Developing edutainment principles and practices for audio-visual representations of Biblical books

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The main purpose of the study is to develop a model and to establish certain principles forwriting a script treatment (personal pictures) of a book of the Bible. Personal pictures can beidentified as the most important component of the production (filmic creation) and marketing(promulgation) processes of a fully dramatised audio-visual representation of a biblical book.The study deals primarily with personal pictures.Changes in the communication and perception of biblical content are investigated. The studyfocuses mainly on the dissemination of such content through audio-visual Bible products (endproducts).The study contends that audio-visual Bible communications for children and adults should havean educational foundation. The other main dimension of all audio-visual Bible is theentertainment it provides to viewers (patrons). The educational and entertainment facets of endproducts are described here as edutainment. It is important for end products to have edutainmentvalue as perceived by socio-economically diverse peoples, of both Christian and non-Christian(non-religious) persuasions.Aspects which can contribute to the edutainment value of fully dramatised audio-visual Bibleproducts are expounded. An audio-visual model, which defines the basis for the filmic creationand promulgation of an end product, is explained and its elements described. The determinants ofthe filmic creation and promulgation processes, some of which have a greater educational impactand some which have a greater entertainment impact, are explicated. An important factor is toinvolve patrons in the filmic creation and promulgation processes, and to help them to feel part ofthese processes.Writing the personal pictures of a Bible book is investigated. A personal pictures model is putforward to explain how the personal pictures can be written. A variety of guidelines to help thewriter (owner) write the personal pictures of a book are presented. These guidelines deal withaspects such as writing the narrative, selecting the context of the storytelling, gathering and usingbackground information, using enhancement factors, and implementing requirements of the users.The personal pictures already written of two Bible books are assessed. An explanation is givenof why the books of Ruth and Hebrews, one from the Old and one from the New Testament, arechosen for such assessment. These personal pictures are found to be deficient and new personalpictures are written for both books, using the model and guidelines given.An empirical survey is undertaken of the personal pictures of one of the two books assessed,namely Ruth. The analysis of the empirical research finds that the respondents are able tovisualise a film of Ruth with edutainment value after reading the personal pictures. The results ofthe survey point to the importance of both the educational and entertainment aspects in endproducts. Some further valuable deductions can be made from the study:Audio-visual Bible products are beneficial to convey biblical content to patrons.A model and guidelines are presented for writing good quality personal pictures.Patrons can profitably be engaged in the filmic creation and promulgation processes of fullydramatised audio-visual Bible products.A few constraints have been encountered which have a limiting effect on the study. The studyhighlights a number of important areas which can be further researched.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University