Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to Drama.

This is practising physical and vocal skills lesson four out of five.

And this lesson is called physical skills part two.

My name is Mr. Wood.

I'm your teacher for this unit, and if you're ready, let's get started.

For today's lesson, you're going to need plenty of space.

So pause the video if you need to, move things out of your way that might become either dangerous or a hindrance to you as you work through today's lesson.

If you've done that, let's move on.

So, you start to do a lesson with your introductory quiz.

Well done.

Now we're going to continue with a quick recap of our last lesson, what we got up to.

Then we'll continue the lesson looking at still images and thought tracking.

Before we move on to looking at mime and slow motion.

Before we finish the lesson with our exit quiz.

Your key words for today's lesson are still image and that is a static image created with the body.

It's a bit like a picture or a photograph.

Slow motion is the act of slowing something down.

Emotion is a strong feeling derived from someone's circumstance or mood.

And mime, this is silent acting, using gestures, facial expressions, and movement to communicate.

So a quick recap of our last lesson.

Can you remember what we got up to? We explored emotion through the physical skills.

So we looked specifically at facial expressions, body language, and gestures, okay, through physical skills part one.

Today we take those skills and we're looking at them in various scenarios.

I'm going to start developing our understanding of those alongside a few new ideas.

Okay, let's start our warm up.

Let's get ready with our warm up.

So we'll begin with the vocal and we'll move into the physical afterwards.

Can you repeat after me? The P sound being pushed out through the breath, up through the middle and out through the mouth.

So it's puh, puh, puh, puh, puh.

Your turn.

Lovely, we'll do that one again.

So five Ps up, out through the breath.

Ready? Puh, puh, puh, puh, puh.

Your turn.

Now we'll move on to the letter muh.

Okay, it's again through the mouth this time, but the breath is aiding it.

So muh, muh, muh, muh, muh.

Your turn.

Lovely, and again, up through the body, out through the mouth.

Muh, muh, muh, muh, muh.

Your turn.

Okay, now wuh.

Okay, this one, we want to get those cheeks filling with air and it's spelling it out.

So five again, in with the breath and out through the mouth.

Wuh, wuh, wuh, wuh, wuh.

Your turn.

And again, wuh, wuh, wuh, wuh, wuh.

Off you go.

Lovely.

And last one, la.

Okay, this is to get our tongue moving nice and quickly.

We'll do five las and then we'll move on repeat and then move on to the next bit.

So la, la, la, la, la.

Your turn.

And again, la, la, la, la, la.

Off you go.

Super.

Now, Sandra has made an appearance yet again.

So, Sandra sells seashells by the seashore.

Say that for me.

And again, Sandra sells seashells by the seashore.

A bit quicker.

Okay, quick this time, ready? Sandra sells seashells by the seashore.

Super, okay.

Now let's think about how we are saying different words using a different tone of our voice.

And then again, this is very important for the work we've got ahead today.

The word is hello and the tone is of course happy.

Hello! What if we made it sad? Hello.

Angry.

Hello.

Confused.

Hello? What if the phrase was come back? You ready, make it happy.

Come back! Sad, come back.

Angry.

Come back.

Confused.

Come back? And what if it was how are you? Happy.

How are you? Sad.

How are you? Angry.

How are you? And confused.

How are you? Lastly, who are you? Happy.

Who are you? Sad.

Who are you? Angry.

Who are you? And confused.

Who are you? Well done, and lastly, Gunter grew great hearty greens.

Bit quicker? Gunter grew great hearty greens.

Even quicker.

Gunter grew great hearty greens.

Lovely, okay.

The mouth should start to be warmed up imagine you're chewing a piece of gum.

Try and get that chewing gum that's pulling your teeth together apart and all that sticky toffee.

Okay, and snapping it back in.

Just protect the teeth.

Make sure you're not clamping down on the teeth.

The aim is to get the jaw really moving around.

You're chewing it.

Lovely, head to the side and to the other side.

And again.

Back over.

Okay, shoulders going back.

Big circles with the shoulders.

Make them as round as you possibly can.

Go wide and forwards.

If they're clipping, that's a good thing.

Just be careful with any injuries that you've got already.

Don't push them if you know there's something that you can't do just yet.

Arms out to the side, go back, big circles.

Little to big, and then just be careful of your surroundings, 'cause I know I've got a light above me, going forward that I don't want to knock.

And I'm bringing those circles back round to something a little bit smaller.

Super, arms up, arms out and down.

Shake your hands.

And that's our warm up done.

So if you'd like to repeat any of that, please feel free to go back in time to have a look again.

If not, let's get started.

So still images and thought tracking.

Let's start considering how we communicate emotion.

Now we started developing these ideas last lesson.

So hopefully, some of them will continue nicely into today's work.

If you want to show an emotion or an idea to an audience, a still image is really helpful and an effective way of doing this without the need to talk.

Okay, so if you were feeling happy, we don't have to say, "I'm feeling happy today." We can communicate that in other ways.

Okay, and still images are a really easy and quick way of doing this.

Often, a visual is clearer to us when we look at something instead of having to hear it being said.

Does that make sense? So seeing it as a lot quicker than trying to understand it verbally.

What physical skills, little clue in our last lesson, what physical skills would be useful to a still image do you think? Any ideas? I would like you to think about using facial expressions that we explored last lesson.

Body language, we explored last lesson, and gestures we explored last lesson to create a still image of someone who is desperate for the toilet and waiting outside for that turn.

A great way to explore this, to get into your still image is to experiment with those facial expressions in a live way, okay.

The gestures, allowing them to move and the body language, get a feel for it before you freeze in that still image, okay? Consider how you may need to exaggerate these physical skills to show emotion.

It's as simple as that.

Pause the video to complete this task and click resume when you're ready to move on.

Now, I'd like you to think about developing this still image further.

We need to add a thought track, mainly for context, okay.

So with the still image, it's often easy to see an idea straight away and then we might develop it by adding either a complimentary thought track or a contrasting thought track, okay.

Now you must compliment the ideas in your body language, gestures, and facial expressions to begin with, okay.

So pick a thought track which matches what you're trying to show.

What would you be thinking in this moment in time? Consider your use of tone, pace, volume, and emphasis from our vocal skills lessons.

Pause the video to be able to complete this task and click resume when you're ready to move on.

Help me out with this statement.

A still image can move.

Think very carefully.

Think about what we did and what the aim was.

What were we aiming towards completing at the end? A still image can move, true or false? The answer is false.

Although we made our image move to begin with, the aim was to make it stop and then have it frozen almost as if frozen in time.

Now what I would like you to do is consider using the same skills, so facial expressions, body language, and gestures, but this time create for me one still image that shows a person who does not feel well.

Okay.

Now you can use moments in your past where you may not have felt very well to inform what you show.

Consider how you may need to exaggerate these physical skills to show emotion.

Okay, so again, think about how another person might view this.

Think about what they see.

Pause the video to be able to complete this task and click resume when you're ready to continue.

Okay, how did you get on with that one? It's really interesting to think about what other people see.

So did you experience a stomach pain? Was it that you feel like you're about to be sick? And did you have gestures on your stomach area? Did you have a gesture as if you were being sick? How did that look from your perspective now, when you arched over in the shoulders as if you were retching? Did you kind of move your shoulders back in order to accentuate the stomach, as if really, oh, really in a lot of pain here.

What about a pain in the head? Did you have a headache or a migraine? In which case, is the hand over the head is the other hand completely out of the way because we want to highlight this area of the body.

Did you tilt to one side? Perhaps it's an earache.

Is the ear the focus now? Are you going to really put that ear on the side and maybe tilted towards the audience as you freeze? Or perhaps it's a pain in your bank.

Are we going to move sideways and essentially just kind of get into a funny position? Is it because the back is quite twisted? Perhaps, you're going to twist one way to show pain.

Are you going to arch forward in order to communicate that as well? So think about how different positions, different changes in the body and even if they're slight can show a clearer message.

Okay, now this task is going to be in two different parts.

The first thought track that I'd like you to add to the still image you've just created must compliment the ideas in your body just like we did before, okay.

So think about your body language, your gestures and your facial expressions to communicate your body being in some sort of discomfort or pain.

Okay, you're not feeling very well.

What is the character thinking at this moment in time to support what you're trying to say in the body? Think about your tone.

Think about the pace at which you speak.

Think about the volume and then the emphasis on particular words.

Pause the video, give it plenty of time.

There's absolutely no need to rush and click resume when you're ready to continue.

Ah, my head is throbbing.

Still images can show.

Do we think it's option one, a range of emotions? Option two, character.

Option three, tension.

Option four, a narrative.

What do we think? Option one, two, three, four? Option one and four.

Option three, four and two.

Option two, one, three, four.

Yes, it's all of them.

Still images are great to show a range of emotions, characters and the difference between them, tension rising between them, and also a narrative that's starting to form.

Now, part two of our thought tracking task is to add a thought track to the same still image, but now I want you to contrast the ideas in the body language, gestures, and facial expressions.

Okay, whatever you are trying to communicate in the body, now think of something opposite to say, okay.

Something that doesn't necessarily fit what you're trying to do.

I've got the washing to do.

I've got the ironing.

I've got to take the dog for a walk.

So much to do.

Consider your use of tone, pace, volume, and emphasis to now start thinking in a different way.

Pause the video to complete this task.

Again, there's absolutely no need to rush.

Take your time with this.

Just click resume when you're ready for the next bit.

Okay, how did you get on? Did you find that putting a contrasting statement does anything different to the still image? It made you one of two things.

It may either develop it further to really enforce the idea of the still image or it can entirely change the meaning of what you thought you might be able to show.

Okay, so it's either a positive thing or something that is eye opening.

Either way, both creative.

Now we're going start looking at mime and slow motion.

Now the beauty of mime is, you can do it for almost anything.

Brushing your teeth.

That's quite an easy one.

Washing up.

Again, quite standard, and knitting.

Okay, we may not have all done knitting but I'm sure we could imagine what knitting may look like.

You need to use movement to be able to recreate the activity here.

Okay, we've got three to choose from.

I'll give you one in a minute.

Mime builds on the skills used in the still image previously, okay? So even though our focus is different here, it's still working on the same skills.

You need to think of the still image coming to life.

Okay, don't speak.

You don't need to use any words.

Think of it as someone's holding a remote and they press play on your moment, okay, your still image and it's given life, it's given energy and it just moves, okay? These are some of the skills that you may need when you are looking at mime.

Silence is a key factor.

Gestures, very important to mime.

Focus, really thinking about what it is you're trying to achieve.

Body language, okay.

Thinking about what your body is trying to show.

Facial expressions, same thing, but up and focusing on the face.

And then lastly, exaggeration.

Trying to figure out what can be pushed to its final limit, okay.

Think about making it extremely clear to your audience because you want them to be able to understand the mime like that.

You want them to be able to see it and think I know exactly what it is you are doing.

So let's keep this really simple to start with.

I would like you to experiment with mime by brushing your teeth.

If it helps you for this task, you can go and get your toothbrush and you can practise that first to get the actual dimensions, get the gestures in the right place.

Think about the weight.

And I want you to then take that toothbrush away and experiment with the gesture, the facial expressions, and your body language as you interact in the space.

Are you one of these people that might brush their teeth and wander? Are you a wanderer? Or are you a static brusher? Do you stand still? I personally do a bit of both.

Some days I might stand still, look straight in the mirror.

Other days I could be all around moving as I'm brushing my teeth on the go.

So think about what feels natural.

Think about making it obvious to your audience.

And to do this, of course, you need to pause the video, give it your best go and click resume when you're ready for the next task.

So you may be thinking, if we've got a mime that is effective and successful, it communicates our intentions and it's clear, why might we use slow motion? Well, there were three options.

How about have a little think about what might be the correct answer? Why might we use slow motion? Option one, to make the performance longer.

If we want some extra time, we need it padding out.

Option two, to highlight a moment of importance.

Or option three, to look around us just because we can.

What do you think? One, two or three? It is option two, it's to highlight a moment of importance.

Okay, so we might slow something down in a dramatic way to be able to highlight significance, to show some form of symbolism there because there's a really important message to communicate to your audience.

Something we need them to be able to either understand or at least see.

Okay, we're drawing someone's attention to something.

Tension can occur in many different scenes.

It's where there's this mental or emotional strain in a character or a certain pressure in a scene.

Think of it like a pan of water on the hob.

It will start to simmer.

Then it's going to boil and steam will want to escape.

Think about how that steam builds if there's a lid on and it's just bubbling and bubbling and bubbling and bubbling until it's too much and then the lid might fall off and all the steam escapes, okay.

That's tension rising as the water bubbles.

You can show tension in the body.

Do we think that's true or false? Three, two, one, of course, the answer's true.

You can absolutely show tension in the body.

We're going to have a go at building some of that tension now.

Imagine you're in a bakery.

You and someone to your left both ask for the pain au chocolat at the same time.

Neither of you wants to let the other one have it.

There's obviously going to be some tension rising there between you.

Yup.

Yup and the last pain au chocolat.

Yeah, that one.

No, no.

I was here first.

This is mine.

Sorry? I was here first.

No, no! I was here first.

I placed the order.

Excuse me? Just bag it, bag it, that's mine.

I was here first, I ordered it.

That's mine and of.

Be very careful.

You will lose this, back off.

You will lose this sale.

Consider your use of physical skills here to be able to create tension.

We want to let this tension start rising and think about what skills you need to use to be able to do that.

We're thinking eye contact.

We're thinking body language, facial expressions.

Okay, all the skills that we've worked on so far and a couple of others thrown in too to be able to show tension between you in an attempt to get that last pain au chocolat.

Pause the video to be able to complete this task and click resume when you're ready to move on.

Now, we're going to be understanding how to make tension peak.

Okay, so the idea of making tension rise is now evolving into the peak of the tension.

In this scene, you're seeing a baby sibling step toward a hot radiator.

Now, obviously, this is incredibly dangerous.

What emotions might you be feeling right in that moment when you see it happening in front of you? How do we show this in the body? With what you're feeling? What's the instinctive way of showing it? Let's have a go.

You're in your house.

Your baby sibling is stepping towards a hot radiator.

You can see it happening, but you're too far away to stop it.

I would like you to experiment with showing concern in the body.

Think about your use of physical skills here to be able to create tension.

It's just like the last task at the bakery.

But now the stakes are higher.

There is danger.

The aim is to be able to let that tension peak, not just rise.

But what's going to happen and then it freezes in that moment where you feel like it's peaked.

That's what your scene will end.

So pause the video to be able to have a go, click resume when you're ready to move on and we'll continue from there.

Why do we use slow motion again? Well, it's to highlight a moments of importance.

So let's explore some slow emotion and see how it either adds or detracts from the tension.

Okay, it may not work for us, but let's see how it does.

You're in your house, your baby sibling is stepping towards a hot radiator.

But you're too far away to stop it.

We now know this scenario, but I would like you to show the buildup of tension through slow motion.

Think about your gestures, your facial expressions, and your body language, as you realise what's happening and also realise there's not a great deal you can do.

So consider the development in the facial expressions, the body language, and then also a gesture as the scene develops, okay.

Pause the video to have a go.

You may choose to do this four or five times to get a feel for what is right for you.

And then click resume when you're ready to continue.

Phew! In that moment of tension, where it's rising and rising and rising, it reaches its peak, the baby falls on its bum and he's okay, safely away from the heat of the radiator.

This is the release of tension.

And it's very clear to see that in the body.

You might also know this as catharsis where that rising tension is washed away like a wave.

All right.

So let's experiment with the release of tension.

You're in your house.

Your baby sibling was stepping towards the hot radiator.

They sit down away from the heat.

Now, consider the facial expressions, the body language, and the gestures that you've created on the lead up to a dangerous event.

And in that split second, if I was to say, "Go," the baby sits down, I would like to see it in your face, in the body, and in your gestures what is going on and how you release that tension.

So pause the video to be able to complete this.

Use the breath because that really will help you when you think about what's going on and what you're trying to show.

And then click resume when you're ready to move on.

Okay, we've reached that point in the lesson now where we're at the end and you've worked brilliantly today to develop your knowledge and understanding of these drama skills.

So first of all, we've looked at still images.

We've developed our use of physical skills and that's through facial expressions, body language and gesture.

We've also explored mime.

We've explored how to apply the understanding of these physical skills through mime and also slow motion.

Okay, so well done.

Give yourself a pat on the back.

Now we've got one more or lesson left of this scheme of work, which is lesson five.

And it's all about combining these physical and vocal skills.

So I look forward to seeing you then.

If you have created any work that you would like to share with us then this is what you can do.

Just make sure that you've asked your parents or carer for permission first.

They can take your piece of work, sharing it with us on Twitter.

They can tag us at Oak National and hashtag learn with oak.

Until next time, take care and bye-bye.