Download 1 - Ken Taylor Drama Education

GSCE PORTFOLIO GUIDANCE
How To Use This Booklet
 Answer questions in full sentences.
 Always give reasons WHY you made choices/decisions.
 Give examples of HOW you did things.
 There are 3 sections to each subheading- these are…

“What does it mean?” – this is an explanation of what the
section is about.

“What you need to do.” This is what you need to write about.

“Must haves” – these are the things that must be included in the
section.
 Use the word count of each section to tell you how important the
section is.
INTRODUCTION (100 WORDS)

Which unit of work are you working on? What does it involve?

What are your stimulus/stimuli? What is your initial response?

What background research have you done? Will you do? What do
you know about the stimulus/stimuli?

What is your overall intention for your drama?
Remember to make reference to
playwrights/practitioners and any other
relevant influences.
AREA OF STUDY 1
Character (100 WORDS)
What does it mean?
Usually that which we recognise as a feature of the person.
May relate to the way they look, sound, how they speak, laugh, the
way they walk/behave.
What you need to do:
Describe your character using full sentences and giving reasons for
your choices. WHY did you make this choice for your character?
HOW does it impact on the drama? You should consider the
following defining features of a role:
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Status: What is their power/position in society.
Class: Are they poor or well-off, working or middle class?
Beliefs: Are there things they feel strongly about? Not
necessarily religious beliefs, but your characters’ values.
Personality: What are the individual things about the person?
What is their outlook on life? Why are they the way they are?
WHY did you make this choice for your character?
History: What is their background, how they grew up, what
makes them what they are?
Job: What do they do? How do they spend their day-times?
JOB/SCHOOL/WORK?
Attitudes: How do they see life or other people or themselves?
Must Have’s:
HOW and WHY did you show each of these features? Say how you
physically and vocally performed each of your characteristics:head down, shoulders hunched forward, little eye contact, small
steps, quiet voice, choked voice when crying, tears, fidgeting with
hands/fingers, twiddling hair, shuffling feet, croaky voice,
shouting, accent etc.
Context (100 WORDS)
What does it mean?
‘the situation or circumstances in which a piece of drama is set or
devised, which may have historical, cultural or social influences’.
BEST WAY TO UNDERSTAND THIS IS TO THINK OF 5
QUESTIONS:
What? Who? Why? Where? When?
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WHAT? Is actually happening?
WHO? Are the characters concerned? How are they linked to
other characters?
WHY? Is it telling a story; an entertainment? Is there a
message? Is it a snapshot of real life?
WHERE? Is the location of the action?
WHEN? Time of day, time in history – different social
conditions, customs, ways of looking at things.
What you need to do:
Describe the situation or circumstances of your drama. Use the 5
W’s to give a brief outline of your drama – like what you would read
on the back of a book.
Must Have’s:
Put your character and story into context – Who do they interact
with? What do they do? Where are they? What ‘time’ do they
exist in? What is the intention of your drama? How does your
character fit into this?
AREA OF STUDY 2
Structure and plot (100 WORDS)
What does it mean?
STRUCTURE is the framework of the drama, the way the scenes
or sections are put together.
PLOT describes what happens and when - The story.
What you need to do:
Give a brief description of each scene and its intention stating the
model you have used:
E.g. Our play was put together using the Aristotelian model.
Scene 1 – The Inciting Incident: The Landlord and Landlady enter
the scene bickering with each other. They talk to and serve
customers.
Intention: To introduce the main characters, show that they do not
get on with each other and set the scene in a pub.
Must Have’s:
State how is your drama put together? Which of the following
models did you use? Why?
Aristotelian method OR ‘The Well Made Play’: Inciting Incident –
The moment the play begins, Rising Action – the events that build
up to the climax, Climax – the most exciting part of the drama,
Falling Action – the consequences of the climax, Denouement – the
final moments of the play where all the loose ends are tied up.
Peripetia - means a twist in the plot.
Varying the chronological order - means swapping the order of the
story/plot around.
Obligatory moments - mean moments the audience expect and feel
cheated if they do not get.
MONTAGE – A variety of various pictures and scenes perhaps
depicting an historical event.
AREA OF STUDY 3
Audience (50 WORDS)
What does it mean?
Those for whom the performance or outcome is intended.
What you need to do:
Write about who is the most appropriate audience and why and who
is the play intended for.
Must Have’s:
Links to your overall intention: Sharing a message, educating etc.
AREA OF STUDY 4
Performance Space (50 WORDS)
What does it mean?
‘Performance space means the space to be used for enacting the
drama’.
What you need to do:
Write about what space you will perform your play in and why.
Theatre-in-the-round, Thrust, Proscenium arch, End on, Promenade,
Traverse.
Must Have’s:
What are the advantages/disadvantages of your choice of space?
How was your space defined? Consider lighting, levels, backdrops,
proxemics, aisles etc.Draw a detailed labelled ground plan of your
set identifying your decisions for set, entrances/exits, audience,
lighting etc.
AREA OF STUDY 5
Improvisation (100 WORDS)
What does it mean?
An unscripted performance
Spontaneous improvisation: When performers respond to an idea,
character, situation or stimulus without any preparation at all. Used
when rehearsing and exploring initial ideas.
Polished Improvisation: When performers are given time to plan
and rehearse. An idea is gone over several times, always trying to
improve the outcome.
Your final product will be a polished improvisation that has been
developed from spontaneous improvisations.
What you need to do:
Write about how will you get from your stimulus/starting point to
your final performance.
Must Have’s:
Consider how this journey will match your overall intentions?
AREA OF STUDY 6
Genre (100 WORDS)
What does it mean?
Describes what type or category of drama is been enacted. What is
the genre(s) of your play? What are its key features?
Psychological thriller
black comedy
‘we wanted to unsettle the
audience and make them feel
uncomfortable’
‘we wanted to make the audience
laugh at the pain we were going
through’
tragedy
‘we wanted to show my character
falling from grace and being
completely destroyed’
Other genres: Comedy, Tragedy, Melodrama, Kitchen Sink,
Documentary Theatre, Agit-prop, Commedia Dell Arte, Restoration.
Must Have’s:
WHY choose this genre? How does it match your overall
intention/s? How does this link to your stimulus/stimuli?
Style (100 WORDS)
What does it mean?
Describes HOW a drama is performed.
What you need to do:
State what your chosen style is and why.
Naturalistically – the audience should feel as if they are almost
‘spying’ on a real event – using the ‘fourth wall’.
Non-naturalistically – Drama is presented in a way which does not
require the audience to believe in the characters or in what is
happening.
Abstract – No obvious plot, non-chronological structure, focus is on
the idea been shared and not the individual characters stories
Representational – Uses characters, settings, props as symbols
representing an idea.
Masked – Used in Greek drama/Commedia Dell Arte/Brecht.
Involves characters using masks.
Physical Theatre – Focuses on movement and visual images. Uses
bodies as set, props, representations to tell story.
Must Have’s:
WHY choose this style? How does it match your overall
intention/s? How does this link to your stimulus/stimuli?
Conventions (100 WORDS)
What does it mean?
The techniques that are used to explore character, role, script,
sub-text, generate and communicate ideas.
What you need to do:
Write about what was used in rehearsals/performance.
Hotseating, Freeze-Frame, Role on the Wall, monologues, direct
audience address, mime, imaginary actors, thought tracking, voice
over, telephone call, letter, diary.
Remember that conventions can be matched to style and or usually
practitioner:
Brecht/non-naturalistic conventions – Direct address, minimal set,
reported speech, horrid laughter, narration, captions/placards,
audience interaction, slow-motion, choral movement and speech.
Stanislavski/naturalistic conventions – fourth wall, elaborate
sets/props, characters motivations.
Must Have’s:
State the convention, explain the convention and say HOW and
WHY you used the convention.
AREA OF STUDY 7
Semiotics (200 words)
What does it mean?
The signs and symbols of drama and how meaning is created and
communicated through these.
What you need to do:
Write about your choices:
Lighting: Black out at the beginning and end of the scenes.
Different coloured lights. What do they represent/communicate?
Music: What mood is it creating? What is its relevance?
Costumes: What do they say about the character? Draw or stick
in pictures. Add detailed labels and say what they are
communicating to the audience.
What would Burberry
communicate? What would a bowler hat communicate?
Props: What is used and why? What would a briefcase
communicate? What would an empty vodka bottle communicate?
Proxemics: Where people stand/move. Where are they in relation
to other characters on stage? What is the ‘whole stage picture?’
EVALUATION (250 WORDS)
What you need to do:
Re-state what is your overall intention for your drama is/was? Has
this changed? HOW, WHY? Did your final piece match your initial
ideas/intentions?
Must Have’s:
What changes did you make to your character and play on the
journey from rehearsal to performance?
What did you CHANGE, ADD, ADAPT? WHY make these choices?
What effect did this have?
What worked well and WHY?
If you had the chance to re-rehearse and perform your play again,
WHAT would you change or do differently? WHY would you do
this? HOW would this effect the outcome?