ELEMENTS OF DRAMA - Notes

The Human Context:

Relationships are central to all dramatic action. There are relationships between people (involving role, status and motivation) relationships between people and ideas (involving attitudes and beliefs) and relationship between people and their environments (involving situation and context)

Role: who are you?Status: The position or power you have in the societyMotivation: Why do you want to do something? You have an option.Attitudes: how you behave?Beliefs: are what you belief.Situation: What is happening?Context: How? When and why is it happening?

Dramatic Tension

Dramatic Tension is caused because there is a task that a character must complete and obstacles in the way of completing the task. Dramatic tension is resolved by completing the task.

Tension of Task: doing somethingTension of Relationships: Intimacy, Misunderstanding, Ceremony, and Dilemma, Conflict.Tension of Surprise: Expected and UnexpectedTension of Mystery

Focus

Focus is the process where by the action is framed and highlighted. Focus, or the point of concentration is maintained by considering the use of the following.

Space: levels, proximity, and groupingsPlaces of special meaning: for example, a church or a burial ground.Established Patterns: repetition, ritualsProps: points of interest.Gestures: moving, touching, signaling, body language.Eye Contact: to others, away from others, to audience, internalized.Vocals: What is said, how is it said. Language used, variations.Contrasts: variations, breaking of patterns.

Place an time:Place and time are defined by the following.

Location and setting

Staging: use of space, creation of the offstage world, and relationship of staging to the audience.

Period: time of the day, the season of the year, open time frame or an abstraction of time.

Pace and tempo: management of time, particular use of time. Rhythm and timing

Framing the Action

Outside theEvent

Inside the event on the edge

When the event is Just before or after an In the future after the

Happening? Event. Event.

Real time Has the person Does not have to have Involved the person there

SomehowLanguage:

We express our ideas, our feelings need by The words we say The way we say them Our body language

Aspects of the voice: Contrast: sound and silence Pitch: the high and the low of the voice. Pace: the speed of the speech Intonation: the rise or fall at the end of the sentence. Volume Tone: the attitude of the voice

Emphasis : the stress on particular words

Movement:The way your body is used to create meaning

Movement and stillness Contrast Expressive movements Body language gesture facial expression

Mood:The feeling or atmosphere created by using the elements of drama.

Symbols:Symbols help with the understanding of the play. They can sum up the meaning of the play. Symbols can be expressed through language, movement and visual images.The two main forms are:

Gesture- handshakes, victory Objects- key, stick

Dramatic meaningWhen all the elements of drama are used together effectively, this creates meaning/ understanding/themes/ message.