Non verbal skills and communication......What is it? What are the skills?

Lesson 1: Journal Entry:

55% of communication is nonverbal. 38% of communication is through vocal elements. 7% of communication is through the words themselves.

Before you write anything, let's talk about what this means. What does nonverbal mean? What about vocal elements? Are those numbers kind of crazy? 93% of communication is based on everything BUT your words!

Question: How do you communicate using your body?

Activity:

Do you know or remember what soft focus means?

1. Move about your space at home in soft focus, focusing on your nonverbal communication. First, portray different emotions (excited, panicked, curious, annoyed, proud, enraged, etc.).

2. Then move around the space like they are in a different location/environment (pouring rain, halls at school, in a crowd, on a beach, hiking, etc.)

3. Lastly, try to portray different characters using nonverbal communication (old man, thief, cheerleader, nerd, child, football jock, etc.)

Some of the students will become the audience and make observations while others are moving. Some students freeze and stay as statues while other students observe like they are at a museum. Notice some of the different things people are doing. Notice some of the same things students are doing.

Reverse Charades:

On the Jamboard contribute at least two different things to the page. Reverse charades means that everyone but one person is acting it out and one person is guessing.

We will Split into two teams. Each team will have two minutes to guess as many words as they can.

After watch all of the clips, pick ONE to write down in your F#16 Vocab & Notes page found on GCLASS some of the answers to these questions and be prepared to share out what you observed.

What was going on? How could you tell? Describe what the actor was doing with his/her face? Body? Was it effective? Why or why not? Why do you think these things are important? How is body language and important tool in storytelling and conveying meaning?

Pantomime is the art of acting without words and is called the Art of Silence. This is the basics of your training as an actor, because a character is portrayed through gestures, facial expressions, and movement - the first things an audience will notice. Silent film actors such as Charlie Chaplin were masters of Pantomime and Marcel Marceau was an outstanding example of Mime.

Much of our daily communication is through nonverbal communication, which is communicating without words. We use facial expressions, gestures and body language constantly.

Inexperienced actors will tend to rely on their voices and forget about their bodies.

Pantomime is valuable because it encourages meaningful movements, significant gestures, and animated facial expressions.

Physical actions, and NOT WORDS are the basis for most characters, the art of acting with out speaking is the most important phase.

Your body is your tool for expressing a character's personality.

Watch the following videos and add your thoughts about this to your Digital Journal.

There are three different kinds of movement in theatre:

1. Movement from Place to Place – Just what it sounds like

2. Gestures – Using our hands, arms, face & body to communicate non-verbally. (We also use gestures to add to our verbal communication.)

3. Stage Business – What we do with our bodies on stage. Are we fiddling with a prop, sitting with our legs crossed, knitting a sweater, etc?

Along with the 3 basic types of movement there are two basic styles of movement…

1. Realistic – The imitation of the natural actions people perform every day (ex. talking on the phone, eating, walking up stairs, etc.). If everyday movements are exaggerated this is still realistic movement, it is just a little more dramatic.

2. Stylized – Movements used to create certain effects (ex. mechanical, synchronized movements by a group). Symbolic movement also falls under the stylized category. This is done when a conventional gesture is made to stand for something else, like an emotion or a more complex physical activity (checking your wrist for the time might symbolize impatience). What are a few examples of things you have seen ?

How did you know what order any story will go in? Why is the order of a story important? Draw the dramatic structure triangle in your digital journal.

Dramatic Structure

In drama, we change the words to be: a de-nouement and an inciting event. Label the different parts of the dramatic structure triangle in your digital journal. Include the titles listed below here.

EXPOSITION – Background information (Who, what, when, where, why; normal life)

INCITING INCIDENT – An action that sets the conflict in action (normal life changes)

RISING ACTION – The story thickens and obstacles arise

CLIMAX – Highest point of the play (most emotional, the choice, etc.)

FALLING ACTION – Everything that happens leading up to…

DENOUEMENT — The untying of the knot or resolution.

While you are watching the PIXAR clip below write down when each of the six elements of dramatic structure occur.

Discussion:

What was the dramatic structure or storyline? Did the plot follow the dramatic structure correctly? Define the exact moments of each element (What are some exposition points that created a background for the characters and story? What happened to change normal life? What obstacles were tossed in the way? What was the climax? What could have happened? How did the story resolve itself – or did it really resolve completely? Etc.).

F#19 Activity:

You will be divided into two groups with a minimum of six people in it for “One Minute Fairytale.”

As a class we will pick a fairytale that you will all be performing. Each group of 6 people will focus on one of the parts of the dramatic structure (person 1 = exposition, person 2 = inciting event, person 3 = rising action, person 4 = climax, person 5 = falling action, and person 6 = denouement). The remaining people will help narrate your story for you.

You will have five minutes to decide what part of the story fits your part of the structure, how they will be performing it, and to rehearse. Each performance should only be a minute (hence the name). Consider some of the ways in which you can show your character through body language and movement by checking out the images below.

You are now going to repeat this activity and now must remove all the words and bring this story fully into the world of Pantomime.

Gestures:

• The movement of any part of your body to help express and idea or emotion. You have two types: Facial expressions and hand/arm movements.

• Facial expressions occur quickly, but usually starts in the eyes and then the mouth.

• Good facial expressions takes practice and often need to be larger than you think in order to communicate this to the audience.

Walking and Sitting:

• Most of us walk without giving much consideration to what we are doing. Onstage, however the manner in which you walk is observed very carefully by the audience.

• Sitting is often a problem for inexperienced actors. Keep your spine at a 90 degree angle to the seat. usually you will sit forward in the chair, but depending on character you might sit back.

Crossing, Turning & Falling:

• Moving from one place onstage to the other is called crossing. When you enter the stage you should enter with the foot that is closest to the back of the stage (this opens your body up to the audience when you enter).

• All turns are made to the front, and rotate with the ball of your feet.

• Divide your body into segments for your fall, and then lower each segment to the floor. Control your body as it goes to the floor. LEGS >> UPPER LEGS>> BODY>> SHOULDERS>> HEAD Absorb the fall with the soft parts of your body.

Project Explanation Video:

Click here for a quick explanation of the Pantomime activities and assignments including the summative.

Watch the following two videos and think about how the actor is using his body, face and combination of movements to portray the scene. What is effective about his performance?

Watch the following two videos on Pantomime and explain how the actor is using the skills learned so far in the use of facial expressions and body language to create character, show emotion and communicate their scene.

Although some performers make no distinction between pantomime and mime... there are some differences.

• Mime is both the Performance and the performer

• Mime is very abstract and highly stylized (meaning very specific movements)

• Mime does NOT imitate physical action as it occurs in life realistically. It gives the ILLUSION of that action.

• Mimes do not walk in the same way as we normally do. The Mime walk is an illusion that gives the idea of walking.

• Mimes have only 5 basic facial expressions: HAPPY, SAD, SURPRISED, ANGRY and AFRAID

• Mimes only have these 5 expressions and must be very clear in the expression and often use makeup to enhance their features to be seen from far away. (white face with black designs on the face)

Mime in Practice: PERFORMING

• The mime will neutralize the face by painting it white, but the detailed makeup around the eyes and mouth are to show the most expressive parts of the face.

• The dress and outfit is usually something that is easy to move in and does not affect the body. Flexible shoes to help the foot move well, and some stretch pants. Usually in the dark grey/black or white colours.

Three types of Mime Exercises:

1. INCLINATION: Bending of the body to the front, the side or the rear.

2. ROTATION: turning or pivoting the part of the body such as the head of the chest from the rest of the body.

3. ISOLATION: separates parts of the body for individual movement and expression. Most challenging to achieve. Must practice moving each body part one at a time.