1. Picturization and Movement
Directing One
Spring 2013

2. PICTURIZATION A definition Picturization is storytelling by a group of
actors. It is brought about by the combined
use of composition, gesture and improvisation
with properties for the specific purpose of
animating the dramatic action.
--Francis Hodge (114)

3. Scene from 2013 revival of PIPPIN

4. PICTURIZATION A definition Picturization is the storytelling aspect of
blocking. It concerns itself with revealing
character, emotion, and motive through
movement, body language, and business. It is revealed using movement that goes from one composition to another.
--Jim Patterson (119)

5. CABARET
1969 Tony Awards

6. COMPOSITION
PATTERSON: The technical aspect of blocking that leads the audience to see clearly what the director believes is important. It concerns itself with CLARITY—the pleasing arrangement of characters within the setting that lets the audience know where to look at a given moment. It is a still-life painting of the stage at one moment in time. HODGE: The physical arrangement of actor-characters in a groundplan for the purpose of discovering dramatic action and of illustrating it in the simplest possible way through emphasis and contrast.

7. What the audience sees Enhance the visual appeal of the play
Focus
Balance
Space
Area
Line
Level
Contrast
Helpful Composition helps the audience notice what the director thinks is important.
A particular challenge with a large cast

8. Elements of composition
What character (or characters) are important?
Are the characters pleasingly arranged?
Is the balance symmetrical? Asymmetrical?
How is the acting area defined?
Pay attention to the essentials
Focus
Balance
Solidity

9. What elements of composition are shown in this painting?
Tiepolo: Rachel Hiding the Idols (c1729)

10. The Iceman Cometh (2015)

11. The Rocky Horror Show (2010)

12. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2011)

13. BODY POSITIONS

14. Line
Focus through line is achieved by having characters in a group look at the person or persons who should receive emphasis
The Iceman Cometh, (1946)

15. SPACE
The Iceman Cometh (1946)
Space surrounding an important character in a full stage composition is basic blocking technique to give character focus.

16. Level
The Iceman Cometh, 1999
The higher the actor’s head, the more focus the actor seems to get.

17. Area
In a proscenium stage, the following stage areas seem more emphatic than others:
Center stage areas are stronger than SL or SR
Characters closest to audience are most emphatic
SR is usually more emphatic than SL
DS areas are stronger than US

18. BALANCE

19. Balance
Caravaggio’s Christ and the Woman of Samaria, c 1620

20. Albee’s The Play About the Baby
2001

21. PICTURIZATION
PICTURIZATION IS GIVING MEANING TO WHAT THE AUDIENCE SEES.
While composition is primarily concerned with the attractiveness of groupings…picturization involves the inherent meaning of how and where the actors move
Their positions on the stage
Their body language
The business they perform
Picturization is also concerned with the amount, speed and direction of movement.

22. Body Language

23. Body Language

24. Body Language

25. Gesture

26. Gesture

27. Gesture

28. Movement There are three sources for movement:
1. The playwright mandates it in the dialogue.

29. Movement
2. Movement comes from dramatic action.

30. Movement
3. Movement can be introduced by the director to enliven the scene. In a street scene, for example, primary action downstage might be amplified or filled-out by secondary action upstage.

31. Body Positions
Body position tells a story. What is going on here? The script along with the actor’s posture will clarify these questions (Robin Williams in THE FISHER KING.)

32. Body Positions

33. Body Positions

34. Body Positions

35. Body Positions

36. Body Positions

37. Body Positions

38. Body Positions

39. Strong and weak movements
Forward movement conveys strength
Crosses from USR to L or DSC are inherently strong
Movements that take a character back (away from the audience) are inherently weak
MOVEMENT, both strong and weak, is a tool for the director to use for dramatic effect

40. Specific Uses of Movement
Acceleration in both speed and duration can help build to a climax
A bold cross while others are still can signal a change in objective
A general change in the stage picture can punctuate a transition
A flurry of crosses followed by stillness brings focus to dialogue, action or plot

41. When not to move Limit a speaking character’s movement while speaking
Important lines may not be clearly understood if the actor says them while moving
Don’t allow actors to cross another while speaking unless you want to take focus
Don’t permit business to distract from the key element of the composition

42. Business and movement create meaning
Spatial relationships
Kinds of movement
Business activities
The stamp of the director

43. STAGE PICTURE Michael Wainstein:
“The totality of what the audience sees
from their seats. Ideal stage pictures
are unified, artistic and reflective of the
inner life of the play in every moment.”
(p. 286)

44. GUYS AND DOLLS – ESU THEATRE - 2012

45. “INSPECTING CAROL” - ESU Theatre (2012)

46. “Dancing at Lughnasa” - ESU Theatre (2013)

47. BLOCKING
Definitions
The choreography of the play established by the director and actors. (Wainstein)
The movement of the actors through the setting. (Patterson)
The director is an image-maker…Blocking is the process of stimulating actors to image-making through groundplan, compostion, gesture, improvisation with properties, picturization and movement. (Hodge)

48. George C. Wolfe at work on Tony Kushner’s adaptation of MOTHER
COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN (2006)

49. PRIMARY TECHNIQUES OF PICTURIZATION (Hodge)
Encourage PICTURIZATION over and around obstacles. Encourage space separations between characters and the use of different planes, levels and body positions. Look for intimate climactic picturizations and encourage actors to touch one another if appropriate to the scene and the decorum. Look for appropriate character-mood-intensities of the different characters.

50. SPACE SEPARATIONS

51. APPROPRIATE TOUCH
THE KISS (Picasso)

52. APPROPRIATE TOUCH
THE KISS (Rodin)

53. APPROPRIATE TOUCH
THE KISS (Gustav Klimt)

54. APPROPRIATE TOUCH

55. PRIMARY TECHNIQUES OF PICTURIZATION (Hodge)
Exploit GESTURE in every possible way. Encourage the continuous use of triangles in setting up compositions. Encourage the use of HAND PROPS.

56. TRIANGLES

57. TRIANGLES

58. TRIANGLES

59. SECONDARY FUNCTIONS OF PICTURIZATION (Hodge)
BALANCE the stage. Exploit the STAGE CUBE—you are blocking in 3 dimensions. Exploit the EXTREMES of the stage floor by using the full depth of the groundplan.

60. Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night (1889)

61. Vermeer,
A Woman Holding a
Balance ( )

62. THE STAGE CUBE

63. John Trumbull, The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 (c. 1800)

64. 1776. Directed by Jim Bartruff, MSUM Theatre (2003)
Directed by Jim Bartruff, MSUM Theatre (2003) Designed by Roray Hedges

65. EXPLOIT THE EXTREMES OF THE GROUNDPLAN

66. The Glass Menagerie, Set design by Clare Floyd DeVries WATER TOWER THEATRE, Addison, TX

67. THE GLASS MENAGERIE, ESU Theatre (2009) Designed by Ron Fowlkes