Movement & Silent Film: In Person

Unit Objective
● Students will be able to communicate meaning through movement with staging, physicality, energy, and gesture by creating a silent film as a group.

Class Level

● Drama Foundations, grades 7-8

Prior Experience

• ●  Some took Drama Foundations, some didn’t

• ●  Already done a unit on play and on voice in this class

  Utah Standards

• ●  Standard 7-8.T.P.4 - Communicate meaning using the body through space, shape, energy, and gesture.
• ●  Standard 7-8.T.P.9: Perform a variety of dramatic works for peers or invited audiences.

• ●  Standard 7-8.T.R.1: Describe and demonstrate audience skills of observing attentively and responding appropriately in classroom presentations, rehearsals, and live performance settings.

  Main Concepts

  ● Movement ● Staging
  ● Physicality ● Energy

  ● Gesture
  ● Characterization

Elements of Design

Big Idea
● Communicating meaning using the body

Essential Questions (both topical and overarching)

• ●  How is body language different from spoken language?
• ●  How do we communicate using our bodies?
• ●  How does movement reflect a person’s emotions and/or inner thoughts?

• ●  How does movement help tell a story?

  Enduring Understandings (key knowledge and skills)

● Students will understand that...
○ Their bodies can be used to communicate meaning.

● Students will know that...
○ Staging, physicality, energy, and gesture are the main elements of

movement.
● Students will be able to...

○ Utilize their bodies for intentional, characterized movement.

Authentic Performance Tasks

• ●  Theatre Games: games/performances focusing on staging, physicality, energy, and gesture at the end of those respective lessons

  • ○  Name Game: two-beat movement with their name
  • ○  Dead Man’s Walk: focus on emphasizing specific body parts as they move
  • ○  Tableaux: three tableaux in a group using elements of staging to tell a story

  • ○  Character Walk: create a character based off of one of Laban’s eight efforts

    that struts down a catwalk

  • ○  Energy Scenes: group scene that features three of Lecoq’s levels of tension

  • ○  Silent Scenes: group scene that uses only gesture to communicate what is

    happening

• ●  Character Job Interview: Create a character using the elements of movement and

  participate in a “job interview” (introduce themselves, ask for a job, demonstrate

  a skill)

• ●  Silent Film: 3-5 minute silent film created by a group