Intro To Drama Unit

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Intro To Drama Unit

• 8th Grade English
• Drama Unit

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• Though this be madness, yet there is method in
  it. (Hamlet II.ii)

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What is drama?

• What do you think of when you hear the word
  drama?

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Drama

• Drama is from the Greek To do or to act
• Drama shows something eventful happening on
  stage.
• Basically, Drama recreates life
  on stage.
• It speaks to the audience.

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Dramas Range

• Drama can range from the realistic to the
  formalistic. Everything fits into a bell curve.
  
• Check it out!

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Most drama

• Isnt too realistic or formalistic.
• It is something we call classic it recreates
  life but isnt actually life itself. It isnt
  too much of a fantasy, either.

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Realistic Theatre

• Tells a story.
• Sounds like it actually could happen.
• Realistic elements.

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Formalistic Theatre

• Focuses on beauty, color.
• Doesnt tell as much of a story.
• If it does tell a story, typically it is a
  fantasy of some sort.

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Classic

• Most theatre falls under the Classic
  definition.
• It may contain some formalistic and some
  realistic elements.
• It isnt too real or too unreal

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Theatre

• The place where drama comes alive is the theatre.
  
• Basically, the word theatre comes from the Greek
  A place of seeing
• There are many different kinds of theatre (You
  will find out later!)

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Theatre v. Theater
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Theatre v. Theater

• Something that drives actors of the stage crazy
  is when you refer to live stage as the theater.
• Unfortunately, people dont really know which
  theatre is which
• A place where a person tells a story is called a
  theater.
• The theatre is an ideaformal idea.
• Theater Movies, it is a place
• Theatre Plays, where true drama is acted out.

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So, why study drama?

• Drama is a part of the language arts world.
• Studying drama is important because
• It makes you more creative
• Improves public speaking skills
• Improves listening skills
• Helps in problem solving.
• Builds trust, communication, teamwork, patience,
  participation, and cooperation
• Its fun!

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In this unit

• You will learn
• A brief history of the theatre
• Stage geography and directions
• Types of theatre
• How to move on stage
• How to use props and proper set behavior
• How to memorize lines and perform a scene
  effectively.
• About the different jobs associated with the
  theatre.
• You will play improv games and become more
  comfortable with speaking with an audience.
• You will memorize and perform a monologue from
  one of your favorite movies.

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Drama Components.

• You will have a series of daily assignments and
  some different kinds of DOL.
• You will have a final project, again your speech,
  which is worth 100 points.
• You will be tested on this on the final.

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Questions?
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Activity One Just Breathe

• The one thing that we all do daily is breathe.
  It's a necessary part of our existence and we all
  do it the same way.
• Those of us in the performance arts have learned
  that proper breathing is essential to giving a
  great performance.
• But How?

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Just Breathe

• When it comes down to it, breathing control
  directly affects vocal control.
• To have full range of all the nuances your voice,
  you must have full use of your lungs.
• Like a painter uses different brushes and strokes
  for effect in creating his art, you need to
  develop that same type of control with your
  breathing.
• In order for you to create your masterpiece of
  vocal sound, you need to develop your breathing
  technique.

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How to breathe

• One of the ways you can improve your performance
  breathing is to learn to do it properly. This
  involves actively using your diaphragm muscles in
  your abdomen.
• Some people call this "middle breathing" as your
  stomach will move in and out as opposed to using
  your chest or shoulders (considered chest
  breathing or shallow breathing).
• Here's how it works

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How to breathe

• Sit up straight in your chair and place your
  hands in your lap with your palms resting against
  your lower abdomen.
• Sit in a natural "attentive" position with your
  head up as if you are gazing across the room.
• While holding this position breath in slowly and
  deeply through your nose and inhale as fully as
  possible.
• While you are inhaling, imagine you are filling a
  balloon with water. The water goes straight to
  the bottom of the balloon and expands out while
  it fills up.
• You should be able to see your hands moving out
  as your lower lungs fill with air. Pay attention
  that your chest and shoulders stay in their
  normal position during your inhale.

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Exhale

• When you have inhaled as fully as possible hold
  your breath for a second or two and then slowly
  exhale through your mouth.
• Part your lips just enough to allow the air to
  escape.
• Use your diaphragm muscles to push the air out by
  slowly contracting them and pulling your stomach
  in.
• Imagine you are now squeezing the water back out
  of the balloon from the bottom up.
• You will see your hands slowly pulling in toward
  your pelvis. Continue your slow squeeze until you
  have completely exhaled every bit of air you can
  from your lungs.

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Congratulations!

• You have now completed your first controlled
  breath!
• You should practice your controlled breathing
  several minutes daily.
• This exercise is very effective for several
  reasons
• As your lung capacity improves so does your
  abdominal strength.
• This also has a positive effect on your vocal
  cords. There will be less vocal strain simply
  because you have more air and greater breathing
  control.

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Controlled Breathing

• You can hear how effective your breathing control
  is by making simple sounds (like, la, so, fa, do,
  etc.) during the exhale part of the exercise.
• You can control and vary your sound by how slowly
  or forcefully you exhale.
• Any variations you do will improve your control
  as long as you remember to breathe from the
  diaphragm!
• www. suchavoice.com

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Activity Two Counting to Twenty
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What did we learn today?