Technology Infused Lesson Plan

LESSON 5 MOOD

BY DANIEL BARTON

Intermediate Drama Class

Lesson Objective: Students will demonstrate understanding of how design communicates mood by creating a soundscape and mood board based off of a section of “Speak” and then justifying their creative choices through an artist statement.

Essential Questions:

• Which is more important? Visual elements or auditory elements?
• How can we describe moods and feelings accurately?
• How is mood received?

Theatre Standards:

• TH:Re9.1.II.b. Construct meaning in a drama/theatre work, considering personal aesthetics and knowledge of production elements while respecting others’ interpretations.
• TH:Cr1.1.II.b. Understand and apply technology to design solutions for a drama/theatre work.

Materials:

Computer lab with access to Audacity, Powerpoint, Youtube

Materials for Foley recording such as metal pieces, cloth, newspaper, wrappers

A quiet space to record sound

Backup for Technology Failure:

• Step Two - If the computers or projector is broken and the clips are unable to be played, use examples of the last production viewed or performed by the students and use that as the example.  Other examples could be popular movies seen by most of the students in the class. Extra care would need to be taken to provide specific details since the trailers would not be able to be viewed at that moment.
• Step Three - If the computers are struggling to work or are broken, have the students create group mood boards for their sections on Speak using found items inside the classroom.  Students will create their mood board on a table or the floor and consider how presentation fits in with their board.
• Step Four - If Audacity isn’t working, create 4 groups (2 of each section from Speak) in the class have the students create the soundscape with their bodies, voices, and phones.  Have them perform them for the whole class as someone films them (with their permission).

• Step One – Hook Activity - 5 min
• As students enter the classroom, be playing music from a playlist using a phone or mp3 player.
• Songs to play:
• 1 - Hut on the Rock from Harry Potter and Cursed Child Soundtrack
• https://open.spotify.com/album/1VFAX22BAlc09UM2Upxmv6
• 2 - Five by Lamb
• https://open.spotify.com/album/7tFRNYutf1ADebzALVBBt8
• 3 - Alive by Daft Punk
• https://open.spotify.com/album/5uRdvUR7xCnHmUW8n64n9y
• Have the students close their eyes.
• As each song plays, first have students describe what they are seeing in their imagination, and then how they are feeling while listening to the songs.
• Ask probing questions like why are you getting that feeling?  Why are you seeing that? Give me reasons, inspirations.
• Step Two - Lecture and Examples - 10 min
• Write Creation of Mood on the whiteboard
• Ask the students what they think this means in regards to design.
• Write their answers on the board.
• Ask the students how they think design accomplishes creation of mood.
• Write their answers on the board.
• Follow up questions to ask: “How do you perceive mood? What does mood mean for theatre? What is affected by mood?  What areas of design do you think convey the most feeling?”
• Watch The Dark Knight Teaser Trailer, Lego Movie Teaser Trailer, 1 minute from the Tony Performance of Hamilton, and 1 minute of Frankenstein
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWw0ov-cAUg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPnY2NjSjrg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5VqyCQV1Tg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEhKwLjtncE

• After the students watch each video ask them to describe the mood of each piece.  Ask follow up questions about why they described it that way. What choices from the piece made you think that way?  Have them notice when they say things about the visual vs. auditory choices by pointing out when they say one or the other.  
• Ask the students now that they’ve had this discussion if they want to go back and make changes to what they said about the creation of mood and how design accomplishes that.
• Step Three - Mood Boards - 15 min
• Talk about Mood Boards
• One way to communicate as a designer what you want the visual elements to look like is through the use of a mood board.  Essentially a mood board is a collage of images arranged so that it communicates a story. In this case the story you want to communicate might be what colors you want the set and costumes to be, what you picture for lighting, the kind of environment you are trying to create.  It’s just research images that help communicate your ideas.
• Creation of Mood Boards
• Have the students number off into 1’s and 2’s. 1’s will be working with The Beast Prowls - page 161 from Speak.  2’s will be working with the section Sanctuary - page 8 from Speak.
• Have the students go to their computers and use either Word or Powerpoint and the Internet to find research images and arrange them into mood boards based off of the section from Speak they were assigned.
• Side-coach the students into figuring out what they want to say and how they want to communicate that.  Don’t tell them what to do but give suggestions of things to look for.
• Step Four - Soundscape - 30 min
• Auditory design
• It’s not just visual design that contributes to mood, sounds create a lot of feelings in our minds.
• We are going to design a soundscape to accompany the section you are assigned from Speak.  This could include sounds you might hear in the actual place, it could include someone reading lines or dialogue from the story, it could include music that you think helps communicate meaning or feeling.  So, how do we create what’s called diegetic sound or sound that belongs to the world of the story or play?
• Watch the first 3 minutes of the Secret Life of Foley Artists
• http://digg.com/video/how-foley-artists-create-sound-effects
• Audacity
• Give the students a short 3 minute tutorial on Audacity.
• Walk through how to get files on Audacity, how to cut, move clips, adjust levels, do effects, playback.
• Allow the students time to play as they are becoming familiar with Audacity.
• Soundscape Design
• Instruct the students that for their design they need 2 of the 3 components: diegetic sound, music, or spoken lines.
• Instruct students that they may can take turns in the quiet space provided to record sounds using materials they provide or the materials I provide to create sounds.
• Side-coach as necessary and troubleshoot any problems with the technology students might have.
• Artist Statement
• When students are finished with the soundscape, instruct them to write an artist statement that encapsulates their ideas and stance about the content and the pieces they have created.
• The statement should be no longer than 2 sentences and should combine their mood board and soundscape ideas to describe their mood.
• Step Five - Assessment - 15 min
• Presentations
• Have students pair up so they are with someone who’s section of Speak they didn’t have.
• Have the students present their mood board, soundscape and Artist Statement.
• Have the students email all 3 of those things to the instructor unless there are hard copies, in that case hand them to the instructor.
• Write these questions on the board and ask the student partners to ask some of these questions or others they come up with to go further into sharing their process and end product “How did you find or create that sound?  What does that sound mean to you? Why did you choose that color? Where was your inspiration? How does the text connect to your design?”