Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

My name's Mrs. Riley, and I'll be teaching you today.

In our lesson today, we'll be reading and performing a script based on "The Iron Man." So I hope you've got your acting skills ready.

Let's get started.

The outcome of today's lesson is to read and respond to a play script based on "The Iron Man" and perform it in front of an audience.

These are our keywords for today's lesson.

Let's start by saying each one, my turn, your turn.

Are you ready? Play script conventions.

Performance techniques.

And finally, setting descriptions.

Well done.

Play script conventions are rules that are followed by playwrights to write play scripts that are clear and easy to follow.

Performance techniques are the ways an actor uses their body, voice, and facial expressions to bring a character to life in a play.

And setting descriptions are a brief description of where and when the action takes place at the beginning of a scene in a play.

In our lesson today, we have three learning cycles.

First, we'll read and respond to a play script.

Then we'll rehearse a play script.

And finally, we will do some performing.

Let's start with reading and responding to a play script.

We know that actors use performance techniques when they act.

Performance techniques are practised in rehearsals.

The director gives the actors feedback for what they're doing well and what they can improve.

I'd like you to discuss now, which performance techniques can an actor use to bring a character to life? Pause the video while you discuss this with your partner.

Okay, well done.

Let's come back together.

I heard some really nice ideas.

Actors can use all these performance techniques.

They can use their voice so that an actor can speak like the character they play, and sometimes they might use a different accent or change the way their voice sounds to match the character they're playing.

They can use their face to show their character's emotions and to bring the dialogue to life.

And finally, they can use their body so that an actor can move like the character they play.

For example, if you were playing someone really old who perhaps had a really bad back in a play, you would want to walk with maybe a bit of a limp and a bit hunched over rather than walking how you might walk normally.

So we are thinking about all these things when we're trying to play and be a different character, to bring that character to life.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

I would like you to match each word to how it is used as a performance technique to bring a character to life.

So the words are voice, face, and body.

And then the description is one of them is so an actor can move like the character they play, one is so an actor can speak like the character they play, and one is to show a character's emotions and to bring the dialogue to life.

Perhaps you could draw imaginary lines in the air to match these up now.

Pause the video.

Okay, well done.

Let's see how you got on.

So a voice is so an actor can speak like the character they play, the face is to show a character's emotion and to bring the dialogue to life, and the body is so an actor can move like the character they play.

Performance techniques are important to bring characters to life, but so are stage directions.

Stage directions are a play script convention, that's one of our keywords, the rules that playwrights follow to make their scripts organised, clear, and easy to follow.

Let's remind ourselves of the play script conventions we know.

So if I was going to write a play, I would need to follow these things.

I need a title.

I need to split my play into scenes.

I need scene headings.

I need dialogue, which is what the characters say, and action.

I need to include the character's names at the be beginning of each line so each character knows when to speak.

And I need stage directions.

A scene is a chunk or section of the play.

It is always shown by a scene heading.

A scene is a bit like a chapter in a book.

And dialogue is all the words spoken by the characters.

And action is what happens.

So true or false? Scene headings like this one are not really needed, Scene 2: Meeting Charlotte.

Is this true or false? And why? Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

This is false.

Why? Because scene headings are very important.

They signal when where a new scene or a chunk of the play begins.

Imagine having no chapters in a book.

You'd get very lost and confused, and this is a similar idea.

If you were rehearsing a play, you would start by saying which part you were rehearsing.

So the director might say, "Okay, in today's rehearsal, I want us to really practise act 2, scenes 3 and 4." And that would be the part, the sort of almost like the chapter of a book, with the part of the play that you would focus on and you would keep practising all the scenes until the whole play was ready to perform.

Stage directions are very important to help the actors.

Let's see how.

So here, we can see some dialogue.

Charlotte, this is from "Charlotte's Web." Charlotte is a spider, and it says calmly, she says, "Hello, Wilbur." She then gently says, "Up here in the corner." And then laughing softly, she says, "Oh, I'm not scary, Wilbur." All of these are stage directions, calmly, gently, and laughing softly.

You can see they're all written in italics, which means the writing, the text is slightly slanted.

Could you discuss what do we know about the character of Charlotte from these stage directions alone? So not the dialogue, not what she says, but just from these stage directions that she says it calmly, gently, and laughing softly.

What can we tell about the character of Charlotte? Pause the video and discuss this with your partner.

Okay, well done.

We can tell that she's calm, gentle, and has a soft laugh, and it gives us this impression that she's a nice character who can be trusted.

Now let's see what happens if we change the stage directions.

So we are keeping the dialogue exactly the same, but we're just changing the stage directions.

So this time it's Charlotte whispering, "Hello, Wilbur." Menacingly, "Up here in the corner." And then it's smiling evilly, "Oh, I'm not scary, Wilbur," and then cackling.

So now, what does the character of Charlotte seem like with these new stage directions? Pause the video and discuss that with your partner.

Okay, let's come back together.

So hopefully you can see that just changing the stage directions dramatically changes the character.

Now Charlotte seems like an evil character that's not to be trusted.

So we can see that stage directions are really, really important.

Do you agree with Andeep or Aisha? And why? So here's the line from the play.

So it's Wilbur speaking, and the stage direction is surprised, "You are a spider, but, but spiders are scary!" So Andeep says, "I'd say this line like I was stumbling over the words and I'd make my eyes wide." Aisha says, "I think I'd shout this line because it has exclamation marks at the end of each sentence." Who do you agree with? And why? Pause the video now.

Okay, let's come back together.

Well, Andeep has read the stage direction more carefully than Aisha here.

He's read that Wilbur's main emotion here is surprise, and that's why he was saying he would stumble over the words and make his eyes wide open.

So if you are an actor, it's really important to closely read and pay attention to those stage directions because they'll help you know how to act.

As well as stage directions, scripts include setting descriptions.

Setting descriptions are written at the beginning of a scene.

They give a brief description of where and when the action takes place.

So in this Scene 3: Some Pig, the setting description is as follows.

The next morning, the barn is full of excitement.

The animals are staring at Charlotte's web.

The words SOME PIG are woven in the web.

The farmer and his wife stand nearby, looking amazed.

So here's the scene heading, Scene 3: Some Pig, and this is all the setting description.

So no one is speaking or saying these lines, but this really helps the director of the play to know what the stage should look like and where everyone should be standing and what props they might need.

So from the setting description, the director and actors can decide how the stage should look and where everybody should be.

I would like you to discuss what would your stage look like and where would your actors be for this setting description.

Let me read it once more.

So as you are listening, perhaps you can even close your eyes and listen as I read, and picture what, how your stage would look and where you would want all your characters to be.

So close your eyes and listening now only.

The next morning, the barn is full of excitement.

The animals are staring at Charlotte's web.

The words SOME PIG are woven in the web.

The farmer and his wife stand nearby, looking amazed.

Okay, so you can open your eyes now and tell your partner what would your stage look like and where would your actors be for this setting description.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

Let's come back together.

So you might have said you needed a prop of Charlotte's web because this is really important, that it says SOME PIG.

So somebody would have to, somebody would have to make that prop, and that would have to be hanging on stage so everyone could see it.

So the animal, so all the animal actors would need to be on stage because it's, there's it's full of excitement and all the animals are there and they'd have to be staring.

So looking, all looking at this, at Charlotte's web.

And the farmer and the wife, actors need to also be on stage, perhaps to the side, and they need to also be staring at Charlotte's web as well.

So is Lucas correct? And why? Lucas says, "Setting descriptions are not useful play script conventions.

They just add more words when the really important stuff is what each character says.

I write setting descriptions in my English lessons.

They're only useful when I want to describe places in my stories, not in play scripts." Is Lucas correct? And why? Pause the video and tell your partner now.

Okay, let's come back together.

So hopefully you realise that Lucas is not correct.

It's true that we write setting descriptions in story writing to bring settings to life, but the same idea is true in a play script.

The setting description allows the director and actors to imagine the setting of the scene so they can show it to the audience.

Once a director and the actors have read the setting descriptions, they can make each scene come to life.

Remember that a director will have a stage crew to help do this.

The stage crew are people who build a set.

So for example, they might build a farm yard on the stage to be the setting of the scene we looked at in Charlotte's web.

They would make the props, so they would have to somehow make that web that said SOME PIG on it.

They would have to design costumes.

So in this example, they'd have to have lots of animal costumes to be the animals and farmer costumes for the farmers.

They would be in charge of lighting.

So where does a light have to shine? Or should it be dark or brighter? And they might create sound effects.

So perhaps they might play some sound effects of animal sounds in a farm yard.

And finally, finally, they choose music to go with the play.

Remember that the director and the actors are interpreting, imagining, and designing the play their way for the audience.

They must make their choices based on the plays setting description.

But how each scene looks and where the actors are placed is up to them.

That's why really famous plays, for example, Shakespeare's "Macbeth," Shakespeare's the playwright and he wrote a play "Macbeth," has been put on by lots and lots of different directors.

And if if you went to watch them all, even though they would have the same script, the plays would be very different because it's how the director, it's like the director's vision of what they want the play to be like.

So it's my turn and then your turn.

I'm going to go first.

I'm going to read a setting description.

I'm going to read my first reactions as if I were a director, and then it's going to be your turn.

So here's the setting.

Inside a warm, cosy barn.

A little pig, Wilbur, stands looking around.

Various animals, including a cow, goose, and sheep are nearby.

Fern, a little girl, sits outside the pen, watching Wilbur.

So that's the setting description in the play script.

So I'd like a set that's large and brown.

I'd like Wilbur in the centre at the front and the animals behind him.

I need hay bales and bucket props on stage and I'd like Fern at the front of the stage on the left.

So that's the kind of thing I might say as a director.

Now it's your turn.

Here's the setting.

It's a different setting.

Wilbur is lying down, looking sad in his pen.

It's nighttime.

Suddenly, a voice heard from above.

Charlotte, a spider, appears on her web.

So you need to read the setting description carefully.

Note any details that might help you.

Think about the set, the characters, and any props you need.

Who will be where on stage? And is there any sound or lighting you need? So these are all the things you have to think about now.

So I'll go back to the setting description, think about all those things, and tell your partner what you would do now.

Pause the video.

Okay, lovely.

Let's come back together.

Well, in that scene, you might have said you wanted the lights to be low because it's nighttime with maybe one spotlight shining on Wilbur, who might be in the middle.

You might have wanted the prop of like a cobweb at the top where Charlotte would come down from.

You, I'm sure, came up with lots of other ideas as well.

So well done at being the director.

So it's now time for your first task.

Now we're going to switch from "Charlotte's Web" to "The Iron Man." You are going to read the first scene of the play script based on "The Iron Man," which is in the additional materials.

You are going to work in a group of three.

One of you is going to read the setting description and all the stage directions.

And these are in italics, that's slanted writing.

The other two of you read as the narrator and Iron Man.

You are only reading scene 1.

So when you get to scene 2, stop.

Okay, so after you have read through the play script, you are then going to discuss as a group your first reactions to this scene.

If you were directing, what would you want your set to be like? Where would each of your characters be? Would your narrator be on stage or off stage? Remember as a director, it's just your vision, so it's whatever you think.

Which props would you have on stage or held by characters? And would you need any special lighting or sound effects? What would your costumes be like for each character? So a lot of things to think about.

So first, you are going to read the scene and then you are going to discuss as a group how you would, if you were directing, what you would want it all to look like.

So enjoy this task.

Pause the video now.

Okay, let's come back together.

So let's just take a moment to reflect.

Did you work well in your group? Did you discuss all these questions? If you were directing, what would your set be like? Where would each of your characters be? Would your narrator be on stage or off stage? Which props would you have or held by characters? Would you need any special lighting or sound effects? And what would the costumes be like? Perhaps pause the video, and if there was one of those things you missed out, you could just discuss what that would be now.

Okay, brilliant.

Well done.

So it's now time for our second learning cycle, rehearsal.

So you've had a first read of the play script for today's lesson.

It's based on "The Iron Man," which is a book by Ted Hughes.

A giant metal man appears in the countryside, wandering around eating manmade objects and scaring local people.

Hogarth, a boy, helps to set a trap to capture the Iron Man by leading him into a deep pit.

He soon realises that the Iron Man means no harm.

A huge space dragon arrives, threatening to destroy Earth.

The Iron Man rises up to fight the space dragon in a battle of strength.

Victorious, the Iron Man brings peace and the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon becomes a friend to Earth.

So there's a summary of what happens in "The Iron Man." It's a story of understanding, bravery, and teamwork.

So let's check your understanding.

What do you think is the main message in "The Iron Man?" A, we should be brave when fighting for things we believe in, B, we should always fight people we disagree with, C, we should be frightened of people who are different, or D, we should show no interest in people we meet.

Pause the video and choose your answer.

Well done.

The correct answer is A, the main message in "The Iron Man" is we should be brave when fighting for things we believe in.

You know that a big team of people get a play ready to perform.

The team includes a director, the actors, and the stage crew.

All members of the team decide all of these elements.

How each scene will look, who will be in each scene, where they will be positioned, how they will act.

Remember, the director gets the final say.

It's their version of the play after all.

The director is kind of in charge.

Could you match the person's role to what they're in charge of? The director, an actor, and a member of the stage crew, and then what they're in charge of is designing and building part of the set, how the stage will look and who will be on it at different points in the play, speaking and acting and role as one of the characters of the play.

Perhaps you could draw imaginary lines in the air and match these up.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

So the director decides how the stage will look and who will be on it at different points in the play.

An actor is speaking and acting in role as one of the characters.

And a member of the stage crew would be designing and building part of the set.

So it's now time for your second task, and you are now going to rehearse the whole play script based on "The Iron Man." There is one director part and four speaking parts.

So you are going to work in groups of five, one director and four speaking parts.

Decide who's going to be the director and decide who's going to read each of the four speaking parts.

For example, you might say, "You be Iron Man and I'll be Hogarth." The director is going to read all the setting descriptions and stage directions really carefully.

And your job is to note down a clear vision of how you want each scene to look.

The actors are going to use the stage directions to give you instructions for how to speak and act each line of your dialogue.

Share any ideas you have for how each scene should look with the director.

So remember, you are rehearsing the whole of the play script now in the additional resources and you are working as a team.

Pause the video now.

Okay, let's come back together.

Well done.

So let's check we rehearsed well in a team.

Director, whoever you are, did you have a clear vision of how you wanted each scene to look and did you communicate this well to your actors? And actors, did you use the stage directions to help you speak and act and did you share any of your ideas with the director? Pause the video and have a bit of time to reflect now.

Okay, well done.

So we've rehearsed now and now we're going to be performing.

Performing to an audience means feeling well-prepared.

You should feel this because you've completed your rehearsal.

Try and remember that the audience is there to enjoy it.

Nerves are completely normal.

They can actually improve your performance.

And if you forget a line, have another look at the play script and say it again and don't worry.

Most importantly, try to have fun whilst you perform.

So let's just check your understanding.

Who do you agree with, Lucas or Izzy? And why? Lucas says, "I get so nervous and I really hate feeling like that.

I feel like I'm about to jump off a really tall building and butterflies in my stomach make me feel sick and I just want to run away." Izzy says, "I definitely get nervous too, but I try to ride the nerves, almost like I'm riding a wave.

I use my deep breathing to help me, in for four, in for five, and out for five.

And that really helps me." So there isn't a right or a wrong answer here.

It's more just a question of who do you feel a bit more like Lucas or Izzy when you are about to perform.

So pause the video and discuss that now with your partner.

Okay, well done.

So we all have different responses here, and that's fine.

Hopefully, you can use some of those tips.

For example, Izzy's breathing tip.

That's a really nice one if you're feeling nervous.

And perhaps some of you don't get nervous at all, and that's all right as well.

We're all different.

So it's now time for your second task, sorry, your final task, and you are now going to perform the play based on "The Iron Man." Each group of five will perform one scene of the play or the whole of the play, whichever your group prefers or however much time you have.

The rest of the class and any adults in the room are going to be the audience.

You need to find a space in your classroom or school hall that can become your stage.

The director can sit at the side of the stage and watch closely, and they can think of any feedback they will give to the actors.

Actors can have a go at saying some or all of your lines from memory.

So if you can remember your lines, then don't look at the script and only use the script if you need it.

Audience, you need to watch carefully so you are ready to give the performers feedback.

And don't forget to clap at the end of the performance.

So once you each group has performed, you can then share feedback.

The audience can share three positive points, and more if you have them, and one thing that could be improved next time.

And each group of actors and the director will share one thing they rehearsed and that they felt went really well and one thing that perhaps they hadn't prepared for.

So each group is going to have a turn at acting and performing in front of an audience.

And then after each performance, there'll be this chance to give feedback to from the audience, but also from the group that we're acting.

Remember, it's up to you if you're going to just do one scene or the whole of the script.

And try to think about all those things we've discussed today.

Where should you be standing, make sure you've listened to what any instructions the director's given you, and try, most importantly, to enjoy it.

Pause the video now while you complete this final task.

Okay, well done.

Let's come back together.

Well done for performing.

It can feel a bit scary, and you've all done really well to give that a go.

So let's summarise what we've learned today.

We've learned that setting descriptions and stage directions are very important play script conventions.

That was our key, one of our keywords, or two of them.

A whole team, a director, actors, and a stage crew bring a play to life.

The team decides how each scene should look, which characters should be visible, and how each character should be acting.

The director has the final say for how each scene should be.

Actors use their performance techniques to speak and act like their characters in the way the director wants.

So hopefully what we've learned today will be really useful when you perform in the future.

But also you might be now watching out for certain things if you are part of an audience watching a performance.

Thank you so much for working so hard today, and especially well done if you feel a bit nervous about performing, but you gave it a go.

You should feel really proud of yourselves.

Hopefully I'll see you for some more learning another time.

Bye.