Wednesday, October 2, 2019



Radio drama is over 70 years old, and, for all serious purposes, has been dead for 50 of those years, being used only occasionally in the classroom as a novelty or curiosity. During the middle to late 1940's, radio drama reached its peak, then, with the advent and expansion of television, it quickly faded into history. Before the 1920's formal radio programs were unknown. Most broadcasts were one time events consisting mainly of talk and music. Broadcast hours were irregular, usually four or five hours a day, and the only regularly scheduled broadcasts were weather reports. Once in a while, musical events such as symphonies and operas were broadcast from the locations where they were being performed. Occasionally stage plays were broadcast from the theatre, and sporting events were broadcast with play-by-play announcing.

In the mid 20's, larger stations began to develop programs using announcers or narrators. These programs used definite openings and closings and were built around specific program ideas. Radio drama was born in 1927, when networks began adapting short stories, and even writing original scripts, for broadcast.

During the last part of the 1920's many one-hour, sponsored network programs started. Musical variety and concert music programs were the most popular forms during this period. Some of these network variety programs used a different format each week—a musical program one week, a talk or a debate the next week, and perhaps a dramatization the third week. During this period the network schedules included two or three minstrel variety programs and a comedy variety program using a series of several comedy acts in a half hour. Song-and-patter teams, usually two person teams that used talk between songs, became popular during this period. Later on patter-only comedy acts appeared. The Amos 'n' Andy show was one of the first to use this format. At first Amos 'n' Andy presented patter five nights a week for fifteen minutes each night.

During the 1930-31 season, the comedy dramatic form became an important part of radio programming, when Amos 'n' Andy adopted a story line. Amos 'n' Andy was so popular that the program survived even into the TV era.

In the early 1930's national advertisers recognized the potential for radio advertising and became willing to buy air-time and sponsor programs. As this happened, networks competed for their share. The result was the development of many new program forms. Among the new program types were: vaudeville variety programs, dramatized news programs, programs built around a comedian, advice/interview programs, amateur contest programs, town meeting programs, daily network news programs, daytime "soap opera" serialized drama, after school juvenile serialized adventure drama, and hillbilly variety programs. As network daytime serials became popular, stations developed daytime schedules.

In order to survive the depression years, many local stations scheduled commercial religious programs, programs with cultural appeal (country music for instance), and astrology programs that included strong appeals for donations to keep the show on the air. During this time, local news programs were usually one fifteen-minute broadcast per day, getting their news from daily newspapers.

In the early 1940's, radio programs reflected America's involvement in World War II. As the number of news and human interest programs grew, evening variety, musical, quiz, and audience participation programs shrunk. During this time, evening dramatic programs exploded in number.

As a result of the country's involvement in the war, the number of hours per week devoted to news broadcasts nearly doubled. It was probably this abundance of war news that propelled the spectacular growth of evening dramatic programs. As listeners grew tired of war talk, they turned to other programs for escape. The forms that offered the most escape were comedy-variety, comedy drama, and thriller drama. As a matter of fact, one of the dramatic series created during this period was entitled Escape. During the 1944-45 season, the networks scheduled 8 hours of comedy variety, 8 hours of comedy drama programs, and 14 hours of thriller drama each week. By the end of this period, networks offered 47 hours a week of dramatic programs during the evening and on Sunday. Thriller drama programs counted for about 25 hours of these each week.

In the early years of television, not enough homes had a TV receiver and national sponsors were hard to find, therefore, production costs had to be controlled. It was too expensive to create new forms and take a chance on an unknown show, so the forms that existed at the time on radio were moved directly to television. In fact, many of the successful radio series went directly to television. Gunsmoke, an extremely successful western drama, was one among several that could be heard on radio and seen on TV. Suspense, radio's longest running thriller series, was another.


Web Resource: balancepublishing.com

Radio Play Project (4 people per group): 
Students will create their own radio play, Murder Mystery. 

Materials Needed: 
character plot, plot mountain, script, sound effects, commercials, recording device, lots of imagination

Duties:
Two Playwrights: It is the responsibility of the playwright to write the actual script for the radio drama. The other members of the group will provide creative input, but the playwright will be held accountable for actually writing the script on paper.

Foley Artist: It is the responsibility of the Foley artist to create the sound effects (six) for the radio drama. This person will be responsible for ensuring that all props are brought to the recording studio when needed. The Foley artist will make sure that the playwright includes all sound effects in the script.

Advertising Executive: It is the responsibility of the advertising executive to write the commercials (three) for the radio drama. This person should decide where the commercials should be placed in the script and inform the playwright of these decisions.


Sunday, September 29, 2019

SILENT FILM HISTORY

Silent Film History Documentary
*Stop video when Sound/Talkies is introduced.




Charlie Chaplin 

 

Buster Keaton



Silent Film Project - Your group will use your mime, pantomime and combat mime scenes to create a silent film by mapping it out on a storyboard.

Storyboard - A sequence of drawings, typically with some directions and dialogue, representing the shots planned for a movie or television production.



Silent Film Project

Create a storyboard to map out your planning for your Silent Film.

What should be on my storyboard? Shots and Signs - Each square represents a shot (video recording of scene work) or sign (written dialogue or narration). The squares are designated for writing descriptions of what happens in your scenes/shots or to show what your signs will state.

Types of Shots - Close-up, Long and Mid-range (You should have at least one close-up and mid-range shot in your film). You will receive three storyboard sheets, one for each section of your film (Beginning, Middle, Ending). Each sheet contains six squares for shots/signs. You may not need to use all six squares for each section.

What is on a sign?


Dialogue - "Oh no! Watch out!!!"

Description – The next day….



Group________________________________________                                      
Silent Film Project Storyboards



1 - Exposition/Beginning Action

*Remember, you should have at least one close-up and mid-range shot in your film.
Title Page – What is the name of your Silent Film?











Sign – Brief, introductory dialogue or narration to set up the beginning of your film.
Shot – First filmed scene for the beginning section of your film.
Sign – Brief dialogue or narration for the beginning of your film.











Shot – Second filmed scene for the beginning section of your film.
Sign – Brief dialogue or narration for the beginning of your film.



Group________________________________________         
                                    
2 - Climax (conflict)/Falling Action

Shot – First filmed scene for the middle section of your film.











Sign – Brief, introductory dialogue or narration to set up the middle of your film.
Shot – Second filmed scene for the middle section of your film.
Sign – Brief dialogue or narration for the middle of your film.











Shot – Third filmed scene for the middle section of your film.
Sign – Brief dialogue or narration for the middle of your film.



Group________________________________________   
                                          
3 - Resolution


Shot – First filmed scene for the ending section of your film.











Sign – Brief, introductory dialogue or narration to set up the ending of your film.
Shot – Second filmed scene for the ending section of your film.
Sign – Brief dialogue or narration for the ending of your film.











Shot – Third filmed scene for the ending section of your film.
Sign – Brief dialogue or narration for the ending of your film.



4 - End Credits

List the names of all participants in your group on a final sign.



Project Example/Previous Student Work

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Welcome Back!





SCHS 2019 – 2020 School Year

Dear Student and Parent/Guardian,

Welcome back to another exciting year at South Columbus High School. Perhaps this is your first year at South or maybe this year will lead to the conclusion of your high school career. In either case, as the dance and theater educator at SCHS, I assure you the 2019 – 2020 academic school year will be filled with many learning experiences, special events and performance opportunities.


For your convenience I have provided my information and policies online. Simply click the link,Important Classroom Information which is located in the left-hand column of my website to access links for:
1 – The Common Core Curriculum for Dance and Theater
2 – Classroom Procedures and Grading
3 – Additional Resources

What do I expect from my students?

My classes are heavily participation- based. Therefore, regular attendance and class participation is necessary to insure success. If a student is absent from class, they should consult the
Make-Up Work Policy on my website.

Do I have to perform?
Of course, you are enrolled in a performing arts course! We perform in class every day! As far as formal performances are concerned, Proficient and Advanced level students (and some Intermediate level students) will have extensive performance requirements and outside-of-class related activities. Beginners (and some Intermediate level students) are still learning fundamentals and aren’t quite ready for formal performance. Beginning Theater does not have a required performance. Beginning/Intermediate Dance has one performance at the end of the semester, our annual spring concert.

*Please note, students who miss performances, events and rehearsals are required to complete an alternate assignment to replace the missed grade. Students who fail to complete and submit an alternate assignment will not receive credit for the missed grade.

How will I be graded in your class?

As mentioned before, my class is largely participation-based. For this reason, students will receive a weekly participation grade. This grade is an average of their daily participation in my class. When students are absent they do not receive points for the day. It is imperative that students are familiar with my Make-Up Work Policy and complete make-up assignments when they are absent. 

Why do I have to submit a course contract?

A signed course contract is my way of knowing my students and their parents/guardians have been informed of my classroom procedures and expectations. For this reason, I treat the contract as a graded assignment. *Students who turn in a signed contract will receive a one-hundred percent, quiz grade. Students who do not will receive a zero, failing quiz grade.

How can I contact you?

If you have any questions or concerns about my class, you may contact me at SCHS (910 – 653 – 4073), by email (amj@columbus.k12.nc.us), or through Remind. We are on
Facebook @schssouthstage and Instragram @southstagedancetheater.

When and where can we see students perform?

I have a
calendar including performance dates and events for my classes on my website!

I am excited to see how much each of my students will learn and grow in class, day by day. They are hard-working, creative and intelligent people who always surprise me with their accomplishments. The parents and family members of students in the Arts department have faithfully supported our student’s work and performances. This means so much to them. The only thing better than performing, is performing for a full house! It takes a great deal of courage to stand onstage and share something you are passionate about, especially when it is personal to the individual person. Thank you in advance for encouraging and praising our students for their exceptional efforts.

Let’s have another great semester!

Sincerely,
Amy Jones

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

T-shirts???

Do we still want to order T-shirt’s? I completely forgot about them. Here is the art work. 



I

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Musical Costume Needs

Musical Costumes by scene/song

Students get it.
Probably have in costume room.
We need to get it.

Act I
* "It's Your Wedding Day" – Robbie, Sammy, George, and Company
* Suits- Band
* brides maids dresses - dancers
* dressy attire for guests and family - ensemble

* "Someday" – Julia and Female Ensemble
* Julia and Holly - wait staff attire (black pants, white button up shirt, black tie, black shoes
* Band - same suits
* Same dressy attire for guests and family - ensemble

* "Awesome" – Robbie and Julia
* Robbie and Julia still in same attire from previous scene


* "Someday (Robbie's Reprise)" – Robbie - same suit

* "A Note from Linda" – Linda
* Robbie, George and Sammy - suit/tux
* Preacher - nice dress

* "It's Your Wedding Day (Reprise 1)" – Robbie - same jeans and T-shirt

* "Pop!" – Holly, Angie, Julia, and Company *
* Julia and Holly - wait staff attire (black pants, white button up shirt, black tie, black shoes)
* Julia changes into a dress in bathroom stall onstage
* Dancers - same brides maid dresses
* Angie - normal attire (jeans, 80’s style shirt/blouse

* "Somebody Kill Me"  – Robbie
* Robbie - jeans, T-shirt (he looks really rough)
* George - some really gay, eccentric 80’s outfit
* Sammy - jeans, T-shirt

* "A Note from Grandma" – Rosie
* Grandma looking clothes, wig
* Robbie, George and Sammy (same as Somebody Kill Me)

* “It’s Your Wedding Day (Reprise 2)” – Robbie and Wedding Guests
* Same costumes as It’s Your Wedding Day except dancers are now dressed as wait staff, table nine dress like nerds and losers (wigs, nerdy glasses)

* "Casualty of Love" – Robbie, Sideburns Lady, Loser Guy, Large Lady, and Company
* Same costumes as It’s Your Wedding Day except dancers are now dressed as wait staff, table nine dress like nerds and losers (wigs, nerdy glasses)
* "Come Out of the Dumpster" – Julia and Robbie
* Julia - wait staff attire
* Robbie - suit

* "Today You Are a Man" – Robbie, George, and Sammy
* Same as Wedding Day except dancers are dressed like men

* "George's Prayer" – George
* George - suit
* Ensemble - nice attire (same scene as Today You Are A Man

* "Not That Kind of Thing" – Robbie, Julia, and Company
* Normal 80’s attire (mall and bridal shop scene) (we need bridal dresses for racks)
* "Saturday Night in the City" – Company
* 80’s club attire

Act II
* "All About the Green" – Glen, Robbie, and Company
* Robbie - jeans and T-shirt
* Glen - business attire
* Dancers - white button up shirts and green skirts, tap shoes

* "Someday (Julia's Reprise)" – Julia
* Julia - jeans, 80’s blouse

* "Right in Front of Your Eyes" – Holly and Sammy
* Sammy - jeans, I’m with Stupid T-shirt
* Holly - mini skirt, button up shirt tied at waist, I’m With Stupid T-shirt

* "Single" – Sammy, Ricky, Bum, George, Robbie, and Ensemble
* Jeans, T-shirt’s

* "If I Told You" – Robbie and Julia
* Normal attire

* "Let Me Come Home" – Linda
* Linda - tight shirt, mini skirt
* Robbie - pajamas

* "Not That Kind of Thing / If I Told You (Reprise)" – Rosie, Robbie, and Julia
* Band - suits
* Grandma - track suit and granny wig
* Grandma already has her tracksuit

* "Move That Thang" – Rosie and George
* Grandma and dancers - track suits and granny wigs
* George - suit

* "Grow Old With You" – Robbie and Julia
* Robbie and Sammy - Suits
* Glen - suit
* Julia - white dress
* Impersonators - Ronald Reagan - Suit, Tina Turner - ?, Cyndi Lauper - ?

* "Finale – Company
* Same as Grow Old With You.