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Objectives
In this activity you will think about how dialogue can be written in order to keep a story moving at a good pace. You will also have to consider how you can quickly establish a character for your audience, and where and how they will move and stand in order to make their feelings clear.
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Outcomes
By working step by step through the main activities you will:
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complete a storyboard in which you resolve an argument between two family members.
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Resources
To complete the activities you will need access to:
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Kar2ouche Rehearsal Room Content Library
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Sheet 1.1 Evaluation Frame - Springboards
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1. Read through the following extracts and click on the link next to the one which you would like to work on:
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A: "Where’s the remote?"
B: "Why?"
A: "I want to watch Eastenders."
B: "Well, I don’t."
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To open the Remote storyboard
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A: "Where’s my new CD?"
B: "How should I know?"
A: "But I saw it in your room."
B: "What were you doing in there?"
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To open the CD storyboard
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A: "Where have you been?"
B: "Out."
A: "Don’t be clever with me."
B: "I’m not."
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To open the Out storyboard
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2. Now think about how the dialogue will develop.
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Who will win the argument?
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What will be the climax of the argument?
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Will both characters be happy with the outcome, or only one?
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What new information could you introduce to keep the audience interested?
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Think about blocking and accepting, and make sure that your characters use both kinds of response in their lines. (For example, look again at the third extract, in which Character B blocks both of Character A’s lines. If the dialogue keeps to this pattern all the way through, it will be very boring! Make sure that at some point this character moves the dialogue forward rather than just blocking all of Character A’s lines.)
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Type the dialogue for each frame into the caption windows now.
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3. Next you need to think about how you will position and pose the characters. Think about the following points.
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How does it feel arguing with somebody who is standing, if you are sitting down?
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Does it make a difference if they are behind you or in front of you?
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How close will the characters get to each other?
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What kind of gestures might they use?
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Think about whether the character is trying to cool the situation down or wind the other character up, and adjust their body language to make this clear to the audience.
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Will the characters look at each other, or turn away at any point?
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Now position the characters in each frame, add speech bubbles, and paste your dialogue (from the caption windows) into them.
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4. Once all the dialogue has been pasted into the speech bubbles, return to the first frame. Click on the blue text/audio tab, and then on the green Show Controls button, and record the dialogue for each frame of your storyboard.
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5. Finally think about whether there are any sound effects you could add to increase
(or decrease) the tension at some points in your storyboard. Click on the blue text/audio tab and then the Show Controls button. For example, sounds of traffic, weather, clocks or animals could have a part to play here.
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6. Remember to save a copy of your storyboard in your user area before you exit.
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7. You will have an opportunity to evaluate a selection of storyboards created by students in your class. Keep the following bullet points in mind during your discussion.
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Start with the positive – which aspects of each storyboard work well? Think about what the characters say, how they are positioned and what other effects have been used.
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Offer constructive comments. For example, ask, "Would it make A’s feelings clearer if s/he stood closer to / turned away from / turned to face B in this frame?"
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Make a contribution yourself – and make sure everyone else has a chance to contribute too.
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8. After the class discussion see if you can make any improvements to your storyboard before you perform it to the class. Alternatively, give your storyboard to another group to perform, and then give them feedback on their performance. You then perform their storyboard – and they give feedback to you.
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9. Write a brief evaluation of the storyboard you created. There is an evaluation frame
(Sheet 1.1 Evaluation Frame – Springboards) to help you with this task.
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