Drama - Year 8
ARTS FACULTY
| š Ā Course Type | Elective |
|---|---|
| š§© Ā Units | 1 Semester |
| ā± Ā Hours per week | 3Ā |
| āļø Ā Selection | 1 - 3 Arts Electives to be selected in Year 8 |
| š§ Ā Future Pathways | Excellent preparation for Drama in Years 9 & 10 |
Year 8 Drama
Drama in Year 8 provides opportunities for students to:
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- Explore through role-play a range of human ideas and experiencesĀ
- Develop the expressive skills of voice, movement and improvisation in order to communicate meaning to an audience
- Develop group working skills of collaboration, negotiation, planning and evaluating
- Develop appropriate dramatic and stagecraft skills to explore and extend the drama
- Select and use appropriate production elements such as set, props, costume, lighting and sound to enhance dramatic meaning
- Use a range of other expressive forms (e.g. mask, dance, mime, lighting, music, set design) to enhance the emotional tone and meaning of the drama
- Reflect constructively on drama experiences to enhance future development.
This unit extends the work introduced in Year 7 and is a preparatory unit for the courses available in Years 9 and 10. It covers role-play, non-verbal communication,Ā character development, speaking skills, poetry, expressive movement, vocal and physical warm-ups and group working skills.
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Students begin by observing non-verbal communication and developing their skills of interpretation and expression. They then move on to develop convincing role-plays using verbal as well as non-verbal elements through exploration of a negotiated theme.
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Students also develop characterisation skills through writing and performance of duologues and play scripts. The emphasis is on building convincing interaction between characters and using language and movement, gesture and facial expression to effectively express a characterās feelings and ideas.
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The elements of vocal technique including warm-ups, projecting, use of pitch, pause, pace and tone are taught through creative activities. Students then move on to performance poetry skills including use of the body and movement to enhance verbal interpretation.
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The culmination of the unit is the creation of an original group melodrama based on the study of the genre and exploration of stock characters and themes. The culminating performance makes use of theatrical elements such as lighting, sound, costume and set.
Work outside class consists of small practical or written tasks that arise through classwork.