Welcome to Duet!
Duet Acting
Objective: Students will be introduced to the even of duet acting, view some instances of duet acting, as well get a little experience performing with a partner.
Materials: Videos of a dramatic duet scene and a comedic duet scene. Copies of two prepared short two minute blips of scenes (One comic and one dramatic). Copies of an evaluation ballot for Duet.
Day 1:
Steps:
Step 1: Introduce the event of duet acting. Explain the concept and rules associated with Duet Acting.
STEP 2: Show the videos of the two duet scenes to the class. After the videos are shown, discuss the two scenes and the differences (mood, pacing, etc…) between the two.
Day 2:
STEP 1: Hand out the judging ballots to the class.
STEP 2: Discuss each requirement on the ballot.
STEP 3: Move to the stage or gym.
STEP 4: Divide the class into twos if possible, and give each group a scene. Let each group go to a different part of the room and rehearse for five minutes.
STEP 5: Call the class together and have each group perform their scene blips. This will most like spill over to the next day of class.
Day 3:
STEP 1: Finish up the performances.
STEP 2: Discuss how each group handled the same scenes differently and how comedic scenes differed from the dramatic.
RESULT: The students will be somewhat familiar with the event of duet acting and will have both viewed examples of the event and gotten some hands-on experience at it is.
Welcome to Duet!
Duet Acting
OBJECTIVE: Students will be introduced to the even of duet acting, view some instances of duet acting, as well get a little experience performing with a partner.
MATERIALS: Videos of a dramatic duet scene and a comedic duet scene. Copies of two prepared short two minute blips of scenes (One comic and one dramatic). Copies of an evaluation ballot for Duet.
STEPS:
Day 1:
1: Introduce the event of duet acting. Explain the concept and rules associated with Duet Acting.
2: Show the videos of the two duet scenes to the class. After the videos are shown, discuss the two scenes and the differences (mood, pacing, etc…) between the two.
Day 2:
1: Hand out the judging ballots to the class.
2: Discuss each requirement on the ballot.
3: Move to the stage or gym.
4: Divide the class into twos if possible, and give each group a scene. Let each group go to a different part of the room and rehearse for five minutes.
5: Call the class together and have each group perform their scene blips. This will most like spill over to the next day of class.
Day 3:
1: Finish up the performances.
2: Discuss how each group handled the same scenes differently and how comedic scenes differed from the dramatic.
RESULT: The students will be somewhat familiar with the event of duet acting and will have both viewed examples of the event and gotten some hands-on experience at it as well.
Duet Assignment
I want you all to go home and watch a suspenseful movie…some examples of that would be an action movie, a spy movie, anything that gets your heart beating. It doesn’t even have to be a movie, actually, you could watch a show like 24 or CSI. I want you to sit with a notebook and come up with a page of nonverbal communications that went on between people in that show.
Duet acting is all about reacting to each other, and nonverbal reactions are extremely important in order to have a truly polished scene. I want you to pay close attention to their facial expressions, their body language, how someone looks at another person. After each nonverbal communication you write down, I want you to write what you think that body language means. If there is anyone who can’t find their way to a TV or video tonight, come let me know after class and we’ll work something out.
Duet Acting
Divide into your assigned partners. Draw a number from the teacher’s hat and select the corresponding script from the teacher’s desk. Each pair will have two days to decide on their interpretation and rehearse.
Partners will have 15-20 minutes to perform their script; including setup and breakdown, if you need additional time to get in/out of costumes contact teacher before class. Performances will be graded heavily on creativity, just reading the script will result in a failing grade.
At least slight memorization will be expected. Due to the limited time to prepare it is not likely that you will have the entire script memorized. However they are very short and you should have a good grasp of the script.
Fall 2007
This is your assignment for Duet Acting. We will start our performances next Tuesday. You will be given the rest of the week and the weekend to prepare. Today is Tuesday, so that should be sufficient time. You will pick your own partner, and you will pick your script from those provided you. You will have your performance memorized. Your performance will not exceed twelve minutes and will be at least ten minutes. You will not dress as your character or have any props. You will be allowed two chairs and a table of your choice. You may use narration if need be, and you may be more than one character. Please dress nicely, as you would for a special event, such as church. These are rules as given by the NSAA. I want us to practice these rules in class. As I have said before, you will all compete at a competition, or come in and perform for two other classes, or bring an audience of ten before or after school or at lunch to perform for me. This of course will be for another assignment and grade.
This will be a seventy point assignment. I will be using the NSAA rubric for Duet Acting with the addition of memorization and time. There will be ten points for each of the following categories: selection, understanding, characterization, ensemble effect, overall effect, time and memorization. There are four areas that you can score under: superior (being the best), excellent, good, and fair. Superior will give you ten points. Excellent will give you eight points, good six, and fair four. The lowest grade you can receive then is a 21 out of a possible 70 making your grade a 30%. You need to receive at least 50 points to pass. I will give each of you a copy of the rubric to be handed in when you perform. You will sign up for your performance day as usual. Any questions?