Monday 28 April 2008

Composition using body shapes

Three people hold a shape by holding onto one another.
The rest of the group form a circle around them and brainstorm all the things that the image brings to mind.
Someone acts as a scribe and records the observations on paper.
Anyone from the circle can go into the shape at any time but then one person already in the shape must come out and join the circle on the outside.

Rules:
No correction is allowed
The shape must work in silence (No negotiation)
Accept all offers (No censoring)

Observe:
Proximity (spaces between)
Relationships of bodies to one another
Narratives
Question and Answer
Repetition
Shifts from comedy to tragedy

Variations:
You can experiment with different numbers in the middle and even try one with all the group go into the middle.
The outside group can select three interesting shapes from the middle group and try to link them together into a story or small scene. Words can be added.

You can work in smaller groups of 4's numbering yourselves 1 to 4. Three people hold a pose and the 4th person observes and writes on paper what they see. Then 4 joins the shape and 1 comes out from the shape and observes in the same way, and so on.
A scene/story or movement phrase can be composed in the same way as above.

Wednesday 16 April 2008

Static Composition and status

Set out in an empty room or space 6 chairs evenly spaced, a table and position a bottle of water somewhere in close proximately to it.
Ask individuals from the group to reposition the objects to create one dominant chair in the picture.
Experiment with placing the bottle in different places

Progression -
Add a person to the picture whose aim is to take the focus
Add another person who tries to take the focus off the first. Ask the rest of the group observing if they think he/she has succeeded in doing this
Add a third person who then tries to take the focus and so on.
Build up a picture which shows lots of different stories. Get the group to observe them and this could be a good stimulus to start a scene.
This exercise could also be done with the aim of taking the lowest status. It is a good exercise to find spatial power and the idea of a relational stage.