by Savannah Fillerup
Objective
● Students will be able to communicate meaning using space and staging in movement by creating tableaus that use levels, proximity, spacing, and focus to tell a story.
Standards
● Utah
○ Standard 7-8.T.P.8: Identify and use appropriate vocabulary to describe
kinds of stage spaces, stage directions, areas of the stage, and basic
blocking techniques.
○ Standard 7-8.T.P.4 - Communicate meaning using the body through space,
shape, energy, and gesture. ● National
- ○ TH:Pr4.1.7.a. Consider various staging choices to enhance the story in a drama/theatre work.
- ○ TH:Pr6.1.8.a. Perform a rehearsed drama/theatre work for an audience.
Materials needed
● Virtual Staging
Hook/Warm-up
● Warm-Up Question (on virtual Zoom whiteboard) ○ Who in your family do you feel closest to?
● Challenge Review
○ Discuss their experience completing the challenge from the end of last
class.
Instruction
- ● Go through power point, explaining each of the elements of staging. Each element will have three example pictures. Ask them: “How do you see the element of _____ in this photo? What story does it tell?”
- ● Then, you’ll have a page with three stick figures. Tell them that staging can tell a story even without emotion or sets. Adjust the figures to be in different places (as indicated below) to tell different stories. Ask students what story is being told and how the story changes when you move the figures.
- ● If time permits, ask for a volunteer to be a “director” to tell you where to place the figures in order to adjust the element of staging. Then ask the students again what it changes about the story.
○ Levels
- Three figures in a line
- Figure on a block center, other figures standing on either side
○ Proximity
- Three figures in a clump to the left, one figure to the right
- Spread the three out behind with one figure center
- Two figures, then two figures closer
- ○ Spacing (too hard to explain)
- ○ Focus
■ Two people in down left corner with rightmost person looking at leftmost person, left person looking back at person in up right corner. Start with that person looking away, then change it so they’re looking back.
Practice
● Copy the link to the PowerPoint in the chat and tell them you will be putting them into breakout rooms with three people to make three tableaux aka frozen images that represent the beginning, middle, and end of a story using the end of the Power Point and the stick figures that make use of all four terms. Pay attention to their breakout room number because that will be their group number.
- ○ Tableaux should change staging to show the beginning, middle, and end of a story. Review story structure... beginning: introduces characters, setting, and objective. Middle: shows the characters trying to overcome the obstacles that face them as they try to fulfill their objective using different tactics. End: Characters did/did not accomplish objective.
- ○ Tell them they can also use the Google Images search (Insert - Image - search the web) to look up stick figures sitting/running, or objects that the characters might use. They cannot use images of actual people or any emotions—just movement based!
- ○ Once they’ve finished, they can change “Group One” at the beginning of their section to be the title of their story.
● Give them ten minutes to make the tableaus and be ready to show it to the class
Assessment
● Each group should show their three tableaus and then have a discussion with the class.
- ○ What story did you see being told?
- ○ How did the staging help tell the story?
● Submit a grade in “staging” on a scale of 1 (below standard) to 4 (advanced).
Challenge
● Try people watching next time you’re somewhere with a lot of people (lunch, passing period, advisory, grocery shopping, practice, etc.). Even when you can’t hear people’s conversation, what stories can you learn about the people you watch based on how they’re positioned next to each other? Be prepared to share next time.s