We just lately mentioned tips on how to assist college students who’re speeding their strains and actions. Now we’re fixing the alternative drawback: what to do when the scenes are dragging and placing the viewers to sleep. Let’s have a look at 4 frequent pacing points and a few suggestions for bettering the move of the scene.
1. Issue: Preparedness (or lack thereof)
Pacing points are regularly the results of college students being unprepared. If college students don’t know their strains, wrestle to recollect their cues, miss their entrances or exits, or mess up their transitions, the pacing of the scene will gradual proper down.
If that is the explanation in your pacing points, return to the fundamentals. Review strains and cues, and encourage college students to maintain working towards and reviewing at house. Do Italian line runs, the place college students say their strains as shortly and precisely as potential with no blocking. (Check out the giveaway under for suggestions for achievement when doing an Italian line run, a terrific line test train.) Have college students write down their entrances, exits, transitions, and another notes that they want of their scripts. Post a working record backstage to assist college students bear in mind what they’re speculated to do and when.
If college students are persistently lacking entrances and exits as a consequence of goofing round or being distracted, contemplate including a backstage supervisor to watch issues like cellphone use and behavior. They can be an additional set of palms for fast costume modifications and the like.
2. Issue: Stilted conversations and awkward pauses
Two frequent starting actor issues are college students going all in on their strains after which testing as soon as their strains are accomplished, and never listening to their scene companions basically. This may end up in stilted, unnatural-sounding scenes with pauses at bizarre instances.
If out there, present your college students skilled video clips of the scenes they’re engaged on and have them observe how the actors make the strains sound pure and conversational, somewhat than presentational. Try observing one another having common conversations, noting issues like respiratory, pausing, leaping in, chopping one another off, and different nuances. Have college students work on energetic listening workouts. Are they honestly listening, or simply listening to? Remind your college students that they’ll make themselves look good by making their scene associate look good.
And make sure that college students use dramatic pauses sparingly — too many they usually lose their effectiveness. Check out this video all about controlling pauses.
3. Issue: Long transitions and scene modifications
Scene modifications and transitions have to be fast and exact. Audiences don’t wish to sit at the hours of darkness or stare on the closed curtain whereas stagehands wrestle to vary the surroundings. It takes them out of the story and ruins the temper.
Allot some rehearsal time in your stagehands to apply finishing scene modifications. If they’re actually lagging, time them with a stopwatch and have them sit and wait the identical size of time. It may be very eye opening! If your college students like competitions, problem them to cut back their velocity on the subsequent run, whereas sustaining calm and accuracy.
If the stagehands bodily can’t full their transitions shortly sufficient, contemplate including extra college students to help (actors might help) or decreasing the quantity of surroundings, furnishings, and props they should change. You additionally may strive including music to the transitions or including some transition scenes within the very downstage space of the stage to masks the set modifications occurring behind and provides the viewers one thing attention-grabbing to look at.
4. Issue: Too a lot “stuff”
Then, we now have the alternative drawback. In an effort to maintain our college students engaged and energetic onstage, administrators will typically attempt to add extra, extra, extra: extra ensemble members to each scene, extra costume modifications, extra furnishings and props, extra grandiose blocking and choreography. This sadly might end in longer transitions, extra visitors jams getting on and offstage, extra stress backstage, and — you guessed it — pacing points.
Sometimes, much less is extra. Where are you able to simplify issues? Where are you able to scale back? Do you actually need two totally different couches for the 2 front room scenes, or are you able to reposition the identical sofa and toss a throw blanket over it from scene to scene? Can you condense the variety of costume modifications? Sometimes including or eradicating a jacket or hat is all you want. Do all seven reporter ensemble characters want a digicam, notepad and prop cellphone? Can you could have every actor solely maintain one merchandise? Do you want all seven reporters onstage within the scene?
Remember: Changes to the script (line edits, scene cuts, and many others.) should solely be accomplished with the permission of the playwright, no matter any points, pacing, or in any other case.
Kerry Hishon is a director, actor, author and stage combatant from London, Ontario, Canada. She blogs at www.kerryhishon.com.
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