One of the acting games I use with my Summer Camp kids is making "stage pictures." Obviously making stage pictures can mean many things. It can be managing how the sets are designed and used. It can have to do with color schemes of scenic painting as well as the color coordination of costumes. It can be the placement of set pieces and props. But every director needs to teach building stage pictures with the children by how their bodies are placed in scenes
Focusing towards certain actor We use this game I call "Freeze, Frame, and Focus." We work on making pleasing Stage Pictures by learning these concepts.
Planes and Levels in a dance
PLANES - Imagine grid lines on the floor of the stage. They are the imaginary horizontal or vertical lines you may direct the actors to position themselves on.
Being aware of Proximities during dance PROXIMITY - is the distance between the individual actors. They must always try to maintain some "daylight" between characters and not get too bunched up.
LEVELS - the heights either of individual actors or the heights when they are positioned on set pieces or risers. The actors may also modify their heights by kneeling, bending, lunging, or kneeling, holding their arms up, etc.
LEVELS - the heights either of individual actors or the heights when they are positioned on set pieces or risers. The actors may also modify their heights by kneeling, bending, lunging, or kneeling, holding their arms up, etc.
Game Play - Begin music and ask the children to dance or move like an animal around the stage. (You choose the animal for each round such as dinosaur, bird, horse, kitten, butterfly, etc. Having evocative music helps...) After a few measures, stop the music. The children FREEZE, and look around and try adjust themselves or FRAME themselves to make a good stage picture.
If they are a tall person in front, they must make themselves shorter. If they are short and in back, they must make themselves look as tall as possible. And so forth. They should never block the people behind them and they should adjust positions as needed to provide "daylight" between actors. Repeat as many times as desired. Caution - Don't overdo it!
If they are a tall person in front, they must make themselves shorter. If they are short and in back, they must make themselves look as tall as possible. And so forth. They should never block the people behind them and they should adjust positions as needed to provide "daylight" between actors. Repeat as many times as desired. Caution - Don't overdo it!
Another layer of this game is to have the children FOCUS on a particular actor. at the FREEZE, the director will call out a child's name that the others will turn towards, present with their hands, make sure no one is blocking someone else. Incidentally, this helps everybody learn each others' names. They do the best they can, but they can't fix everyone's view.
Once again, working with the children using Acting Games can teach real useful SKILLS. It makes blocking a stage production go smoother.
Once again, working with the children using Acting Games can teach real useful SKILLS. It makes blocking a stage production go smoother.
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