AS A DIRECTOR….
WHAT CAN I TALK ABOUT?
• Pre show
• Voice and movement
techniques
• Use of Production Skills
• Acting style
• Stage
proxemics/Positioning
• Character interactions/
characterisation choices
• Use of levels
• Special effects
• Actor/audience relationship
• Drama media (projections,
video footage,
soundscapes,etc.)
AS A DIRECTOR, YOU WOULD GIVE DIRECTION ON
THE FOLLOWING;
VOICE & MOVEMENT
STAGE PROXEMICS/USE OF LEVELS/POSITIONING
Articulation Fluency Intonation Register
Clarity Pause Pitch Accent Pace Timing
Tone Volume Emphasis Stance Balance
Body Language Gesture Facial Expression
Mime Posture Pace Timing Slow Motion
Blocking Masking Use of levels/ space
Rhythm
Use of space/height to
create distance that can represent a
relationship/status/tension/class/conflict/attitudes
INTERACTION BETWEEN CHARACTERS
EYE CONTACT
DIALOGUE
SUBTEXT
MIRRORING
SUGGESTION
ACTING STYLE
CHARACTERISATION CHOICES
NATURALISTIC
OR
STYLISED
And to what
effect?
INTERPRETATION
MANNERISMS
BEHAVIOUR
HABITS
GESTURES
THE DIRECTION WOULD COME FROM EXPLORATION DURING REHEARSAL
USING REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES.
A REHEARSAL IS NOT JUST ‘Blocking, learning lines, running scenes’.
SOME OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES MIGHT BE RELEVANT….
EXPLORING MOVEMENT;
consider experimenting with voice techniques to arrive at decisions
Movement Circle
Cast stands in a circle. One person moves into the middle and begins to walk. A second person enters the circle behind the
first, imitating their walk. The first steps out, seeing how their walk looks on another person. Then the second actor
exaggerates one aspect of the walk, creating a character.
Tableau
Create a picture that visualizes the main theme of the play
Moving Tableau
Create a picture that visualizes the main theme of the play, and then encourage the actors to move in character. How do
they move? Where? Have the group create a tableau for the beginning of the play and then transform into a tableau for the
end of the play. How does the picture change? How do the characters change within the picture?
Movement Dialogue
In pairs, have actors try to carry on a conversation in gesture and movement only. Are they able to? Let the group watch
each conversation and try to figure out what is being said.
Movement Walk
Start each rehearsal by playing a piece of music and have the actors create movement directly inspired by the music.
Same but different: Environment walk, have the actors move within a specific environment: change the weather, change
The location, change the air, be absurd! Same but different: Change the tempo the group moves in, change the level –
Have them move in a high space, then a low space. Change the amount of space they try to take up as they move.
Tempo Rhythm
Pupils should walk around the room, without bumping into each other. Begin to clap a slow rhythm and tell pupils to walk to the
beat. Gradually make this faster. As you clap, narrate the following: “you are stressed, frantic important people with important
work”. Explain you just took them through a short improvisation where the rhythm dictated movement. They are to continue
walking to a fast beat and you will be throwing them into more improvisations: a) An office, b) London Underground at rush hour
c) A & E d) a thunder storm e) a funeral f) after an exhausting day
EXPLORING VOICE; consider experimenting with voice techniques to arrive at decisions
Change the Tone
Choose one scene and have the actors come up with a variety of emotions (at least five) to play throughout the
scene. Have the whole cast work on the same scene in the beginning of the rehearsal process to emphasise the
need for tonal variety. What choices do they make? Do they find it impossible to change the tone?
‘Hello, how are you?’; Playing a variety of characters to experiment with voice in character and introduce tone, pitch,
pace, volume and accent.
Scale of 1 – 10
Take a simple line and practice speaking it with different levels on the scale.
Shakespearean Insults
“Thou danking dizzy-eyed maggot-pie!”
“Thou yeasty sheep-biting harpy!”
“Thou rank onion-eyed bum-bailey!”
Make pairs so everyone has someone in particularly they can “insult”. In turn, ask the pairs/members of the team to step forward
and hurl an insult at their partner. They should make an effort to project it as clearly as possible – spit out every syllable and put
as much venom into the silly sentiments as they can muster.
ALPHABET CONVERSATIONS;
Have pupils improvise short scenes where scenarios might include; giving/receiving terrible news; dumping a girlfriend/boyfriend;
the best gossip ever; a formal job interview; an encounter with an old enemy…etc. Present and consider use of voice. Now repeat
the exercise using letters of the alphabet only. Encourage use of the voice techniques to convey the correct emotion and
expression of the scenario despite the lack of dialogue.
EXPLORING CHARACTERISATION;
develop characters to better inform interpretation and directorial choices
IMPROVISATION;
The more the actors feel the character and story exist outside the world of the play, the better
they'll be able to create that world for the audience.
•
•
•
•
Improv the moment before the play begins
Improv the first meeting between characters
Improv an important childhood moment that might affect they way they act in the play
Improv scenes that happen during the play but aren't shown.
HOT SEATING; A great way to find out how much the actors know about their character, what they think about
their character. It can really help a director to get an inside view.
One at a time, each actor sits in a chair in front of the others. They are in character. The other actors must each ask a
question, something they would like to know about the character.
BLOCKING; How well do the actors know their blocking?
Take the lines out of the scene and play the scene only performing the actions, substituting gibberish for dialogue.
EXPLORING AND DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS;
A communication exercise.
In pairs, one person describes an object (without saying what it is) and the second person has to draw it. What is the
outcome? How do the pairs communicate?
EXPLORING LANGUAGE;
Do your actors understand exactly what they are saying? Do they understand
the story they are telling? Here are some techniques for experimenting with difficult language or rhythm
Visualisation
Create tableaux of the most important sections of text. How well can the cast visualize the text?
Physicalisation
Each actor comes up with a list of words in the text that describes their character. Taking each character in turn,
Involve the whole cast to create a physical stance based on that word. How does the actor playing the character
see themselves? How do others?
Diction
Tongue twisters! The easiest way to get to grips with rhyme and rhythm.
Play with Pauses
Have your actors read a scene. Play the scene with no pauses. With five second pauses between lines. Ten
Second pauses. Thirty second pauses. One minute pauses. Mix it up. How do the pauses change the scene and
the rhythm?
PRE SHOW
Use of set, sound, lighting,
props, actors.
What do the audience
see/hear/feel as they enter
the space?
Can also link with
actor/audience relationship
– can the actors interact with
the audience before the
show?
For what effect?
Think;
Establishing Setting
Context
Implication
Dramatic Irony
Clues/Suggestion
Symbolism
ACTOR/AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP
USE OF PRODUCTION
SKILLS/SPECIAL
EFFECTS/DRAMA MEDIA
- Sound
- Lighting
- Props
- Set
- Set Dressings
- Costume
- Make up
- Media projection
- Film Footage
- Soundscapes
Remember you must
justify clearly your
choices by explaining how
they will impact on your
interpretation
Are the actors aware of the
audience or not?
Consider impact on audience
(emotional, dramatic , thought
provoking, moral dilemma, etc.)
Consider
Site Specific VS Traditional
(so very apt for Pru in particular!)
Consider audience
interaction/participation – can
you get them involved? How? For
what effect?
NAT 5 VOCAB
STILL APPLIES!
VOICE
Articulation
Fluency
Intonation
Register
Clarity
Pause
Pitch
Accent
Pace
Timing
Tone
Volume
Emphasis
MOVEMENT
Stance
Balance
Body Language
Gesture
Facial Expression
Mime
Posture
Pace
Timing
Slow Motion
Blocking
Masking
CONVENTIONS
alternative ways of presenting all or parts of a presentation
Slow motion
Tableau (C) / Frozen Picture (F)
Freeze Frame –action frozen in time
Soliloquy
Flashback/flash forward
Narration
Voice Over( recorded speech played during a drama)/
Voice in Head (recall words said by others about a character or
situation)
Mime
Monologue
soliloquy
OTHER ACTING TECHNIQUES
Aside- to audience only
Stage whisper
Masks
stereotype
CHARACTERISATION
- the process of developing a character fully
Character
Role Play
-exploring attitudes and beliefs
Thought Tracking
- when prompted the character says their thoughts out loud
Voice in the Head
Writing in Role
Hot Seating
Thought Tunnel
-character walks past other characters.
Those other characters speak their thoughts outloud
usually about the character walking past.
Lighting
Follow Spot
Profile Spot
Fresnel
Flood Light
(gauze)
Barn Doors
Gobo
Gel
Pyrotechnics
Focusing (the lights)
Black out
Slow fade
Cross fade
Snap-to
Sound
Sound cue
Cross fade
Recorded voice over
Set
Back cloth
Cyclorama
Gauze
Flies
Door Flats
Window Flats
Flats
Scenery
Trapdoor
Rostra
Treads
Truck
Wings
Backstage
Staging
Venue
Thrust
Theatre in the round
End on
Proscenium Arch
Avenue
Auditorium
Revolving Stage
Ground plan
Key
Rake
Enter/exit
Audience
Sight lines
Stage Directions
Stalls, balcony, dress circle
Props
objects used by actors
Personal Prop
Set prop
Costume
Period Costume
Write in super detail for full
marks
Make Up
liners
Wax/nose putty
Crepe hair
Fake blood
Latex
Spirit gum
Makeup pallets
Stipple sponge
Scarring
Skull cap
Tooth varnish
HIGHER WORDS TO USE TO SOUND COOLER THAN YOU REALLY ARE
C
A
Central Character
Complex Character
Important Character
Minor Character
Main Character
Pivotal Character
Characterisation
Character Behaviour
Character Motivation
Character Development
Character Interaction
Relationships between Character
Acting Style
Actor/Audience
Relationship
G
Given Circumstances
Ground Plans
K
Key Scene
Key Moment
M
Message
Mood
T
Textual Evidence
Traditional Theatre
Target Audience
Tension
Textual Analysis
Theatrical Background
Themes and Issues
Time period
Passage of Time
Shifts in Time
S
Set
Setting
Site Specific Theatre
Special Effects
Textual Evidence
Traditional Theatre
Special Effects
Stage Imagery
Status
Stimulus
Subtext
Symbols and Imagery
U
Use of
levels