Minds On
Let’s warm up!
Warm Up
Warm up
Find a comfortable position. For this exercise, take a deep breath in and then exhale, lifting your head up and making a whispered ‘hah’ sound or breathe out like you are a dragon breathing fire.
Do it again, and again. Try to breathe even more fire each time.
Access the next audio recording entitled “Dragon Breathing Fire” to follow this exercise.
Dragon Breathing Fire
Drama game
Time to tell a silly story!
Start with “once upon a time…” and then tell any story you want — the sillier, the better!
Maybe it’s a story about an astronaut who goes to the moon and discovers it’s made of cheese! Or a story about a green alien who only loves to eat spaghetti.
Act out your story as you are telling it, if possible.
Let’s get started
Access the next episode of the TVO show Big Top Academy Performances to examine Chase’s performance and respond to the following questions.
- What does Chase do to prepare for his role (e.g., props, costume, etc.)?
- How might he want the audience to feel?
Record your thoughts using a method of your choice. Consider adding your work to your drama portfolio.
Action
Get ready, get set…
When you are an actor, there are many things you have to think about before you perform.
Some of them are internal, which include the way you act and your character’s thoughts and feelings.
Some are external, which include the other actors and the audience.
Go!
Let’s explore the Big Top Academy Performances video with Chase’s performance again and consider the following question.
- What did Chase think about before his performance?
Internal factors
Character motivations
Before you perform, you have to think about why your character would act certain ways. This is called a character’s motivation. Let’s think about Chase’s performance. He’s a lion.
What could be a lion’s motivation?
Press ‘Sample Answer’ to find out what a lion’s motivation could be.
A lion’s motivation could include scaring other animals or searching for something to eat.
Body, face, voice
Actors have to think about how they are going to perform a character. Chase uses his body movements, his facial expressions, and his voice to create his lion character.
His lion character is loud. It likes to growl and jump around.
But another actor’s lion character could be a quiet lion. Maybe it moves slowly and doesn’t roar.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
If you were performing the lion character, how might you use your body, face, and/or voice?
Record your ideas using a method of your choice. Consider adding your work to your drama portfolio.
External factors
Other actors
In the Big Top Academy Performances video, Chase is performing by himself, so he doesn’t have to worry about other actors. But often when you are performing, there are other actors as well. It’s important to think about your character’s relationship with the other characters.
Also, when an actor is on stage, they need to be aware of what the other actors are doing at all times. That way they know when it’s time to say their lines. It also helps to make sure they don’t bump into anyone!
Scenery and props
Before actors perform, they think about the scenery and props that will be on stage. How are you going to interact with them? In Chase’s performance, his prop was a large drum that he performed on top of.
Let’s imagine that the scenery was in a jungle and there were lots of vines and trees on the stage. Props could include leaves, rocks, and more.
How might you use the scenery and props in your performance?
Press ‘Sample Answer’ to access some ways to use the scenery and props in a drama performance.
You can:
- pretend you are an animal under a tree
- use a prop that works well with your animal (e.g., if you are acting as a koala, you can use a tree branch to pretend that you are eating eucalyptus leaves.)
- be aware of the objects on stage so that you can move without bumping into anything
Audience
When an actor is performing, they usually perform in front of an audience. It’s important to think about how the audience will react to your performance.
Chase says, “I really wanted the audience to have fun. And maybe be a little scared too.”
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
Consider the following questions.
If you were the lion character, how would you want the audience to react? Would you want them to be scared?
Consolidation
Review your learning
For each sentence, select the missing words from the drop-down menu.
If you had a chance to interview Chase about his Big Top Academy lion performance, what would you ask? Create a list of four to six questions you would ask Chase.
Use the following checklist as a guide to create your interview questions.
Performance interview checklist
Think about the following factors when you create your interview questions:
You may use the following fillable and printable Interview Template to record your interview questions. You can also complete this activity in your notebook. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts as well. Consider adding your work to your drama portfolio.
| Use the following template to create four to six questions you would ask Chase about his lion performance. Consider the following checklist as a guide to create your interview questions. |
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Performance interview checklist Think about the following factors when you create your interview questions: |
Record your interview questions in the following chart.
| Questions |
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. |
Press the ‘Activity’ button to access the Interview Template.
Portfolio
Drama portfolio
Consider adding the answers to the following reflection questions to your drama portfolio.
- What did you enjoy about Chase’s performance?
- How would you have performed that character differently?
- Performing takes a lot of organization. What else can you think of that an actor needs to do to create a successful performance?
Reflection
How do you feel about what you have learned in this activity? Which of the next four sentences best matches how you are feeling about your learning? Press the button that is beside this sentence.
I feel…
Now, record your ideas about your feelings using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.