Lesson 3: ELEMENTS OF THEATER

This lesson helps students to gain an understanding of the basic elements of theater
which will help them appreciate said genre of art.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the lesson, students must have:

1. Identified the basic elements of theatre;

2. Discussed/described the basic elements of theatre;
3. Analysed theatre performance based on its basic elements.

In Focus

Elements of Theater

The word theatre comes from the Greek word “teatron” which means a place for
seeing. It is a place where a play is performed, or a drama performed before an audience. As a
place for seeing, theatre has various types:

 Proscenium/picture frame stage—the most widely- used type in the west

 Arena stage/ theater in-the-round
 Thrust or open stage—platform stage that thrusts out into the audience
 Amphitheater –open air building
 Black box –developed in the 1960’s in the US for inexpensive experimental work

Theater production is an avenue for self-expression, resourcefulness, better

understanding of human nature, and exercise in responsibility.

Theater has the following elements:

Script. It contains the story to be performed--the plot, setting, character, theme and
dialogue. It is said that better understanding of the script ensures better theater production.

Directing. The work of a director is extremely important in preparing any production for
the stage. The director is responsible for all the creative decisions. He collaborates with the
playwright, actors, designers and technicians to stage a play based on his/her interpretation of
the script.

Functions of Director

• Interprets the script

 • Makes necessary decisions about style and approach of the play

• Selects the actors suited for the roles in the play (casting).

• Choreographs or blocks the movements.

• Is responsible for stage composition

• Controls rhythm and pace

• Does the polishing.

• Evaluates his work.

Notable Theater Directors

• Bertolt Brecht – Germany

• Elia Kazan – U. S.

• Peter Brook – Britain

• Peter Hall – Britain

• Julie Taymor – U.S.

Acting. It is the fundamental art of theatre. Actors must posses talent, or personality,
an intangible quality which is a fundamental feature of good acting. They must be versatile.

Mediums of Actor

• Voice – must be loud enough to be heard and understood by the audience, powerful,
well-modulated, must have good diction, must develop vocal variety to determine the
pitch and voice quality suitable for a particular role.

• Body – must have grace and physical control to enable him to move about the stage in
an easy and graceful manner.

Duties of Actors

• Must study the script to understand the character he is playing and the play as a whole.

• Must research the information about the character he is playing.

• Delivers his/her lines by speaking loudly and clearly.

 • Makes movements in such a manner that everyone may see and interpret his/her more
meaningful gestures.

• Confines himself/herself to the exact patterns that have been rehearsed so that his
fellow actors will be confused.

• “A good actor has done his role well when the audience could enter into his character,
and the actor could create a bond between himself and the audience.”

Performers are the most identified by audience.

• Thespis

• Chorus

• In England, it was not until 19th century that actors achieved a respected social status

• Henry Irving received the first knighthood given to an actor.

• Early actors were males.

• Only prostitutes were allowed to appear on stage (Rome).

• Women began appearing on the French and English stage in the 17th century.

Set. It is the most obvious visual element, and perhaps the largest in theater
production. Set calls for a considerable amount of money, time and effort in both design and
construction.

Functions of Set

• Must provide an environment for acting.

• Must express the proper mood of the play.

• Should help establish the time and place of the action

• Must provide visual impact.

Set/Scene Designer

• Must study the script very carefully.

• Must be familiar with the stage blocking that the director has in mind.

• Notable Set Designer

 • Adolphe Appia – Switzerland

• Gordon Craig – Britain

• Robert Edmond Jones & Lee Simonson – 1920’s Broadway

Costume. It makes the most continuous impact. Its details should be

coordinated/complemented with the stage direction and set.

Ancient Greeks and European actors till mid- 19th century wore clothing of their time.

Functions of Costumes

• To clothe the actor

• To help create mood

• To help establish the theme

• To establish time, place, and character relationships

• To add to the visual impact

Properties. Also known as ‘props’, it constitutes a highly important area of backstage

responsibility.

Classifications of Props

• Trim props – any decorative objects which hang upon, or are attached to the set

• Set props – objects standing about the floor of the set but not large enough to be
considered part of the set

• Hand props – objects picked up and used by the actors

• Prop visual effects – special effects which are manually done

• Prop sound effects – any off-stage sounds created by other than electrical means

Make- up. Make-up is usually left to the individual actor. Ancient Greeks, Romans,
Chinese wore masks instead of make-up

Kinds of Make-up

• Straight make-up – highlights the actor’s normal features

• Character make-up – transforms an actor’s features

 • Fantasy make-up – alters the actor’s appearance

Functions of Make-up

• Helps make the features visible.

• Helps portray character.

• Adds to the mood, theme, and visual impact of the production.

• Helps beautify or disguise the actor.

Lights/Lighting. Lights, together with set and costumes, account for most of the visual
impact of a production.

Functions of Lights

• Provide necessary visibility.

• Help establish mood.

• Focus attention.

• Heighten realism.

Development in the Use of Lights in Theater

• Candles—first lighting to be used in theater

• Gas lamp – 1840

• Electric – 1879

Savoy Theater was first theater to use electricity

• Computerized light board

It was Adolphe Appia who first thought that light can be used as an artistic medium.

Sound. It is a backstage mechanism. The following are sound mechanisms used in the
history of theater:

• Pit orchestra – orchestra located in the theatre pit which provides sound for incidental
and background music. It was used when modern technology for sound production was
not yet invented.

• Tape recorders
 • Playback units

• Microphones

• mixers

• Amplifiers

• Elaborate speakers system

• Control consoles

Stage Management. It coordinates all the diverse activities in theater productions, from
directing to sound. Stage manager handles the responsibilities from dress rehearsals to actual
performance.

Activity : Again, open the link given to you at the beginning of the lesson. Watch the entire
video and identify the elements of theatre that we discussed. Take note if there are other
elements present in the presentation which are not included in our discussion. Write your
observation, and submit your output in the email address provided to you.

Lesson 4: Elements of Film

This lesson provides discussion on the elements of cinema/film which help students
comprehend, analyse and appreciate any movie or film.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, the students must have:

1. Discussed/explained the elements of film;

2. Analyzed a film based on its elements;
3. Make a short film showing its elements.

In Focus

Elements of Film

Time. The most important element of film. The film director has a free way to
manipulate time in a motion picture by contraction or expansion, breaks or leaps.

Aspects of Time
Physical Time
 It is the time taken by an action as it is being filmed and as it is being projected on the
screen.
• Viewers may catch what is happening in real life, but the movie camera does not
capture these events in actual movement.
• In the cinema, a series of still photographs are projected in the screen, each frame
visible only for one 48th of a second.
• In a sound film projecting 24 frames per second, there are pictures for half the time and
none at all during the other half.
• However, the viewer does not notice the blank screen anymore because his eyes hold
the images for a longer period of time.

Ways to Distort Physical Time

• Slow motion
• Accelerated motion
• Reversed motion
• Stopped motion
• Stop motion (also known as stop frame) is an animation technique to make a physically
manipulated object or persona appear to move on its own.
• The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames,
creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous
sequence.

Psychological Time

• In the cinema, it is the emotional impression of the duration of the action that a viewer
experiences as he watches a movie. His mental state affects the way time is conceived
in the cinema.
• Slow pace can create a sentimental mood and slows down time while rapid action
induces excited feeling and hurries up time.

Dramatic Time

• It means the time taken up by the events which are suggested in the movie.
• On screen, the viewer’s perception of space—its width and depth—is just an illusion.
• The three-dimensionality of a particular object in cinema is made possible by an adept
handling of scale, shooting angle and lighting.
 Space. On screen, the viewer’s perception of space—its width and depth—is just an
illusion. The three-dimensionality of a particular object in cinema is made possible by an adept
handling of scale, shooting angle and lighting.

Scale
 It refers to the size of objects on the screen and its relation to the surrounding area.

Shooting Angle
 It is a consideration given to a particular shot in relation to varied angles in order to
make the director express his idea about a character or an object in the film.
 Pictures meant for the movies can be taken from several angles:
 vertically upwards—vastness, power, force
 vertically downwards—small, insignificant
 horizontal—close, equality

Types of Shots and camera angles

Wide shot close up high angle

Full shot extreme close up Dutch angle
Mid shot low angle

Lighting
 It is a means used to give the illusion of depth in the film. A movie director can create
areas of light and dark or width and depth by manipulating the position of lights.
Sound. A film artist does not record every bit of sound heard in real life but only those
which he deems relevant to amply express the thoughts and feelings of a particular scene.
 He limits sounds to those he thinks are actually significant to this scene heightening any
or a combination of the sound elements—pitch, volume, texture, intensity.
 These sounds are recorded in their optical equivalent on the strip of negatives parallel
to the images.
 The sound tract is equipped with a special light that shines as the film is projected and
turns these optical variations back into sound waves which we hear through
loudspeaker as the viewer sees the picture on the screen.
 However, unlike in the theater, the cinema makes maximum use of the ‘sound of
silence.’
 Thrillers and suspense pictures abound with soundless scene and, if there is any,
perhaps the ticking of the clock, the beating of the heart, or the heavy strides of long
steps.