1. PAIR UP AND SET THE SCENE:
- Split your class into pairs. Within each pair, one is Actor A (on camera) and one is Actor B (off camera but part of the scene).
- Each pair will set their scene. They decide where they are (location), their relationship (friends, siblings, rivals, partners, etc.), and what is happening.
- They will be performing a very short scene which consists of one question (delivered by Actor B) and one answer (delivered by Actor A).
2. THE QUESTION:
- The pairs will decide what the question and answer will be. The question should be related to the decisions they have made about their scene.
- The question should be important and involve high stakes, it shouldn’t be an easy question to answer for Actor A. It should take some thought process (this is where the look comes in!).
- Examples: “Can I trust you?”, “Are you leaving?”, “Did you lie to me?”, “Will you help me?”
3. THE TECHNICAL FOCUS (Actor A):
- Actor A begins looking at Actor B.
- When the question is asked, Actor A should take it in (listen & react to what they heard), then look away (to process and make a choice), they keep looking away for as long as feels right, then looks back at Actor B with their response.
- Their answer must be short: 3–4 words only, otherwise the look loses its power.
There are three potential ways to respond;
1. Actor A delivers their whole response before looking back to Actor B.
2. Actor A delivers part of the line before looking back to Actor B and the rest while looking at their partner
3. Actor A makes a decision to look at Actor B, then delivers the line with full eye contact.
IMPORTANT: When looking away from their partner, the movement of their eyes will say a lot about the way they are feeling. They might fix their eyes on one spot showing deep thought, or move their eyes slowly searching for an answer, or their eyes may dart around searching showing nervousness.
Every eye movement must be a choice connected to their character’s thoughts (their inner monologue).
Different choices create different feelings for the audience, how does the actor want the audience to feel about their character?
4. THE REHEARSAL:
- Once the pairs have made their scene choices, give them 5–10 minutes to practise. Make sure they are very clear on the choices they have made and why this question is of such importance, what are the consequences etc.
- They should explore short pauses, long pauses, fast looks back, and slow looks back.
- Explore their internal thoughts, without character thoughts the look will become empty or look forced and un-natural.
5. SWAP ROLES:
- Students swap so both practise being Actor A and Actor B.
6. PUT IT ON CAMERA + WATCH BACK:
- Groups come up one at a time.
- Actor A sits in front of the camera, we are focusing on Actor A’s peformance. The framing should be a medium/close-up or close-up, so that we can clearly see their face, their eyes and therefore their reactions.
- Actor B stands besides the camera (they are not scene on screen).
- The class watches on the TV.
- They perform once.
- The teacher gives constructive feedback about timing, stillness, truthfulness, and use of eyes. Give them some direction to play with for their next take.
- They repeat at least three times, adjusting each time.
- If a student is struggling, show them the playback there and then, seeing it often helps more than explanation.
7: WATCH BACK
When watching back, discuss what changed and why. What worked, and whether the performance portrayed what they wanted it to.