Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Burt and welcome to our drama lesson.

This is the third and final drama lesson of a series of lessons looking at posture, gesture, and voice in performance.

And so far in our first two lessons, we looked at how we can use our voice and the stage around us as actors to help us to communicate our character.

And in this last lesson, we're going to look at how we use gesture, mannerism and all things to do with movement to help us communicate to the audience.

But before we make a start let's just check what equipment we need before we get going.

So for this lesson, you will need the worksheet, or a piece of paper to work from, a pen, and you might want a highlighter, to highlight some of your lines.

So make sure you've got that equipment before we get going.

So this is the rundown of our lesson today.

We're going to start by looking at the key words we need to succeed in our lesson.

We're then going to do some character development work.

We're then going to look at how, some of those key words have been used in a performance before it's over to you to do your own performance.

And we're going to finish on a quiz.

So let's start with those key words that we need to succeed in our lesson today.

The first word is gesture.

A gesture is a deliberate and specific movement that communicates something to an audience.

Mannerism, a mannerism is a repeated or habitual movement in a character.

And finally movement, movement is using the way we move to communicate to an audience.

Okay, we're going to start with a little bit of a warmup to begin with, for this warm up, you won't need anything.

You can have a chair, but you can also sit on the floor it doesn't really matter.

When I say something I want you to do it.

So, when I say stand, I want you stand up? When I say sit, I want you to sit down.

So sit down, stand up.

It's quite easy.

So we'll add some more.

When I say head, I want you to put your hands on your head.

When I say point, I want you to point to the audience.

Hands on your head, sit down, stand up, point to the audience.

Easy so far.

So when I say shocked I want you to do a facial expression of shock.

And when I say happy I want you to do a happy freeze frame.

Shock, happy, stand, sit, point, head, stand, got that so far? Let's have another go.

Sit, point, head, shock, happy, stand.

You got that, let's have another go.

Sit, stand, point, head, sit, shocked, happy, stand.

Got it? Let's try like this now.

So when I say stand, I actually mean sit.

When I say sit, I want you to stand.

Everything else stays the same.

So sit.

No, did you sit down? But I didn't mean sit down.

Sit, no, sit, stand, point, head, shock, happy, sit.

Remember it's the opposite, so this time when I say point I actually want you to do this.

And when I say head, I want you to do this.

Let's see if I can remember it too.

Stand, sit, point, head, shock, happy, stand, sit.

Excellent, let's try the last one.

So when I say shock I actually mean happy.

And when I say happy, I want you to look shocked.

Let's have a go, are you ready? Three, two, one, head, point, sit, happy, shocked, stand, sit, head, point, happy, shocked, sit, stand.

Let's stop there, how did you get on? I'm not very good at that game I get confused a lot.

So let's start with movement.

On the screen now you will see a diagram of stage has been set up and split up into nine areas.

I wonder if you can notice something odd about it.

Have a look and see if you can see what's odd about this diagram.

That's right it looks like I've got my left and my right the wrong way round.

Because when I'm looking at it stage left is on my right and stage right is on my left.

But actually we're looking at it from the audience's perspective.

And stage right and stage left is all arranged from the actor's perspective.

So when the actor is standing stage left, they actually look like they're standing on the audience's right.

And when the actor is standing on stage right they're actually standing to the audience's left.

And it's the same for up and down stage.

If you can see from the diagram downstage is closest to the audience.

Whereas upstage is walking away from the audience.

So let's imagine we're in the audience and we're looking at a stage.

Point now to downstage right.

That's right, it's down there.

What about downstage left? Excellent, and what about upstage centre? Well done the way in which a character moves across the stage, or even enters the stage tells us so much as the audience about that character.

So when a character enters the stage, walking at a slow pace, what might that suggest about that mood? Have a little think about that now.

Well, it might suggest that they are thoughtful that they've just received some bad news, that they're upset about something.

Now this is the first time that we see the character.

So it's really important that the character is showing how they're feeling through their movement.

What about if they enter at a quick pace? Well, what about entering at a quick pace and then suddenly stopping to look back where they've just come from.

So you see the way in which we as actors enter the stage and move across the stage is actually very, very important.

Just that first couple of seconds can communicate to the audience so much.

And if we're not in control of that from the word go from the moment we enter the stage, we could be communicating something completely different to the audience, something that we don't want them to be reading from us.

The power of stillness can be as equally powerful in communicating to an audience as movement can be.

So let's have an experiment with this.

So first of all, I want you to stand up and then I want you to look around the space that you've got around you however big that is, and I want you to decide where offstage is going to be.

Now I'm going to demonstrate the first one and then I want you to copy.

So I'm going to enter the stage slowly, with my head down.

I'm going to pause when I get to centre stage and I'm going to look up at the audience.

Now you have a go at that.

Enter slowly with your head looking down.

When you get to centre stage, turn and face the audience, have a go.

Well done now have a think, what does that communicate to the audience about your character? About what has just happened to them and about how they are feeling? So over to you now, I want you to have a go where you enter really quickly at a fast pace, but then suddenly stop centre stage and then look back at where you just came from, have a go to that.

Now, what does that communicate to the audience about your character? Try this, enter as if you're really angry with someone who is already on stage, go.

Well done now have a go at this one enter as if you're really excited and you've got some exciting news that you want to share with all the audience, have a go at that.

Excellent, sit back down for a moment and have a pause and reflect.

On those last two I didn't tell you what to do you needed to interpret that.

So just think about what you did with your pace of movement where you stopped, how fast you moved, where you stood when you stood still.

Just think about what you did to communicate how you whether you're angry, and then what you did to communicate that you were excited.

So let's just check our understanding of some of those key words a gesture is a repeated or habitual movement in a character.

Tell me now, is that true or false? Well, the answer to that is false.

A gesture is actually a deliberate or specific movement that communicates to an audience such as a shrug of the shoulders or a point of the finger.

Whereas a mannerism is a repeated or habitual movement in a character.

So a character who keeps ringing their hands, for example, that's a mannerism.

Gesture is a really important part of acting it's very important in drama.

And it's something that we do as human beings all the time.

So as actors, we need to be able to find a way of controlling that so that we can use it to communicate our character.

But there are some really key examples that we use again and again and again.

So for instance, wagging your finger at someone, clearly communicates that you're angry with their character or you want them to do something.

Shrugging the shoulders tends to be something we do when we aren't sure about something or we want someone to think about something.

Likewise kind of bending the neck suggests where we're going to point towards something, let's go this way.

Likewise, mannerisms, mannerisms are gestures that are repeated because they reveal something about a particular character.

So excited characters might talk with their hands quite a lot, they might overemphasise everything that they say, it's important that you understand what I'm saying.

Whereas nervous people, they might rub their hands, wring their hands together.

Or they might sit on their hands.

What about a character who continually avoids eye contact? What do you think that says about that character? What about someone who's always checking the time? Or maybe someone who's always checking their phone? What do those mannerisms in your opinion communicate to an audience? So let's move this activity up a gear now and let's match the movement to the character.

So here we have our independent headstrong and active teenage girl who is used to getting her own way.

How do you think this character would enter and move around the stage? Do you think they have any mannerisms? Pause the video now, spend a couple of moments experiment and exploring the movement of that character and resume once you're ready.

Well done, let's try again with this character.

So this is our powerful, calm, calculated and strong-willed woman who also always gets her own way.

But this character is a little bit older, a little bit wiser.

So how do you think this character would enter and move around the stage? Do you think that she has any mannerisms? As you do it, have a think about how this character is different to the one that you've just experimented with.

Pause the video now, have a little bit of an experiment, and press resume when you're ready.

Let's have a look at our final character now.

This is a strong, powerful independent man who is an explorer and adventure, he wants to change the world.

Have a think about this character and how he's portrayed in the image on the screen.

How do you think this character would enter and move around the stage? Do you think he has any mannerisms connected to the fact that he's an adventurer or an explorer? Or always wants to change the world? Pause the video now, have a little experiment, press resume once you're ready.

Excellent, well that last picture, represented for me our last character, Lord Azrael in the story of "His Dark Materials." And just like in the last two lessons, we looked at a monologue, in "His Dark Materials," today we're going to look at a third monologue which is delivered by that character, Lord Azrael.

Explaining what he has found when he's been out adventuring and exploring, and the monologue goes like this.

"It's in a different world.

Think what that means if dust can travel from world to world then so can light.

If light can travel then so can we.

The doors are open to us, the chains are broken.

We can question everything we've been taught, we can challenge every dreary, grey belief that we had dinned into our skulls.

Our reach is infinite and I shall prove it." So this brings us up to our next task.

In a moment, you're going to watch me, perform that monologue again.

And as you watch, I want you to think about how I've used movement, stillness, gestures and mannerisms, to communicate my character to the audience.

You can also have a lookout for how I'm using proxemics, use of space, posture, stance, pace, pause, tone of voice, volume and pitch, which we've all learned from our last lesson.

Because this is most important thing about acting is that it's a combination of a lot of different skills and key words brought together to communicate to an audience.

So in this performance, what I'm trying to communicate to the audience is that I'm an independent and excited explorer.

I am excited by the sense of adventure.

But more importantly it's change that I'm excited, it's the change that that adventure brings about.

And I feel that my character is really powerful, and that he's excited by his role in change and how he can influence others.

Let's see if I can communicate that in my monologue.

"It's in a different world.

Think what it means.

If dust can travel, from world to world then so can light.

If light can travel then so can we, the doors are open to us.

The chains are broken, we can question everything we've been taught, we can challenge every dreary, grey belief we've been dinned into our skulls.

Our reach is infinite and I shall prove it." So let's make a quick list of how movement, stillness, gesture and mannerisms are being used to communicate the character to the audience.

Pause the video now, make a quick list, and press resume once you've got that list.

Excellent, how have you got on with that list? I'm going to go through a few things I've done.

I'm sure that you've found and identified other things that I'm not going to talk about, but that's okay.

So I started off very still.

Standing still, and I said, "it's in a different world." And on different, I then pointed to the audience and made a gesture.

And again, I moved downstage, from being centre stage on the next line, "think of what it means if dust can travel." And I shrugged my shoulders to suggest the word think, suggesting the audience should do the same as well.

I then started doing my mannerism, the character's really excited by change and the idea that we could all be in together.

So whenever the character talks about, we or our or us or something to do with a group of people that the character's involved in, I did that.

And to suggest, we're all in this together, all of us.

And so I kept repeating that same mannerism all the way through.

And with a sense of an idea that everyone is all working together.

I also stopped halfway through and had a big pause where I actually turned away from the audience and walked upstage and then turned around again.

I really wanted that moment for the audience, to think about what I've just said, before I say the next bit.

Because the next bit is when I get really excited, because for my character, that's where the change happens and I'm at the centre of that change and I'm able to help us change.

So it's over to you now, this is our next task and I want you to perform the monologue.

I want you to experiment like I have with movement, stillness, gestures, and mannerisms, until you feel it is communicating your interpretation of the character to the audience, but let us not forget what we did in our last few lessons as well.

So by all means, continue to experiment with proxemics, use of space, posture, and stance as well as changing your pace, your tone of voice, pitch, volume, and indeed adding pauses.

So either using the monologue on the screen or the one on your worksheet, pause the video now rehearse and perform the monologue and resume once you have finished.

How did that performance go for you? Were you able to analyse and think about the character and how they communicated something about themselves through their mannerism.

What about use of gestures? Were you able to move across the stage? To communicate or emphasise part of your monologue? Think back to what you've done and can you identify at least one improvement that you would make based on either improving a gesture or a mannerism? Or perhaps adding a movement that you didn't have before? So let's just quickly check our understanding of some of the key words that we've used in our lesson today so which of these statements are correct? Is it option one, a mannerism is a repeated or habitual movement in a character, is it option two? A mannerism is a movement that communicates to an audience.

Is it option three, a mannerism is the way we move to communicate to an audience? Or is it option four, the mannerism is moving from stage left to stage right? Now you tell me which of those statements is correct.

That's right, option one, a mannerism is a repeated or habitual movement in a character.

Whereas option two is a gesture.

A gesture is a movement that communicates to an audience.

Whereas options three and four are movement so movement is the way we communicate to an audience.

And moving from stage left to stage right is a movement.

well done on your performance today, performing, I know it can be really, really hard but you've done a lot of performing today and you should be very proud of your work, so well done.

If you'd to share your work from this lesson or the previous two lessons with Oak National, then please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Twitter tagging @OakNational or #LearnwithOak.