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DRAMA GCSE: Y10 Unit 1: Written exam

Student Support Booklet

Name___________________________

Highgate Wood School

This booklet should be used as a revision tool. Use it over the half term holiday to prepare for your Unit 1 mock exam. Make sure you complete the tasks, as they will help you feel confident about any question you might be asked in the exam itself. Please bring this booklet to EVERY Drama lesson after half term break.

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Voice (pitch, pace, pause Facial expressions tempo, accent, tone, emphasis) Eyeline/focus Body Language Use of props Proxemics –

How close or far you are to other actors

Gesture Interaction with others Movement e.g Gait = walk Use of costume

Unit 1: Drama written exam

What on Earth am I writing about?!

Depending on the question, you could be writing about any of the elements above. In most answers you will refer to more than more than one of these elements, especially in Section B of the paper, which awards a maximum of 20 marks for each response. It is really important that you feel confident writing about your performance using Drama vocabulary. The next few pages will guide you through some of the key terms that you must be using in your

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DRAMA VOCAB: LEARN, LEARN, LEARN !!!

Acting Skills Voice Pitch / Pace/ Pause/ Accent/ dialect/ volume/ tone/ resonance/ articulation/ tempo Physicality – Body language/ posture/ pose/ poise/ Weight/ staccato/ legato/ Facial Expressions Proxemics Eye contact Gait Gestures

Stage Configurations Large studio space with a 2 tiered stage in an End On configuration Proscenium Arch Thrust Apron In the Round End on Thrust stage Arena Stage Raked stage

Style Stylised / symbolic Naturalistic Physical Theatre Comedic Satirical Naturalism Realism Genre Comedy – black comedy/ sit com/ rom com/ slapstick/ pastiche Horror Documentary Expressionism Mystery/ thriller/

General Words Upstage - Downstage Stage Left/Right Cues Rehearsal Refine / develop / stimulus Blocking / Space Atmosphere / mood / Reaction

Rehearsal Techniques Improvisation Hot Seating Experimenting Directing Blocking Units and Actioning Audience Response Forum Theatre Still Images Read through Role on the Wall Character Profile

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PACE INTONATION NASAL EMOTION ACCENT/DIALECT PITCH PAUSE LINE DELIVERY EMPHASIS STACCATO

Acting techniques: Use of Voice

Remember the word ‘Pineapples’ – you need to be referring to these elements of voice when describing how you used it. Then you need to link them the effect they had on the audience

Pineapples

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FACIAL EXPRESSION

LEVELS ACTION GAIT POSTURE EYE CONTACT GESTURE SPACE

Acting Techniques: Use of physicality

Remember the words ‘Flag Pegs’ – you need to be referring to these elements of your physicality when describing how you used it. Then you need to link them the effect they had on the audience

Flag Pegs

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Key words to explain/ analyse/evaluate your acting skills Voice (pace, pitch, volume, tone, accent)

Facial Expressions

Body Language

Gesture

Proxemics / Movement

Scream

Wink

Shaking/nodding head

Raising hands

Moving forward

Shout

Cheerful

Shrug

Clenching fists

Moving away

Squeaky

Smile

Titled head

Wagging finger

Keeping same distance

Pause

Titled head

Drumming/tapping fingers

Pointing

Pushing away

Mumble

Frown

Slowly

Rubbing hands

Pulling towards

Stutter

Wide eyed

Open / Closed

Rubbing eyes

Invading personal space

Whisper

Down turned mouth

Slouched

Thumbs up/down

Backing off

Controlled

Eyebrows raised

Shoulders hunched

Biting nails

Circling

Slowly

Mouth wide open

Quickly

Hands on hips

Intimidating

Croaky

Eyes narrowed

Skipping

Hands behind back

Comforting

Quietly

Sad

Plodding

Stroking chin

Ignoring

Strong

Jaw tensed

Slow

Head in hands

Turning your back

Melodic

Upper lip curled

Running

Playing with hair

Grabbing clothing

Clear

Flared nostrils

Alert

Crossing arms

Fixed on the spot

Gibberish

Drooping eyelids

Brisk

Stroking

Stalking

Breathy

Rolling eyes

Leaning

Waving

Mirroring

Wheezy

Glare

Pacing

Scratching head

Approaching

Intonation

Stare

Kneeling

Throwing hands in the air

Challenging

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The MAGIC 8

• You should include 8 performance techniques in every answer.

E.g. if the Q asks you about development or research, you might say how researching (for example a mental health problem, or the historical context) helped with characterisation. • Then you must quote a line from your piece (where the research was

relevant) and go on to give 8 performance techniques you used as a result of the research.

Here is an example of how the magic 8 has been used in an explanation of how a student prepared for their performance: My character’s purpose in the play was to show the moral contrast between two twins. We developed the piece to have a strong moral message, highlighting my character’s role in the murder. We researched newspaper articles on child killers and watched a documentary on children that kill. One specific example of when I applied my skill as an actor was when I said the line "don't look at me," I spoke in a low pitched whisper (1) with a stammer (2) on “don't”. I lowered my eyes (3) and couldn't maintain eye contact with the other actors on stage. I started to walk backwards (4) with a slow pace and wide gait (5) until I reached my desk. As I lowered myself onto my chair, I put my head in my hands (6) and scrunched my shoulders up to my ears. I crossed my legs to create negative body language (7) then finally lifted my eyes to stare (8) at the audience, unnerving them and achieving my aim of a creepy and eerie character fitting with our theme of free choice between right and wrong.

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Pineapples and Flag Pegs and MAGIC 8: putting it into practice Try completing the following task, Acting Skills from Pineapples and Flag Pegs:

1. Choose a moment from your improvised performance about ‘Madness’ and Mental health. Describe that moment and explain what you wanted to achieve for the audience.

e.g. In one part of my performance my character was asked by their doctor why they had made an appointment. I wanted to show that in the 1900s, people did not discuss mental health and so my character was unable to explain their feelings effectively.

Your turn:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Choose a line that you delivered in this part of your performance.

e.g. My character answered the doctor with “I just feel numb”.

Your turn:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Choose 4 vocal acting skills from the Pineapples list and explain how

you used them to deliver this line. Try to pick out key words and focus on them.

e.g. The tone of my voice was monotone, lacking any emotion, and the pitch of my voice was low, to show how my depression had sucked the life and soul out of me. I also paused before “numb”, to suggest that my character was struggling to find the word to describe their feelings, at a time when people didn’t talk about depression. The pace of my speech was slow and steady, almost robotic, because my character’s depression had turned them into a shell of a person and taken away their ability to be expressive.

(PTO)

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Your turn:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

4. Now choose 4 physical acting skills from the Flag Pegs list and explain how you used them at the same moment in your performance. Try to pick out key words and focus on them.

e.g. As I spoke to the doctor I sat rigidly, with an upright posture, to show my character’s discomfort at being in the doctor’s surgery. I also avoided eye contact, staring straight ahead, again to show my character’s awkwardness and inability to face up to her issues. One the word ‘Numb’, I shook my head slightly, as if I was trying to shake off my character’s negative feelings. Finally, at the end of the line, I looked down into my lap, to suggest my character felt shame in what they were telling the doctor because there was nothing physically wrong with them. Your turn: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FURTHER REVISION - See if you can do this for a number of different key moments in your improvised performance AND your scripted performance

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Writing about the interaction with others on stage. Did your relationship with another character have a significant effect on the audience? How did you show this?

Describe a key relationship between your character and another character in the play and explain how you showed this relationship in your acting. In our improvised performance my character had a __________________relationship with___________________________________ One example of when this relationship was demonstrated to the audience was when_____________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One line I said in this scene was ______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ To show this relationship through my voice I ….. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To show this relationship through my physical skills I …. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Writing about creating tension When did you successfully create tension in your improvised performance? How did you show this?

Describe a key moment of tension in the play (that YOU were a part of) and explain how you showed this relationship in your acting. In our improvised performance one moment of tension was when_____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ We wanted to create tension because _________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One line I said in this scene was ______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ To help create this tension through my voice I ….. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To help create this tension through my physical skills I …. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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THE EXAM PAPER

The exam is made up of three Sections: A, B and C

YOU WILL NOT BE ANSWERING ANY QUESTIONS IN

SECTION C

SECTION A

• This Section contains 4 questions

• You must answer ALL 4 questions

• You are writing about your improvised performance on ‘Madness’ and ‘Mental

Health’

• Each question is worth 10 marks

• You have 45 minutes to complete this section – about 10 minutes per

question

The questions will look something like this

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SECTION A Question 1: DESCRIBE

You will need to be able to define your devised piece using the following: Drama Term Definition Title Give your piece a name. Description DESCRIBE your piece in detail – summarizing the story Your contribution

You are an ACTOR – but what part or parts are you playing? Give some basic information about your character.

Style This is the style your performance is in. The easiest way to define your style is whether it is naturalistic, non-naturalistic or ‘largely naturalistic with some non-naturalistic moments’. If your piece is non-linear, you could also describe it as ‘episodic’.

Period The time period you are performing the piece in. Is it ‘modern day’ or ‘1980s’ or ‘the 1600s’? (Or several time periods that you may need to define?)

Genre Think of genre as the categories in the library: Comedy, tragedy, drama, murder mystery, sci-fi, farce, historical/period drama etc. Most of your work tends to be a ‘drama’ which implies it is largely serious in tone.

Target audience

Who is your play aimed at? And who is it suitable for? Why is it suitable for this audience?

Performance space

Where did you perform it? (Drama studio at school) What type of stage did you use? (thrust, traverse, in-the-round, proscenium arch etc)

Technical and design elements

Are there any specific design or technical elements you used – e.g. sound effects, particular lighting states or props?

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Example of Exam Style Question:

Q1 Describe what the piece was about; state the style, period and genre of the piece, the performance space and any technical or design elements you used and your target audience. You should state whether your contribution was as an actor, designer or technician. Question 1 Practise: (Use the table on the previous page to help you fill this in. You should aim to memorise these responses for your final exam)

Write ONE paragraph describing your performance: (Title and who/what/where/when/why?) What style is your piece? (e.g. naturalistic, non-naturalistic, abstract, physical theatre…) What is your role in the performance? I am an actor and I play the role(s) of… What is/are the period(s) of your piece? What genre is your piece? Who are your target audience and why? Describe your performance space: (type of theatre and audience arrangement) Describe the design elements that are important to your performance:

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THE MAGIC 8: Section A

You should include 8 performance techniques in every

example used in your answer to Question 2, 3 and 4.

E.g. if the Q asks you about development or research, you

might say how researching (whatever your T.I.E stimulus

was) helped with characterisation. Then you must quote a line

from your piece (where the research was relevant) and go on to

give 8 performance techniques you used as a result of the research.

So an example of the magic 8 technique would look like this –

Q2: Explain how you developed your role within this piece of practical work? Give at least one specific example of how you applied your skill as actor, designer or technician in preparation for performance.

My character’s function in the play was to show the moral contrast between two

twins. We developed the piece to have a strong moral message, highlighting my

character’s role in the murder. We researched newspaper articles on child killers and

watched a documentary on children that kill. One specific example of when I applied

my skill as an actor was when I said the line "don't look at me," I spoke in a low

pitched whisper (1) with a stammer (2) on “don't”. I lowered my eyes (3) and couldn't

maintain eye contact with the other actors on stage. I started to walk backwards (4)

with a slow pace and wide gait (5) until I reached my desk. As I lowered myself onto

my chair, I put my head in my hands (6) and scrunched my shoulders up to my ears.

I crossed my legs to create negative body language (7) then finally lifted my eyes to

stare (8) at the audience, unnerving them and achieving my aim of a creepy and

eerie character fitting with our theme of free choice between right and wrong.

Now write your own magic 8 answer to this question. You can do this for more than one character if you use multi-role in your performance. The next few pages will take you through some example questions and how to structure your answers.

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Question 2: EXPLAIN

Explaining is all about the HOW and the WHY.

How have you done what you have done? Why have you done what you have done?

Each HOW needs a WHY - they work together in explanation. e.g.

• This is how my scene was put together and now I will explain why we did it in this way.

• I will explain how I developed my character and then why I chose to develop it this way.

• I will explain how I worked with my group and why we decided to work in this way.

Examples of Exam Style Questions Q2.

• Explain how your role developed in rehearsal. Use two examples in your answer.

• Explain how you aimed to communicate your role in

performance. Use two examples in your answer.

• Explain how you prepared to play your role in performance. Use two examples in your answer.

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Question 3 & 4: ANALYSE & EVALUATE

There are 3 main steps to analysis or evaluation:

1. Identify the FOCUS/AIM/INTENTION of your piece – E.g. if you are evaluating the scene, what is the purpose of the scene – to develop the plot; to develop a character; to create a particular atmosphere?

2. Give it an overall evaluation – what is your opinion of how well you did –

MARK OUT OF 10. Examples of Exam Style Questions Q3.

• Analyse the improvements that you made during the rehearsal process. You should refer to at two specific occasions in your response.

• Analyse how successful you were in presenting your role to the audience.

You should refer to at two specific occasions in your response.

• Analyse how well you created a particular feeling or atmosphere in your performance. You should refer to at two specific examples in your response.

Examples of Exam Style Questions Q4.

• Evaluate the success of your contribution to the group performance as a whole. You should refer to two particular moments form the piece to support your answer.

• Evaluate how successful your final performance was in communicating

your ideas to the audience. You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

• Evaluate how successful your group were in developing a specific

atmosphere on stage in performance. You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

• Evaluate how well you came to realise your personal aims in performance.

You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

If you don’t do this, you will get very few marks for your answer (if any!)

3. Provide EXAMPLES and EVIDENCE to back up your

opinion.

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Section B

• This Section contains 4 questions (05, 06, 07, 08)

• You must ONLY ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS

• You MUST answer Questions 05 and 06

• You are writing about your scripted performance ‘A Taste of Honey’

• Each question is worth 20 marks

• You have 45 minutes to complete this section – about 20 minutes per

question

You should write about the scenes you performed from your play. You MUST detail the name of the play, the name of the playwright, the section you performed and the character you played at the beginning of your answer to Question 05. You must also be able to write about the context, themes and style of the play. Make sure you can: Explain the section of the play you performed concisely (as briefly but clearly

as possible) Explain the character your played concisely (name, age, relationship with

others, focus for the play) Explain the style of the play (this is where you will need to demonstrate

background knowledge of the playwright) Explain some of the main challenges of the scene

o For your group o For you personally

The questions will look something like this

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Writing about ‘A Taste of Honey’

The title of the play is_____________________________________________ The playwright’s name is__________________________________________ The style of the play is_____________________________________________ The genre of the play is____________________________________________ The play is set in ____________ (time period) in _____________ (location) It is about________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ I played the character of _________________________________________ The extract we performed was_____________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

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Research and rehearsals

What research did you do in order to develop your understanding of the play?

Could you refer to any of the following?:

• Documentaries • Internet research • Reading • Watching examples of performances on YouTube • Watching the film • Reading interviews

Think about how and why your group used certain rehearsal techniques to develop your work. What did you CHANGE or IMPROVE in your piece after using these techniques? It is not enough to tell the examiner you used them – but why and with what results?

• Mime run – focus on developing movement, proxemics, enhancing non-

verbal communication • Blocking • Uniting and auctioning • Vocal workshop • Radio Play – focus on use of voice, intonation, tempo or clarity • Hot Seating – developing knowledge of character and relationships • Speed Run – ensure smooth scene changes and clear order of scenes • Switching roles – explore how others might play your role and use their

ideas • Performing in a different genre • Having a movement/action for every line • Summarising scenes into Freeze frames

How many of these can you use to describe your acting? What other words could you add to the list to practise with?

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Writing about the interaction with others on stage. Did your relationship with another character have a significant effect on the audience? How did you show this?

Describe a key relationship between your character and another character in the play and explain how you showed this relationship in your acting. In our improvised performance my character had a __________________relationship with___________________________________ One example of when this relationship was demonstrated to the audience was when_____________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One line I said in this scene was ______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ To show this relationship through my voice I ….. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To show this relationship through my physical skills I …. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Writing about creating tension When did you successfully create tension in your improvised performance? How did you show this?

Describe a key moment of tension in the play (that YOU were a part of) and explain how you showed this relationship in your acting. In our improvised performance one moment of tension was when_____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ We wanted to create tension because _________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One line I said in this scene was ______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ To help create this tension through my voice I ….. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To help create this tension through my physical skills I …. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Section B: Text (Worth 20 marks each)

Remember: these questions are worth double the number of marks than the questions in Section A. Your answers must be developed in much more detail, with reference to your intentions, processes and your understanding of the play. See if you can time yourself 20 minutes to answer a question. Use the examples of rehearsal technique and research based preparation you have collected (from page 28 and 32) Examples of Exam Style Questions First Question

• Explain what the main acting challenges were in playing your role in this extract of the play. Give clear details of the research, rehearsal and other preparation work to explain how you developed your chosen skill.

• Explain how you prepared for performance of the text taking into account

the playwright’s intentions and your group’s interpretation of the play.

• Explain how you developed your acting skills during rehearsals to create a style of performance appropriate to your studied play. Give details of your research, rehearsal and other preparation work relevant to your own role in the play

Second Question

• Analyse how well you achieved what you and the rest of the cast set out to do. Give clear details of your interpretation of the role or design choices, reasons for your approach and how well you worked with others.

• Analyse the success of your personal performance in final performance.

Give clear details of areas you were proud of in performance.

• Analyse your success in applying your own vocal and physical skills effectively within the final performance of at least one specific section of this extract.

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THE MAGIC 8: Section B

You should include 8 performance techniques in every answer.

E.g. if the Q asks you about development or research, you might

say how researching helped with characterisation. Then you

must quote a line from your piece (where the research was

relevant) and go on to give 8 performance techniques you

used as a result of the research. Section B (20 marks)

Explain how you developed both your vocal and your physical skills during

rehearsals to create a character that was appropriate to your group’s interpretation of

the play script.

Give clear details of your research, rehearsal and other preparation work that

helped you to understand and perform your character.

So an example of the magic 8 technique would look like this –

In order to successfully portray the teenage character of ‘Jo’ in Shelagh Delany’s ‘A

Taste of Honey’, I developed my vocal and physical skills in a variety of ways

throughout the rehearsal process. My character’s function in the play was to highlight

the difficulties of being a child in a single parent family in 1950’s Britain. The style of

the play was naturalistic, and the genre was kitchen sink Drama – so I used a lot of

Stanislavski techniques to develop a believable and naturalistic portrayal of Jo. A big

part of the preparation work was mastering the Manchurian accent - as the play is

set in Salford near Manchester. Watching YouTube tutorials on accent showed me to

elongate my vowel sounds and play with glottal stops to make my voice sound more

working class and of the region.

The kitchen sink Drama genre was famous for presenting class struggles and my

group and I wanted to show the tough nature of Jo as she battled against difficult

circumstances – which include becoming a single parent herself – following in her

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mother’s footsteps. The main interpretation we focused on was the strained mother

daughter relationship: this is exacerbated by the arrival of character of Peter (mother

Helen’s new boyfriend), who instantly dislikes and resents Jo.

One example of how I used my vocal and physical skills was when I showed my

character’s discomfort and displeasure when first meeting Helen’s new boyfriend,

Peter. When Peter enters I visibly shrink back from him, (1) rounding my shoulders,

(2) lowering my head and bringing my (3) eye line to the floor away from my mother.

On the line "you can’t make me," I experimented with my (4) tone, playing with the

line through (5) gritted teeth, and also emphasizing the (6) volume of “you” to show

my distrust of this new man in my mother’s life. I chose to try it with a (7) stammer on

“can't” to bring out my character’s fear towards him. In the majority of this extract

though,(8) I lead with my chin and show my stubbornness and defiance towards the

thought of a new father figure. In order to develop my interpretation of Jo more fully,

I used emotion memory – a Stanislavski technique to help me get into the emotion of

anger towards an adult. I remember a recent argument with my mother and tapped

into the way I felt. This helped me present a more realistic ‘angry’ Jo. Also, in warm

up activities, I experimented with the 7 states of tension to physicalise the internal

emotions I was experimenting with. Stanislavski began with the removal of tension

from the body through relaxation and then he believed you could build a character

once you had eliminated your own habits and mannerisms externally. Internal focus

and imagination – such as picturing the grotty flat Jo shares with her mother Helen,

helped me present a naturalistic version of Jo.