Drama Units and Activities
Get the Picture?
Unit(s): Acting/Directing/Blocking
Purpose:
To illustrate the concept of balance in stage composition and to experiment with the creation of emphasis through basic blocking techniques
Objectives:
Students will identify 11 techniques for creating a center of interest that holds audience attention.
Students will define symmetrical and asymmetrical balance.
Materials:
- Optional handout -- Get the Picture?
- 4 or 5 chairs
- Optional -- an overstuffed armchair
Procedure:
- Read over and discuss the handout with students to define terms such as stage composition, emphasis, and balance. List with them the 11 techniques for creating emphasis: body position, stage area, levels, eye focus, space, contrast, reinforcement, light, color, speech, and movement. Also discuss the difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical balance in stage groupings. (This could also be accomplished through a lecture without the use of handouts, of course. It was pulled from Basic Drama Projects, Ch. 24.)
- Share prints of famous paintings (borrowed from the art teacher) and discuss the artist's use of balance and emphasis.
A. Cezanne, "Card Players"
B. De Hooch, "A Dutch Courtyard"
C. Giorgionne, "Adoration of the Shepherds"
D. Degas, "Class de Danse"
E. Da Vinci, "The Last Supper"- Set a chair in front of the class with a student in it. Ask another student to enter the scene and place himself so as to create a strong stage composition. Allow the class to make comments or suggestions as to his position. Then ask the first student to enter, placing himself in relation to the second student to create a strong, but different, picture. After class discussion, the second student leaves and a fourth enters. This continues until all students have had a turn at creating a new arrangement.
- For the second round of the activity, place one chair and two students in front of the class and ask a third student to enter the picture, creating an effective grouping with three elements instead of two.
- For the third round, begin with three students and two chairs.
- For the fourth round, begin with four students and arrange three chairs to make a sofa with a fourth chair as a side chair.
- Continue increasing the size of the group as time allows, making the activity more and more complex.
- If an overstuffed armchair is available (check the teacher's lounge, the home ec area, or the prop room), it makes an interesting addition to the activity because it allows students to sit on the arms or the back of the chair for additional variety of levels.
Get the Picture?
Directors refer to "stage compositions" or "stage pictures." The grouping and arrangement of actors and scenic elements onstage must be carefully planned by the director in order to be effective. Creating emphasis within the stage composition is one of his/her goals.
Besides being meaningful, movement should also be functional. The audience must be allowed to see and hear the important items. Therefore, it is the director's duty to emphasize the important aspects by creating a center of interest that catches and holds audience attention. Usually the director emphasizes the actor who is speaking important lines, or he emphasizes lines an movement that explain later actions or that show secret feelings or a change of attitude. Sometimes he must focus audience attention on an inanimate object. The director achieves a center of interest in subtle ways so that the audience gives their attention effortlessly. The following are the director's tools for emphasis. (You may find it fun to study famous paintings to see how the artist uses these same methods.)
Body Position. The more open the character's position (the more he faces the audience), the more attention he receives. Usually full front is the most emphatic, followed by one-quarter, profile, three- quarter, and full back. (See Chapter 8 on body positions.) A standing position is usually more dominant than a sitting position; sitting is more emphatic than lying. An erect posture generally commands more attention than a slouched posture.
Area. The following diagram shows the relative strength of stage areas, with number one being the strongest and six the weakest:
Levels. The higher level he is on, the more attention a character receives. Not only is this because the audience can readily see raised figures, but there is also a psychological aspect of height dominating. For example, the tall man dominates the short man. Elevation can be varied by using platforms and stairs, as well as by having some figures stand, sit, and kneel.
Eye Focus. People look where others look, so if characters A and B are looking directly at C, the audience will look at C also. This is called direct focus. To add variety, a director sometimes employs counter-focus where A focuses on B who looks at C who looks at the speaking figure D. The audience will follow the pattern from A to B to C and finally to D.
Lines lead audience attention to the emphatic figure at either end, depending on the actor's eye focus. Straight lines are seldom used on stage because they are unnatural, except in cases of soldiers marching or people queuing for a specific reason. The director should also avoid semicircles, for they fail to allow emphasis. Unfortunately, many amateur productions are plagued with semicircle positions.
The most effective stage arrangement is the triangle, for the eyes of the audience travel along either side and focus on the figure at the apex. Generally the apex is upstage with the downstage characters turned in three-quarter positions:
However, you may place the apex almost anywhere on stage and vary the size and angle of the triangles. Also, you may vary the heights of the characters within the triangle (standing, lying, etc.). Effective as the triangle is, avoid being obvious with it, and avoid overusing it.
Space. A character surrounded by space draws attention because he is easily seen, and the audience wonders why he is isolated from the group. The more space between the character and the group, the more emphasis.
Contrast. If one actor is different from all the rest, he achieves dominance through contrast. If he sits and the others stand, or if he is in a full back position and the others are full front, or if he is dressed in one color and the others are all dressed in another color, he will be accented through contrast.
Reinforcement. Any major figure who is reinforced or backed up by minor figures achieves attention. A business executive with three secretaries hovering behind him is more emphatic than one without any secretaries. The kind with his retinue, or the gang leader with his thugs behind him are impressive because of the reinforcement. Also, a character can be emphasized with scenery, such as being framed by an arch, a column, or a tree: or he can be emphasized with furniture such as a high backed chair.
Light. A character in a strong pool of light dominates those in a dim light.
Color. The more brilliant the costume color, the more emphasis. Only principal characters should wear red or white, and these colors should be used with care, since they easily attract attention.
Speech. The speaker dominates unless there is movement on stage.
Movement. The moving figure achieves emphasis. Remember that forward movement is strong; retreating movement is weak. "Talky" scenes can be made more interesting if you add movement. To accent certain words in the dialogue, move before the line or phrase. Movement after the line stresses the action, not the words. Movement during the line weakens the words, and so is often used when the lines are to be subordinated or "thrown away."
Creating Balance In The Stage Composition
Balance is another aspect of artistry. It implies "dressing the stage" so that the elements on either side of the playing area seem to be equal. Of course it is impossible to keep the stage balanced constantly, but the director should aim at moving from one balanced picture to another. Symmetrical balance is achieved when there is an equal number of figures on each side of the stage, placed equidistant from the center. This composition is usually artificial and extremely formal. It is used sparingly to indicate state occasions, or church and courtroom scenes requiring formality. It is also used in certain comedies demanding stylized acting such as The Importance of Being Earnest.
Asymmetrical balance is informal, with both sides balancing in a more subtle way. The teeter-totter principle is employed here. A lighter figure on one side balances a heavier figure on the other side, if the lighter figure is farther from the center. In asymmetrical balance, the distance of the lighter figure from the side should approximately equal the distance of the opposite person from the center.
Using asymmetrical balance, a character on one side can balance a group on the other side. For example, if X balances two characters on the other side, he must take one step more toward the wall than would be needed if he were just balancing one character. If X must balance three figures, he takes two steps closer to the side. For more than three figures, X will not have to move any closer to the wall. There is a point on stage where one character can balance a large group no matter how many are in it. See the following diagrams:
Another type of balance is aesthetic or psychological balance that gives the impression of equal weight on both sides of the center, even though the actual weight is not equal. For instance, one major character in the play gives the impression of outweighing several less important characters. A standing figure gives the impression of balancing several seated people. The speaker has more weight than the listener, and a character reinforced by scenery can balance a large group on the opposite side. Strong movement and bright colors also balance large masses.
A word about scene balance: if only one stage area is used for a scene and that area is balanced, the audience will be oblivious to the rest of the empty stage.
