BYU Theatre Education Database



Silent Film Acting — Movement UnitBy Kirsten KingObjective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of nonverbal communication by planning, recording, and presenting silent films.Subject: Movement, Nonverbal CommunicationLevel: Beginner – IntermediateMain Concepts: Movement, Blocking, Communication, Film Techniques, Ensemble ActingNational Standards Represented:TH:Cr1.1.8a. Imagine and explore multiple perspectives and solutions to staging problems in a drama/ theatre work.TH:Cr2.1.8b. Share leadership and responsibilities to develop collaborative goals when preparing or devising drama/theatre work. TH:Cr3.1.8a. Use repetition and analysis in order to revise devised or scripted drama/theatre work.b. Refine effective physical, vocal, and physiological traits of characters in an improvised or scripted drama/ theatre work.c. Implement and refine a planned technical design using simple technology during the rehearsal process for devised or scripted drama/ theatre work.TH:Pr5.1.8a. Use a variety of acting techniques to increase skills in a rehearsal or drama/theatre performance. b. Use a variety of technical elements to create a design for a rehearsal or drama/theatre production. Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 1: Introduction to Nonverbal Communication and MovementEducational Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of nonverbal communication by participating in discussion and various movement activities.Materials Needed: blank slips of paper, soft music, a hat or bowl to hold charade papersHook:Dim the lights and have soft music playing as students enter the room. Instruct them to lie or sit wherever they would like to in order to get comfortable and relax.Have students close their eyes, be completely still, and focus on their breathing for a few minutes. Long, slow breaths. (OTHER RELAXATION AND STRETCH THINGS)Transition:Have the students return to their chairs, grabbing their journals on the way. Write the journal entry on the board.Journal Entry: 55% of communication is nonverbal.38% of communication is through vocal elements. 7% of communication is through the words themselves. Before asking them to write anything, talk about what this means. What does nonverbal mean? What about vocal elements? (we just had a vocal unit) Are those numbers kind of crazy? 93% of communication is based on everything BUT your words!Question: How do you communicate using your body?Activity:Ask students if they remember what soft focus means. Invite students to move about the space in soft focus, focusing on their nonverbal communication. First, have them portray different emotions (excited, panicked, curious, annoyed, proud, enraged, etc.). Then have students move around the space like they are in a different location/environment (pouring rain, halls at school, in a crowd, on a beach, hiking, etc.). Lastly, have students try to portray different characters using nonverbal communication (old man, thief, cheerleader, nerd, child, football jock, etc.)Switch it up. Sometimes do half and half, having some of the students become the audience. Sometimes have some students freeze and stay as statues while other students mill about like they are at a museum. Ask questions after some. Notice some of the different things students are doing. Notice some of the same things students are doing.Activity:Conduct a game of reverse charades. Pass out strips of paper and have every student contribute at least two different things to the bowl. Reverse charades means that everyone but one person is acting it out and one person is guessing. Split the class into two teams. Give each team two minutes to guess as many words as they can. Tally up how many they guessed correctly at the end of two minutes as their score. Play a few rounds.Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 2: Intro To Silent FilmEducational Objective: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of how movement can create meaning by analyzing different examples of movement in performance.Materials Needed:- Five Film Clips that Demonstrate Movement- Analyzing Movement in Silent Film Worksheet- A Silent Film (The General )Hook – Have the lights off when students enter the room. Invite students to sit wherever they would like. Play film clips without sound and have students observe actor movements.My Big Fat Greek Wedding Clip - Starting at 6:50. Scene at the travel agency. League of Their Own - There’s no crying in baseball scene. a Stranger Calls - The call is coming from inside the house! Window - Caught in the act. Stop after a minute or two. Break-Up - Argument scene. each clip, ask students what they observed. What was going on? How could you tell? Describe what the actor was doing with his/her face? Body? Was it effective? Why or why not?Why do you think these things are important?Ask students to get their journals and answer the following prompt:Journal Entry:How is body language and important tool in storytelling and conveying meaning Body language is an important tool in storytelling and conveying meaning. - What do I mean by that?Below their journal entries, have students take a couple of notes as you talk about the different kinds of movement in rm students that movement is an essential part of performance. As actors, our bodies are instruments and can be powerful tools in telling stories if we know and understand how to use them. There are three different kinds of movement in theatre:1. Movement from Place to Place – Just what it sounds like2. Gestures – Using our hands, arms, face & body to communicate non-verbally. (We also use gestures to add to our verbal communication.)3. Stage Business – What we do with our bodies on stage. Are we fiddling with a prop, sitting with our legs crossed, knitting a sweater, etc?Along with the 3 basic types of movement there are two basic styles of movement…1. Realistic – The imitation of the natural actions people perform every day (ex. talking on the phone, eating, walking up stairs, etc.). If everyday movements are exaggerated this is still realistic movement, it is just a little more dramatic.2. Stylized – Movements used to create certain effects (ex. mechanical, synchronized movements by a group). Symbolic movement also falls under the stylized category. This is done when a conventional gesture is made to stand for something else, like an emotion or a more complex physical activity (checking your wrist for the time might symbolize impatience). Give them a few examples of things you have seen and things they might have seen.Activity: Pass out the “Analyzing Movement in Silent Film” worksheet and have students fill it out during the film. Play the silent film for the class. They won’t be able to watch the whole film, but they will get enough of it to fill out the worksheet.Stop the film with the last five minutes of class left, and discuss some of the things they saw during the film. Have students turn in their “Analyzing Movement in Silent Film” worksheets & dismiss.Assessment:Students will be assessed by their completion of the worksheet.1016002032000-57150Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 3: Project & Plot StructureEducation Objective: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of plot structure by analyzing the plot structure of a short film clip and by creating their own plot structure for their silent film.Materials Needed:Youtube clip - Pixar Short Paperman Eagle, The Cat & The Wild Sow Fable (three copies, cut into strips)Brainstorm for Silent Film Worksheet (one for each student)Hook: As students come into class give them each a slip of paper that contains a section of a story. If there are more students than slips then have students partner up. Inform students that they must work together to put the story together in order.Have three groups going… whichever finishes fastest (and correctly) wins!Discussion:Once students have completed the story, ask them how they did it. How did you know what order to go in? Why is the order of a story important?Transition:Ask students to get their journals. As they do so, draw the dramatic structure triangle on the board. For their journal entries today, ask them to fill it out. (this should take two minutes, if that).Instruction: Introduce students to the term Dramatic Structure (most (if not all) may be familiar with this from their English classes, but you may need to clarify that in drama, you want them to call it a denouement and an inciting event).Have students come up and label the different parts of the dramatic structure triangle.EXPOSITION – Background information (Who, what, when, where, why; normal life)INCITING INCIDENT – An action that sets the conflict in action (normal life changes)RISING ACTION – The story thickens and obstacles ariseCLIMAX – Highest point of the play (most emotional, the choice, etc.)FALLING ACTION – Everything that happens leading up to…DENOUEMENT — The untying of the knot or resolution.Show the film clip from PIXAR. While they are watching, have the students write down when each of the six elements of dramatic structure occur. Discussion:Talk with the class about the events of the clip. What was the dramatic structure or storyline? Did the plot follow the dramatic structure correctly? Have them define the exact moments of each element (What are some exposition points that created a background for the characters and story? What happened to change normal life? What obstacles were tossed in the way? What was the climax? What could have happened? How did the story resolve itself – or did it really resolve completely? Etc.).Activity:Divide the class into six different groups for “One Minute Fairytale.” Have the class, together, pick a fairytale that they will be performing. Each group will focus on one of the parts of the dramatic structure (group 1 = exposition, group 2 = inciting event, group 3 = rising action, group 4 = climax, group 5 = falling action, and group 6 = denouement). They will have five minutes to decide what part of the story fits their part of the structure, how they will be performing it, and to rehearse. Each performance should only be a minute (hence the name). Transition:Briefly, and in as little detail as possible, explain that the students are going to be creating movies. Tell them that they don’t know their groups yet, but they will need to create a pitch (a movie idea) that they will present to their groups once I have assigned them. They need to keep the dramatic structure in mind, making sure that their story idea for their movie has all of the plot points. They also need to make sure their film ideas have 4-5 characters. Take the rest of the time to fill out the “Brainstorm for Silent Film” worksheet. Help them with this process. Explain that these are due next class.Assessment:Students will be assessed on their participation, their journals, and on how well they fill out their “Brainstorm for Silent Film” worksheet.00Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 4: Movement, Blocking & Tableau Educational Objective: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of stage pictures/tableaus by participating in tableau activities and discussions afterward.Materials Needed:- Silent Film Project Outline- Pictures for TableausHook:Have students get into small groups (5-6). Hand each group one of the pictures. Instruct students that they are to re-create that picture, using the members of their group, to the best of their ability. Give each group a few minutes to establish their pictures then have each group go up and demonstrate their tableau for the class. Have the class try to guess what is going on in the picture.Discussion:How could you tell what was going on? What made it easy? What made it difficult?Instruction: Now tell students to take the exact same picture, and instead of being quite so literal with the recreation, I would like you to think best how you could convey this same idea, but on a stage. Give them a few minutes to reconfigure. This time, have the audience close their eyes until the image is ready. As they look at the frozen image, ask them what makes it good? What can we change to make it more clear what is happening? What can we change to make the image more visually interesting?Instruction:Inform students that they have successfully created what is called a TABLEAU. A tableau is a graphic description or representation (a picture). Directors use tableaus all of the time. You may also hear these referred to as “Stage Pictures”. Because we have so much to say and so little time to say it in we use tableaus to help get the message across. Just like stage directors, film directors use tableaus to help them tell their stories as well. Ask them if they can think of any examples of tableaus or stage pictures that they have seen before.“What have you learned from this activity that you can apply to your project?” Transition:Hand out the Silent Film Project Outline. Go over the outline with students; give due dates and answer any questions students may have. Explain the different roles involved in this project and that everyone in their groups need to have one.Have students choose their groups.Instruct students to present their pitches for the silent film. Have the groups choose one of the ideas as the film they are ultimately going to make. Have the groups decide who is going to fulfill which roles for the creation of the film. Assessment: Students will be assessed on their participation and on the pitches they turn in.Pictures for the tableau: (much larger and on individual papers)379731812803879850259079-17775976830929146482138112940050205738Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 5: Filming TechniquesEducation Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the language of film through discussion, as well as the notes they take throughout the lesson.Materials Needed:Language of Film Powerpoint, including film clips showing the various filming techniquesHook:Have the journal prompt written on the board when the students enter the classroom. Have them take five minutes to answer the prompt, then conduct a discussion on what they wrote.Journal Entry:“The great thing about literature is that you can imagine, the great thing about film is that you can’t” — James MonacoWhat does this mean? Do you agree with this statement?Transition:Explain to students that there is a language to film, that the way movies are shot can say something. Ask if anyone has an example or has ever seen this? Have students keep their journals out and explain that they are going to take notes on the different film techniques, focusing particularly on what each shot says to the viewer. They will sit with their groups and also take notes on ideas they have for their own films.Instruction:Go through the powerpoint, show all of the different examples. Talk about the effects of each on the viewer. Allow students to watch the different clips. Ask for other examples they can think of. Allow time for students to take notes on each.(all film technique definitions were found from this website: ) I just found pictures for each on the internet. Assessment:Students will be assessed on their participation in discussion, and on the notes (particularly the ideas for their films) that they took during the lesson.15684515240000Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 6: Storyboarding and Film Work DayEducational Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of stage pictures and film techniques completing a storyboard as a group. Students will also demonstrate their understanding of their individual film roles as they complete worksheets. Materials Needed:Blank storyboards for each groupStoryboard exampleHook: When students enter, have the storyboard example displayed on the overhead. Ask students if they know what a storyboard is. Walk through the example with them. Explain that film makers use storyboards to help plan the making of the movie. A storyboard is a shot-by-shot list, drawn out, showing the different camera angles and images that will be used in the film. It helps directors know what they need to film and what order it needs to be filmed in.Transition:Explain that each group will need to create a storyboard for their film. Pass out the blank storyboard sheets and have students begin working on them. Instruction:Answer any questions that they have. Walk around periodically to make sure that the students understand what they need to be doing. Explain that this will be due by the end of class today. Try to help students budget their time with this assignment. Assessment: Students will be assessed on their completion of their storyboards. They have to draw a picture of what the shot will look like, as well as labeling what kind of shot it is. This assesses their understanding of the tableau lesson and the film techniques they learned last time.Storyboard Example:328601123664-8334381417003Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 7: EnsembleEducational Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to work as an ensemble by participating in various ensemble activities.Hook:Lead the students to the auditorium. Have them use the open space of the empty stage for some exercises.- Have them move around the space in different ways: walk, jog, slow motion, crouch, jump, light, heavy, high, low, etc.- Have them line up, without any talking, in order of height. Then have them line up from oldest to youngest. Tell them they have to work together as a team, communicating nonverbally.- Have the students walk in a circle in soft focus. Introduce Stop — everyone has to stop at the same time, as a team, thinking with one mind. Once they have done this a few times, introduce Jump — they stop and then jump, landing at the same time. Do this a few time, at least until they are able to do it once.- Have students play the counting game. They sit in a circle, and without talking they must count to twenty as a group. Only one person can say a number, no patterns, and no one can say a number twice. If any of the rules are broken then they must start again at the beginning. - Finally, while walking around the space in soft focushave the group collectively, without talking, select a leader and follow him/her then change when they feel like it, also without talking. Everyone needs to be doing what the leader is going.Transition:Move back into the classroom, have students sit in a circle, and conduct a discussion on the games that the students just participated in.Discussion:Ask the students the following questions: What did you get out of those exercises? What good are they for? What was difficult? What was easy? Why is it important to work together? Did you feel a connection to the group? How did that help? Did you feel as one?Introduce the term “Ensemble” to the students. Ask if anyone knows what that means (it can mean different things in different contexts, but for this you are looking for a specific definition). An ensemble is when multiple actors have about the same amount of lines, stage time, and importance in a show. You see this a lot on TV (The Office, Law & Order, 30 Rock, Modern Family, Pretty Little Liars) What about in movies? (Ask for examples of what they think is an ensemble cast). An ensemble is a group and for an ensemble to work everyone in that group must be giving his/her all in the performance. Rather than try to stand out and be the most important member of the group, a good ensemble actor works to make the whole group look good. How might this apply to your films?Activity: Play Yes, Let’s! - Students walk around the room in soft focus. When the teacher calls one of the students’ names, that student suggests an action to the group (ex: Let’s do five jumping jacks) and then everyone else says “Yes, Let’s!” and then they do the suggested activity. Once they have all done it they continue walking and the teacher calls the next person’s name. Once they have seen how this works a few times, ask the student who just chose call the next person. Allow this to go on for awhile until everyone has had a chance to make a suggestion.Discussion:After this activity, conduct a discussion with the students asking the following questions: What did that game teach you about theatre? How might it apply to your film.(Hoping for discussion topics centered around how everyone’s ideas are valid and how everyone should be able to contribute to the film.)**Make sure students turn in their assignments from last class.Assessment:Students will be assessed on their participation in the exercises and discussions.Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 8: Practice DayEducational Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of nonverbal communication, film techniques, and ensemble as they work together to create and rehearse their films.Materials Needed:The papers that students turned in last classRubrics for the assignmentHook:Play a short, quick, warmup game to get students’ energy up.Instruction:Pass out the rubrics to students (explain that they will turn these back in today, because it is what you will use to grade them). Go over each of the items on the rubric, explaining how they will be graded. Transition:Have students get into their groups. Pass back their assignments they turned in last time. Have students go over their ideas with the groups and present. Have them talk about everything they need, who is bringing what, etc. so that they are ready for filming.Instruction:Remind students of the things they need to bring next class:camerapropscostumestitle cards (if they need them)Talk about what happens if someone is absent on filming day.Talk again about how students can turn in this assignment (youtube, DVD, flash drive, etc.)Rehearsal:With the time that is left, allow them to rehearse in the classroom. Whatever would be most helpful to them, whether that is talking it out or putting it into their bodies and actually practicing the different scenes.**It is possible that the students could need two days for rehearsing in order to allow the film day to run a little more smoothly. 19050170180Unit: Silent Film Movement Lesson 9: Film DayEducational Objective: Students will use their time in class to work on filming their projects.Materials Needed:- A back up camera in case someone forgot theirs.Hook:Go over the rules for film day:They need to be back in the classroom by a certain time (have them set alarms in their phones)If you receive any complaints from faculty or administration about a group, that group will receive a zero on their project.Have students write down their film title, their names, and the different locations where they will be shooting on the board so that you can walk around and keep track of them during the period.Have students walk through their storyboards once before you allow them to go to work.Clean up and remind students that their FINAL products are due next class.Assessment:Students will be assessed by how well they work and by how much they get done with their film.** Allowing students two days to film will ensure that they aren’t rushed, that they are of a higher quality, and that students will have enough time to include everything necessary. (I learned that the hard way).Unit: Silent Film MovementLesson 10: Movie Watching Day! Education Objective: Students will demonstrate their summative knowledge of movement and nonverbal communication by presenting their completed films and by completing a reflection on their group and themselves.Materials Needed:- DVD/VHS Player- Computer with USB drive- Internet Access- Teacher Grading Rubric (one for each group)- Group & Self Grading Rubric (one for each student)- Popcorn!Hook:Establish a performance order.Transition:Allow students to kick back, get out some snacks and enjoy.Performance:Show and grade all films. After all films have been shown students should grade their group members and themselves using the rubrics that were given to them earlier.With any time left:Give students a hand! They are done! Play an acting game! They deserve it!Assessment:Students will be assessed on their final film based on the guidelines given and the detailed rubric. Students will also be assessed on their completion of their reflections on their personal rubrics.190500323850 ................
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