NAME …………………………………………………………………………………… FORM …………
CONTENTS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE EXPLORE ARTS AWARD ……………………………………… 1
AUTUMN TERM STAGE SPACE, STAGE DIRECIONS AND TYPES OF STAGING ………………… 2 FINE ART IMAGE COMPOSITION / YOUR FRIEZE ………………………………………… 3 FRIEZE FAMOUS THEATRE EVENT OR MOMENT FROM HISTORY ……………… 8 WORK, FORD MADOX BROWN ………………………………………………………………………………………… 9 AUGUSTO BOAL: SOLO AND GROUP MOVEMENT, SENSING OTHERS AT WORK ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10 RUDOLF LABAN: PHYSICAL PROJECTION SKILLS, EFFORT MOVEMENTS AND THE PARTY ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 13
SPRING TERM RECREATE BOOKCOVER ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 16 SUMMARISE THE PLOT ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 20 ARTIST FOCUS: ROALD DAHL ………………………………………………………………………………… 22 ARTIST FOCUS: QUENTIN BLAKE ………………………………………………………………………… 23 SPEED HATE RESPONSES …………………………………………………………………………………………… 24 IMAGINARY ENVIRONMENT RESPONSES ……………………………………………………………… 25 GESTURAL SCALE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26 CHARACTER PROFILE AND MAP ……………………………………………………………………………… 27 STANISLAVSKY: UNITS - SEVEN WORD STORY …………………………………………… 28 SNOWBALL DEVISING …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30 GOBBLEFUNK ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 31 DYNAMICS OF A SCENE ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 32 FINAL EDIT OF COLLABOARTIVE SCRIPT ……………………………………………………… 33 PROP DESIGN AND MAKE …………………………………………………………………………………………… 34
REHEARSAL NOTES, REFLECTIONS AND ENRICHMENT VISITS RECORD OF OCTAGON THEATRE WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES ………………………… 35 ARTS ORGANISATIONS: WHO’S WHO AT THE OCTAGON THEATRE ……… 36 REVIEW: OF A LIVE PRODUCTION OR FILM ADAPTATION …………………… 37 REHEARSAL DIARY: CHANGES MADE AND WHY ……………………………………………… 39 REFLECTION AND REVIEW ………………………………………………………………………………………… 41
WHAT IS ARTS AWARD EXPLORE? EXPLORE AWARD ENCOURAGES YOU TO TAKE INSPIRATION FROM A RANGE OF ARTS ACTIVITIES AND TO ADD THEM INTO YOUR CREATIVE REPERTOIRE. WORKING WITH AND LEARNING FROM OTHERS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE PROCESS.
ARTS AWARD EXPLORE IS AN ACCREDITED QUALIFICATION AT ENTRY LEVEL 3 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDIT FRAMEWORK.
THERE ARE FOUR PARTS:
1
AUTUMN TERM: INTRODUCTORY PERFORMANCE SKILLS Activities in the first term are designed to encourage you to establish a confident and controlled use of performance space, improve your ability to work with others and to develop your vocal and gestural range. You will be introduced to a number of personal and group performance techniques along the way as well as a range of important theatre practitioners.
THEATRE SPACE, STAGE DIRECTIONS AND COMPOSITION OF FINE ART IMAGES
Divide the diagram above into the stage areas you learned in your first lesson. Label each area clearly. What other practical information did you pick up in the Curtain Call game?
2
We considered end-on STAGING in class. What other types of staging are there? Sketch your findings on this page.
3
COMPOSITION OF DEPTH: Shade each compositional layer of the image below in a different colour. List the compositional terms that give the image the illusion of depth beneath it.
1)
2)
3)
Here’s a breakdown of the image to help you:
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Can you divide these famous paintings up into their compositional parts? Identify and label the layers in the images. The dividing lines may be more complex than those of the image in the first exercise.
Vincent Van Gogh:
The CafĂŠ Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, c.1888
Auguste Renoir: Le Dejeuner des Canotiers, 1881
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MOULDED SCENE: Stick an image of your group’s moulded scene, taken as part of your class work , in the frame above. On the next page, describe the process of putting a moulded scene together and explain the component parts of the frieze you created as a group. What title did you give it and why? 6
MOULDED SCENE WRITE UP:
STAGING A FAMOUS MOMENT: Now pick a famous event from a novel, play or moment in history, e.g. William Wallace is hung drawn and quartered. Describe the event below. Next, consider staging the event. What named characters are involved? Would you use any extras? What stage type would you use and why? Record these ideas below too and plan the scene out visually on the next page.
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‘WORK’, 1852-63, BY FORD MADOX BROWN This painting by Ford Madox Brown, painted between 1859-1863, provides a window to Victorian England. It shows the subject of work as it affects all strata of society and was inspired by a group of navvies digging up the road to lay sewers in Hampstead. You can see this painting in Manchester City Art Gallery. TASK: Label the section(s) of Madox Brown’s painting that you worked on in class. Give details of the decisions you made about depth arrangement, levels, proxemics and character relationships. Give your reasoning.Your reasoning should reveal some of the narrative content of the painting.
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ARTIST FOCUS: AUGUSTO BOAL
Carry out some research on Brazilian director Augusto Boal. What were the important features of his theatre practice? Record your findings in note-form on this page. You could use bullet points, a mindmap, Venn diagrams or simply, just your own shorthand.
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BUBBLES: INDIVIDUAL SPACE, SENSING OTHERS AT WORK, GROUP MOVEMENT Record ideas about what each stage of the accumulating bubble ‘units’ might represent in terms of movement and performance space. ‘Unit’ is used to refer to both an actor and stage space in this activity.
Single unit – what activity might the solo performer be involved in? How might this single unit also represent the stage space?
Several units in varying degrees of close proximity. What would an arrangement like this tell you about the character dynamics on stage?
Numerous units gathered together with several outlying units. What type of action might be taking place? Why might some units be excluded or be keen to distance themselves?
Multiple units. What kind of action would involve so many units? What might be the difficulties of staging so many units? What effect would such a large presence of actors have on the audience? 11
WOODEN SWORD OF PARIS: Record the six attacking moves and their related responses below. Also record your thoughts on why it might be necessary to choreograph whole cast movement. How could you develop this particular technique to make the movement seem more haphazard?
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Record some movement ideas you could use to choreograph a fist fight. Can you think of any other scenarios you could apply Boal’s activity to?
12
ARTIST FOCUS: RUDOLPH LABAN
Carry out some research on Austro-Hungarian dancer and choreographer Rudolph Laban. What were the important features of his creative practice? Record your findings in note-form on this page. You could use bullet points, a mindmap, Venn diagrams or simply, just your own shorthand.
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LABAN’S EFFORT MOVEMENTS Using combinations of Laban’s effort movements, put together some directorial advice on gestural movement for the following character archetypes.
CHARACTER TYPE
DESCRIPTION OF COMBINATION OF EFFORT MOVEMENTS AND HOW THEY SHOULD BE PLAYED
SELF-ASSURED MASTER
WISE SERVANT / MENTOR
TRICKSTER / MISCHIEF MAKER
MOTHER / GUIDE / ADVISOR
DAMSEL IN DISTRESS / VICTIM
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LABAN THE PARTY: MICROGESTURES, GESTURAL TELLS AND FLAMBOYANCE SUBCONCIOUS AND CONCSIOUS MOVEMENT Sketch out the positions of the characters that attended your group’s ‘party’ in lesson 3. Give them a loose character type and add annotations detailing their effort movements and interactions with others.
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SPRING TERM: EXPLORING THE TEXT & DEVISING
Examine the range of book covers that have been published for your assigned Dahl text. You might like to have a look at the film posters too. Create a list of the top ten key features you observe on the covers; speculate what the designer is trying to suggest about the content of the book.
Once you have analysed the book covers and posters for your text, design your own on the assigned page in this logbook. Make sure to encode lots of inferred meaning through the symbolism of your design.
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THINGS YOU MIGHT CONSIDER WHEN ANALYSING THE BOOKCOVERS / POSTERS Angle
See Framing.
Body language and gaze
Facial expressions, gestures, stance or position – can convey the attitude, feelings or personality of the individual shown. Take note of the direction of the subject’s eyes.
Composition
What is included is deliberately placed (also applies to what is omitted). Consider all inclusions and omissions e.g. surroundings, objects, clothing etc.
Colour, Hue and Tone
In black & white images examine the use of contrast, light and darkness. In a colour image, colours are used to signify feelings and evoke a response. E.g. Red = passion, anger, hell, vitality, etc. blue = peace, harmony or coldness.
Contrast
The arrangement of opposite elements (light and dark, large and small, rough and smooth) to create interest, excitement or drama.
Framing
The same camera shots and angles relevant to film. Close ups, extreme close ups, medium shots, long shots, tilted up or down shots etc.
Omissions
What has been deliberately left out.
Orientation, Point of view
Relates to framing and angle: is the responder positioned above the image (looking down), below or at eye level?
Positioning
Consider which objects have been placed in the foreground, middle ground or background.
Rule of thirds
Divide an image into thirds from the top and sides and look at the placement of people and/or objects. An object in the top third is usually empowered whereas anything in the bottom third is disempowered.
Salience
The part that your eyes are first drawn to in the visual. Colour, image and layout determine what the salient image is.
Symbolism
The use of an image to represent one or more (often complex) ideas.
Vectors
The line that our eyes take when looking at a visual. Composers deliberately direct our reading path through the vectors. E.g. If all of the subjects are tall, long and upright our eyes follow straight vectors that lead to the top of the frame. This could make the subject seem powerful or inflexible.
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BOOK COVER / POSTER ANALYSIS OBSERVATION
POSSIBLE ENCODED MEANING
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BOOK COVER DESIGN – Make sure to label your design choices to explain the intended meaning.
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Record the SUMMARY plot points for your text here:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
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22 23 24 25
Write a new BLURB for your assigned text in the box below. Use these websites to help you: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/4-easy-steps-to-anirresistable-book-blurb/ and https://www.standoutbooks.com/five-elements-of-abook-blurb/
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ARTIST FOCUS: ROALD DAHL
Carry out some research on Norwegian author Roald Dahl. What important themes and content are prevalent in his writing? Record your findings in note-form on this page. You could use bullet points, a mindmap, Venn diagrams or simply, just your own shorthand.
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ARTIST FOCUS: QUENTIN BLAKE
Carry out some research on English cartoonist, illustrator and children’s writer Quentin Blake. What is distinctive about his style? Record your findings in noteform on this page. You could use bullet points, a mindmap, Venn diagrams or simply, just your own shorthand. You may wish to sketch out details of some of Blake’s illustrations or print out some examples and stick them in.
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SPEED HATE Create a character profile, on this page, based on the ideas that were created in the ‘speed hate’ classroom encounters. The more grotesque the better! Draw an image of your chosen character in the box provided, then create your own fields of inquiry, e.g. age, occupation, favourite food, pet hates etc. Make the content of your profile as imaginative as possible.
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RESPONSES TO IMAGINARY ENVIRONMENT EXERCISE Write down the ideas that you came up with in response to the prompt questions for this exercise here:
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GESTURAL SCALE: Use this page to stick in images of your partner’s gestural portrayal of the characters that you spent time developing in class. Comment on their successes and suggest improvements.
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Draw out a MAP OF CHARACTER MOVEMENT in your scene. Label the motivation behind each move.
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ARTIST FOCUS: KONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI
Carry out some research on Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski. What important ideas and processes are important to his work? Record your findings in note-form on this page. You could use bullet points, a mindmap, Venn diagrams or simply, just your own shorthand.
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DIVIDING A SCENE INTO STANISLAVSKIAN UNITS Record the key sections of your scene here:
Label the pie chart and add any further details below:
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Complete a ‘snowball’ collaborative SCRIPT here!
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Take inspiration from Roald Dahl’s language to put together a glossary of playful language you could use in your scene. Record the words and their definitions on this page. Try out expressive lettering to emphasise the meaning of your created words.
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Complete a TENSION GRAPH for your scene here including details of SFX.
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Stick in the final version of your collaborative SCRIPT here!
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PROP DESIGN AND MAKE: List props that you need for your scene here. Are there items that you will need to make? Stick in pictures of any props that you make here.
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VOCAL WORK AND THE LANGUAGE OF ROALD DAHL Record information about the activities that you carry out in the OCTAGON THEATRE WORKSHOP here:
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Who’s who at the Octagon Theatre? Record information about behind the scenes roles here:
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Using guidance from your Reading Awards booklet, complete a REVIEW of the Octagon’s production of The BFG here or alternatively, a review for another play or film adaptation that you have seen, that you think is relevant to the project:
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REVIEW continued:
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REHEARSAL DIARY: Take note of the processes you use in rehearsals here. Take note of changes and additions as they are made and of the reasons behind them.
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Continue your notes here:
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PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON FINAL PERFORMANCE. What did you enjoy? What would you do differently if you could do it again? What went well?
Collect AUDIENCE FEEDBACK here:
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PEER REVIEW. Enter thoughts on other groups’ performances here:
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PERSONAL PROJECT REFLECTION: Which areas of the arts did you enjoy exploring the most? What did you find inspiring? What new skills have you learned? How have you shared those skills with others? What type of projects would you like to work on in the future?
CLASS TEACHER’S FEEDBACK
ARTS AWARD ASSESSOR’S FEEDBACK
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Congratulations, you’ve reached the end of the Explore Award!
What now? 45