work requires learners to challenge perceptions about their sources of inspiration and to consider the viability of the script to communicate to a wider audience.

There is an absence of scholarly literature about learning screenwriting in the vocational education sector. However, the screenwriting manuals and ‘how to’ guides which explain industrial script writing practices can be considered to provide vocationally-based advice. The next section identifies some of the key principles advocated in a range of screenwriting manuals and examines the field of narrative comedy related to this research. Examples of Australian narrative comedy are also examined to establish the context for the creative practice of writing narrative comedy scripts.

3.2 Screenwriting

In the introduction to this exegesis, I identified competing tensions within my professional teaching practice in which learning contexts were becoming increasingly challenged by competitive funding models and online markets. The tension between traditional and online markets was mirrored throughout a range of industries including the Australian screen industry where competition for audiences has become more fragmented by online distribution models (Cunningham and Silver 2013, 53). An examination of the discourses surrounding writing for the screen revealed what Schön would call a “crisis of confidence” in the Australian screen industry (Schön 1983, 3). This crisis was exemplified in a discussion paper sent by

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Screen Producers Australia (SPA) to its members in 2013. In it, they posed this question:

Should Australian producers engage more foreign writers in order to increase access to foreign markets? (Screen Producers Australia 2013, 7)

SPA was not suggesting that foreign writers were more proficient than Australian writers but they inferred that foreign writers could improve the likelihood of a greater return on production investment by appealing to a global market. The success of Australian writers like Chris Lilley or Jane Turner and Gina Riley and the international reception and translation of their work indicates that the screenwriting ‘problem’ is not so easily solved, particularly in relation to narrative comedy.

The capacity for comedy to appeal to a global audience is also an important consideration in applying principles of narrative comedy to learning resources which might be accessed both within and outside of Australia. Teslow cited studies which showed that “some of the greatest differences between cultures are in the contents and situations of humor” (Teslow 1995, 8). Banas et al. (2011) suggested more research is needed to examine how humour is perceived outside of western educational contexts. He used Zhang’s (2005) study which “demonstrated that humor may be... inappropriate in cultures that value highly formal educational style” (Banas et al. 2011, 138). SPA’s query also suggests a collaborative strategy to learning resource development in which international perspectives may enable online learning resources to appeal to a wider audience.

With a view to examining the various influences upon screenwriting practice, Maras has identified an “object problem” (Maras 2009, 11). He has suggested screenwriting can be defined as both a practice and artefact. Nelmes (2007) suggested it has historically been viewed as a craft which creates a product for profit and forms part of an industrial process. In this respect the practice of screenwriting has been “almost invisible” (Nelmes 2007, 107). In her historical analysis of Hollywood screenwriting, Staiger (1983) explained the “economic tension” that existed in the film industry between the business imperative for replicable successful stories and the need for originality of content. Economic imperatives appear to have driven the standardisation of screenwriting processes which underpin current practice (Nelmes 2007, Staiger 1983).

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 57 The script functions not just as a mode of storytelling but also as marketing material used to obtain funding for production. It can and has been viewed as a ‘blueprint’ for production and a means of controlling budgets and the division of labour (Conor 2014; Millard 2010; Maras 2011; Staiger 1983). Viewed as a blueprint, the script can exist in many forms during the development process with many ‘authors’ or collaborators contributing to the final manifestation of the screen work. In an interview with Stuart McDonald, director of Australian television comedy Summer Heights High (Lilley 2007), O’Hara described an “anarchic” process of improvisation that occurred during the shooting process where the “detailed scripts” written by Chris Lilley were “often used only as a guide” (O'Hara 2007, 68). Co-creators of The Office (2001-2003), Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, explained the reverse of this process. In a behind-the-scenes interview they explained the authentic, naturalistic dialogue was the result of improvisations which were then incorporated into the tightly scripted scenes (Gervais and Merchant 2001-2003). The role of improvisation, collaboration and auteur (authorship) are important influences that complicate the ‘blueprint’ approach to the screenwriting process and the development of what Ian Macdonald called the “screen idea” (Macdonald 2013).

Screenwriting practices such as the principles of narrative storytelling, format and genre have evolved within an industrial context that has established normative processes in order to maximise profits (Staiger 1983). The principles of narrative storytelling such as the three act structure, conflict and character development have become measures for effective screenwriting in both film and television (McKee 1998; Field 2003; Hauge 2011). The standardisation of script formats (Staiger 1983; Conor 2014) has become a sign of expertise that distinguished the novice from the expert practitioner, and genre has evolved to maximise both production and distribution of screen content (Mills 2009b; Mittell 2006; Creeber, Miller and Tulloch 2008). Baker (2016) has suggested that the perception of the screenplay as a ‘blueprint’, the influence of various (production) stakeholders and expectation that the screenplay conform to structural or formatting rules has inhibited the study of scriptwriting within the academy. He cited scholars who argue, “screenplays are indeed finished creative works in their own right” and as such are able to be studied (Baker 2016, 71). Including an analysis of Fighting Fit screenplays as creative

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practice-led research outputs in this exegesis, also contributes to debates about the “object problem” of the screenplay (Maras 2009, 11).

3.2.1 Structure, conflict and character In Conor’s analysis of screenwriting manuals, she identified a “strikingly homogenous” conceptual framework for learning how-to write screenplays (Conor 2014, 128). This section of the review therefore focused on the key ideas from a limited number of texts written by “first tier-guru[s]” (Conor 2014, 126). The advice given in these ‘how to’ manuals related to technical and craft skills which drew heavily on Aristotelian traditions of story. Field (2003) made reference to what Aristotle called the “three unities of dramatic action: time, place and action” (Field 2003, 11). He described the paradigm of the screenplay in terms of the three act structure and used it to indicate when changes in dramatic action should occur over the course of 90-120 minutes. Field (2003) referred to the three acts as setup, confrontation and resolution.

McKee (1998) deconstructed the act into smaller and smaller elements, the smallest of which he called beats. In Jason McDonald’s article “Imaginative instruction: what master storytellers can teach instructional designers”, one interviewee referred to a “choice-consequence” pattern (McDonald 2009a, 117). For McKee, this was “an exchange of behaviour in action/reaction” which “shape the turning of a scene” (McKee 1998, 39). Each beat builds scenes which in turn builds sequences which form the basis of each act. In order to maintain the momentum and focus of the story, McKee has suggested attending to the value in each of these elements which equates to meaningful changes to a character’s situation that propels the story forward through conflict.

STORY VALUES are the universal qualities of human experience that may shift from positive to negative, or negative to positive, from one moment to the next. (McKee 1998, 36) In terms of its application to interactive learning resources, there are obvious connections to be made between choices which lead to positive or negative outcomes for the user. Similarly, breaking scenes into beats has parallels with ‘chunking’ information or ‘modularising’ content in an instructional context. From a storytelling perspective, the conflicts which lead to changes in a character’s situation and their response to those changes not only propel the story forward but reveal who

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 59 they are to the audience. McKee proposed structure is closely tied to character revelation by “progressively building pressures that force characters into more and more difficult dilemmas where they must take more and more difficult risk-taking choices and actions, gradually revealing their true natures, even down to the unconscious self” (McKee 1998, 99). The pressure to make a decision is a principle that might be applied to serious game design or interactive learning resources to guide learners towards difficult choices. Asking learners to examine their choices then has the potential to reveal unconscious value systems or assumptions which is a key aspect of transformative learning.

In relation to narrative comedy, Vorhaus (2012) has described the beats in a scene and the notion of value in terms of the character’s emotional state upon entering a scene and the pivot point which triggers a change in the character’s emotional state upon exiting the scene. In what he referred to as an “attitude map” Vorhaus suggested that the changing emotional state of a character is what drives the narrative and “we should be able to see a relationship between the events of the story and the changing emotional states” (Vorhaus 2012, 68). He deconstructed this into a series of actions which form what he called a blueprint for constructing a scene. To maintain the story’s momentum he suggested identifying the purpose of the scene and “if you can’t find a clear, clean want, you can probably cut the scene” (Vorhaus 2012, 55). Identifying clear character motivations which propel the narrative was a sentiment expressed throughout the screenwriting manuals in relation to selecting elements which continue to build the momentum of the story. In many ways, these elements mirror on a micro level the larger three act structure.

For a twenty-four minute television sitcom, Hauge (2011) suggested a six minute first and third act with a twelve minute second act. Similarly, Smith (2009) recommended a longer second act. He differentiated between single and multiple thread storylines and suggested that a thirty minute episode with four story threads might distribute the time equally across each thread, roughly equating to seven to eight minutes for each thread. He stated that this was by no means a hard and fast rule and that the threads will often be interwoven. Hauge defended the use of the three-act structure saying “it’s not the three-act structure that makes stories flat, predictable, and boring, it’s that the writer hasn’t added anything original or clever to that structure” (Hauge 2011, 311).

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Standardised film script formatting has led to the general acceptance of one page equalling one minute of screen time. Millard has speculated “if the enforcement of this equation does not nudge the screenplay towards a production and budgeting document, rather than a creative record of a screen idea” (Millard 2010, 7). Positioning the screenplay as a budgeting document again raises the “object problem” (Maras 2009) and reinforces the idea of the script as a blueprint for production. Millard identified the history of the prescriptive formatting which has made it part of the unquestioned requirement for screen funding bodies and producers, the use of which demonstrates the writer’s “status as an insider in the film industry” (Millard 2010, 16). Many screenwriting manuals would have us believe that effective screenwriting practice relies on conformity within structure and format combined with originality or cleverness to avoid flat, predictable and boring stories.

In an attempt to address the issue of storytelling in Hollywood scripts, Vogler distilled the twelve stages of the ‘Hero’s Journey’ into a guide for story progression and to address inner and outer character conflict (Vogler and McKenna 2011, 33). Based on Joseph Campbell’s (1968) Hero with a Thousand Faces, Vogler mapped “the imaginary trajectory of a character’s development, in which he or she changes by small, believable increments, experimenting with change, threatening to fall back into old patterns, but ultimately learning life lessons and perhaps making emotional breakthroughs” (Vogler and McKenna 2011, 58). Vogler (1998) used the twelve stages of the hero’s journey to highlight the importance of structure and provide markers to maintain the narrative momentum within a screenplay. He suggested the hero’s “journey is one way of describing a general pattern of character development, specifically noting how any character deals with change” (Vogler and McKenna 2011, 59). For Vogler, the best screenplays were those that satisfied both the outer physical journey of the protagonist as well as the inner emotional one. The twelve stages of the hero’s inner and outer journey are listed below.

Twelve Stages of the Hero’s Journey Twelve Stages of the Hero’s Inner Journey 1) Ordinary world 1) Limited awareness of a problem 2) Increased awareness of the need for 2) Call to adventure change 3) Refusal of the call 3) Fear, Resistance to change 4) Meeting of the mentor 4) Overcoming fear 5) Crossing the threshold 5) Committing to change 6) Tests, allies, enemies 6) Experimenting with new conditions 7) Approach 7) Preparing for major change

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 61 8) Ordeal, death and rebirth 8) Big change with feeling of life and death

9) Reward, Seizing the Sword 9) Accepting consequences of new life 10) The road back 10) New challenge and rededication 11) Resurrection 11) Final attempt(s) / last minute dangers 12) Return with the Elixir 12) Mastery (Vogler and McKenna 2011)

Batty has argued that the narrative pattern of the hero’s journey is itself a “way of ordering ‘truth’ to make it accessible and meaningful” (Batty 2011, 47). In Movies that Move Us: screenwriting and the power of the protagonists journey, Batty (2011) detailed the mythic structure of the Hero’s Journey to highlight connections between action, manifested by the protagonist’s outer journey, and the inner journey mapped to the emotional development of the protagonist. He suggested “[I]f a screenwriter can understand both the fabric and the function of the protagonist’s physical and emotional journeys, and the relationship that they share, he or she should be able to shape the narrative effectively and accordingly” (Batty 2011, 92). Hauge proposed the reasons screenplays are successful are “because the unique nature of the specific characters, desires, and conflicts are emotionally compelling” (Hauge 2011, 74). Both industry (Vogler, Hauge) and scholarly (Batty) perspectives agree; the protagonist undergoing emotional change is integral to the success of the screenplay in propelling the story towards a satisfying conclusion. The challenge for screenwriters is to imbue their characters with an emotional journey that is both accessible and meaningful for audiences.

The protagonist undergoing change is a major point of difference between narrative comedy and other screen genres. Television narrative comedy traditionally follows an “arc of stability” where “no matter what happens in your story...things always end up more or less back where they started” (Vorhaus 1994, 143). DeFino suggested that “characters and situations cannot and will not undergo change, because, by doing so, they would drastically alter the fictional world of the program” (DeFino 2014, 79). However, Batty has argued that theme is equally important in narrative comedy where “good humour comes out of a situation, one that needs to have thematic resonance if an audience is going to care” (Batty 2015, 118). DeFino (2014) described the way in which The Larry Sanders Show (Klein and Shandling 1992 - 1998) pushed the boundaries of narrative comedy by blurring the distinction

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of the fictional world and ‘reality’ and paved the way for subsequent examples of successful narrative comedies such as Arrested Development (Hurwitz 2003-) and The Office (Gervais and Merchant 2001-2003).

Mills (2004b) also examined the way in which programs such as Kath and Kim (Riley and Turner 2002-), The Office and The Larry Sanders Show have expanded the sitcom genre. In these programs, he suggested that the “humour explicitly requires a tension between the ways in which characters understand themselves, and the ways they appear in the programs being made about them” (Mills 2004b, 103). The contradiction in the way characters perceive themselves and how they are perceived by other characters and viewers is mirrored in innovative stylistic approaches traditionally associated with documentary form which rely on audience recognition of documentary realism to create cringe-worthy humour.

3.2.2 Awkward realism and cringe-worthy characters DeFino (2014) attributed the success of The Larry Sanders Show (1992-8) primarily to its star and writer Gary Shandling. He explained the program successfully pushed the genre of narrative comedy by blurring the distinction between fictions (Larry as TV show host) and ‘reality’ (also fictional, behind-the- scenes Larry) and in doing so created an authentic critique of notions of celebrity. DeFino (2014) described how the show combined the production values usually associated with late night chat shows (three studio cameras, applause cues etc.) with the realism conveyed by hand-held, documentary style footage from the ‘behind-the- scenes’ camera. As celebrity guests, playing themselves, transitioned from the studio set, the hand-held camera captured their ‘real’ behaviour behind-the-scenes. It also revealed characters’ insecurities and gave Shandling additional opportunities to explore the human condition, “because the human condition is hilariously awful” (Garry Shandling in Apatow 2015, 112).

In an interview with Judd Apatow, Shandling described Larry Sanders as a show “about life and the question of self...and what people are always covering up – the tension between what they’re covering emotionally in life and what’s really going on inside them” (Apatow 2015, 113). Shandling advised writers to draw from their own experiences when constructing characters.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 63 Whenever you turn to what the organic state of any given character is, the fears and the anger and the struggle, you’re going to get conflict and a lot of hilarious stuff. (Garry Shandling in Apatow 2015, 114) DeFino suggested that the writing team who worked with Shandling at HBO were able to “rediscover or reinvent their voices” away from the “censors and corporate sponsors” (DeFino 2014, 85). Within this environment the disposition of writers would appear to have been one of freedom, experimentation and risk-taking where they were able to push the boundaries of the narrative comedy genre. Providing a safe, open environment for learners of screenwriting has the potential to foster similar creative risk-taking and the development of creative capabilities.

The ‘awfulness’ of the human condition was made even more painful by the use of documentary production techniques in The Office (2001-2003). Westwood and Johnston have suggested the series “can be read as a parody of the performativity of management, gender and political correctness” (Westwood and Johnston 2012, 787). The series, set in a Slough (UK) office block, was based on the premise of a documentary film crew ‘observing’ office behaviour, particularly that of the boorish manager, David Brent played by Ricky Gervais. The pathetic attempts by Brent to connect with his ‘team’ by making inappropriate comments and jokes were combined with lingering takes used to emphasise the awkward silences that stretched out painfully in the aftermath of Brent’s repeated insensitivity. “His inability to perform appropriately in social situations, coupled with an enormous sense of self- importance, creates a monster of a boss whose employees are powerless to question him” (Mills 2004a, 69). In a particularly ‘awful’ example, Brent made ‘a joke’ out of sacking the receptionist to impress a new recruit. In a previous scene, office rumours of departmental closure circulate so the audience was cued to the receptionist’s justifiable breakdown in response. Middleton (2013) suggested that as spectators, “we cringe not simply because of repugnant boss David Brent’s awkward and insensitive behaviour, but because our embodied relation to the show indexes our greater awareness of numbing work routines that serve as counterpoint to the ideal of flexible and creative labor in a ‘new’ economy” (Middleton 2013, 142). The documentary aesthetic employed in The Office thwarted any relief that might otherwise be derived from the addition of a laugh track or other conventions of narrative comedy which cued the audience to laugh such as reaction shots of other characters. Instead the camera lingered and forced the audience to watch the painful

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interactions which formed the basis of the awkward humour. Schwind described this as “embarrassment humour” (Schwind 2015, 49).

We are supposed to and expected to laugh at the scenes of humiliation, faux pas and social transgression displayed in the series despite feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable watching them. (Schwind 2015, 53) Within The Office, there were instances when the characters were fully ‘aware’ and ‘played to’ the camera either through talking head ‘interviews’ or looks to camera. There were other instances when they were ‘unaware’ of being filmed. The contrast between their ‘public’ persona and their ‘private’ behaviour was heightened by the fly-on-the-wall documentary convention. Mills suggested that this positions the audience “as part of the diegetic comic meaning”; that is, instead of a laugh track signalling the humour, the audience is given a privileged view of the character’s contradictory behaviour (Mills 2004a, 72). Vorhaus has referred to this as “the comic premise [which] is the gap between comic reality and real reality” (Vorhaus 2012, 19). The use of documentary conventions added another layer to these ‘realities’ which forced the audience to become complicit in the humour-making process. This could arguably be the source of ‘discomfort’ in the cringe-worthy moments audiences were invited to laugh at. Superiority theory would suggest that the audience laughs at the buffoonery of Brent. Incongruity theory would explain the humour is amplified by the difference between what Brent says, does and thinks about himself in ‘public’ and how he behaves when he is unobserved. Release theory ties in more with Schwind’s suggestion that the audience is complicit in the humour making process. Feelings of embarrassment or discomfort are released by laughter.

In the DVD behind-the-scenes interview, it was suggested to the show’s writers that Brent is unlikeable. The writers disagreed and described him as deserving of sympathy, “not malicious” but “definitely a tit” (Gervais and Merchant 2001-2003). In a post-panel discussion for Screen Queensland’s ‘Meet the broadcasters’ event with SBS in 2014, Jane Fletcher, Commissioning Editor for SBS Entertainment & Comedy, was asked about the necessity for likeable comic characters on television. She referred to the character of Brent, suggesting that in character driven comedy, the character must have some redeeming quality, enough to encourage an audience to want to spend time with them (notes documented in Reflection Journal entry dated 11/06/14).The success of The Office suggests that audiences were more than willing

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 65 to spend time watching Brent humiliate himself in his vain attempts to connect with his staff. Perhaps this was his ‘redeeming quality’, that despite his insensitivity and being ‘a tit’, he represented the outsider who doesn’t quite fit it. As Ron Howard, executive producer of Arrested Development (2003- ) observed:

Sometimes there are these ‘outsiders’ who you label as misfits or dysfunctional but really peel it away and you keep finding very, very human, relatable aspects of that misfit’s personality (Ron Howard in Kramer 2012, Ep 4: The Misfit). In The Eight Characters of Comedy, Sedita (2006) explained that even the character of “the bitch/bastard” can be likeable despite their meanness. He suggested that an audience “can identify with people who are frustrated and bitter because we’ve all felt that way at some point or another” (Sedita 2006, 154). He emphasised the importance of revealing this type of character’s vulnerability “at least every once in a while” (Sedita 2006, 154). This sentiment was echoed by Phil Rosenthal, creator of Everyone loves Raymond (Rosenthal and Romano 1996-2005) in America in Primetime (Kramer 2012). He described a scene from Taxi (James L. Brooks 1978- 1983) in which Louie, played by the diminutive Danny de Vito, revealed his vulnerability: he has to shop for clothes in the children’s department.

I always use Louie de Palma ... when I get the note, you know, this character’s not likeable. Really? Have you seen the show Taxi? Have you seen Louie de Palma? Was he likeable to you? He was loveable! Because he was really fun. (Phil Rosenthal in Kramer 2012, Ep 4: The Misfit). The character of Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese in Fawlty Towers (Booth and Cleese 1975-1979) is an earlier example of an essentially anti-social character. He was inept, pompous, arrogant and cruel. However he was relatable as a hen- pecked husband who aspired to be more than he was. Interestingly, each of these characters represented positions of ‘authority’. Louie de Palmer in Taxi was the abusive head dispatcher in a taxi company; David Brent was the manager of a paper- merchant “where life is stationery” (Gervais and Merchant 2001-2003); Basil Fawlty was the manager of Fawlty Towers, a mediocre hotel in the British countryside. Each was highly offensive in their dealings with other characters. Another example is the character of Gordon Brittas, played by Chris Barrie in The Brittas Empire (Fegen and Norriss 1991-1997). As the manager of a leisure centre, Brittas was a smarmy pedant whose criticisms punctured the egos of those around him.

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Each of these characters believed in their abilities and refused to see their shortcomings. Vorhaus referred to this as the character’s “comic perspective” and each character’s unique view of the world is what motivates and drives conflict (Vorhaus 1994, 31). In her master’s thesis titled Comedy and Struggle: An Analysis of Comic Operation in the Television Sitcom, Deborah Klika (2010) described the narcissistic personality traits evident within sitcom characters which condition their behaviour and relationships with other characters. Of characters like Basil Fawlty, she suggested they are “not only unaware of their limitations and capacities, they are blind to the reality in which they exist” (Klika 2010, 61). The appalling behaviour of these characters becomes a source of uncomfortable amusement as a result of their humiliation: the lingering shots of Brent and his wilting grimace as he waits in uncomfortable silence for laughs which never come; the acting out of extreme behaviour by Basil in response to simple requests from his wife. Klika suggested, in the case of Basil “it is pained humiliation for both character and spectator” (Klika 2010, 138). This could equally apply to the character of David Brent and complicates Vorhaus’ proposition that, “comedy is cruelty... [it] isn’t funny to the person it’s happening to. It’s funny to the rest of us watching” (Vorhaus 2012, 76). Recent developments in narrative comedy such as The Office would suggest that discomfort more and more defines the nature of the comedy. Page has suggested “the greater the feelings of discomfort amongst an audience, the greater the comedy payoff because we need to react to our discomfort” (Page 2008, 12). Page’s observation of this need to ‘react’ would suggest that this type of humour can be understood in terms of the relief or release theories of humour where nervous tension is released in the form of laughter.

Much has been written about the character of Brent and The Office (Westwood and Johnston 2012; Schwind 2015; Mills 2009a, 2004b; Middleton 2013) and it has been described as ‘sitcom’, ‘docusoap’ and ‘mockumentary’. Mills concluded that “comedies of distinction maintain significant links with narrative and aesthetic conventions developed in the early days of the genre, even if they go out of their way to suggest that they don’t” (Mills 2009b, 142). Narrative comedy is evolving and whilst some sitcom adheres to standard formats such as three camera set-up, studio sets and laugh tracks, others are pushing the boundaries, and stylistic devices borrowed from documentary can have an impact upon the ‘rules’ of

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 67 screenwriting. For example, Vorhaus advised that pace is an important factor and that “you need to keep things moving” (Vorhaus 2012, 107). He recommended keeping dialogue “no longer than it is wide” (Vorhaus 2012, 107). However, in The Office, scenes were punctuated by shots of background characters sitting at their desks going about their everyday duties. This deliberately slowed the pace and did nothing to advance the story or reveal character; but it did convey a sense of mundane office life. Combined with the drawn-out painful moments when Brent’s attempts at humour fail, these scenes added to the cringe-worthiness of the humour.

3.2.3 Australian examples of contemporary narrative comedy The observational documentary approach has been embraced by Australian comedy writers such as Chris Lilley, Jane Turner and Gina Riley. This next section focuses on more recent examples of Australian narrative comedy which challenge the way Australians perceive themselves and are perceived by international audiences. The narrative comedies referred to in this section are situated within domestic and social comedic contexts outside the focus of this research. However, they are included to highlight the way in which documentary aesthetic has influenced narrative comedy in Australia. As such, the premise for each is not explored in detail with the exception of Utopia (2014-) to which the creative practice is intended to more closely align. For that reason also, narrative comedies such as Pizza (2000- 2007) and Housos (2011-2013), both of which employ documentary devices, will not be examined in detail.

The influence of The Larry Sanders Show was evident in the use of naturalistic camera techniques in Kath and Kim (2002- ) and the use of documentary conventions in We Can Be Heroes (2005). Although Kath and Kim did not break the fourth wall by having characters directly address the camera, it did employ single camera techniques and cut aways not usually associated with the three–camera studio set up. Both programs originally screened on the ABC. These series as well as Lilley’s Summer Heights High (2007) and Angry Boys (2011) achieved critical and popular success, locally and overseas with Angry Boys being co-produced by HBO and pre- sold to the BBC. Jonah from Tonga (Lilley 2014) Lilley’s most recent satire, attracted criticism from across the globe when it was screened on the ABC in Australia, the BBC in the UK and HBO in America. It was described as a ratings

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failure and simultaneously attacked as racist and defended as comic genius (Styles 2014; Mullins 2014; Hardie 2014).

Erhart examined the satirical work of Chris Lilley within the context of 'cringe' comedy where he “mercilessly spoofs a spectrum of Australian cultural stereotypes as well as global attitudes to fame and celebrity” (Erhart 2013, 436). Erhart proposed that there was uncertainty about the 'ethical' value of his humour and cited numerous criticisms of his work particularly the racial stereotypes and use of blackface in his characterisation of African American rapper S’Mouse in Angry Boys. Erhart argued that Lilley’s ability to avoid serious censure in his depiction of S’Mouse was due to repeatedly branding himself as a ‘boundary pusher’ (Erhart 2013, 442). Lilley pushed the boundaries even further in Jonah from Tonga. In response to criticisms of its depictions of Tongans, Hardie (2014) argued that Jonah did not promote stereotyping of Tongans but rather pushed an existing stereotype which invoked the opportunities for debates about racism; as he suggested, “we do not laugh in recognition at the unfamiliar” (Hardie 2014). In defence of Jonah, Mullins proposed that “the effort to avoid offence can also be seen as an attempt to deny reality in a way that creates a set of politically correct stereotypes that may themselves be discriminatory” (Mullins 2014, 53). The framing of Lilley’s writing and performance in this way ascribed cultural capital to his work as an ‘innovative’ approach to narrative comedy which opened up opportunities to address “the wounds of Australian society” (Mullins 2014, 53).

Just as the documentary conventions in The Office highlighted Brent’s ‘politically incorrect’ behaviour, the use of documentary conventions in Lilley’s work displaced the responsibility for insensitivity onto the characters. Erhart suggested this allowed Lilley’s characters to be perceived as the “authors of the practice” rather than Lilley himself as the screenwriter (Erhart 2013, 439) . She cited the character of Ricky Wong (an Asian character played by a Caucasian Lilley) using ‘blackface’ in We Can Be Heroes (2005) and suggested that Ricky’s “cultural blunders” became the source of humour and in doing so, “implicate(s) viewers in more complex ways” than previous examples of cringe comedy such as The Office (Erhart 2013, 439). Page proposed that this type of awkward humour requires intellectual engagement in order to appreciate the humour. "You have to be aware of the fact that a joke is being made, and astute enough to pick up on the nature of that

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 69 joke, to see past the type of material that might otherwise cause offence and find the humour in the situation” (Page 2008, 9). This further complicates the production and reception of this type of humour. As Mills (2009) has explained, narrative comedy can be understood by its intention to be funny. Writing material that might otherwise cause offence is part of the risk-taking process in writing narrative comedy. It is even riskier when one considers the multiple levels at which humour might be received.

If the additional layer created by the documentary aesthetic forced the audience to become complicit in the humour-making process, then Lilley added yet another layer through his performances as characters of different races, age and gender and their inappropriate behaviours. The criticisms of his work identified by Erhart and her conclusion that Lilley managed to escape accusations of bigotry are complicated by the many readings provided by the multiple layers. Perhaps the ‘cringe- worthiness’ of the humour derived not just from the “uncertainty about the ethical value” (Erhart 2013, 435) but the uncertainty of exactly what it was audiences were laughing at. Page’s assertion that audiences need to be astute enough does not take into account audiences who are not astute enough and who find humour in exactly those things that cause others offence. Benign violation theory would suggest that individuals who do not find the ‘violation’ to be ‘benign’ are likely to be offended by the attempts at humour no matter how well signposted its intent (McGraw and Warren 2010). As an example of contemporary narrative comedy, Lilley’s work pushes the boundaries of awkward realism and cringe-worthy characters continuing the tradition of The Larry Sanders Show and The Office in blurring the lines between fiction and reality in narrative comedy. The documentary aesthetic again serves to “create a sense of critical ambiguity and to implicate viewers” in the humour-making process (Erhart 2013, 435). Arguably, this is the source of ‘discomfort’ in the cringe- worthy moments where audiences are invited to find humour.

The concern regarding exactly what audiences found amusing was echoed by Turnbull in her analysis of the international reception of Kath and Kim (2002-) discussed shortly. Kath and Kim (2002-) was broadcast in the UK and was nominated for a British Comedy Award. It also attracted large audiences in the U.S. However, when it was re-made in the U.S. with a local cast it was generally panned by critics (Hellard 2008). In Turnbull’s examination of Kath and Kim, she identified the way in which Australian suburbia was "mined for comic effect both at home and

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abroad" (Turnbull 2008, 15). Reflecting on the success of Kath and Kim two years later, Turnbull wondered if UK audiences were “laughing at Kath and Kim as an ironic commentary on the awfulness of aspirational suburban taste or as a commentary on the awfulness of Australia and Australians in general” (Turnbull 2010, 115). The naturalistic camera techniques and use of cut aways from the main action created an observational style which added to the reading of Kath and Kim as a reflection of Australian suburban consumerism (Turnbull 2008). To return to SPA’s speculation to engage foreign writers to appeal to foreign markets it would appear that the notion of international appeal is problematic particularly within the field of narrative comedy. Cunningham and Jacka (1996) suggested that “humour, ‘relying as it does on some unavoidable specificities of character and place’ is often ‘stubbornly resistant to exploitation in a multiplicity of markets’” (Turnbull 2010, 112).

This tension between international recognition and local critical acclaim further complicates the identification of effective practice in writing narrative comedy. It is not as simple as local successes finding an international audience. Mother and Son (1984 – 94) was one of Australia’s longest running television comedies and was described by Cunningham and Jacka as “the ABC’s most successful situation comedy, both domestically and overseas” (McKie and Natt 1996, 143). The BBC remade the series as Keeping Mum (1997). Geoffrey Atherden, the writer of the original series, was also the credited writer of the British series but Keeping Mum (Atherden 1997) did not enjoy the same longevity as the original Mother and Son, lasting only sixteen episodes. Mother and Son and Kath and Kim enjoyed international success as original Australian productions but lost something in translation. SPA’s call to appeal to an international audience risks losing the very thing which appeals to international audiences. Whether that is to laugh at or with the representations of Australians, or critique perceived racist Australian attitudes in the case of Lilley’s challenging depictions of race, is worthy of further study.

The Australian narrative comedies identified so far operate within a domestic (Kath and Kim) and social (Lilley’s body of work) narrative context. The impetus for this research included reflection upon a problematic work environment and therefore it focused upon Utopia (2014) as a recent example of Australian narrative comedy which satirises the narrative context of a large governmental department. Utopia has

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 71 been described as a companion piece follow up to Working Dog’s earlier comedy, The Hollowmen (2008-) (Blundell 2014). Working Dog is a team of writers comprised of Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch. As writers and creators of the series, they have a long history of collaboration on satirical comedies such as Frontline (1994-1997) and The Hollowmen.

Utopia is set within the offices of a government organisation responsible for “overseeing major infrastructure projects” and thematically, “explores that moment when bureaucracy and grand dreams collide” (Working Dog 2014). Utopia has the stylistic fluidity conveyed by single camera (though it is shot with two), but the pace is very different to that of The Office and the performers never break the fourth wall. As Pender observed, the “script is tight and the pace of action is rapid” (Pender 2014, np.). The main character Tony, played by Sitch, is the chief executive officer and project manager within the ‘National Building Authority’ responsible for developing and planning projects which never seem to come to fruition. Whereas the character of Brent can be described as insufferable, Tony is long suffering and constantly frustrated by the bureaucratic process and conflicting agendas. The cast features many stand-up comedians such as Kitty Flanagan, Anthony Lehmann, and Celia Pacquola. In keeping with Vorhaus’s notion of each character’s comic perspective, Lehmann’s character Jim is “endlessly enthusiastic” and always pushing a fairly transparent ministerial agenda (Blundell 2014). Rhonda, played by Kitty Flanagan, is more concerned with appearance than substance and parodies marketing rhetoric. The humour in Utopia is “recognisable to anyone who works in an office – it is both topical and generic” (Pender 2014).

In contrast to the character of Brent or Fawlty, Tony does not represent the misfit or exhibit narcissistic characteristics. However, it could be argued that the bureaucratic processes which limit his ability to achieve his goals perform the same function as the character of Sybil Fawlty in thwarting Basil’s goals. Jim’s constant reassurances that ‘they’ are pleased with the NBA’s progress and Rhonda’s determination to promote the success of projects which have hardly begun mock Tony’s real attempts at progress. Tony, as the ‘straight man’, could also be described as a mis-fit trying to make sense of the bureaucratic folly around him. In this respect, his character represents the “voice of reason” and the point of reference through which the audience perceives the humour (Sedita 2006, 52). In an interview with

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Graeme Blundell, Sitch likened the experience the writers hoped to create for the audience to falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland.

Suddenly you’re in a world where everybody sees the world as logical and you have got to catch up, but you gradually pick up that the people in the office have no idea that what they are doing is absurd. (Blundell 2014) The humour in Utopia is derived on a number of levels. In the episode titled Very Fast Turnover (Season 1, Episode 3), Tony’s work is interrupted when he is forced to determine the feasibility of a very fast train (VFT). His investigations reveal numerous feasibility studies, none of which have ever resulted in anything more than subsequent feasibility studies. The irony of this is played out against the backdrop of an office safety audit. The character of Amy, who conducts the safety audit, is fully invested in her job and her comic perspective involves taking seriously the minutia of policy and procedural correctness. She is seen throughout the episode in the background, placing more and more safety signs around the office. Fenton described “one of the great delights of the first season was watching the satire become a reality” (Fenton 2015, np.). He referred to a VFT report which was released a few days after this episode was broadcast and a similar incident involving delays to tunnel excavations reflecting real life in the second season of the series.

This section of the contextual review has identified that the screenwriting process occurs within a variety of contexts. The Working Dog team have a long history of collaboration; similarly, Jane Turner and Gina Riley; and Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Chris Lilley has been described as an auteur who improvises off his scripts. This contrasts with the American model where writers are ‘hot- housed’ within production environments, often pairing experienced writers alongside novices. [Judd Apatow worked as an emerging writer alongside Garry Shandling. Apatow went on to mentor Girls (2012-) writer Lena Dunham as executive producer on Girls.] The collaborative nature of screenwriting supports the use of a critical community and focus groups to support development of the creative practice.

Mills (2009c) suggested there is still a place for traditional sitcoms and concluded the “‘remarkable stability’ of sitcom is... a set of generic characteristics which have responded endlessly to social and technological changes, suggesting a remarkable fluidity and adaptability in the ways in which narrative comedy is made for television” (Mills 2009c, 144). These generic characteristics such as archetypal

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 73 characters, regular settings, and circular narratives are key principles of narrative comedy intended to inform the creative work.

Examples like The Office and Utopia provide a valid basis for situating the narrative of Fighting Fit within a workplace environment. Thematically, these examples also support the intention to poke fun at attempts to instigate ruthless corporate processes. Stylistically, the use of ‘real’ office locations which frees the camera from studio constraints creates opportunities to explore characters and conflict within an authentic environment such as a fitness centre. Incorporating stylistic conventions usually identified with documentary can contribute to the humour but can potentially complicate the humour making process. Characters such as David Brent suggest that humour can be derived from protagonists who are essentially unlikeable. Tofler has suggested that “[S]atire must have a sense of reduction or degradation of a character or belief system” (Tofler 2012, 137). Fighting Fit embodies elements of satire in its intention to ridicule the corporatisation of education and explore the lengths to which people might go to protect their own interests. Utopia and The Office both screened on free-to-air public broadcasters, ABC and BBC respectively, and ran between 26-30 minutes per episode. Utopia has eight episodes per season and The Office has six. This again informs the creative work with the intention for Fighting Fit to contain eight episodes of 28 minutes duration each.

Due to the particular formatting requirements of screenplays in terms of margins, tabs and pagination, Episode One: Change, Episode Two: A Strong Core and Episode Eight: Lean Management are included in the Appendices with the series mini bible. The pitching document has been included in the next section to provide a short introduction to the series.

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Chapter 4: Creative Work

THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ARE PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

Fighting Fit (Previously titled Get Fit) (Television Series) Original concept by Susan Cake

Pitching Document Written as the part of the creative practice component in the Doctor of Creative Industries undertaken at Queensland University of Technology.

© Susan Cake, 2014 13 Semillon St Thornlands, 4164 Ph 0409122465 E: [email protected]

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 75

Tagline This won’t hurt, much. Fighting Fit (An 8 x 28 minute narrative comedy for television) Synopsis Fighting Fit is a narrative comedy about Tom, a lazy narcissist, who has to turn a rundown gym with its staff of misfit trainers into a going concern. Tom’s successful career as a body builder is over. He cooked his balls with gym candy and has to come to terms with his failed marriage and the fact that he’s now more bouncy than buff. He applies his narcissistic charm and (mis)understanding of management theories to motivate his staff. But ‘lean management’ does not mean firing fat people and it often falls to the team of personal trainers to keep the gym wheezing along.

Premise Fighting Fit explores themes of bureaucratic folly played out within the unique subculture of a gym. It focuses on how we deal with our changing bodies, relationships and workplaces. The themes are inspired by personal experiences with narcissists and seventeen years on the treadmill in large government institutions. Originally conceived with global audiences in mind, the characters are easily recognisable within mainstream Western culture. Anyone who has survived the forensic scrutiny of micro-management or questioned their relevance in a world focused on youth, beauty and technology will connect with the characters and themes.

Format Fighting Fit is eight, self-contained episodes of twenty- eight minutes each. The hero sets include the gym with a reception area, weight training room, massage room, manager’s office and occasional guest sets to serve individual episodes. The regular additional cast include a juxtaposition of gym-goers of all ages, shapes and sizes, proclivities and fitness levels. Fighting Fit lends itself to audience engagement through a variety of online and mobile platforms where users can share their own gym experiences or interact with character Facebook posts, tweets by regular and guest characters and online videos such as Kurjak’s weight training advice and knitting patterns.

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Fighting Fit is not just about today’s culture of body image and the desperate pursuit of youth and beauty. It’s about sticking it out and proving them wrong, even if it kills you. And at Fighting Fit, that’s a distinct possibility.

CHARACTERS

TOM CAINE - 30’s The newly appointed manager of Fighting Fit Gym. Tom, recently divorced, has more smarm than charm; a lazy, Teflon-coated, used car salesman. He would gladly sell his grandmother to save face and avoid the fallout from his financial incompetence. ROALD VANDERMEER - 20’s Receptionist and obsequious sycophant. ‘The face’ of Fighting Fit and the body of ‘get beaten up a lot’. He has one finger on the thready pulse of the gym and another on the trigger of ambition. This means he shoots himself in the foot a lot. KURJAK (means ‘wolf’ in Serbian) - 30s The impotent, alpha body builder who likes knitting. Kurjak trades PT sessions for Viagra with folks from the local nursing home. He can’t resist stringing Rainbow along. Maybe it’s her size and the fact that she could pin him down in under a minute. The wolf can bite when he’s pinned down. Grrrr! RAINBOW (Real name: Laura Keet) - 30s The Amazonian, irrepressibly optimistic masseuse. Rainbow calls herself ‘the fat whisperer’ and has a knack for causing bodily harm. Rainbow’s love for Kurjak is biblical. She relies on Roald to help her protect and promote Kurjak’s interests. Rainbow is the woman in front of the boy behind the man. CAROL BANGCROFT - 40 A fit, attractive cougar in denial. Carol specialises in Solo PT sessions that leave her mostly younger, male, clients breathless and her hormones stoked. This is just as well because when she and Tom clash, Carol has all the charm of a summer cyclone. She will not be ignored! SHANELL LOWE - 20’s Manipulative princess and Daddy’s girl. Shanell is a buxom, young, diversional therapist. She works at the

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 77 local nursing home and runs aqua aerobics classes for the elderly clients. That’s what she calls the class. Others might say she’s just sunbathing. Tom doesn’t care. He finds her very diverting. MARLEY MAIDSTONE (PREVIOUSLY CAINE) - 30’s Tom’s power-pussy, ex-wife and constant reminder of his inadequacies. Marley is fit, fertile and financially savvy. She knows where Tom’s buttons are and exactly how to push them. As guarantor on Tom’s loan, she has every reason to be breathing down his neck.

THEMES The key theme underpinning Fighting Fit is how we deal with change not just in the workplace but in our relationships with each other and our own bodies. Each episode has a business or human resource management concept at its core which Tom attempts to implement. His laziness and incompetence put him on an endless cycle of damage control. Each of the characters pushes their own agenda which usually means pushing against each other. EPISODES EPISODE ONE: CHANGE Tom takes charge of Fighting Fit and drives the team ‘on board’ the bus of change. His cost cutting and interference leads to misunderstandings and potential criminal charges. EPISODE TWO: A STRONG CORE Tom tries to impose ‘core values’ to stop the trainers from running things their way. But as Tom learns, it’s not just money that powers the treadmill of life. EPISODE THREE: GROWTH Tom decides to take the ‘leadership team’ through professional development training to improve business practices and ‘grow’ the business. The ‘improvements’ backfire and Tom is left with fewer members than before. EPISODE FOUR: PRODUCTIVITY Doing more with less is always a challenge. Tom decides to cut costs by combining cleaning services with exercise classes, using product placement to up-sell and extending the opening hours to 24/7. The clients aren’t the only ones in uproar. EPISODE FIVE: COMPLIANCE AND OHS

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Tom fears being ‘spot audited’ by the bank. His ex-wife offers to help him prepare but Roald mistakes her for the OHS inspector and locks her in the sauna. EPISODE SIX: COMPETITION The inter-franchise games approach and Tom creates a training regime to ensure his team wins. Tom is desperate to humiliate his ex-wife and her posse of PTs. Roald devises a plan to sabotage the other team and Rainbow is desperate not to be the ‘weak link’.

EPISODE SEVEN: BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY Tom applies his understanding of Blue Ocean strategy to branch into untapped markets. However, the waters run red. EPISODE EIGHT: LEAN MANAGEMENT It’s time to balance the books and show the bank the numbers...only they don’t add up and someone has to go. TARGET AUDIENCE Viewers of these programs may enjoy Fighting Fit: The Office, Fawlty Towers, Utopia, The IT Crowd, The Librarians, Summer Heights High, STYLE Field shooting with two cameras, 28 minutes

[See Appendix C: Screenplays]

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 79

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Chapter 5: Analysis

All writers must go from now to once upon a time; all must go from here to there; all must descend to where the stories are kept; all must take care not to be captured and held immobile by the past. And all must commit acts of larceny, or else reclamation, depending on how you look at it. The dead may guard the treasure, but it’s useless treasure unless it can be brought back into the land of the living and allowed to enter time once more - which means to enter the realm of the audience, the realm of the readers, the realm of change (Atwood 2003, 160).

This chapter examines the reflective and creative writing processes underpinning the development of the screenplays that facilitated a self-directed, transformative learning journey. Using lived experiences as sources of inspiration to mock corporate processes enabled taken-for-granted assumptions about those experiences to be questioned. Creative and reflective writing processes enabled me to identify a disorienting dilemma and other phases of the transformative learning process. The transformative learning journey is discussed in this chapter and addresses the question how can writing narrative comedy screenplays facilitate transformative learning?

Asking how writing narrative comedy can facilitate transformative learning suggests the research speaks to transformative learning theorists or adult educators. It does, but it primarily speaks to screenwriting educators who wish to address what Jan Worth has called “the gap” in teaching screenwriting (Worth 2005, 117). She suggested that teachers of screenwriting need to create a learning environment which “unlocks the thinking behind many of the assumptions that student writers are reflecting in their work” and to “almost construct the need to question views and assumptions that often many students are unaware they hold” (Worth 2005, 117-8). As a self-directed learner, this environment was facilitated through the creative practice as research and enabled me to identify assumptions not just about the experiences which inspired the screenplays but the act of screenwriting itself. My assumptions as a creative practitioner are examined in this chapter with reference to the literature about screenwriting, entries from the reflection journal and the screenplays themselves. The examples draw on three types of reflection and seek to

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 81 address the question, How can content, process and critical reflection support self- directed learning of screenwriting?

5.1 Writing Narrative Comedy as Resistance to Corporate Control

Fiske argues “popular culture that works in the interests of the subordinate is often a provoker of fantasy...which may take many forms, but they typically embody the power of the subordinate to exert some control over representation” (Fiske 2011, 322). In this section I argue the “generative performance” (Bell 2006, 98) of writing Fighting Fit, as a form of ‘fantasy’, empowered me to recognise internal sources of conflict which arose in response to ‘subordinate’ positioning in power relations in the workplace. Writing Fighting Fit embodied a form of resistance against the corporatisation of education and training and facilitated my reclamation of professional identity. Brassett (2016) has argued “that comedy is (serious) politics...[L]aughing at, subverting or otherwise undermining aspects of social existence can be seen as a vernacular form of resistance (Scott, 1987)” (Brassett 2016, 169-170). The extent to which I was using Fighting Fit as a form of resistance has only been realised through critical reflection on the sources of inspiration for the screenplays. Critical reflection provoked an examination of why I was motivated to satirise the corporatisation of TAFE. I propose a disorienting dilemma or critical inciting incident which emerges from an acute sense of injustice can provide a powerful source of inspiration for writing narrative comedy and can, in turn, facilitate transformative learning.

McVeigh (2014), Nelmes (2007) and others have suggested that screenwriting requires craft skills and a creative trigger fired by the desire within the writer to tell a story. Nelmes (2007) has suggested this desire is often subconscious. I was superficially aware of my intention to use my experiences of corporate change as inspiration for Fighting Fit. One of my assumptions underpinning the writing of Fighting Fit was that using biographical and lived experiences as sources of inspiration informing the writing would imbue the screenplays with greater authenticity. I hoped to create relatable situations and characters. The gym was chosen as a location where training occurs and physical appearance is overtly objectified. It was a metaphor for exploring attempts at normative control measures within corporate culture such as buying-in to institutional core values. Each episode of Fighting Fit had a corporate, human resource or management concept at its core

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that I wanted to explore for comic gain and as a form of ideology critique. In the same mode, Cranton has suggested that teachers engaged in premise or critical reflection which challenges “institutional and social norms and expectations related to [their] practice” are engaged in a “social emancipatory approach to transformative learning or ideology critique” (Cranton 2011, 77-78). Whilst I intended to use Fighting Fit to challenge the corporatisation of education and training, the creative and reflective writing processes also provoked self-knowledge through a deeper examination of my internal conflicts regarding changes to TAFE, such as feelings of powerlessness to prevent what I perceived to be unjustified staff redundancies.

Reflecting on my conscious writing intent and what actually transpired on the page involved a complex interaction of reflective and creative writing processes, each interaction requiring careful consideration and analysis. In one of my earliest attempts at reflective writing in relation to the work of writing Fighting Fit, I identified that I wanted to “write about the real things that eat us up inside and the petty shit we have to deal with that becomes a web of meaningless suffocating restrictions...I want to pick at those threads and pull them apart....perhaps wind thin evil strands around the manager so his circulation gets cut off and the tips of his fingers turn blue...perhaps make uncomfortable comedy that hints at the psychic mess of dealing with people who exert control over you” (Reflection Journal 11/04/2015). The journal extract conveys key themes I hoped to explore in Fighting Fit such as the impact of petty bureaucracy. It also reveals possibly more than I would like to share in meaningless, suffocating restrictions, wind thin evil strands around and hints at the psychic mess of dealing with controlling individuals. The entry reflects a powerful emotional response to some of the frustrations I experienced in the workplace, the essence of which subconsciously transferred itself into the development of the screenplays, particularly in the development of my protagonist Tom. The subconscious influences on character development are described later in this section and in Section 5.2.

Smith has argued against isolating emotions from lived experience, “particularly rage, that press against human obstacles for change” (Smith 1990, 137). For Smith (1990), emotions are closely tied to action. The action of writing Fighting Fit performed creative resistance (Adams 2013) and afforded opportunities to ‘act’ on feelings of anger against injustices I felt powerless to stop in the workplace. Smith

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 83 has suggested, “[A] woman’s resistance, her struggles, her efforts to move away from her suffering and toward she cannot always tell what, are expressed in action and speech disrupting and disjunctive with the locally sanctioned everyday/everynight realities” (Smith 1990, 137). Writing narrative comedy became an act of disruption which enabled me to examine the discourses, the “systems of thought, or knowledge claims, which assume an existence independent of a particular speaker” and that positioned staff who questioned organisational reform as resistant to change (Stoddart 2007, 203).

The disjunction between feelings of marginalisation and the locally sanctioned reality in my workplace was expressed in my reflection journal [See Appendix A]. I described the effects of repeated edicts issued to silence challenges to changes in the workplace, suggesting “[I]t’s almost as if I don’t believe I have a right to my own opinion about what happened” (Reflection Journal 17/10/15). Smith has characterised rules or codes of conduct that seek to control workplace behaviours as “T-discourses” that “convince us to participate in social systems of oppression and inequality” (Smith 1999, 158). Within the higher education context, Molesworth, Nixon and Scullion have argued “university managers have also sought to deliberately transform academic values, and this has largely been effected by a change in discourse” (Molesworth, Nixon and Scullion 2011, 74). As a form of resistance, writing narrative comedy enabled me to question the discourses surrounding organisational management and to reappropriate them in Fighting Fit (Fiske et al. 2011).

In researching management theories to inform Fighting Fit, I identified institutionalised “core values” intended to “encourage behaviours from organization members that encourage the achievement of organizational goals and its mission” (Norman 2015, np.). Similarly, “change management” theories suggested that resistors to change tell themselves “clever stories” to justify why they don’t change (Caprino 2015, np.). My expressions of concern over the effects of larger classes and truncated timelines positioned me as a resistor. My critical reflection forced me to consider perhaps I was telling myself a clever story and if so, it was a shared one (Rayner 2014, np.). The replacement of permanent staff with casual and contract staff was institutionally motivated by the desire to remain ‘agile’ and financially viable in response to funding cuts. However, positioning workers who question the

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dominant ideology as resistant to change, risks creating a culture where deeper concerns, such as the impact upon educational best practice, go unquestioned.

Using the disorienting dilemma to provoke creative and reflective writing enabled me to identify how my response to normative control attempts went beyond individual injustices in the workplace to consider broader systems of inequality, particularly in economically driven approaches to education and training. Change management in my workplace appeared to be about fulfilling a political and economic agenda more than introducing sustainability or innovations in vocational training. The system itself was a workplace construct responding to education policy under Queensland’s Newman government. The metaphor of Fighting Fit enabled me to identify how the corporatisation of TAFE specifically, and the training and education sector of the ‘knowledge economy’ more widely, conflicted with my own values about education and learning. Kay has suggested a knowledge economy can be “characterised by the production and consumption of ‘knowledge activities’” (Kay 2012, 94). Knowledge activities include such things as research and development activities, particularly where the information produced fulfils a supply demand (Kay 2012). In reflecting on the disorienting dilemma which inspired Fighting Fit, I identified that my disillusionment with the emerging corporate values were exacerbated by the stark contrast with my previous experiences as a teacher at TAFE which I saw as a caring, positive, pedagogically innovative and inclusive institution.

The creative industries team I originally joined at the Alexandra Hills TAFE campus enacted a “vision of education in the service of democratic governance rather than in the service of the market” (Adams 2013, 248). I’m not suggesting the training we offered did not service industry needs, rather the additional offerings such as the Adult Community Education (ACE), secondary school and Adult Tertiary Preparation (ATP) programs serviced local the community and learners who had disengaged from formal education. The ACE program was an early casualty in the creative curriculum changes at MSIT. Another was the increase in units from the Business Studies National Training Package into the updated creative industry curriculum which diluted creative skills development with business ‘employability’ skills. Adams has suggested that creative practices have been rendered “anodyne by harnessing them to the economy, asking young people to acquire the ethos of the

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 85 market...without questioning the social consequences of such acts” (Adams 2013, 243). Fairclough has argued the necessity for a new, resistive discourse situated between the polarities of “unacceptable traditional practices and equally distasteful, highly promotional, marketised new practices” within the higher education sector (Fairclough 2010, 124). Using my lived experiences as sources of inspiration for Fighting Fit created an opportunity to satirise market driven approaches to training and education which can provoke others to also question the consequences of such approaches.

Questioning the processes and economic forces driving organisational re- structure which resulted in funding cuts and staff attrition represents a critical assessment of assumptions which is stage three in Mezirow’s transformative learning model (2009). In this section I seek to examine how engagement with creative practice facilitated a critical assessment of assumptions which drove my transformative learning journey. Jarvis has suggested that “beliefs about knowledge and truth and an understanding of political interest are intimately related” (Jarvis 2006, 70). She has proposed that “learning can be stimulated by engagement with fiction” by challenging assumptions about how fictitious representations are constructed (Jarvis 2006, 69). In examining the first episode of Fighting Fit titled Change, my experience of the alienating effects of change management dominate and determine how each of the characters in Fighting Fit deals with change. In early drafts of the script, Rainbow worries that her appearance doesn’t fit with the new corporate gym. Roald feels usurped and sabotages attempts by others to ‘grow’ the business. Kurjak feels confident in his existing role and doesn’t perceive any need to change what he does. Carol is cynical about Tom’s rhetoric yet works to remain relevant in the workplace. As the change driver, Tom gives the appearance of control but places all the responsibility for improving the gym onto the trainers. He perceives problems but does nothing to resolve them himself, preferring to deflect responsibility and blame onto Roald. McKee has suggested that “a story must abstract from life to discover its essences, but not become an abstraction that loses all sense of life-as-lived” (McKee 1998, 30). Whilst my intention was to use lived experiences as a source of inspiration it is only in examining how they have translated onto the page that I have been able to identify aspects of my own and others’ responses to change management. Examining the screenplays more closely

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has illuminated how the essences of those experiences have manifested in the creative practice in subconscious, unexpected ways through the beliefs and behaviours embodied in the characters in Fighting Fit.

Taylor has suggested “the written format potentially strengthens the analytical capability of transformative learning. The material sphere opens up new forms of communication, creating artifacts [sic] of ideas of the mind, making them available for others beyond the individual writer to analyze and contemplate” (Taylor 2007, 182). Writing Fighting Fit produced creative artefacts in the form of three screenplays. Receiving critical feedback on these artefacts, as a form of process reflection, challenged me to consider the reasons for my choices. In the early stages of character development, the critical community found the characters to be readily recognisable from their own experiences but expressed concern that “you could get familiar with the characters very easily as ...they are all characters we have met in one form or another” (CC2 20/08/15). Making the characters “more likeable, loveable, with the significant character flaws which you have already demonstrated” was also suggested (CC1 06/08/15). Similarly my industry mentor suggested the characters held “no surprises” (FG1A 20/08/15). The feedback suggested that Tom would “need to have support and respect from the group” who “will surely be anxious to help” (FG1A 20/08/15). The feedback challenged me to reconsider why I had written Tom as a relentlessly unsympathetic character. What was blocking me in creating a more sympathetic character?

I believed the decision to write Tom as unlikeable was a conscious one, informed by the contextual review and based on characters such as David Brent in The Office and Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers. Tofler (2012) has suggested that satire relies on ridicule; in this instance, ridiculing management rhetoric through the character of Tom. Transformation theory aided and provoked critical reflection on blockers to the creative process. In reading Dirkx (2012), he recounted an example of a learner who had a transformative experience when she realised she was projecting a previous dysfunctional relationship onto a group dynamic. In my reflection journal I documented a revelation which occurred in the semi-lucid moments before waking which revealed a similar projection. Whilst I had consciously written Tom as an incompetent narcissist, I had subconsciously internalised the antipathy I felt in response to perceived organisational attempts to control my values, emotions and

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 87 identity (Westwood and Johnston 2012). To find something about Tom that audiences might empathise with, I wrote dialogue in which he reveals his vulnerability to Roald; despite his efforts Tom does not understand the system. Tom’s bewilderment resonated with me. No matter how hard I worked, I couldn’t make sense of the emerging TAFE system either. Writing dialogue in which Tom revealed his inner conflict provided an ‘imaginal’ approach (Dirkx 2001) which brought the underlying influences into awareness. Critically reflecting on this awareness enabled empathy for the character and insight into how using personal experiences can complicate the development of authentic comic characters that embody too closely the sources of inspiration. It is worth noting that the awareness occurred just before becoming fully awake. As Moon has suggested, attentiveness to dreams “may help to elucidate concerns or issues in life or learning” (Moon 2006, 150). This example suggests the interaction of creative and reflective writing processes, informed by critical feedback, can help creative practitioners examine their creative choices and potentially overcome creative blockers. It also suggests screenwriting processes such as writing dialogue can perform a type of communicative learning which can enable reflective practitioners to examine assumptions and potentially shift perspective (Kreber 2004).

Episode Two: A Strong Core was inspired by the concept of institutionalised core values. Westwood and Johnston have categorised them as normative measures imposed upon individuals in an attempt to control not just employee behaviour but “values, emotions and identities” (Westwood and Johnston 2012, 788). Brookfield has suggested that “learning to penetrate ideological obfuscation, and thereby overcoming the alienation this obfuscation induced, was the learning task of adulthood” (Brookfield 2002, 98). In A Strong Core, Tom imposes superficial values onto the team to obfuscate the primary motivation to make money. However, Tom’s observation that the team’s ‘barter system’ is just as exploitative forced me to re- examine my own attempts to buy-in to the emerging corporate values at MSIT. For example, in my attempts to comply with strategic planning, I helped to establish a degree program; something I had, and still have mixed feelings about. Whilst I understood MSIT’s attempt to extend economic viability by accessing federal funding for Higher Education, it challenged my personal views about vocational education. Others have expressed concern that “TAFE institutes as pseudo-

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universities will set up competition rather than collaboration” (Young 2010, np.). Whilst I don’t share the concern about competition, writing A Strong Core provoked reflection and enabled me to examine my own values about screen and media vocational training and my feelings of alienation in the workplace.

Reflecting on the research into lean management to inform the last episode provided a different perspective on the alienating experiences leading up to the call for redundancies and my disorienting dilemma. The concept of lean management within manufacturing contexts incorporates the idea of continuous improvement (Rouse 2013). Lean management theory suggests “asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity...only create adversarial relationships as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the workforce” (Rouse 2009, np.). My experience of continuous improvement was framed around writing and re-writing assessment tools and instruments to minimise risks of audit non-compliance which could lead to loss of course registration and loss of funding. Despite our teaching and assessment tools being consistently validated as audit compliant, we were in a constant cycle of continuous improvement overshadowed by job insecurity. As products of my intellectual labour, the resources I generated were the intellectual property of the organisation, positioned as commodities ready for export to online markets through the massification of education. I felt my value as an educator was entwined with the value of the resources I produced or the value my knowledge could add to the economy through my role as a “knowledge broker(s)” (Meyer 2010; Macdonald 2015). Brookfield quoted Fromm who suggested that by investing our lives in the work we produce, the object of our labours sets itself in opposition to us as an unrecognisable and intimidating force (Brookfield 2002, 100). These resources became objects which could potentially be used against us. Quality assurance procedures felt punitive rather than a genuine attempt to improve the quality of learning and assessment. Critical reflection on research to inform Lean Management enabled me to question the hegemonic processes underpinning this form of ‘continuous improvement’. I identified how these processes, exacerbated by economic pressures within the VET sector, added to my increasing sense of alienation in the workplace.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 89 Research into management theories combined with external feedback on the screenplays provoked reflective processes which enabled assumptions about the sources of inspiration to be questioned. This in turn cycled back into the creative writing process to develop the screenplays. These examples suggest research is an important stage in the scriptwriting process and has the potential to both imbue the screenplays with authenticity and facilitate a perspective shift. It also suggests that learners of screenwriting, compelled by a strong desire to tell a story, can benefit from research not just into the concepts their screenplays explore but also into transformation theory. The alternative perspectives on corporate machinations provided by Brookfield’s (2002) examination of Fromm’ contribution to theories of adult learning and Westwood and Johnston’s (2012) examination of resistive humour in the workplace provided a theoretical counterpoint to the management theories which helped inform my perspective shift. Fiske has suggested “social or collective resistance cannot exist independently of ‘interior’ resistance, even if that is given the devalued name of ‘fantasy’” (Fiske 2010, 322). Writing narrative comedy, as a form of creative resistance, enabled me to examine, distil, exaggerate and re-present corporate discourses by embedding them in the characters and themes in Fighting Fit. In doing so, Fighting Fit challenges readers to question the market-driven approach to education and training which might also provoke collective or social resistance.

This section of the analysis has focused on the creative and reflective writing processes which facilitated the self-directed, transformative learning journey. Examining the screenplays has enabled me to understand how my assumptions underpinning the lived experiences insinuated itself consciously and subconsciously into the characters and themes in Fighting Fit. The following section examines how the table reading enabled me to further identify subconscious influences on the themes and character development, particularly the character of Tom.

5.2 Table Reading: Sharing the Load in Creative Collaboration

The table reading was a key factor in overcoming the blocker to Tom’s character development. In this section I examine how external feedback through the process of the table reading enabled me to shift perspective and facilitated a deeper understanding of the potential for creative collaboration to instil greater confidence in my own creative capabilities. As an example of process reflection, that is,

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reflection informed by external feedback, the reading was designed to collect feedback on the last episode of Fighting Fit titled, Lean Management. Whilst the table reading was intended to simulate an industrial process, it was also a learning experience. The screenwriting student audience was encouraged to provide feedback and the director was mindful of extracting lessons from the process. He explained the rationale behind his thought processes more than if it was a professional reading. Articulating his tacit knowledge was a key factor in enhancing the reading as a learning experience. To meet the ethical requirements of the research and with the limited ability to conduct auditions for the cast, I had sent the mini bible and screenplay to the casting agent. The actors had read their extensive character descriptions so much of the table reading became a process of refining and reconstructing their understanding of the characters. As the writer, this involved a process of letting go of preconceived ideas about my characters and allowing others to contribute imaginatively to the development of the screenplay (Nash 2013). Letting go required me to be receptive to other ideas, flexible in the development of the characters and persistent in working through the problems in dialogue which emerged as a result of changes. These qualities, described by Steers (2009) as creative capabilities, are discussed in more detail in the following section 5.3. Receptiveness, flexibility and persistence in ambiguity are qualities also embodied in the transformative learning process in which a learner’s world view becomes more discriminating and open to change (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009).

As well as developing the screenplay, the table reading facilitated a more flexible mindset. The decision to execute the table reading in front of my screenwriting students was not undertaken lightly. I hoped the table reading participants would enjoy Lean Management and the input from the director and actors would improve my screenplay. However, I was also concerned that students would judge my work as poor which could undermine my credibility with them as a teacher. Overcoming these doubts required me to have the courage to risk failure. The opportunity to learn from a very experienced and successful director and have my work read by professional actors greatly outweighed my concerns. Smith and Henriksen have suggested “[P]eople with a fixed mindset view traits as innate and tend to tie identity to success and performance, which often leads to discomfort with failure” (Smith and Henriksen 2016). My willingness to risk public ‘failure’ was

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 91 indicative of how far I had come in my transformative learning journey at the time of the reading.

The notion of failure as ‘negative’ is deeply entrenched in our education system reflected, for example, in the grading of screenplays. Smith and Henriksen have argued creativity can be fostered by embracing failure as part of an iterative creative risk-taking process which creates opportunities to learn and improve (Smith and Henriksen 2016). The table reading, executed by a professional director, presented an opportunity for creative collaboration and for the screenwriting students to observe collaborative creative processes. It also presented an opportunity for collaborative learning. Hämäläinen and Vähäsantanen (2011) have suggested collaborative learning takes place “by distributing participants’ own thoughts and expertise, by listening to and elaborating on the views of others and by the creative and shared knowledge construction of different thoughts and conclusions to reach common goals” (Hämäläinen and Vähäsantanen 2011, 173).

As well as facilitating an opportunity for creative collaboration, the table reading was an opportunity for me to identify how effectively my script communicated my intentions to the director and actors as readers. Kerrigan and Batty have suggested “[S]cript development is the site where the exchange between the reader and the writer occurs and this is also the site where creativity occurs” (Kerrigan and Batty 2016, 132). At the start of the table reading, the director introduced the session by acknowledging the purpose of the reading was to improve the screenplay, confirming Macdonald’s argument that “screenwriters and their colleagues wish to reach amicable agreement about the screen idea...and that such collaboration is an important factor in deciding the eventual screenwork” (Macdonald 2010, 48). After the actors had finished the first read through, the director addressed the student audience.

Before we start...I’ll save you any embarrassment, there’s not enough jokes in it. It ain’t funny enough, yet...whether it can be or not really depends on probably what we do here to see if it does have legs. There is so much of ... this stuff... it starts like this, it’s written well but...it’s amazing how they just won’t gel for jokes. Don’t be nervous about saying it’s not funny because I’ve already said it... [FG1 6/10/16] Had I internalised the criticism, it would have been difficult to continue to develop the screenplay. I reminded myself that the purpose of the reading was to

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improve the screenplay and to learn. Steers has suggested “flexibility and openness to alternative approaches” are required characteristics for creative work (Steers 2009, 130). Smith and Henriksen have suggested “reflections on failure where struggling with uncertainty leads to contemplation and an ability to manage ambiguity” is essential to creative success (Smith and Henriksen 2016, 6). The flexibility and openness wrought by the transformative learning journey enabled me to disassociate critique of my work from critique of my identity which suggests transformative learning has the capacity to facilitate or amplify the ability to deal with uncertainty in creative practice.

As to whether the screenplay was funny enough, if audible laughter is a ‘funny indicator’ I identified only eleven out of the twenty-three scenes registered laughter audible enough for the recorder to pick up at the front of the hall. Other observations such as the actors or audience smiling or nodding or other non-verbal indicators to reflect a response to the performed scripted material were not recorded. Asa Berger has argued, the nature of laughter, comedy and humour “is an enigmatic subject that has perplexed our greatest thinkers from Aristotle’s time to the present” (Berger 2013, 210). So whilst I could identify when laughter occurred, determining why is more problematic. Attardo (2003) has explained that laughter is not necessarily an indicator of humour or the lack of it. He cited extensive research that “has established beyond doubt that humor and laughter, while obviously related, are by no means coextensive” (Attardo 2003, 1288). Research into the role of humour in groups has shown that there are contradictory responses to stimulus where “discourse and interaction sequences can be funny to some people while viewed as offensive, coercive, or aggressive by others” and that those responses are amplified in groups (Schaefer 2014, 121). In examining the table reading, humour theories were used to try and identify the triggers for audience responses (Berger 2013; Attardo 2003).

The director suggested Lean Management needed a funnier angle, or comic premise, which hooked into the central idea of voluntary redundancies. I had written the episode to reflect Tom’s cowardice and duplicity: he asks for volunteers to leave but really he intends to fire someone of his own choosing. The director suggested the gap between comic reality and real reality was not illogical enough. He was right. I had taken the scenario directly from my own experience in the workplace when screen and media staff were asked to volunteer for redundancy and one, who had not

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 93 volunteered, was made redundant. His observation made me question why I had used this scenario and provoked deeper reflection on the alienating experiences leading up to the call for redundancies and my disorienting dilemma discussed in the previous section. The director suggested that a more illogical angle might be achieved by introducing a Big Brother style eviction or other totally incongruous scenario. His creative contribution initiated a process of distributing responsibility for the effectiveness of the screenplay among the participants at the table reading. I found this liberating; it removed the pressure on me as the sole generator of ideas. Hämäläinen and Vähäsantanen have argued successful collaboration is achieved when “a group creates something that exceeds what any one individual could achieve alone” (Hämäläinen and Vähäsantanen 2011, 173). The table reading, as an exercise in creative collaboration, provided the opportunity for this to happen.

The director’s suggestion aligned with incongruity theories of humour. Berger explained this is “the difference between what we expect and what we get” (Berger 2013, 210). Incongruity theories would argue that the audience derives humour from having their expectations transformed by the juxtaposition or surprise of an incongruous element (Attardo 2014). Superiority theories might explain that the humour is perceived from a position of knowing more than the object of derision (Raskin 2014). I hoped an audience might find humour in identifying Tom as a parody of an incompetent manager who spruiks management rhetoric in much the same way as the character of Brent embodied a parody of stultifying political correctness in The Office (Westwood and Johnston 2012). This suggests Fighting Fit aligns more with what Schwind referred to as embarrassment humour (Schwind 2015).

The director’s observations made me wonder if the layers I’d hoped to create by locating the narrative comedy in a gym were either too banal or too obscure. Certainly, the physical and visual humour such as Kurjak stuffing his shorts with balls of wool because he’s cooked his own balls with steroids could be taken at face value and is quite puerile. As well as the intention to be humorous, I hoped the truth might be recognisable within the pain (humiliation) of the scenario (Vorhaus 2012). Diminished ability to satisfy sexual partners is a source of internal conflict for both Tom and Kurjak. I hoped this would resonate as a universal fear facing men and women as they age. I was also concerned at the number of young men I observed in

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gyms who were careless about the kinds of supplements they took. Young men can be as vulnerable to representations of ideal body images as young women (Hildebrandt, Alfano and Langenbucher 2010; Jampel et al. 2016; Karazsia, Crowther and Galioto 2013). Similarly, Carol’s raging sexual appetite and fear of aging was something I also observed in the middle-aged women who frequented the gyms I attended. Contrary to beliefs about loss of libido in the lead up to or during menopause, “many menopausal women report[ing] increased sexual desire and response (Ussher, Perz and Parton 2015, 449). Carol’s fears of losing her sexuality and her job are a constant source of internal conflict and motivation. The common factor linking all the characters in Fighting Fit is their struggle to maintain their relevance in the workplace. This again reflects how my own struggle to remain relevant in the workplace subconsciously influenced the development of my characters.

In simplifying each character to ‘a type’, the director was attempting to refocus the screenplay so that the conflict, and therefore the humour, was driven by each character’s comic perspective. Vorhaus has described a character’s comic perspective as “a character’s unique way of looking at his world, which differs in a clear and substantial way from the ‘normal’ world view” (Vorhaus 1994, 31). Vorhaus’s has suggested that the comic perspective provides the “set glue” which keeps sitcom characters in conflict with each other as each character remains committed to the goal of proving the other wrong (Vorhaus 2012, 18). As the extensive character profiles were stripped back, the director gave direction to the actors regarding their character. In the case of Roald, adding duplicitous “makes him a bit smarmier, a bit friendlier...and yes he’s dangerous because of his duplicity which is actually going to get him into trouble, but that’s good comedy because things are going to come around and bite him on the ass” [FG1 6/10/16]. In exploring the character of Carol, the director suggested that comedic physical aspects of performance might come out of her paranoia about aging. This enabled me to visualise her character more easily to consider opportunities for humour based on performance.

As writer I wondered if this process of refining the characters would re-define them beyond how I had conceived of them. In the example of Carol, I had identified her fear of aging, one that informed her inner conflict and motivated her to prove her

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 95 worth as a trainer despite her age. The director asked the actor playing Carol to give Tom attitude when she delivered her lines. In the creative process of finding a symbol for Carol, I had chosen a Joshua Tree to reflect her prickly, survivor attitude. The refining process confirmed the way I had envisioned her yet allowed me to see more clearly how her comic perspective drove her responses to the narrative through conflict with the other characters. Theoretically, I understood that characters had to be easily recognisable (Sedita 2006), but the table reading translated the theory into practice in a way that clarified each character’s comic perspective. This was particularly significant with the character of Tom.

Earlier in this chapter I identified how I had subconsciously transferred my antipathy to bullying behaviour onto Tom. He was essentially unlikeable and I was quite possibly attempting to wreak vengeance on all bullies by humiliating him on the page. (And it is perhaps a little ironic, or is it a form of literary Karma, that I am dissecting my subconscious self in examining my scriptwriting process.) I wanted his character to embody the ruthless, corporate values I was mocking rather than the disembodied but obstructive bureaucracy that Rob Sitch’s long-suffering Tony had to deal with in Utopia. However, in trying to make him a more sympathetic character, his comic perspective became less consistent. During the refining process, the director articulated Tom as an incompetent, used-car salesman. Seeing the actor embody Tom in this way took the sting out of the narcissistic elements of his character whilst still allowing him to be obnoxious and represented an ‘aha’ moment for me, both as the writer and a transformative learner. Wilkins and Eisenbraun have suggested that using humour can help us perceive negative situations from “less threatening perspectives” (Wilkins and Eisenbraun 2009, 349). The actor’s wonderful interpretation of Tom introduced another level of separation from my original conception of the character and the negative feelings I held about what the character represented. Warren and McGraw have suggested that humour can better be understood as “simultaneously appraising something as both a violation and benign (e.g., wrong yet okay, threatening yet safe...)” (Warren and McGraw 2016, 407). The used-car salesman version of Tom enabled me to ‘let go’ of the negative feelings, to remove the threat, to conceive of his character as wrong yet okay. It also enabled me to see how Tom’s decision to leave at the end of Lean Management could occur within this revised comic perspective. In my revised ending, his

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magnanimous gesture to leave the sinking ship would be motivated by his desire to save face (maintain comic perspective) and escape financial ruin rather than any sense of remorse. This stage of the table reading was a valuable step in refining and redefining characters. It also provided an alternative perspective on the underlying reasons for how and why I had conceived of them.

Developing characters with clearly defined comic perspectives was the first vital part of the process towards developing more character driven comedy. The director linked the characters’ comic perspectives to the comic premise (the illogical). He explained a process of anticipation and surprise where “subjective is with the character” and “objective, away from the character” [FG1 6/10/16]. This relates to the elements of anticipation and surprise in creating humour. It suggests as a comedy writer it is useful to have an understanding of humour theories but these only provide a partial explanation as to the creation of comedy (Raskin in Attardo 2014, 138). The director suggested that in narrative comedy humour relies more on character than jokes. The audience’s knowledge of the subjective or comic perspective of the character invites them to find humour through anticipation of the character’s reactions. The objective relates to the premise of the story and again invites audiences to anticipate the chaos or humour likely to ensue from the juxtaposition of logic (there must be redundancies) with illogic (staff vote people off). As a writer this means using the characters to subvert expectations to surprise audiences yet remain within the logic of both the character and the story. This focus was articulated in the director’s observation of the script refining process. Once the actors were clear about their character’s perspective, the director asked them to “see if you can pull off those lines because they’re not written for the character now” [FG1 6/10/16].

The scene below is as originally written. The format has been modified for inclusion in this document.

1. INT. TOM’S OFFICE. MORNING

TOM sits deep in concentration at his desk. He taps a few number keys and peers at the computer screen. He’s annoyed at what he sees and jabs the backspace key viciously.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 97 The PHONE RINGS. Tom picks up.

TOM (on phone) What! (pause) Darryl. No no, not a bad time at all. First rule of business – always make time for your bank manager. (worried) Numbers for the third quarter?

Tom glares at the computer screen.

TOM (CONT) They’re good, all in the green. (pause) That’s what I meant. Red. (pause) Sorry. When you said red I thought you meant black. The numbers are red. (pause)Did I say red? No, I meant black. Of course they’re black. All the numbers are in the black. (pause) Yep. Good. Look forward to it.

He hangs up. TOM (CONT) Shit!

Informed by the new comic perspective, the character’s main goal in the scene became to avoid losing face. This required deleting the stage direction (worried) and re-working the dialogue. My intention for the scene was to introduce the main problem, that the gym is in debt, and reveal Tom’s incompetence. Most people would understand the concept of a balance sheet being either in the black or in the red, with red being a negative state of affairs, so Tom’s reference to green immediately flags his incompetence. Superiority theory (Berger 1987) would suggest that the audience might derive humour from recognising his mistake. This depends on audiences sharing the same frames of reference upon which the joke is based (Vorhaus 1994). Failure to share the same frame of reference risks audiences becoming confused or taking offence (Powell and Andresen 1985). The director felt that the logic, that is the other side of the conversation, needed to be clearer and that Tom should be doing something totally unrelated (or incongruous) to running a business. One of the actors suggested he might be looking at pictures of his ex-wife

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with her new husband on Facebook. The director linked this to a speech later in the script in which Tom makes a reference to his ex-wife. He suggested adding a visual element to flag it for the audience; “a look he gets...you’re seeding something...it’s a character trait...the only time anything gets through to him...if ever he’s thinking about ...or talking about his ex-wife, he gets that look” [FG1 6/1016]. Not only did this add another layer of incongruity by visually juxtaposing Tom’s disinterest in the business with his bluster to the bank manager, it demonstrated the visual thinking that the director brought to the screenplay. It avoided wasted screen time, revealed character and created humour. Tom stalking his ex-wife on Facebook is perhaps more universally relatable (Vorhaus 1994) than finding humour in recognising Tom’s incompetence. Genres like Romance and Romantic Comedy (RomCom) are premised on painful break-ups and testify to their universality. The suggestion of a look as a repeated performance trait raises an interesting dilemma in writing action description which as a writer I’m still struggling to resolve.

A key question raised in the table reading related to how much screen direction to put on the page. When the actor read through Tom’s new lines the director emphasised that he didn’t want Tom to lose face and suggested he make a (dirty) “Sid James laugh”. I asked the director about giving directions in parenthesis (e.g. laughing) and he explained it was unnecessary.

You would spell out something that the actor understands totally which is the used car salesman who never loses face....the writer will say when they’re watching the rehearsal, can you do a laugh? ... the actor has to see quite clearly what the joke is and where the logic and illogicality comes in and where the colour of the character comes in but if you put in notes about a used car salesman who never loses face the way you write that speech will just naturally come to you...just put in there bullshitting, complete bullshitting and the actors will do the rest for you. ...[FG1 6/10/16] The reference to the writer’s input into how the characters are performed suggests an active collaboration in both interpreting and developing the script. In this instance the dialogue evolved from collective ideation off association with what Tom is looking at on the computer. One of the table reading participants suggested he might be playing a game on the computer, another suggested a dating web site and another suggested Facebook. The director then suggested a repeatable element of performance, a look he gets, which tells the audience about character. For the director, with decades of experience behind him, it was an intuitive leap. The

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 99 collaborative creative process of ideation demonstrated some of the creative thinking techniques operating “between the lines” (Nash 2013, 159).

The director also implied that by resolving each character’s comic perspective, the way they respond to each other will just naturally come. Rewriting the first two episodes after the table reading has required me to constantly switch perspective to identify if each character is responding true to type. I have been able to visualise the scenes more easily but I still wonder if I have over-written the action description. Nash has proposed the “art of screenwriting lies not just in the images and sounds that are written, nor in the story that unfolds, nor in the veracity of the dialogue but in the unknown spaces, hidden between the lines that lead to the active and imaginative participation of others” (Nash 2013, 159). The actors’ imaginative interpretation of their character’s comic perspective revealed how opportunities for humour can be derived from performance. The director brought his ‘visual thinking’ to the process which manifested in juxtaposing visual elements with dialogue and revealed how levels of incongruity can generate layers of humour. The actors’ and director’s imaginative participation in the table reading process allowed the characters’ comic perspectives to emerge more clearly and in doing so, revealed how important character dynamics are to creating narrative comedy.

The rewritten scene is included below.

1. INT. TOM’S OFFICE. MORNING TOM stares at his computer, seething. On screen is a picture of his glamorous, ex-wife Marley with her buff, new husband. Her baby bump is clearly visible. The PHONE RINGS. Tom continues to stare at the screen as he picks up. TOM Bastard. (beat) Darryl! No no, not a bad time at all. I can always make time for my bank manager. Numbers for the third quarter? Great! All in the red.

Tom fiddles to bring up another screen. A half finished game of solitaire pops up.

TOM (CONT)

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Well spotted! Nah mate, ‘course they’re black. Sending the updated spreadsheet through now. How’s the wife? How’s Shanell? Love working with sh--

Tom hangs up. TOM (CONT) --it! Aside from the character adjustments, there are now logical inconsistencies between this scene and the rest of the episode (and series). In the last episode, Shanell, the diversional therapist from the nursing home, reveals that she is the daughter of the bank manager. My logic for Tom being unaware was that she was paid by the nursing home. They had an arrangement to use the Fighting Fit pool for aqua aerobics classes, in much the same way as schools use public swimming pools. There would be no reason for Tom to know Shanell’s last name unless she or another character chose to reveal it. However, as this came across as an inconsistency in the internal logic of the story or as a convenient coincidence, it is something which needs to be addressed earlier in the series or as the director recommended, used as a positive to guide Tom’s interactions with Shanell.

It’s really as writers you can do so much but then you’ve got to get it to this situation, but if you can see this sort of stuff happening...If you look at the Fawlty Towers scripts...what is in that script is exactly what we’re seeing here now - that there isn’t many jokes. It’s character stuff and we are shifting the timing and shifting their performance to make sure that we never have a wasted minute of screen time...if it’s wasted in set up or description, get a line through it. Let them do it. Let their character do it... and then you’ll get a director who’ll listen to you and you’re quite entitled to have a say about how you want something to be performed. You just don’t do it in an open forum like this. You get together and you do it from there. [FG1 6/10/16] In re-writing the first two episodes with the revised character comic perspectives I have struggled with how much is enough action description. The director’s comment that writers can do so much before they get it to this (table reading) situation concerns me. Since the table reading, I’ve removed nearly all of the parenthetical direction to actors in the first two episodes. I wonder if I have still over-written the scene set up and other action description. The director’s experience would suggest that the writer’s participation in rehearsals would mitigate the need for

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 101 extensive action description or even short parenthetical direction. But for the script to get into the hands of the director in the first instance assumes a shared understanding of the script. The writer has to trust that the words on the page have sufficiently conveyed their intention and that participation in interpreting them would be welcomed whether in an open forum or privately with the director. Equally, the writer needs to demonstrate other creative attributes such as a willingness to explore alternative options and to be flexible and open to other interpretations (Steers 2009, 130). The script has to allow room for this to happen which confirms that narrative comedy relies heavily on dialogue to convey each character’s comic perspective. In examples like The Office much of the humour is derived from performative and stylistic techniques facilitated by the documentary device (Middleton 2013) and executed “between the lines” (Nash 2013, 159).

The contextual review and industry mentor suggested devices such as direct address would allow the characters to reveal their inner thoughts and feelings and provide a humorous counterpoint to their ‘public selves’ within the narrative context. In The Office, the juxtaposition of Brent’s public and private persona exposes his false attempts to perform political correctness in the workplace (Westwood and Johnston 2012). The device of a mirror was used as direct address to camera to explore the dialogues between the public and private versions of each character. The mirror device is intended to expose their ‘inner critic’ or ‘inner cheerleader’. The mirror is an obvious signifier of narcissism. Intercutting this with direct address ‘through the mirror’ introduces notions of voyeurism which are explored in the second and final episodes. Tom’s inner motivations are also articulated in his chats with the poster of his hero, Joe Weider. Similarly, other characters’ ‘dialogues’ with reflected versions of themselves is intended to reveal the tension in their public and private perspectives. For example, Carol’s external antagonism conflicts with her internal fear of losing relevance in the workplace.

The mirror as an exploration of the idea of multiple selves was more extreme in the concept development stage. I had played around with the idea of different actors reflecting the ‘real’ or ‘idealised’ version of each character. Research by Garrety (2008) resonated with me when I re-examined my reasons for choosing the mirror as a stylistic device to inform character and theme. Garrety (2008) identified variability in organisational management research into the effects of normative

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control measures in the workplace or what she termed “corporate cultural engineering” (Garrety 2008, 100). In the research, employees were characterised as “anxious, fragmented, burnt out” or able to “resist the wiles of those who attempt to manipulate them” (Garrety 2008, 94). The intention to use a mirror to explore characters and themes perhaps reflects (pun intended) another subconscious influence and suggests my use of humour as a coping mechanism was an attempt to maintain a healthy perspective to the sometimes alienating forms of normative control. How well the use of the mirror in the screenplays translates as a device to reveal character possibly requires another stage in the script development process. This reiterates my concern regarding how much screen direction is enough to convey my intentions and still leave room for the imaginative participation of others (Nash 2013).

Scene two is re-written and included below as a point of comparison for the original version used in the table reading and attached in the appendices.

2. INT. STAFFROOM. MORNING

Tom owns the white board. Rainbow sits at the head of the table. Carol is at the other end, as far away from Tom as possible. Kurjak and Roald sit between them.

RAINBOW Red?!

TOM Yep!

RAINBOW Wow! Beautiful.

TOM Beauty.

KURJAK But I have too many clients. I have to give to pretty girl.

ROALD Shanell was happy to swap classes.

KURJAK So you take pole dancing. Is ok. No shame.

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 103 TOM No shame.

CAROL Hang on a minute. How can we be in the red?

TOM Red as.

CAROL You’ve crammed so many people into my Zumba class it’s like a horde of Maasai warriors in there.

TOM Sure is.

CAROL What are you doing while we’re working our asses off?

Roald and Kurjak lean out of firing range.

TOM I’m doing everything! Do you have any idea how expensive the Hawaii Flex Fitness convention is? Five star hotels don’t come cheap, you know!

RAINBOW Aloha!

TOM If I stuck our logo on the side of a five year old BMW instead of that new AUDI TT in the car park, what kind of message would it send to our clients?

ROALD (under his breath) Fiscal responsibility?

TOM You know being a manager sometimes means you have to make tough decisions. This time I’m going to let you be masters of your own destiny!

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Rainbow is ecstatic.

ROALD What do you mean?

TOM The only way to meet targets and get the bank off our backs is to cut overheads.

ROALD (puzzled) The only thing over our heads is you.

TOM Yeah, not that far over.

CAROL Some of us are being fired.

TOM No Carol. (pause) Voluntarily redundant.

RAINBOW Oh come on! Let’s look on the bright side!

ALL NO!

The two hours spent refining the first two scenes reveals the persistence and focus required to work through creative ‘problems’ (Steers 2009, 130). Creating humour benefits from the “same situations that enhance creativity, including a positive environment that provides encouragement, a good mood and freedom to make mistakes” (Earleywine in Attardo 2014, Improving the Production of Humor). The table reading revealed that creative collaboration can enhance humour production through the refinement and development of characters’ comic perspectives. Clarity of character definition was achieved in no small part because the director brought his vision of the script to the table. The audience was also an important component in effectively ‘live testing’ the script. Responses were immediate, spontaneous and gratifying. As the writer, this process required openness

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 105 and flexibility to adapt the narrative to serve a more character-driven approach to creating opportunities for humour.

The collaborative nature of the table reading as an example of script development processes was both challenging and stimulating. It was a turning point in my transformative learning journey and enabled me to see how each character’s comic perspective drove the narrative. I felt more sympathetically towards my main character because the actor portrayed him as flawed, rather than threatening. “...before the table reading, even I didn’t like Tom...Now, I love to hate him...I want to spend more time humiliating him, I mean, with him ” [Reflection Journal 20/10/16]. As an example of creative collaboration, the table reading was an effective strategy for scriptwriting ‘intervention’ which helped me identify how effectively I was applying my knowledge of screenwriting craft. My transformative learning process both aided and advanced my ability to embrace creative collaboration and develop a greater confidence in my ability to take creative risks. The table reading provided an opportunity for the screenwriting student audience to observe creative collaboration in action, to witness the table reading participants’ application of their creative capabilities, and to hear how creative judgements about the screenplay were articulated and explored. The table reading was also a lot of fun which reflects many beliefs about the importance of playfulness in fostering creative endeavours (Steers 2009, 130). Kerrigan and Batty have argued the importance of maximising “opportunities to improve screenwriting practice, as this should better prepare screenwriters for work in a critically demanding industry” (Kerrigan and Batty 2016, 132). The table reading provided the opportunity to both develop the screenplay and my creative capabilities as a screenwriter which indicates the potential for a table reading to provide the kind of opportunity Kerrigan and Batty suggest.

5.3 Extracting Lessons from the Screenwriting Practice

Batty has suggested that new knowledge generated from scriptwriting as research should encompass “new methods of practice, where we do not merely understand a topic, but can offer practical insights to act on the topic” (Batty 2014, 3). This section seeks to examine the lessons learned from the creative practice-led research that can help other self-directed learners of screenwriting. One of the key findings of this research was the potential for reflective and creative writing

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processes to facilitate both transformative learning and growth in creative capabilities. Throughout this analysis, I’ve referred to creative capabilities such as the willingness to take creative risks, being receptive to other possibilities, playfulness and persistence to resolve the problems in the script (Steers 2009). Creative capabilities have been described as necessary attributes, not just of creative practitioners, but “all globally competitive enterprises” in the twenty-first century (McWilliam and Haukka 2008, 655). Creative and critical thinking skills are embedded in core units in the screen and media vocational curriculum via the Australian National Training Packages and as a general capability in Australian secondary school curriculum (Australian Government 2016; ACARA 2016). The attributes required of learners articulated in the Australian Curriculum includes the ability to be “creative, innovative, enterprising and adaptable, with the motivation, confidence and skills to use critical and creative thinking purposefully” (ACARA 2016, np.). In examining my own creative capabilities I identified increased confidence in my ability to handle criticism of my work without internalising it as a personal critique. In the first section of this chapter I identified how I’d internalised ‘continuous improvement’ processes as criticism of my professional identity which led to feelings of alienation in the workplace. Seeking critical feedback on creative writing processes has required courage and resilience to offer up my work for critique and openness to incorporate alternative perspectives into revisions of the screenplays. As a transformative learner, critical reflection has enabled me to identify the sources of self-doubt and place them in a proper perspective. The table reading, as a test of these expanded capabilities, was a valuable process for both script and creative capability development. The table reading occurred late in the research process and other than being a limitation of the research design, I wonder how ‘ready’ I would have been if it had occurred earlier. The table reading occurred at a point in my transformative learning journey when I had increased confidence in my ability to adapt and suggests both transformative learning and developing creative capabilities requires time (Steers 2009).

In the Introduction chapter, I identified assumptions about adult learners included the desire, motivation and readiness to learn (Knowles 2015). It is important to note that the ‘lessons’ discussed in this section reflect an adult learning

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 107 perspective. The three forms of reflection identified by Mezirow suggest a framework for guiding learners’ metacognitive processes and helping them to “forage ... for task-relevant knowledge and information” (Bridgstock 2016, 314). For example, content reflection might ask: what do I know about screenwriting? This type of reflection can be used to identify personal gaps in screenwriting knowledge. My methods for addressing gaps included the contextual review, attending an undergraduate scriptwriting course and screen industry sector forums such as Screen Queensland ‘Meet the Broadcasters’ networking events. In asking what do I know about screenwriting, the review informed screenwriting craft via the various ‘how to’ manuals. The contextual review also confirmed that creative processes operate across both forms of creative and reflective writing. It identified that journals are valuable tools for documenting reflections on powerful emotional experiences or significant childhood objects (McVeigh 2014; Moon 2006). Interviews, role plays, thematic explorations, flow writing, and using unconventional texts can trigger both creative and reflective processes (Batty 2011; Brigham 2011; Jarvis 2006; McVeigh 2014; Nash 2013; Nelmes 2007; Worth 2005). These aspects of the contextual review related to creative processes and were important not just for supporting learning about screenwriting but in developing creative approaches to solving problems in the scripts. For example, flow writing in the reflection journal enabled me to explore character development through dialogue. In turn, critical reflection on flow writing enabled me to identify common themes and examine how they affected the development of the screenplays.

Many of the screenwriting texts included advice about overcoming writers block as a form of creative problem solving. The advice included such things as avoid self-censorship, brainstorm, write quantity not quality, lower your expectation to write perfectly the first time, stop writing and do something else and so on. (Vorhaus 1994, 2012; Hauge 2011). However, “one thing the books and screenwriting manuals don’t convey is the feeling. Sure they talk about silencing the inner critic ...but the feeling of abandonment is overwhelming. It's like the channel has been stoppered or the lifeline cut. It's like reaching out to something and finding an empty abyss. It's terrifying! I think writers must be the bravest, most resilient people in the world” [Reflection Journal 19/08/15]. This entry reflects on feelings after finishing the first episode and preparing to write the next. As an example of the

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reflective stage in action research, the entry conveys the emotional impact after the ‘high’ of completing the first episode and the ‘low’ of the days that followed. The entry later described my process for overcoming it, of playing around with ideas while I waited for something to click, “piling word upon word” until I had “a glimmer of something” [Reflection Journal 19/08/15]. Steers has argued “[C]reativity cannot be rushed or reduced to a formula: there is often a long incubation period before creative ideas may once in a while gel in that elusive ‘Eureka!’ moment” (Steers 2009, 130). This highlighted a flaw in my thinking about writing narrative comedy as practice-led research.

As a learner, I had approached screenwriting within the context of research as an essentially intellectual pursuit. The contextual review identified craft and creative writing strategies and described writers block as a paralysis brought on by fear “of failure, of success, of change, of criticism, or of imperfection” (Hauge 2011, 26). Whilst I never assumed I would be immune to being blocked I thought I would be able to work my way through it. The strategies were all there in black and white. However I was unprepared for the emotional impact and felt bereft of any ability to re-engage with the creative practice. The overwhelming sense of abandonment which stopped me in my tracks suggests a disorienting dilemma or critical incident in creative practice. It challenged my assumptions about screenwriting as a problem that could be thought through. My assumption reflected how my preconceived ideas about the rationalist nature of knowledge and adult learning had come to dominate my thought processes; “one that places an emphasis on factual information and the use of reason and reflection to learn from experience” (Dirkx 2001, 63). I had internalised this approach and “marginaliz[ed] emotions...elevating rationality to a supreme position” (Dirkx 2001, 67). Hodge has suggested that “a mode of learning that reaches below the level of overt behaviours and propositional knowledge to the very well-springs of our identity - to the level of why we act and how we think -can only invite profound discomfort” (Hodge 2010, 55). The background research into management theory provided an alternative perspective, one that challenged my assumptions about how I was approaching the creative practice.

In one of the more philosophical management texts, Jaworski and Flowers (1998) suggested that traditional conceptions of commitment in organisations focus on hard work and sacrifice. “So we vacillate between two states of being, one a form

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 109 of self-manipulation, wherein we get things done by telling ourselves that if we don’t work harder, it won’t get done; and the other a state of guilt, wherein we say we’re not good enough” (Jaworski and Flowers 1998, 12). This accurately described my own feelings of entrapment in my workplace and how deeply I had internalised the ‘continuous improvement’ measures as ‘never good enough’ and the only form of escape that I could see was to leave. Jaworski and Flowers proposed an alternative way of being as opposed to doing. When committing to this state they suggest that “when we operate in the state of mind in which we realize we are part of the unfolding, we can’t not be committed” (Jaworski and Flowers 1998, 12). In examining this alternative approach to being as opposed to doing, I identified similarities in the creative practice and in my most rewarding teaching and learning experiences. These instances have occurred when my colleagues and I were deeply engaged with students in filmmaking processes and were learning and creating together. In order for effective, creative, collaborative learning to occur, Hämäläinen and Vähäsantanen have argued “the teacher’s role is not only that of facilitator, but also fellow collaborator, joining the students in collaboration processes” (Hämäläinen and Vähäsantanen 2011, 175).

My own engagement in creative writing processes has produced inexplicable moments of both serenity and joy when time has disappeared. Jaworski and Flowers liken the commitment to being, as being part of a flow where “[T]hings just seem to happen” (Jaworski and Flowers 1998, 13). I don’t pretend to fully comprehend this philosophy but the immersion in creative practice has opened up my world view to embrace other perspectives. Hunt has observed, “cognitive control impairs cognitive flexibility and restricts the possibilities for creativity” (Hunt 2013, 21). Writing narrative comedy has facilitated letting go of cognitive control and an imaginative connection with emotionally charged images. Embracing that connection has required opening up to possibilities - of failure, of pain, of truth - and ultimately, to authenticity. Attending to the inner world of imagination and the “deep emotional and spiritual bonds that seem part of the very fabric of our being” has enabled me to reconnect with the creative source which inspired my love of teaching and writing in the first place (Dirkx, Mezirow and Cranton 2006, 129). As Batty has suggested, “to explore the emotional depths of screen fiction” can benefit both teaching and screenwriting practice (Batty 2015, 111).

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McKee has suggested that “mastery of [scriptwriting] craft frees the subconscious” (McKee 1998, 27). Reflecting on using Fighting Fit “as a metaphor for life” (McKee 1998, 29), I have been able to identify how the craft of screenwriting has enabled the subconscious to speak through the creative and reflective writing processes. Cranton and King have suggested transformative learning “also leads back to authenticity as we express our views in the community” (Cranton and King 2003, 33). Cranton suggested this goes some way to addressing concerns expressed by Brookfield (2000) that “critical reflection without social action is ‘self-indulgent and ‘makes no real difference to anything’” (Cranton 2011, 77). Similarly, I hope that the screenplays resonate with an audience; that I am not the only one affected by their creation. The table reading was an effective method for sharing the creative work with an audience and provided immediate and gratifying feedback.

The table reading enabled the screenplay to be ‘tested’ on both an audience of student screenwriters and the stakeholder audience of director and actors. Kreber has suggested process reflection seeks to identify how well we have applied our methods (Kreber 2004). External critical feedback and the table reading embodied a form of process reflection. Hearing the script performed aloud provided an opportunity for me as writer and the audience of screenwriting students to see how the work could be refined through the imaginative contributions of others. Creative judgements were articulated and explored. As scriptwriting intervention, a table reading can also provide an opportunity for formative assessment of screenplays. The table reading took two hours and effectively workshopped two scenes in extensive detail which reinforces the importance of allowing time for collaborative, creative endeavours; something which is in increasingly short supply in current learning contexts (McVeigh 2014; Steers 2009).

The table reading process demonstrated that screenwriting benefits from being part of a continuum of collaborative, creative development which may or may not result in a screen work. Baker has argued the “clear scholarly value of [a script as] a creative and critical artefact at all stages of its existence” (Baker 2013, 1). Through their edited collection of papers, Batty and Kerrigan (2016) demonstrated that “the act of writing with/in creative practice...that does not necessarily use the written word in its final, public-facing form” can make significant contributions to the field

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 111 of screen production research (Batty and Kerrigan 2016, 6). The table reading was a peak learning experience (Bridgstock 2016) and demonstrates the importance of embedding opportunities for creative collaborations in approaches to learning about screenwriting, something not easily achieved in less formal, self-directed learning contexts.

Critical, or premise reflection, has the greatest capacity to challenge existing frames of reference which can lead to transformative learning (Kreber 2004). Critical reflection can help learners identify their own values and beliefs which can also inform “protean career” pathways in which an individual’s career decisions are directed by personal values rather than relying on organisational processes (Bridgstock 2011, 13). Critical reflection enabled me to identify my own values about vocational education through an examination of the lived experiences that inform the screenplays. Examining the screenplay artefacts themselves also enabled me to identify how essences of lived experiences subconsciously influenced the creative work. Bringing subconscious influences into awareness enabled me to examine feelings of alienation and reconceptualise my characters from a stronger comic perspective.

Using transformation theory to inform critical reflection can support learners of screenwriting and arguably benefit other creative practitioners in rapidly-changing creative and professional contexts. The influence of creative and reflective writing processes on facilitating a perspective shift suggests creative practitioners are already predisposed to the type of reflective processes shaping transformative learning. In turn, the increased flexibility in frames of reference facilitated by transformative learning has the potential to extend creative capabilities such as the willingness to take creative risks; preparedness to persist within uncertainty in creative processes; receptiveness to alternative perspectives, and the ability to bring emotional experiences into awareness (ACARA 2016; Australian Government 2016; McVeigh 2014; Nash 2013).

Jarvis (2006) has suggested that “the production of extensive individual reflective writings as well as group activities, need to provide opportunity for a critically reflective process that explicitly requires the making of connections between personal and imaginative experiences” (Jarvis 2006, 76). Whilst Jarvis is referring to strategies for facilitating transformative learning, this also suggests a

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reflective approach for identifying sources of inspiration for creative writing purposes. The potential for transformative learning is increased if critical reflection can be directed towards assumptions underpinning learners’ lived experiences and perceptions which inspire their creative choices. This in turn can prepare learners to become more adaptable, creative and critical practitioners.

In distilling my own learning journey through the professional lens of an adult educator and curriculum designer, the framework outlined below is suggested for other self-directed, adult learners of screenwriting. Assumptions about the adult learner include self-concept and life experience which can serve as potential sources of inspiration (Knowles 2015). The suggestions below also synthesise findings from the contextual review and draw upon my own professional teaching experience. As such, the references to transformation theory include scholarly perspectives relating to reinvigorating teaching practice. My self-directed learning journey has applied reflective and creative writing processes to narrative comedy screenwriting to facilitate a perspective shift indicative of transformative learning. These reflective and creative writing processes have the potential to assist other learners of screenwriting and can be facilitated through:

 Understanding of transformation theory including the ten phases, to provide a theoretical framework for reflection. This includes identifying disorienting dilemmas and a clear articulation of intentional reflective practice on the part of the learner. (Jarvis 2006; Dirkx, Mezirow and Cranton 2006; Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009; Hunt 2013).

 Understanding types of reflection (content, process, premise). Learning can be focused through specific questions that can direct content reflection on a learner’s current understandings such as to identify skills or knowledge gaps or to inform authenticity in the screenplays. Process reflection can be guided by asking for critical feedback through specific questions and/or a more spontaneous, collaborative approach such as a table reading. Premise reflection on sources of inspiration and screenwriting artefacts (character profiles, draft scripts) can be directed through questioning assumptions underpinning creative choices. (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009; Kreber 2004; Cranton and King 2003)

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 113  Opportunities for creative collaboration/collaborative process reflection and/or formative feedback such as table reading, role playing production crew perspectives on the script, writers’ circles, pitching sessions and external/peer feedback which identifies where and how work resonates on an emotional level with the reader. (Macdonald 2010; McVeigh 2014; Nash 2013; Nelmes 2010)

 In formal learning contexts, summative assessment which includes screenwriting artefacts (scripts, character profiles, examples of dialogue) and evidence of critical reflection on both screenwriting artefacts and sources of inspiration. (Macdonald 2001; Brigham 2011; Danielpour 2011)

 Time for experimentation and exploration of creative writing and for critically reflective writing to evolve. (McVeigh 2014; Nash 2013; Nelmes 2007)

 An atmosphere of trust and freedom for learners to take risks and document their critical reflections in a journal without self-censorship. (Moon 2006; Macdonald 2010; Hämäläinen and Vähäsantanen 2011)

 Activities which encourage links between critical reflection and creative screenwriting practice such as:

o Reflections on critical incidents/disorienting dilemmas, significant personal objects or other personal meaningful experiences o Personal interviews o Autobiographical writing o Role plays, simulations, o Analysis of media reports, fiction or unconventional texts o Recording dreams, ideation, flow writing, writing prompts o Collaborative writing activities o Applying ‘reflective practice’ to characters to identify their ‘critical incident’, inner motivations and conflicts o Examining reasons for creative choices o Use of humour to challenge preconceptions or shift perspective

The activities and strategies listed above are by no means exhaustive and are suggested to support, not replace, existing learning strategies. One of the key factors underpinning the success of this model is a learner’s willingness to engage with

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critical reflection as part of the creative process. This isn’t to say it doesn’t exist already but for some learners, the time and focus required for critical reflective writing may be seen as valuable time that could be spent on screenwriting. Encouraging learners to perceive connections between creative and reflective writing and embedding critical reflection in the assessment of the screenplay could address this concern and provide additional motivation to engage in reflection. It may also address concerns about how much screen direction on the page is enough to convey the writer’s intentions whilst still allowing room for creative collaboration.

Summary In the early stages of this research, the Project One advisory panel suggested that using lived experiences can both inspire and constrain the development of the screenplays. This is perhaps what Atwood means when she suggests writers need to “take care not to be captured and held immobile by the past” (Atwood 2003, 160). However incorporating lived experience into the creative practice enabled the subconscious influences to be identified, examined and viewed from a less threatening, comic perspective. Content, process and premise reflection were instrumental in facilitating self-directed, transformative learning. The interaction of creative and reflective writing processes, informed by critical feedback enabled me to question assumptions about the sources of inspiration and the process of screenwriting itself. The combination of reflective and creative writing processes amplified the potential of each to facilitate a perspective shift and extend creative capabilities. In approaching the process of screenwriting, I recognise in myself an increased receptiveness to change and the ability to adapt. As a result I am more willing to take creative risks, to fail, to learn, to persist and push my writing to a level that can provoke an audience to empathise and laugh with my flawed, but relatable, characters. All of this is reflective of a newfound confidence that has made me more resilient and appreciative of the professionalism of screenwriters. I am open to possibilities and excited at the prospect of revisiting the place “where the stories are kept” (Atwood 2003, 160).

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 115

Chapter 6: Conclusions

No managers were harmed in the making of these screenplays. The writer, however, was eviscerated. [Reflection Journal 05/01/2017]

Meep Meep! (or Beep Beep!) (Roadrunner, Warner Bros.)

This chapter outlines the implications and limitations of this creative practice- led research. This research has incorporated the multidisciplinary perspectives of adult educator, curriculum designer and screenwriter. The role of critical reflection in and on the creative practice of screenwriting has been shown to be integral to self- directed learning of screenwriting and in examining lived experiences inspiring and informing the screenplays. The imaginal and reflective approach has successfully enabled a trajectory of transformative learning to be examined. Encouraging learners to examine their own creative writing processes through intentional and mindful reflection can facilitate metacognitive processes and self-directed learning. Engaging in collaborative, creative script development processes via a table reading, seeking external critical feedback on scripts and synthesising these through a reflection journal has enabled the screenplays and thought processes behind them to be scrutinised. Supporting learners through collaborative, external feedback can provide immediate and spontaneous responses to creative work that can develop the screenplays and in more formal contexts produce formative learning outcomes. Similarly, documenting critical reflection can assist learners’ understandings of screenwriting craft and support summative assessment judgements. These factors suggest an approach to self-directed learning of screenwriting leading to transformative learning.

In the introduction to this exegesis I asked, why narrative comedy? The answer seemed quite straightforward to me in the beginning - it’s my go-to strategy for dealing with stressful situations and I had a wealth of ridiculous bureaucratic experiences to draw upon. I neither expected nor intended it to be a therapeutic exercise and hoped that the scripts would resonate with an audience; that they might shine a comic light on the darker machinations behind the corporatisation of education. As artefacts of the mind, the screenplays revealed the subconscious

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 117 influences affecting themes and character development (Taylor 2007). This allowed perceptions underpinning lived experiences to be examined and re-framed within a comic perspective. The table reading was particularly instrumental in introducing incongruity to the character of Tom which removed the negative subconscious influences affecting his character development. The research confirms that humour can help us reappraise negative situations, give us confidence to adapt and place experiences in proper perspective (Wilkins and Eisenbraun 2009; Morrison 2008; Kline 1907). This suggests humour based on incongruity is an important factor in increasing the potential for transformative learning to occur.

Writing narrative comedy embodied an imaginal approach to critical reflection which enabled intuition, imagination and the subconscious to interact so that lived experiences which inspired the screenplays could be examined (Dirkx 2001). Screenwriting ‘guru’ Robert McKee has suggested that “[I]n life, experiences become meaningful with reflection in time. In art, they are meaningful now, at the instant they happen” (McKee 1998, 105). This is not to suggest that creative practice is a short cut to reflection. Rather as Dirkx’s argued, the “imaginal method” which uses powerful emotional imagery as “an alternative to rational and reflective processes of meaning making” (Dirkx 2001, 63) can provide “the opportunity for a more profound access to the world by inviting a deeper understanding of ourselves in relationship with it” (Dirkx 2001, 64). Using critical reflection to draw upon authentic emotional experiences and incorporating them into ‘imaginal’ texts via screenwriting can provide an additional method for engaging in transformative learning and arguably for creating meaningful emotional experiences for the narrative comedy audience. Critical reflection on writing narrative comedy has asked why have I made these choices? Encouraging this type of reflection in creative practice has the potential to extend learning through deeper understanding of what motivates our creative practice and can arguably help place difficult experiences in proper perspective.

Funding cuts, redundancies, increased casualisation and corporatisation of the training and education sector can challenge professional teaching practice. Writing narrative comedy has enabled assumptions about these challenges in the VET sector to be questioned and in doing so has identified how “a sort of creeping annexation of the workers’ selves” impacted on my professional identity (Westwood and Johnston

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2012, 788). My journey was not without its fair share of existential epistemological crises artfully described by Brookfield as roadrunning (Brookfield 1994, 211). He used the metaphor of the wily coyote, arrested mid-flight prior to plummeting into the depths of a canyon to describe that moment when reflective practitioners experience a crisis in their “fluctuating flirtation with new modes of thought and being” (Brookfield 1994, 203). Just as the table reading was a process of letting go, the creative practice-led research has involved a process of letting go of epistemological assumptions. My rational approach to creative ‘problem solving’ has been challenged and found wanting. The disorienting dilemma I experienced in the creative practice forced me to consider how marginalising intuition and emotion can limit creative problem solving. Creative processes have influenced my cognitive flexibility, enhancing both transformative learning and my creative capabilities. I am humbled by my engagement with the creative practice and grateful every time I am re-gifted the opportunity to immerse myself once again in the creative process.

From a transformative learning perspective, there is great merit in encouraging learners of screenwriting to identify disorienting dilemmas which may provide inspiration for their own writing. Similarly, encouraging learners to apply humour to negative situations can help reappraise them from a less intimidating perspective. In this respect, writing narrative comedy can allow the writer to become vulnerable on the page. They can expose their characters to the injustices of life safely removed from the sting of the experience itself. Hauge has suggested that in “watching a movie or television show, we can feel the love, the hate, the fear, the passion, the excitement, or the humor that elevates our lives, but in a safe, controlled setting” (Hauge 2011, 24). This implies that the writer has imbued their characters and themes with the emotional experience they want to share with the audience. Whilst lived experiences can provide a fertile source of inspiration to feed the imaginative, creative writing process, they can also inhibit character and thematic development.

The subconscious influence of negative experiences can transfer onto characters and themes in unexpected ways, stifling our attempts to create more relatable characters. Examining one’s own feelings about characters and seeking external perspectives, such as those introduced in a table reading, can help identify these subconscious influences. The perspectives brought by the director and embodied in the actors’ reading of Lean Management screenplay diluted the

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 119 subconscious alienating elements influencing character development in Fighting Fit. Embedding creative collaborations in the development of screenplays can mitigate the effects of subconscious influences and has the potential to benefit both the screenplay and the writer.

Examining the screenplays to identify the subconscious influences affecting the development of the characters and themes arguably has the capacity to challenge our assumptions underpinning those subconscious influences. However, it can also lead to ‘second-guessing’ creative choices in a less constructive manner. My concern that my screenplays were ‘not good enough’ or might offend prevented me from sharing them with my industry mentor earlier. However, as part of the creative risk-taking process, I have accepted that audiences will perceive the themes and characters in Fighting Fit from their own perspective, influenced by their own subconscious assumptions. The screenplays may provoke discomfort of the sort that invites complicity in the humour making process or they may offend. Whilst I can hope humour arises from a shared recognition of concerns about the alienating effects of corporate normative control measures or maintaining relevance in a world which appears concerned with superficial differences, I acknowledge the creative risk that they may offend.

The extent to which Fighting Fit manages to convey relatable themes or identifiable characters that resonate with an audience lies ultimately with the readers of the screenplays. The scripts embody a representation of characters and a narrative that is current at this point in time but will become more complex as the series continues. The exegesis is integral to the reading of the screenplays as creative practice-led research outputs and is intended to contribute to the reading of the screenplays in a way which would not be possible if they were to be read as commercial scripts. Baker has argued that “practice-led screenwriting research has very different goals to commercial scriptwriting” which primarily aims for scripts to be produced as profitable films or television programs (Baker 2016, 75). I acknowledge a tension between writing Fighting Fit as creative practice-led research and commercial screenwriting. The table reading process positioned Lean Management as a ‘spec’ script; that is, an un-commissioned speculative script independent of any existing television series. From a production perspective, the table reading highlighted the need for more script development. Macdonald (2004)

120 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

has proposed that on one level a screenplay can be defined as successful if it elicits a positive response from a professional reader who “constructs some kind of imaginary screenwork from the cues given by the writer, and from their own conception of a (type of) screenwork, and matches that to what he or she is seeking” (Macdonald 2004, 262-263). The table reading provided an opportunity to simulate the final screen experience in a way which allowed understandings about the script to be challenged, articulated and reformed. Macdonald has suggested that seemingly natural constructs such as dramatic structure require analysis and theorisation in order to understand how they are applied but because “normal ways of working are not acknowledged but assumed as ‘natural’, it is sometimes difficult to see the linkage between practice and what creates that practice - the principles at work behind it” (Macdonald 2004, 267). The table reading demonstrated circularity to this process where practice, via the contextual review and reflective practice was theorised and incorporated into writing the scripts. The table reading then articulated where the method of applying the principles of narrative comedy resonated or not with the audience.

My creative practice-led research has produced three narrative comedy scripts for Fighting Fit. [See Appendix C] It is perhaps ironic that the process of writing narrative comedy - in which the circularity of the narrative prevents the character from undergoing change - has provided so many opportunities for insight into transformative learning, where profound change in meaning perspectives is a goal. It has also generated insights into the capacity for transformative learning to extend creative capabilities. The creative collaboration of the table reading removed my fear of failure by sharing the responsibility for improving the screenplay. The table reading occurred in the last month of this research project and enabled me to see more clearly how the characters’ comic perspectives drove their behaviour towards each other and propelled the narrative. After the reading, I re-examined the first two episodes and rewrote them to better reflect the characters’ comic perspectives. The final episode included in this document is the table reading version with the original representations of characters. I can’t help feeling the scripts suffer from an identity crisis. I wonder if my intention to include management theories to parody bureaucratic processes has produced scripts which sit somewhere between a Video Arts instructional video, which parodies what not to do, and something trying to be

Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning 121 commercially viable. As the table reading suggested, Lean Management needed a more illogical or incongruous premise for each character to respond to and drive the narrative.

Beyond this practice-led research, I am motivated by the prospect of using the clarity gained from the table reading to focus on developing more dynamic character- driven comedy. This highlights a flaw in the research design where the table reading needed to be scheduled earlier in order to allow more time for script development. However, I think the reason I delayed was because I lacked the confidence to share what I had written in a public forum. Steers has argued that “[c]reative pupils need creative teachers with the confidence to take creative risks” (Steers 2009, 128). The creative practice-led research journey enabled me to reclaim my confidence, albeit in the final stages of candidature, to take creative risks and to be open to the creative collaboration of others. As a form of professional development, the creative practice-led research has reinvigorated professional teaching practice and enabled professional identity to become more adaptable and able to cope with uncertainty in professional practice. Cranton and Kasl have suggested perspective transformation is ongoing and the “outcome is not a finite experience but a moment in time situated in a developmental flow” (Cranton and Kasl 2012, 395). This suggests a continuous, life-long, process of learning in which the mutability brought by transformative learning can facilitate ongoing adaptability and arguably creative capability.

122 Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: facilitating self-directed, transformative learning

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Appendices

Appendix A

Journal Extracts as Data Collection Method

Provoking reflection and creative processes The following example from the Reflection Journal demonstrates how reflection on external feedback provoked creative processes. Feedback sought on the pilot episode in the early stages of the creative practice indicated that the script might benefit from earlier intervention in the process. This was achieved via the use of episode outlines to garner feedback on the story elements prior to disseminating and seeking feedback on scripts. The extract below indicates this procedure is used in professional script development.

BTW - it occurred to me that the step between the bible and script - the episode outline, would be valuable for you. This step would allow you to structure most of what I talked about in my earlier email. The script editor or producer would supervise this with us on xxx and other programs. I insisted on it with xxx. [Feedback received from CC1 on 9/8/15. Names of the television programs have been removed and substituted with xxx.]

The critical community were encouraged to offer ‘any other comments’ about the work and provided valuable encouragement in the creative practice. For example, one of the critical community suggested I find a symbol for each character to help identify who they are. The entry below outlines my thought processes for selecting a symbol for Roald.

Thinking of Roald’s symbol, I’m tempted to say a clipboard or a whistle. The clipboard represents his organisational skills and the power it gives him over the trainers. The whistle represents his attempt to attract attention. Preferably, a plastic whistle like the ones on a life jacket that helps searchers find you, rather than a metal whistle of the PE teacher. As Roald’s ‘go-to’ symbol it works on a number of levels. It is his ‘rape’ whistle when he’s in distress facing Carol. It’s his ‘time out’ whistle when confronted by Kurjak. It’s his ‘listen to me’ whistle when he’s been pushed too far and needs acknowledgement. [Reflection Journal 14/08/15]

Appendices 141 The symbol triggered a dialogue between the characters which revealed Roald’s desire to exert power and control over the trainers. That in turn triggered another piece of dialogue which explored his fear of the trainers. The following is from the Reflection Journal dated 14/08/15. The formatting has been modified for inclusion in this document.

# INT. RECEPTION MORNING

Roald is on the phone listening to the caller. He writes notes on a membership form.

ROALD Uh hu. Can you spell that please?

Kurjak storms over to Roald, rips the phone off him and slams it back in its cradle.

ROALD That was—

Kurjak grabs Roald’s whistle which dangles from a lanyard around his neck and pulls him close.

KURJAK Why give me pump?

ROALD Pump?

Kurjak does a bicep curl with his free arm.

KURJAK Jerk dance class. I not dance like idiot with weights.

ROALD It’s only the warm up. No dancing. Carol’s late.

Kurjak releases Roald.

ROALD (cont’d) (attempting nonchalance) Although if Carol doesn’t get here soon you might have to take the whole class.

Kurjak grabs Roald’s whistle again and gets in his face.

142 Appendices

ROALD (cont’d) You heard Tom. We all have to do more with less. You’ll just have to do more pump and less dance.

KURJAK I think I pump you, yes? I pump you hard.

He twists the lanyard tighter.

ROALD (choking) I don’t think you want to do that.

BEAT. Kurjak release his grip, unwinds the lanyard and examines the whistle closely.

KURJAK Why you wear this?

ROALD (catching his breath) I need it. In case of emergency.

Kurjak drops the whistle with disdain and stalks off, passing Carol on his way.

ROALD (muttering) Like whenever you or Carol turn up.

KURJAK (to Carol) I no dance.

CAROL Didn’t ask you to.

Roald hastily puts the whistle in his mouth. He points to the clock and speaks incoherently through the whistle.

ROALD (unintelligible) Your class starts in five minutes.

CAROL Is that a pacifier?

Roald hastily spits out the whistle.

Appendices 143 ROALD Your class starts in five.

Reflecting on above, thinking about being young and constantly horny and poor Roald. Why is he so afraid of Carol and Kurjak? They are both older, physically confident and enjoy making Roald squirm. What’s the deal Roald?

# EXT. PLAYING FIELD DAY

Roald and Rainbow are sitting together on a picnic rug. Roald is spreading a cracker with pate. Rainbow is sipping a smoothie.

ROALD Don’t get me wrong. I’m not waiting for my wedding night. I just want it to be like ... O.T.P. you know?

RAINBOW I’m sorry sweetie, I have no idea what you’re talking about.

ROALD One True Pairing? You know?

Rainbow shakes her head.

ROALD (cont’d) Yes you do. What’s your favourite ship?

RAINBOW Titanic?

ROALD Jack and Rose. Totally ship that.

Rainbow is still in the dark.

ROALD (cont’d) The Doctor and Rose Tyler.

Rainbow finally gets it.

ROALD (cont’d) That’s what I’m waiting for. Someone who gets me.

144 Appendices

RAINBOW Romeo and Juliet?

ROALD Someone who isn’t gonna judge me or think I’m stupid for wanting to save myself for my soul mate.

RAINBOW Sherlock and Molly.

ROALD Or John Watson.

Reflecting on above, this is probably not the way a young man would speak. This is the language of a tween. [Reflection Journal 14/08/15]

Whilst none of the dialogue in the extract above appeared in the screenplays, the whistle became a signifier of Carol removing and then reinstating Roald’s authority in the last episode. She tosses it away then replaces it with a sturdier silver one as a going away gift; something she will regret in later series. As an example of the data collection method, the extracts above demonstrate how critical feedback and creative writing processes interacted. The journal was also used as a method for documenting critical reflection which facilitated transformative learning.

Critical reflection and transformative learning The purpose of this section is to provide examples of journal extracts as data collection method which demonstrates how documenting critical reflection facilitated metacognitive processes and transformative learning. Metacognition refers to higher order thinking skills applied to the process of cognition or ‘knowing’ which implies knowledge about and control over the learning process. Metacognition also informed the identification of strategies to support learning screenwriting discussed in the analysis chapter. Mezirow’s ten phases of transformative learning are reproduced in the methodology chapter and the extracts in this section outline the phases of transformative learning with reference to journal extracts. The analysis chapter contains a deeper discussion of the findings from the journaling process. The discussion in this section seeks to outline how my transformative learning journey

Appendices 145 reflected a more recursive, less linear path than Mezirow’s ten phases (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009).

In the year following my disorienting dilemma, my colleagues and I tried to make sense of the changes that were occurring in the workplace. In documenting my memories of that time, this entry from my reflection journal demonstrated an example of description rather than critical reflection.

Remaining staff both within and outside the screen department expressed widespread discontent and fear over job security. Students also expressed discontent and we felt powerless to help them. Attrition rates increased in transitioning from the Diploma to the Degree program. [Reflection Journal entry 13/09/15]

Mezirow’s ten phases suggested that a disorienting dilemma will often lead to Phase 2: Self-examination with feelings of fear, anger, guilt or shame (Nohl 2015, 36). In reflecting on the year which followed the disorienting dilemma the Reflection Journal documented feelings and attempts to respond to organisational changes:

• Anger at losing good staff and guilt at ‘surviving’ the cull. Fear at the prospect of the department being dismantled.... • Re-writing course materials to support a less holistic approach to course delivery ... • Writing assessment tasks to support student pathways to university study. [Reflection Journal 13/09/15]

Despite recording this entry almost two years after the events occurred, the feelings of anger, disillusionment and resentment that accompanied the changes in the workplace are still evident. The entry above includes reflection on a time when my mother was enduring a prolonged and agonising battle with cancer. In attempting to assess epistemic assumptions Mezirow has suggested examining the influence of “anxiety, emotion, conation, intuition, bias, habit or self-concept” (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009, 21). It would be fair to say that my perceptions of changes in the workplace were very likely coloured my memories of that time. In his examination of the use of narrative and reflective practice, Chambers (2003) suggested that writing about personal experience can facilitate understanding. He proposed that “metaphor acts as a bridge for understanding a new situation in which some aspects remain consistent while some change” (Chambers 2003, 406). During this period of ‘self-examination’, I re-wrote course materials, selected units and

146 Appendices

devised assessment tasks to cater more directly to a university pathway. These were attempts to adapt the vocational screen production courses to cater for a newly established bachelor degree. During this time I also approached QUT to find out more about the Doctorate in Creative Industries (DCI) which aligns with Phase 5: Exploration of options for new roles, relationships and actions and Phase 6: Planning a course of action (Mezirow, Taylor and Associates 2009, 19).

Reflecting on cuts to permanent staff and their replacement with contract staff prompted me to reconsider my assumptions about my role in the Screen and Media department. A critical assessment of assumptions is Phase 3 in Mezirow’s transformative learning model (1997). The journal extract below was referred to in the Analysis chapter and is incorporated more fully here as an example of reflective journaling as data collection. The critical reflection was triggered by creative processes.

In the moments between waking and dreaming this morning I had a revelation about Tom’s character. In writing Tom, he embodies all the awfulness of a manager who is a bully and incompetent. He is thoroughly unlikeable and I have been struggling to find any redeeming quality to him at all. Earlier in the week I wrote the final episode outline in which Tom has to acknowledge to the team that the finances are in a mess and there will be redundancies. In one scene he rants to Roald that no matter how hard he works or tries to change his approach, the numbers just don’t add up...

[I wrote the piece below and realised I had written something similar (12/10/15) before I wrote the Ep 8 outline. It’s almost as if I don’t believe I have a right to my own opinion about what happened. I wonder if this comes from the Code of Conduct and HR’s repeated edicts not to say anything negative about the workplace.]

The scene where Tom complains to Roald that he ‘works and works’ but can’t seem to improve the numbers resonated with me. These words reflect exactly how I felt in the last couple of years at TAFE. No matter how hard I worked or tried to change my approach to fit in with what ‘management’ wanted, I couldn’t get ‘the numbers’ to add up. Class sizes became bigger and bigger and we seemed to be trying to cram more content into fewer hours but still we were told that there must be redundancies. Our most highly qualified teacher (who ironically held a professional doctorate) was one of the first to go. This made no sense as we had just started delivering a degree program and needed qualified staff. It made less and less sense as more and more casual staff were employed.

The entry continues onto the next page.

Appendices 147 This is where the background research into management techniques and styles to inform the creative practice provides a different perspective. I can see that the casualisation of the workforce is an attempt to become ‘agile’ by employing staff on an as needed basis. I feel like I can’t criticise this approach for fear of sounding like ‘sour grapes’ but the result was that the entire team of permanent staff were made redundant and the class sizes dropped to the point that only two casual staff members remained out of an original team of seven teachers. Before our creative arts team was segregated into production, animation, design, photography and performance we had about sixteen permanent staff. We were self-managed and ‘owned’ our areas of expertise. When we saw the decline in multimedia numbers, staff members re-trained or up-skilled to be able to deliver in photography and we grew that area. This was an agile response to a changing industry. Perhaps the speed at which things are changing now means that organisations cannot afford to train staff. In re-reading my reflection from 12/10/15 and my frustration in trying to make sense of the decisions around redundancy. I wonder if the decisions have nothing to do with making the courses more financially viable than fulfilling a political and economic objective? In targeting long-term permanent staff, the organisation managed to move a significant number of people off the Defined Benefit superannuation scheme onto the Accumulation scheme. [Reflection Journal 17/10/15]

The extract above reveals how writing dialogue provoked reflection which questioned my assumptions about organisational changes and the discourses which attempted to control workplace behaviour. Mezirow has suggested that communicative learning, which involves communication focused on reaching consensus of understanding feelings and beliefs, “is less amenable to empirical tests” (Mezirow 1997, 6). This requires learners to be mindful of underlying assumptions about those beliefs or feelings. In the example above, writing dialogue simulated an alternative for communicative learning via an ‘imaginal’ approach (Dirkx 2001) and enabled me to challenge underlying assumptions.

Phase 7: Acquiring knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plan, Phase 8: Provisional trying of new roles and Phase 9: Building competence and self- confidence in new roles and relationships have been embodied in the doctoral research process. The following extract speculates about a perspective shift indicative of transformative learning.

148 Appendices

As an educator I have been a salaried employee in a variety of large educational institutions. Indeed, one of the compelling reasons for not entering the screen industry as a young woman was the intermittent nature of employment in the screen industry ... I recognise that I have been institutionalised. (Not in an Arkham Asylum kind of way, although...) To say that my perspective shifted upon entering the DCI would be premature if not false. Undertaking research within a large educational institution provides familiar structures and opportunities for employment where, once again, I am dependent upon a salaried position. The true shift in perspective has come about gradually with the realization that as an independent woman, as the ‘site’ of my practice, it is possible for me to work independent of large organisations... Critical reflection has enabled me to perceive assumptions and shift perspective...At a time when the vocational training market is becoming increasingly competitive, this perspective shift allows for the consideration of new opportunities outside the security of salaried employment. The proof perhaps will be if I am able to reintegrate this new perspective into my life once I have finished the DCI and am without the security of a large institution. [Reflection Journal 21/09/15]

....

In identifying myself as the ‘site’ of practice I wonder if I have ‘commodified’ myself. Brookfield cited Fromm (1956) and suggested that our lives are experienced within a cost-benefit exchange which positions individuals as human capital (Brookfield 2002, 103). Through doctoral research, I have invested in myself at a cost (loss of earnings in purely financial terms). I risked investment in the hope that I would benefit from the time and space in which to immerse myself in creative practice. I wanted to produce scripts which might find a place in the education or commercial market. I also thought the doctoral degree might provide a pathway to teaching in higher education. This was based on the assumption that universities were beyond the reach of policy decisions affecting funding cuts to the creative industries that affected TAFE. However, higher education institutions have characterised redundancies as opportunities for early retirement for those whose interests diverged from their own. In the media, the university staff ‘cull’ was reported like defective livestock (Viellaris 2016, np.). The high salaries and performance bonuses awarded to chancellery staff suggests financial and economic drivers reflective of corporate culture more than a celebration of educational outcomes.

Appendices 149 My own focus on identifying narrative comedy principles to enhance on-line resources suggests a commodification of learning resources exemplified by the syndication of online courses which return royalties to their creators (Magner 2014). Our value as educators seems to have become entwined with the value of the resources we produce or the value our knowledge can add to the economy through our role as “knowledge brokers” (Meyer 2010; Macdonald 2015). The rhetoric of change management which exhorts employees to buy-in suggests an investment of self in a work identity which is unsympathetic, uncertain and at conflict with itself. Critical reflection on creative processes has enabled me to identify the source of uncertainty in professional teaching practice and examine value conflicts which have led to emancipatory learning.

Phase 10: A reintegration into one’s life on the basis of conditions dictated by one’s new perspective is the final phase in Mezirow’s (2009) model for transformative learning. Since leaving TAFE employment, my own career has become less bound by organisational structures. I’ve undertaken casual teaching, curriculum development and small independent production projects. Engaging with creative practice and critical reflection has enabled me to reinvigorate my passion for creative practice, chose projects which align with my own values and deal with the uncertainty of employment. Bridgstock and Cunningham have argued “teaching students how to continue to reflect upon, shape, adapt and develop their identities” throughout their working life is key to the career success of creative graduates (Bridgstock and Cunningham 2016, 23). Embedding transformation theory into my self-directed learning journey has created opportunities for me to develop strategies for successfully managing a creative career.

150 Appendices

Appendix B

Ethics Approval

Appendices 151 4/2/2017 Ethics application ­ approved ­ 1500000258 ­ Sue Cake Ethics application ‐ approved ‐ 1500000258

QUT Research Ethics Unit

Wed 29/04/2015 12:26 PM

To:Geoff Portmann ; Sue Cake ; Susan Cake ;

Cc:Janette Lamb ;

﴿ 1 attachments ﴾44 KB

UHRECSTANDARDCONDITIONSOFAPPROVAL‐HUMANRESEARCH.DOC;

Dear A/Prof Geoff Portmann and Ms Susan Cake

Project Title: Get Fit: Narrative comedy scriptwriting and its application to screen and media resource development for blended delivery in higher education

Ethics Category: Human ‐ Low Risk Approval Number: 1500000258 Approved Until: 29/04/2017 subject to receipt of satisfactory﴾ ﴿progress reports

We are pleased to advise that your application has been reviewed and confirmed as meeting the requirements of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research.

I can therefore confirm that your application is APPROVED. If you require a formal approval certificate please advise via reply email.

CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL Please ensure you and all other team members read through and understand all UHREC conditions of approval prior to commencing any data collection: > Standard: Please see attached or go to http://www.orei.qut.edu.au/human/stdconditions.jsp > Specific: None apply

Decisions related to low risk ethical review are subject to ratification at the next available UHREC meeting. You will only be contacted again in relation to this matter if UHREC raises any additional questions or concerns.

Whilst the data collection of your project has received QUT ethical clearance, the decision to commence and authority to commence may be dependent on factors beyond the remit of the QUT ethics review process. For example, your research may need ethics clearance from other organisations or permissions from other organisations to access staff. Therefore the proposed data collection should not commence until you have satisfied these requirements.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.

We wish you all the best with your research.

Kind regards https://outlook.office.com/owa/?viewmodel=ReadMessageItem&ItemID=AAMkAGJhNzYwNmU4LTRkNDktNDIzNC1iNzUxLTdhNzdjMTgyMjZjZgBGAA… 1/2 4/2/2017 Ethics application ­ approved ­ 1500000258 ­ Sue Cake

Janette Lamb on behalf of Chair UHREC Office of Research Ethics & Integrity Level 4 | 88 Musk Avenue | Kelvin Grove p: +61 7 3138 5123 e: [email protected] w: http://www.orei.qut.edu.au

https://outlook.office.com/owa/?viewmodel=ReadMessageItem&ItemID=AAMkAGJhNzYwNmU4LTRkNDktNDIzNC1iNzUxLTdhNzdjMTgyMjZjZgBGAA… 2/2 4/2/2017 Ethics variation ­ approved ­ 1500000258 ­ Sue Cake Ethics variation ‐ approved ‐ 1500000258

QUT Research Ethics Advisory Team

Wed 21/09/2016 7:55 AM Inbox

To:Phoebe Hart ; Sue Cake ;

Cc:Janette Lamb ;

Dear Dr Phoebe Hart

Approval #: 1500000258 End Date: 29/04/2017 Project Title: Narrative Comedy Screenwriting: The role of critical reflection in creative practice

This email is to advise that your variation has been considered by the Chair, University Human Research Ethics Committee. This HREC is constituted and operates in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council's ﴾NHMRC﴿ National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human .﴿Research ﴾2007

Approval has been provided for: < New supervisor Dr Phoebe Hart. < Change of title. Change to data collection/methods ﴾one session only, Ted Emery as > .﴿director of table reading, audio recording only < Extension to October 2016.

Documents approved: Low risk application V2 14/9/16 ETH_Info‐Consent_FocusGroup1_DirectorProducer_v3_20160920 ETH_Info‐consent_FocusGroup3_Audience_v4_20160920

PLEASE NOTE: RESEARCH SAFETY ‐‐ Ensure any health and safety risks relating to this variation have been appropriately considered, particularly if your project required a Health and Safety Risk Assessment.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ‐‐ If this variation will introduce any additional perceived or actual conflicts of interest please advise the Research Ethics Advisory Team by return email.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Regards

Janette Lamb / Debbie Smith on behalf of Chair UHREC Office of Research Ethics & Integrity Level 4 | 88 Musk Avenue | Kelvin Grove +61 7 3138 5123 [email protected] http://www.orei.qut.edu.au

https://outlook.office.com/owa/?viewmodel=ReadMessageItem&ItemID=AAMkAGJhNzYwNmU4LTRkNDktNDIzNC1iNzUxLTdhNzdjMTgyMjZjZgBGAA… 1/1

Appendix C

Creative Works

o Fighting Fit Series Mini-Bible o Episode One: Change o Episode Two: Core Values o Episode Eight: Lean Management

Appendices 155