Teaching with short films in Drama

For an exploration of drama techniques in film acting see Performance.

Most examination boards offering drama at GCSE, require candidates to produce coursework - usually a combination of practical work and evaluation - and sit a written examination. Drama tends to be defined as 'live theatre', so candidates are unable to present coursework which demonstrates their skills within the context of film. However:

• Film provides a rich source of effective examples of acting styles, lighting, set and sound design through which students can consider techniques relating to theatre productions and practise their critical analysis skills.
• Short films often focus on one or two characters at critical, dramatic moments; they can offer powerful stimuli for exploring performance relating to the development and expression of character, narrative, and context, as well as issues and situations, which can form the basis of improvisation.
• Specifications ask candidates to present critical reviews of live productions that they have seen during the course of study and, although film reviews would not be acceptable, they can offer opportunities to rehearse appropriate skills.

Drama objectives

In the study of drama texts and dramatic presentations for Drama GCSE, students should be taught:

• How to understand and respond to a range of drama texts;
• To understand, evaluate and express how writers of drama texts achieve their effects;
• To appreciate the social, historical and cultural influences that shape drama texts.

In devising dramatic presentations, students should be taught:

• To develop performance skills, particularly those of creativity, confidence, concentration and communication;
• To develop the skills necessary for successful team work;
• To appreciate and evaluate the contribution of all team members.

For example, AQA defines three objectives to assess the work of candidates for Drama GCSE:

• AO1, 'demonstrate ability in and knowledge and understanding of the practical skills in drama necessary for the realisation of a presentation to an audience, working constructively with others.'
• AO2, 'respond with knowledge and understanding to plays and other types of drama from a performance perspective and to explore relationships and comparisons between texts and dramatic styles of different periods and of different cultures in order to show an awareness of their social context and genre.'
• AO3, 'analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of their own and others' work with sensitivity as they develop and present their work in an appropriate format for communication.'

In the teaching and assessment objectives relating to responses to drama texts (understanding and appreciating drama texts and then articulating or expressing that response) there is considerable overlap with English and Media Studies. Using films in preparing for GCSE Drama can help students to recognise how meaning is created through the combination of the elements of dramatic performance.

The following suggestions offer ways of using the short films in this compilation in Drama classes.

• Closely analyse one of the live-action films for the actors' performance techniques, and discuss and improvise how these might be adapted for a stage performance.
• Write stage versions of the films. How could films such as Two Cars, One Night, 7.35 in the Morning, Accident or Killing Time at Home be transposed to a stage setting? This activity would encourage students to engage with the potentials, possibilities and limitations of the techniques of dramatic presentations. Students would need to find the stage drama equivalent of the quick look that is caught in close-up, or a way of presenting a stage version of a location.

• Many of the films in the compilation are clearly situated in social, historical and cultural context. Students could consider the influences that have shaped these texts and re-imagine the stories played out in different circumstances. For example, The First Time It Hits embodies a very contemporary teenage spirit: styles of clothes and make-up, skateboards, graffiti art, music, and indeed the fast-paced editing, all locate this film in the early part of the 21st century. So how would Shakespeare have tackled this particular story of teenage infatuation? What would be the 17th century equivalents to the fashions and music in the film?
• Teaching ideas for About a Girl involve devising and analysing students' own dramatic performances. Similar work might be developed around many of the films in this compilation. The Most Beautiful Man in the World, for example, provides a rich source of material for looking at the ambiguity of character: how would the man be seen through the ideas of the mother only heard off-screen, or the girl herself 20 years after the events shown in the film? Hot-seating those characters might be the starting point for a drama exploring family relationships (such as divorce and separation) or serious social issues (such as child abduction), depending on how students choose to interpret the narrative in the film. Perhaps students might envisage the arrest of the man and a mock police interview.
• Virtually all of the films offer possibilities for exciting and stimulating 'what if' scenarios, exploring the stories that the films themselves only imply.