If all these factors are combined then a good improvisation will be formed. The first type of improvisation we studied was ‘ Spontaneous Improvisation’. This involved three sections impromptu, polished and extended. The first piece of ‘impromptu improvisation’ we did was done by us being given a title and then devising a scene for it. The first title was running away, in which we had to pair together and come up with a scene.
For this title my partner (Jelani) and I did a scene in which two people were going crazy staying where they were and wanted to run away. We created this scene by shouting at each other and talking continuously to give the impression that we were going crazy. Also we used body language to suggest getting away such as moving our hands away from our bodies and we fidgeted to reflect the fact that we weren’t happy and wanted to get away from where we were. I think this improvisation worked well because me and Jelani made it believable and we were very lively and vivid.
The second title we were given was ” On the Streets” for this improvisation we worked in-groups of 5 or 6. In my group were Ashley, Jelani, Matthew, Sara and Jennifer. We acted out a scene, which represented the stereotypical view of a bad street. In this scene we used prostitution and drug abuse to create a believable improvisation. The drug abusers were curled up in the corner shaking to make the audience believe they were actually taking drugs. The prostitutes spoke in a common slang sort of way to show the way in which normal people view them. The scene worked well as we only had one piece of action going on at a time so the audience didn’t miss anything.
The third title we were given was “The Battlefields”. For this scene we worked as a class and we were divided into two sides. We all chose a certain sound effect and set up a barrier of chairs to represent the trenches. We acted in slow motion to increase the effect of our scene, also as we fought in slow motion we repeated our sound effects continuously to make a good background. All these factors together helped to make the scene believable.
The next thing we did was play a game called “The Party” from the TV show Whose line is it Anyway. In the party one person plays the host and about six people are guests who are certain types of people or have a certain problem. I was a Super hero and I portrayed this by walking round with my chest puffed out and my hand on my hips. Also occasionally I used a manly voice and said ” Does anyone need saving”.
Some of the other characters were a lost frog – Reuben, a bomb squad member – Kristen, an outcast – LeRhonda, a schizophrenic – Michelle, a pyromaniac – Jennifer, a love sick person – Jelani, a claustrophobic person – Fajr, a scuba diver – Erica and a person with and attitude problem – Ashley. This game was very fun and fun to watch but unfortunately the person who was the host would often corpse. This in a way ruined the scene and it sometimes put of the guests.
The third piece we did was called “The Doctors Office”. In this we worked I pairs and had to act out a scene found in a doctors waiting room. There were a large variety of different ideas in this part. I was a crazy person who was trying to be calmed down by her husband. To portray this role I put on a false, dense sounding voice and pointed at the ceiling pretending to see colours and pretending the ceiling was falling down.
Also I made my eyes big and smiled a lot. My partner (Jelani) spoke in a very soothing tone and held my hands. He looked and spoke as if I was a baby, this contributed to the realisticness of the scene. This was effective because it gave a very strong impression to the audience and left them in no doubt that I was crazy. Some other examples of good ideas were Michelle’s in which she was in labour. She did this part very well as she screamed at her husband and did the breathing that is used during labour. Also she clutched her stomach with her legs slightly apart as women in labour usually do. Another idea used was that a person got a bee sting on their tongue, Fajr did this. She did this very well as she talked like her tongue was swollen up. Also someone was a hypochondriac who was desperate to see a doctor. This was done very well as she paced a lot and banged on the desk.
