Version vom 21. April 2010, 17:17 Uhr

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

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-(1,3,4)

• BBC GCSE Revision on Elements of Drama

(Do not use page 2 of this set)

Elements of Drama- as a literary Genre-(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

Aspects of Drama as medium-(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-(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 expresiin (dt.: Mimik!)

Aspects of Drama as a medium-(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