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From Poetry to Drama

Watch the difference between poetry and drama:

• Poem: First they came ...

To turn the recital of a poem into drama one must add

• put emotion in by varying the level of your voice
• vary your speed, speak in a shivering voice
• use gestures and facial expressions
• introduce music to support the mood e.g. slow instrumental
• several actors, representing the victims and the police. The victims are taken away one after the other. One person recites the poem.
• interaction between characters e.g. others passivly watch
• costumes e.g. for the soldiers, police
• images as background
• use a chorus, which speaks certain passanges together
• don't do any of these to keep it minimalistic
• use lighting e.g. spot on one actor

Voice and the characters' interaction change everything!

... or can at least almost completely change the effect of the same line.

Compare these examples!

Drama

Drama - a Definition

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama), which is derived from "to do" (Classical Greek: δράω, drao). The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama

Look at the following webpages and try to sum up/note down the main aspects of drama. Do not use the video examples yet!

Write your answers into your groups section

• Do not just copy and paste!
• Try to shorten and condense!
• If there are no examples e.g. for the effect of a certain element - find simple ones!
• Try to clearly work out what possibilities/effects a certain element/aspect of drama has!

Elements of Drama- as a literary Genre-(Pages 1,3,4)

• BBC GCSE Revision on Elements of Drama

(Do not use page 2 of this set)

Plot, action and content

• Plot: is the 'through-line' of the drama (beginning, middle and end)and the characters that take part in.
• Action: consists of events in the play and the way the actors play.
• Content: of the drama depends on the themes it deals with.

Climax and anti-climax

• Climax: the whole plot of a drama leads to this point; the audience gets more and more tense
• Anti-climax: releases the tension of the audience

Contrast

• contrasting change of pace, rhythm, sights and sounds is used to hold the audience's interest and attention
• example: the silencing of the noisy crowd by the sound of the judge's fallen gavel

Source[[1]]

Elements of Drama- as a literary Genre-(Pages 5-7)

• BBC GCSE Revision on Elements of Drama

Characterisation

= the way an actor plays a role depending on his skills

• the actor is playing in many ways: -by his body language e.g. moves, dances, walks -by his vocal qualities e.g. the way he speaks - and by his reactions
• techniques: -hot-seating -other aspects to make the character "come alive"

Dramatic conventions

= techniques to create dramatic effects

• slow motion
• freeze-frame
• audience aside
• soliloquy
• establishing one part of the space as one location, and a different part of the space as another location

Symbols

stand for 'real things'

• props
• gestures
• expressions
• costume (e.g. white robes symbolize purity, or death, or lack of emotion)
• lighting
• setting (e.g. on a mointain top ==> loneliness)

can be read as symbols

Irony

See esp. Dramatic Irony

Aspects of Drama as medium-(Pages 1-3)

• BBC GCSE Revision on Drama - Medium I

1. Costume, masks and make-up

• costumes give the characters extra features
• masks express non-human characters
• make-up "ages" actors or indicates fantasy characters

2. Sounds and music

• add atmosphere
• emphasize action happening on stage
• help set the scene
• indicate a change of time or location
• focus attention on to a character

3. Lighting

• Spot: one character is stressed
• Fresnel: soft overall light
• Flood: clear wide-angled light

colour filters can be used for the last three ones.

• Strobe: flashing lights used for special effects.

Aspects of Drama as a medium-(Pages 4-6)

• BBC GCSE Revision on Drama - Medium II

1. Space and levels

• different stages have different effects
• different levels (or parts of the stage) might represent different locations

2. Set and props

• background of the stage
• better to keep them simple
• props are items used on the stage, e.g a chair, a suitcase ....

3. Movement, mime and gesture

• different movements, e.g. upstage, downstage, slowly, fearfully
• movement has to fit to the character
• mime is acting without sounds and words
• gesture is using your body language
• facial expresion (dt.: Mimik!)

Aspects of Drama as a medium-(Pages 7-8)

• BBC GCSE Revision on Drama - Medium III

Voice:

• Tone : adapt the sound of your voice according to the role you play - you may sound sad, desperate, tired
• Volume : speak louder or in a low voice, and vary the volume
• Pitch : describes how high or low your voice sounds
• Pace : speak in the right speed and vary the speed ....
• Clarity : speak clearly - or mumble, if it helps to characterize the person you play

Spoken language:

• Language registers : formal and informal language, medical legal register ....
• Verse : special kind of construction of language in lines and stanzas ==> poetry
• Slang : use of informal language spoken by a certain social group