Pantomime
art of acting without words, uses
facial expressions and gestures
(expressive body movements)
Importance to Acting
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the audience will notice your body
movement on stage before you speak
it is the basis to acting, you must do more
than speak words on stage
characters are portrayed and identified by
movement, facial expression, gestures
Actions and Personality
strong-willing confident personality
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stands tall, broad gestures, definite movements,
actions away from the body
shy personality
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drawn in, small gestures, slower movements,
actions down and towards body
Facial movement and emotion
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Surprise: wide eyes,
brows lift, mouth in a
O
Happy: eyes squint,
brows lift, mouth
curves up
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Sad: narrow eyes with
lids dropped, outer
brow turns down,
mouth turns down
Anger: eyes narrow,
brows furrowed, mouth
twisted down, lips curl
out and down into a
sneer, jaw drops and
sets firmly
Body Language Basics
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Chest is the key
Wrists lead most hand gestures
Elbows away from body and arms not above head
or below waist (some exceptions)
Opposite action will emphasize a physical
movement (pulling back before a stage punch)
arms and hands in curves, unless deliberate for a
particular character (straight lines will portray
awkwardness, force, uneasiness, or strength)
Body Language continued…
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high chest and head with free movements,
and broad gestures can be evidence of love,
honor, courage, sympathy
contract and twist of the body and a shrunken
chest, tense movements, restricted gestures
can be evidence of hate, greed , fear,
suffering
make gestures with your upstage arm
all actions must be clearly motivated (plan
them out)
Activity!
 Practice
pantomiming different people in
different situations
 Don’t just stand or sit, use your facial
expression too
 Make us think you really are that person
Objects
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Practice with a real object first
You must portray the size, shape, weight,
resistance, texture, placement, and
condition (temp., senses, motion) of the
object (s)
Use your hands, whole body, head
movements
Preparation
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Be Observant: pay attention to how people walk and
what that says about their personality
Practice with the real object and notice the size,
shape, resistance, texture, placement, and
condition; memorize how you handle the object
Have a detailed mental image of the objects and the
setting
Think before you move, thought occurs before an
action
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Be simple and clear
Keep open and visible to the audience
Every movement should make sense with
your character, everything must be justified
Plan! Practice!
Mime vs. Pantomime
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Pantomime: imitation of real life/based on
reality, exact, imaginary objects used, no
sound
Mime: abstract and stylized, a greater
meaning is conveyed, the action conveys
the theme, a part of the body can become
an object, nonverbal sounds can be used
(telephone busy signal, horn honking,
screech of tires), beyond reality
Objectives
Ticket out the door: Write each in your own words
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Students will understand and demonstrate the basics of
pantomime, such as, facial expression, body movement,
personality, and observation.
Students will use a range of emotional, psychological,
and physical characteristics and behaviors to portray
believable characters through improvisation and
pantomime.
Students will act in an ensemble to create and sustain
characters that communicate with an audience.
Students will create scripts based on personal heritage,
imagination, and literature through improvisation and
pantomime.
Homework
 Pantomime
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an everyday activity
Examples: making a sandwich, curling your
hair, making dinner
 Practice
at home with the real objects
 Performance needs to be at least 1 minute
long
 Make us believe that the object is really
there
Sources
 The
Stage and The School
 Theatre: Art in Action
 http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Th
esis/Pix/ThesisPix/eisner.1.100.small.gif
 http://www.topnews.in/files/facialexpressions.jpg
 http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoon
s/cartoonists/rma/lowres/rman815l.jpg