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Acting:  Week 2

(February 1-5, 2021)

Important terms are in RED.

Google Classroom assignments are in BLUE.

If ABSENT, you are REQUIRED to read / understand / do all activities posted for that day, even if it's not an "assignment".  

DAY 1:

1.)  Reminded about www.kristaprice.com - a place to find what we do in class daily (Haiku will link you to my website if you forget).  This will also be the place that I share lessons and tasks if/when we go virtual.

2.)  Reviewed composition

  • the arrangement of parts to create a unified whole

  • elements of composition on stage:  Levels, Depth, Focus point(s)

3.)  Introduced the concept of negative space (the silent, "blank", or intentionally unused space in the composition of a work of art)

4.)  Watched a short film in which the director very intentionally and effectively used "negative space" in telling a story.  Discussed.  (You can watch the video HERE or HERE.)

5.)  Discussed areas on STAGE where negative space could be used effectively.  (lighting, set, sound/music, an actor's pause in lines, etc.)  Observed images from stage, discussing the effective use of negative space in each.

6.)  Analyzed the implied/suggested meaning of negative space in each of the stage images students chose/analyzed from last week's Google Classroom assignment (Stage Composition Images assignment). 

 

7.) Shared findings (from above activity) with a partner.

DAY 2:

1.)  Reviewed composition & negative space in compositions.

2.)  Introduced today's topic:  Where art can be found in theatre / How color is used to convey meaning

3.)  Journaled (in Google Classroom - "Acting Process Journal"):  What constitutes art?  (What makes something art or "not art"?)

4.) Introduced Julie Taymor (a director/designer) and some of her creative & artistic work on stage/in film

 

5.) Watched compilation clip from The Lion King on stage  (directed/designed by Taymor).  Discussed what was striking in the clip and where "art" was seen on the stage.

6.) Discussed how the director's goal is to create MEANING using ARTISTIC ELEMENTS, and how all design elements use COLOR to create subconscious meaning.  As a class, we discussed the subconscious and cultural meanings of various colors (ex:  Red, in our culture, often signifies anger/wrath, or love; Black often signifies evil or death; White often signifies purity, etc.)

7.)  Participated in our first acting project:  Open-Ended Scene (in Google Classroom - "Open Ended Scene")

  • Students partnered up and chose a color "to work with".

  • Pairs discussed the cultural/subconscious meaning of the color chosen.

  • Pairs were given an "open-ended" script and were asked to create a scene that conveyed the MOOD/MEANING of the color chosen, using the script provided.

8.) Performed Open-Ended Scenes for the class (this performance serves as each student's "pre-test" for IB Criterion C:  Thinking Creatively)

9.) Journaled (in Google Classroom - "Acting Process Journal"):

  • Color Scene Pre-Test:  Audience Response  What did your AUDIENCE "get" from/perceive about your performance?  (I think our audience thought that...)

  • Color Scene Pre-Test:  Artistic Intention  What did you and your partner INTEND to show your audience?  (Don't just explain plot/characters.  What did you want your audience to think and feel  as a result of your performance?)

10.) Ms. Price explained that in all art there is no "good or bad", "right or wrong", etc.  Instead, there's simply STRONGER and WEAKER choices.  She explained that students would be re-working their initial scenes to become much STRONGER through the use of "creative thinking strategies", starting with employing SPECIFIC CHOICES to creative ideas.  

11.)  Ms. Price performed the open-ended scene with a volunteer student to illustrate the use of SPECIFIC CHOICES, and class discussed the results.

12.) Journaled (in Google Classroom - "Acting PROCESS Journal"):

  • Color Scene Pre-Test:  Exploration of Ideas (Setting)  With your partner, list 10 different SPECIFIC locations where your scene COULD take place.  Don't judge ideas YET.  Just get down 10 specific locations.  

  • Color Scene Pre-Test:  Exploration of Ideas (Characters)  With your partner, list 7-10 SPECIFIC relationships (characters) who COULD be in your scene.  (They can be totally separate from your location ideas.  Examples:  doctor/patient; hotel manager/maid; homeless woman and her estranged daughter; teacher/drop out-student; exes, etc.)

13.) Explored various ideas from journals ("put ideas on their feet") by acting a few of the ideas out with partners.

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