Module Information

Module Identifier
TP25920
Module Title
Acting for Camera
Academic Year
2020/2021
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Mutually Exclusive
TC25920
Pre-Requisite
Successful completion of Part 1
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Due to Covid-19 students should refer to the module Blackboard pages for assessment details

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Critically Reflective Portfolio  delivered as a series of vlog postings (5 x 3-5 minute sequences, equivalent to 5 x 500 words)  50%
Semester Exam .75 Hours   Group Studio Examination 45 minutes  (comprising 2 presentation tasks: 1 pre-prepared, 1 unseen)  50%
Supplementary Assessment Critically Reflective Portfolio  delivered as a series of vlog postings (5 x 3-5 minute sequences, equivalent to 5 x 500 words)  50%
Supplementary Exam .33 Hours   Individual Examination 20 minutes  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Provide evidence of their ability to work effectively to realize a series of specific scenes/tasks.

2. Employ a range of performative techniques and methodologies appropriate to the screen.

3. Discuss, interpret and critically reflect on a range of processes and performative procedures.

Brief description

The module will offer students the opportunity to explore the potential of the relationship between performer and camera. As part of a wider portfolio of modules relevant to different aspects of performance it will deepen student capacity to perform in different contexts relevant to the professional environment.

The module will be taught in 4 x 6 hour Practical Workshops, run by guest practitioners (including Departmental Teaching and Honorary Fellows), and 4 x 1 hour follow-up Group Tutorials presented by Departmental staff.

Content

Course Delivery:

Seminar/Tutorials: 4 x 1 hour
Practical Workshops/ Studio Time: 4 x 6 hours

Themes and areas of practice investigated during practical training:
• Stanislavsky and Chekhov
• Live performance and screen performance
• Resources 1: Voice
• Resources 2: Body
• Shot distance and dynamics
• Character creation and presentation
• Responsiveness to text
• Shooting
• Exploration of Genre 1
• Exploration of Genre 2

The Practical Examination for the module will be presented in the Department’s R. Gerallt Jones television studio, and will require the students to work in small groups to present two dramatic scenes on camera. The first will be a set scene in a realistic style. The text of the scene will be allotted around three weeks prior to the Examination, and a shooting script sent to the students, in order to allow them to prepare their performances according to a sequence of given shots. The second scene will be somewhat simpler in its demands, but will be given to the students at very short notice: the shooting script (laying out the sequence of shots required for the scene) will be given only in the Examination itself. This will test the students’ ability to adapt and apply the skills which they will have acquired during the course of the module. The critical component of the assessment will require the students to reflect on the skills and exercises introduced to them and tested by them during the practitioner-led Workshops; and to comment on their experience of presenting the final Practical Examination. It will take the form of a critically reflective Portfolio, consisting of 5 pieces: these will be delivered as video log posts (typically of about 5 minutes in length; the equivalent of 500 words each). This method of assessment will require the students not only to contextualize the experiences which they will have gained during the Workshops, but also to demonstrate their awareness of the way in which presence on camera helps to shape, articulate and exhibit their ideas.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number
Communication Communication is key to the learning experience. Students will be expected to input into discussions in workshop situations and will compile a portfolio of reflective material in response to their learning on the module.
Improving own Learning and Performance Students will review their performance at intervals as the module progresses and will offer an account of this accumulative learning in the summative portfolio.
Information Technology Students will be expected to engage with online sources and electronic sources in the usual way.
Personal Development and Career planning Students will acquire skills that will enhance their future employability and will form part of their career planning.
Problem solving Students will develop an awareness of particular performative challenges and problems whilst working on scenes and performance extracts. The resolution of such challenges is key to student success.
Research skills Students are expected to refer to a wide and disparate range of sources whilst exploring performative techniques, methodologies and models.
Subject Specific Skills The module will help the students to develop subject specific skills, as laid out in sections 5.2 (Making, creating and performing) and 5.3 (Critical response/analysis) of the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Drama, Dance and Performing Arts. . Specifically, the module will help the students: to develop a repertoire of interpretative skills, practices and making techniques (physical/aural/spatial) and applying them effectively to engage with an audience/performance; to make records of performance, using skills and technologies in notation and/or documentation; to take responsibility as individual artists whether working independently or within a group for creative decision making; and to develop a repertoire of interpretative skills, practices and techniques (physical/aural/spatial) and applying them effectively to engage with an audience.
Team work Developing an understanding of the key principles of team work is key to the module.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5