This Is Worth 30% of Your Final GCSE Grade

What is Unit 2?

This is worth 30% of your final GCSE grade.

It is in 3 parts: a practical assessment and two controlled assessments.

The practical assessment:

15% of your grade is from 6hrs of practical workshops

This will be split across your lessons in a number of small workshops
It will be under controlled conditions; led, supervised and assessed by Mrs Levahn.
You will explore at least 2 stimuli using explorative strategies and drama elements and medium.

The controlled assessment:

15% of your grade is from the controlled assessment

You will write a documentary response to this practical work of 1000 words.
You will also do a live performance evaluation of a complete play in a maximum of 2000 words.
It will be written under controlled conditions.
Your mark will be based on your ability to comment on a range of drama strategies and elements used in the performance and their effectiveness and how well you convey and express these ideas.

How are you assessed?

During the practical you will be awarded marks for the way you explore and respond to the chosen play.

You will need to use at least 4 explorative strategies, at least 2 skill areas of the drama medium and appropriate elements of drama.

You will be assessed on:

Your understanding of the text.
Your use of drama strategies, elements and medium.
How well you work with your group.
How well you communicate your understanding of plot, character, form and structure.

The Assessment Criteria:

Practical Exploration

Band one: 25-30 marks:

Student’s practical exploration shows an outstanding understanding of the text. There is a fluent use of strategies, elements and medium and a creative and collaborative involvement in all practical tasks which are committed and focused. Communication of ideas shows an outstanding knowledge and understanding of plot, character, form and structure.

Band two: 19-24 marks:

Student’s practical exploration and understanding of text is excellent showing imaginative use of strategies, elements and medium and sustained, collaborative involvement in all practical tasks. Communication reveals an excellent knowledge and understanding of plot, character, form and structure effectively in all practical activities.

Band three: 13-18 marks:

Students demonstrate a good understanding of the text, which is explored with appropriate engagement and use of strategies, elements and medium in practical tasks. Communication reveals a good grasp of plot and character, and there is a confident use of form and structure.

Band four: 7-12 marks:

Student’s practical exploration of the text is adequate with some contribution of ideas and understanding of strategies, elements and medium to meet the tasks. There may be stronger involvement in some aspects of the practical exploration than others, and they may not always be able to demonstrate their understanding of text and form clearly.

Band five: 1-6 marks:

Student’s practical exploration of the text is limited. Their response to, and understanding of the text is basic or flawed, or they cannot communicate their ideas and intentions. Cooperation and interaction with others may be inconsistent.

Band six: 0 marks: Students’ practical exploration of the text is limited. There is no evidence of a response to and understanding of the text and there is no communication of ideas and intentions. Cooperation and interaction with others is not evident.

Documentary Response

Band one: 9-10 marks:

Students’ analysis and evaluation of their own work and that of others is outstanding. They show considerable understanding and appreciation of the way the medium and elements of drama are used to interpret a play.

Band two: 7-8 marks:

Students’ analysis and evaluation of their own work and that of others is excellent. They show clear understanding and appreciation of the way the medium and elements of drama are used to interpret a play.

Band three: 5-6 marks:

Students’ documentary evidence shows a good understanding of their own work and that of others and evaluates it with some justification.

Band four: 3-4 marks:

Students’ documentary evidence will be adequate, largely descriptive and evaluative comments will lack development and justification.

Band five: 1-2 marks:

Students’ documentary evidence will be limited in terms of content and understanding.

Band six: 0 marks:

Students’ documentary evidence will not demonstrate any evidence of content and understanding.

Documentary Response

Controlled Assessment Guidance

Documentary response

The Task

Descriptive vs. Reflective writing

Descriptive / Reflective
We started by… / Initially I thought…
The first thing I did was…/ our first task was… / Whilst working through the first task…
When we watched… / On observing…I felt/thought/saw/heard…
Then we… / Developing on from…
Then we got into groups… / Working in groups of four I felt…
After we did… / On completion of…I felt…
Next we… / At some point…
In our next session… / The scream task, to me, was by far the most challenging because…
Mrs Richardson told us…/ miss said… / To begin with, I thought that “madness” was…

Sentence starters

The strategy/element/medium of…was used to…demonstrate/communicate/symbolise/tell the story of…

I felt that…

I believe that…

I think that…

In hindsight…

This was effective because…

We used this because…

We did this because…

By acting…I communicated the idea of…

When sharing work…

When viewing other groups work/pieces…

As a member of the audience…

This moment stood out for me because…

Their use of… was effective because…

…was used effectively by…/because we…

Key moments were…because…

I saw improvement/progress made by…because…

The feedback we received/that was given helped me/… improve by/because…

They demonstrated…

The audience’s reaction…

When they…it was effective because…

I like how they used…

I thought…could improve their (use of)…because/by…

…worked collaboratively within our/their group…

A Possible Structure

Example Log Book Entries

What explorative strategies did you use? How did you use them? What effect did this have on your piece?

I changed my body language to show how I felt during this scene. I started with confident body language; holding my body up as tall as I could and then, as the scene developed, I started to slouch more to show she was being bullied in a sense by the “in group” who had effectively invited themselves to the party.

During today’s session I found that using freeze frames to symbolise certain things was an effective way of portraying the significance of something. We used freeze frame to show the seven stages of life…

I thought that the non-verbal communication we used effectively showed that we were part of a different scene and clearly showed that it portrayed a journey.

What drama medium did you use?

The medium we chose to use was sound to express the sound of the crying baby and I thought this was better than physically having someone play a new-born because it would have been less effective

Who worked well during this task and why?

I felt that ------and ------worked well in this particular piece as they were committed and focused on what we were doing.

I felt that we all contributed loads of ideas to help develop this piece further despite the short time limit.

---- and ---- added a little bit of humour to the task but I felt that they could have calmed down a little more so that everyone was working as effectively as possible.

How well do you think you worked during this task and why?

I think that I was more on task this session because I wasn’t working with people I normally work with and because I had ---- as my partner so I was there helping her as she was helping me and we made sure we encouraged each other.

During the cross-cutting; it was really difficult to hold the first freeze frame and I felt my arms getting really tired out. I also found it difficult when others in the group were facing my direction as I had to try really hard to keep a straight face. This was, by far, the most challenging task we’ve done in Drama so far and it really taught me to keep the focus and how much concentration I may need in future performances.

I learnt that less is more so the less we showed in performance made it more clear to the audience what we were doing and ensured they could interpret it in their own way and it was good that we didn’t complicate things as a group.

If you find yourself writing something like this:

Today I went into class and got into a circle and miss acted out the character of a gang leader and she could get rid of everyone she wanted so she got rid of all the boys in the class. This showed a sign of sexism. Then I went into a group with…

During my drama lesson I listened to a song called “something inside so strong”. It’s about standing up for what you believe in and speaking out. At the start of the lesson I went off into a group and my task was to act out something that people might not like about you, e.g. what country you’re from, what you do, what race you are, etc. In my group there was…

In this lesson, it was all about our speaking. I found this a great way to improve our monologue. I feel I read the piece out well and also me and ---- was very supportive of --- who I felt really needed the confidence boost.

Stop, and think “How did I do this?” and “Why did we do this?”

Try not to be too descriptive, e.g. “we did this and then I did this… My group was and we did this…”

Too Much Punch for Judy

By Mark Wheeller

Drama Dictionary

Accent Way of speaking used in a local area or country

Articulation Clear pronunciation of words

Aside A remark to the audience only

Audience People watching a drama

Auditorium The area for the audience, generally filled with seats

Backcloth Canvas cloth which covers the back of the stage: can be painted

Backstage Non-acting area behind the stage

Balance Keeping an even distribution of weight

Barn doors Adjustable metal flaps attached to the front of a fresnel spotlight for

shaping the beam of light

Blackout The acting area is not lit

Slow fade to The lighting/sound is faded out slowly

Fast fade to The lighting/sound is faded out quickly

Snap to Blackout is achieved instantly

Blocking Deciding where and when actors will move on stage

Body Language Messages given by the position or movement of the body

Centre Stage (CS) The centre area of the stage

Centre Stage Left The left hand centre side of the acting area as the actor faces

(CSL) the audience

Centre Stage Right The right hand centre side of the acting area as the actor

(CSR) faces the audience

Character Specific person in a drama

Characterisation The process of fully developing a character

Clarity Clearness of the voice

Comedy A drama which is funny/comical

Costume Clothes worn by actors for their character

Creating The process of developing a drama’s content and roles through practical exploration, experimentation and problem solving

Cross fade To change from one lighting cue to another with no blackout in between, or to change from one sound cue to another with no silence in between

Cue A signal for an actor to do or say something, or for a lighting or sound effect to begin or end

Cyclorama The back wall of the stage which can be painted or lit

Dialogue A conversation between two or more characters

Diction The use of clear speech

Docu-drama A documentary style drama, including reconstructions of events

Down Stage Centre The middle part of the stage nearest the audience

(DSC)

Down Stage Left The part of the stage nearest the audience on the left as the actor (DSL) faces the audience

Down Stage Right The part of the stage nearest the audience on the right as the actor (DSR) faces the audience

Dramatic Irony Actions or remarks whose significance is not realised by all the characters

Dress rehearsal Final rehearsal (as if it were the opening night)

Emphasis The stress on a word or phrase

End on Audience seated at one end – acting area at the other

Enter To come on stage

Evaluate To judge the strengths and weaknesses of a drama

Exit To leave the acting area

Facial expression Look on face which shows emotion

Flashback Acting out an event in the past

Flashforward Acting out of a future or imagined event

Flats Wooden frames, joined together and covered with canvas, which can be painted

Flies Area above the stage from where scenery/actors are flown in on pulleys

Flood Lantern giving a wide spread of light

Fluency Natural, flowing speech

Focus Key moment, scene, character, relationship or event in a drama

Focussing Positioning the lanterns to get the desired lighting

Follow spot Powerful profile used to follow actors around the acting area

Form The overall style of a drama

Forum Theatre The audience suggest changes to a drama in order to affect outcomes

Freeze frame The action is frozen in time

Fresnel Spot Lantern giving a soft edged beam of light

Front of House (FOH) Any job in the theatre which involves dealing with the audience. E.g. box office, refreshments, usher

Gauze See-through material which cannot be seen through when lit from

the front, but can be seen through when lit from behind

G-clamp Clamp used to secure lantern to lighting bar or stand

Gel Film placed in front of a lantern to change the colour of the beam

Gesture Movement of the hand or arm which communicates a meaning or

emotion

Gobo Thin metal plate cut out in a pattern and placed in a lantern to project

pattern or shape into the acting area

Ground plan Bird’s eye view of the set showing what is on the set, entrances/exits and the position of the audience

Hot-seating Questioning a character in role

Intonation Rising and falling of voice in speech

Key Explanation of symbols on a ground plan

Make-up Worn by actors for their character

Masking One actor unintentionally preventing another from being seen by the audience

Masks Covering for all, or part, of the face

Mime Creating a play without words, your body language and gestures should reveal what you are doing, how you are feeling.

Mixing desk Control desk for sound effect being used in a drama

Monologue A character speaks their thoughts aloud

Movement Use of the body as a means of communication

Musical Drama which includes song and/or music

Narration Part(s) of the drama are told as a story by a narrator

Pace/rhythm/tempo The rate at which the action moves along and the extent to which this changes, such as fast to slow or slow to fast. The drama will be more interesting to watch with changes of pace which can also build up the tension. Pace can refer to the speed changes in movement or with the delivery of lines spoken.

Pantomime Christmas theatrical entertainment usually based on a fairy tale

Pause A break in speaking; period of silence

Performance Presentation of a drama to an audience

Personal prop An item carried or worn by a character e.g. glasses, handbag, wallet

Pitch How high or low the voice is

Play Another word for a drama

Playwright Person who has written the play

Plot Storyline of the drama

Posture Position of the body – how it is held

Presenting The results of the Creating process, including performance and evaluation

Profile spot Lantern giving a hard-edged beam of light

Promenade Audience follows the action on foot, moving from one location to another

Prompt To supply forgotten lines to an actor

Prompt copy Master copy of the script with all moves and technical effects included

Prompt side Left hand side of the stage where prompter and stage manager sit during performance

Props Short for properties - objects used by an actor

Proscenium Arch Stage within an enclosing arch

Proxemics A character from the drama stands or sits in the centre of the room. Other students take up positions of distance or closeness to them. The distance represents the relationship between them and how they feel towards one another.

Pyrotechnics Stage fireworks

Rake Slope of stage (to allow actors to be seen)

Rehearsal Practice or preparation of a drama

Rehearsed Drama devised/created without a script which is rehearsed Improvisation before presentation

Revolving stage Stage which turns in a circle

Rhythm Movements which follow a pattern or beat

Role Part played by an actor / attitude adopted

Role-play A means of exploring attitudes and beliefs

Rostra Blocks or platforms used to create levels

Safety chain Used to attach a lantern to the lighting bar for safety

Scenario Outline of the plot of a drama, including changes in time or place

Scene Section of a drama, set in one place at one time

Scenery Resources used to create the setting where a drama takes place, e.g. backcloth, flats, rostra, furniture.