YEAR 12

2010

Achievement Standard 2.1

AS90299 Version 2

Apply Drama Techniques in an Improvised group context.

 

“PLAYING UP”

 

 

 

 

Task One – Introduction

Your teacher will introduce the four techniques, voice, body, movement and use of space, and provide opportunities for you to explore ways of using these techniques.  You will work in groups of two/ three to present improvisations from starters given to you by your teacher.  These could be:

 

·      Characters/ places

·      Situations

·      Poetry/ music

·      Painting/ photograph

 

Work with different people as often as you can to provide a variety of learning experiences. You need to be able to establish a role and situation, advance a story and listen to and interact with others to develop a scene or situation.

 

Task Two – Starting

Your teacher will give you a starter.

 

Working in a group of 2-3 people, prepare your response to the given starter.  You have one lesson in which to work on an improvisation framework.

 

As a group, discuss ways of building on the starter.  Make sure you allow opportunity for everyone in the group to use voice, body, movement and use of space as creatively and freely as possible.  This means everyone needs to contribute and actively participate. Your goal is to maintain a character and situation for the full duration of the improvisation.

 

Your improvisation will be completed during the following lesson for the whole class.  Each person within the group will be assessed individually for their ability to apply drama techniques in the improvised group context (the framework). You will also be assessed on aspects such as the layers of belief created, originality, spontaneity, flexibility in performance and the element of surprise.

 

Task Three – Shaping

Define the thread of meaning in your improvisation framework.  Write down a sentence that explains it.  Experiment with your techniques making sure that the practical work captures the main theme/idea clearly so that the audience can understand.

 

·      Check that each person will have a fair opportunity to demonstrate their skills.

·      Check that there is a strong beginning, development and ending for the whole group improvisation.

·      Record in your portfolio the initial starter, a list of the roles people will play, and a description of the framework including the beginning, middle and ending.

Task Four – Presentation

As a group, present your improvisation the next day.  Each student in the group must participate in a manner appropriate to the decisions made.  Remember your ability to apply drama techniques in an improvised group context is being assessed.  Make full use of your voice, body, movement and use of space to explore the main theme/idea effectively.

 

Task Five - Encore

 

The teacher will provide you with another opportunity to present a prepared improvisation.  You will follow the same process as outlined in Tasks 2-4.  The starter will be different and the composition of the group will change.  This will enable you to demonstrate your ability to be versatile and to improvise with a wide variety of people.

 

Your final grade will be decided on the overall quality of your work in both improvisations.

 

Task Six – Reflection

Record your answers to the following in your portfolio.

 

·      Give examples of how you used drama techniques to convey the main themes/ideas of your assessed improvisations.  Use the headings, voice, body, movement and use of space.

·      What were the most effective moments in your group improvisations and why?

·      What difficulties did you experience in the improvisation process?

·      How have your drama skills of voice, body, movement and use of space developed as a result of this extended improvisation process?  This refers to all the improvisations in this unit of work.

 

 

You will not be assessed on your portfolio, but your written reflection may be useful in determining your understanding of ‘appropriate’ choices as per the assessment schedule, and for the development of a response for the external assessment for Drama Achievement Standard 2.6.

 

 

Assessment schedule

 

Achievement:

The student is able to:

·      Demonstrate appropriate combination of voice, body, movement and use of space in an improvised group context to establish a role and situation, advance a story and listen to and interact with others to develop a scene or situation.

*      For example, in a poetry improvisation, the student uses their voice, body, movement and use of space appropriately and in combination to capture the idea of broken love, frustration and the insanity caused by infatuation in a poem about a “mad girl’s love.”

*      In an image improvisation, the student uses their voice, body, movement and use of space appropriately to capture the injustice of innocent children exposed to unsafe environments, the fear of the future and the protection of parents, in a photograph of a young Pakistani girl. 

 

·      Merit:

The student is able to:

·      Demonstrate appropriate and sustained combination of voice, body, movement and use of space in an improvised group context group context to establish a role and situation, advance a story and listen to and interact with others to develop a scene or situation. The character and situation are maintained  through use of techniques for the full duration of the improvisation.

 

*      For example, in a poetry improvisation, the student uses their voice, body, movement and use of space appropriately and in a sustained combination to capture the idea of broken love, frustration and the insanity caused by infatuation in a poem about a “mad girl’s love.” The student is able to sustain the use of these techniques in combination for the entire improvisation.

*      In an image improvisation, the student uses their voice, body, movement and use of space appropriately to capture the injustice of innocent children exposed to unsafe environments, the fear of the future and the protection of parents, in a photograph of a young Pakistani girl.  The student is able to sustain the use of these techniques in combination to create meaning for the entire improvisation.

 

Excellence:

The student is able to:

·      Demonstrate appropriate, sustained and effective combination of voice, body, movement and use of space in an improvised group context to establish a role and situation, advance a story and listen to and interact with others to develop a scene or situation.  The character and situation are maintained through use of techniques for the full duration of the improvisation. To be effective, the improvisation could contain layers of belief, the element of surprise, originality and spontaneity in a highly flexible performance.

 

*      For example, in a poetry improvisation, the student uses their voice, body, movement and use of space appropriately, effectively and in a sustained combination to capture the idea of broken love, frustration and the insanity caused by infatuation in a poem about a “mad girl’s love.” The student is able to sustain the use of these techniques in combination for the entire improvisation.  Their work shows a depth of conviction.

*      In an image improvisation, the student uses their voice, body, movement and use of space appropriately to capture the injustice of innocent children exposed to unsafe environments, the fear of the future and the protection of parents, in a photograph of a young Pakistani girl. The student is able to sustain the use of these techniques in combination to create meaning and add conviction for the entire improvisation.

Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
Does not demonstrate  appropriate combination of voice, body, movement and use of space in an improvised context	Demonstrates appropriate combination of voice, body, movement and use of space in an improvised context	Demonstrates appropriate and sustained combination of voice, body, movement and use of space in an improvised context	Demonstrates appropriate sustained and effective combination of voice, body, movement and use of space in an improvised context