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ELA 4: Planning a Performance 1 Views
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Description:
Aside from improv, most performances are carefully planned out. Even our Shmoop videos. We totally plan those. Every single one of them. Yes, even the weird ones.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Coop and Dino singing]
- 00:13
Have you ever seen a play that was…how do we say this nicely….a downright disaster? [People watching a play]
- 00:18
...hm.
- 00:19
Maybe that could've been nicer.
- 00:20
Anyhoo!
Full Transcript
- 00:21
You know what we mean…actors forgetting their lines...
- 00:24
Set pieces falling apart... [Set pieces falling apart on stage]
- 00:25
The lights shutting off halfway through scenes…
- 00:27
And worst of all, the audience is laughing… and it’s not even a comedy.
- 00:32
Now that is a director's worst nightmare. [Audience laughing and director makes a shocked face]
- 00:34
Seriously, it's even worse than that one where he shows up to rehearsal in his underwear…
- 00:38
So what's the best way to avoid all that mess?
- 00:41
Planning.
- 00:41
Directors don't make random decisions when they turn a script into a performance.
- 00:45
Every choice they make is designed to make the audience feel, think, and experience the
- 00:49
play in a certain way.
- 00:51
From the first read-through to the final dress rehearsal, directors are constantly making [Director walks on stage]
- 00:55
decisions.
- 00:56
Decisions like...
- 00:57
How will the set look?
- 00:58
By making decisions about how the set will appear to the audience, who will design it, [Dino discussing the set]
- 01:02
how it will be constructed and what exactly it will look like, the director can greatly
- 01:06
influence the entire meaning of a play and how audiences interpret it.
- 01:10
Because, whether we admit it or not, we all care about how things look. [Newspaper article of bigfoot appears]
- 01:13
You have to see it to believe it, after all.
- 01:16
And the same can be said for costumes.
- 01:17
By choosing how the people look and dress in the play, a director can drastically change [Coop explaining costumes in theater]
- 01:21
the experience the audience will have.
- 01:23
Each costume tells a lot about the character and is an essential part of who they are.
- 01:27
Side note: the same thing goes for your everyday life.
- 01:30
It might be time to throw out those stained sweatpants. [Man wearing sweatpants and sandals walks on stage]
- 01:33
Anyway, another aspect that a director must make decisions about is the audio.
- 01:37
What sounds will be in the play?
- 01:39
Will there be sound effects?
- 01:40
Or background music?
- 01:41
Will the actors sing?
- 01:43
Do we need mics on the actors?
- 01:44
Because mimes are great and everything –but we usually want to hear the lines in a play. [Mime artist on stage]
- 01:48
Whenever a play rehearsal begins, directors immediately begin making countless decisions
- 01:52
about the kind of performance they want to build. [Director watching the play]
- 01:54
It's not an easy job, but the pay-off is a unique and compelling play that feels like
- 01:58
it belongs specifically to that director.
- 02:00
And hopefully, the audience will laughs when the director actually wants them to.
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