DRAMATIC DEVICE

DRAMATIC DEVICES

 

THERE ARE SO MANY TYPES OF DRAMATIC DEVICE.

THIS DEVICE HELP YOU TO DEVELOP WELL IN ACTING  

 

P FEELINGS MOVIES PRODUCTION.

PETER'S CONCEPT

 

1                                           ASIDE

1.  The term aside means ‘A remark made in an undertone so as to be inaudible to others nearby.’  An aside is a traditional dramatic device. Here, a character conveys important information to the audience. By convention it is assumed that the character's speech is unheard to the other characters present on stage. It may be addressed to the audience directly or represent an unspoken thought. An aside is usually a brief comment, rather than a speech, such as a monologue or soliloquy.  An aside differs from a monologue or soliloquy. Unlike a public announcement, it occurs within the context of the play. An aside is, by convention, a true statement of a character's thought; a character may be mistaken in an aside, but must not be dishonest.An aside is neither a monologue nor a soliloquy. A Monologue may be interpreted as one character speaking to another without getting (or expecting) a response. This is because monologue (literally) means, half of a dialogue (mono- = one, dia- = two. Example: When Henry V delivers his speech to the English camp in the Saint Crispin's Day speech ("we few, we happy few, we band of brothers") it is a monologue since he is speaking to other characters.  A soliloquy is a character speaking his thoughts out loud for the audience to hear. The lines can be directed either to the audience or, more often, the character is just speaking to himself.

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     2                                      Masque

    : The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe. However, it originated in Italy in forms including the intermedio. A public version of the masque was called the pageant. A masque involved music and dancing, singing and acting, within an elaborate stage design. Here, the architectural framing and costumes were designed by a renowned architect to present a deferential allegory flattering to the patron. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts. Often, the masquers who did not speak or sing were courtiers: King James I's queen consort, Anne of Denmark, frequently danced with her ladies in masques between 1603 and 1611, and Henry VIII and Charles I performed in the masques at their courts. In the tradition of masque, Louis XIV danced in ballets at Versailles with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully.

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17.  3                                  DISGUISE

18.  A disguise can be anything which conceals or changes a person's physical appearance, including a wig, glasses, makeup, costume or other ways. Camouflage is one type of disguise for people, animals and objects. Hats, glasses, change in hair style or wigs, plastic surgery, and make-up are also used.  Disguises are used by criminals such as bank robbers and by spies seeking to avoid identification. A well-known person or celebrity may choose to go "incognito" in order to avoid unwelcome press attention. In comic books and films disguises are used by superheroes and in science fiction by aliens. Dressing up in costumes is a Halloween tradition. 

     

    

     

     Disguise  In comic book and superhero stories, disguises are used to hide secret identities and keep special powers secret from ordinary people. For example, Superman passes himself off as Clark Kent, and Spider-Man disguises himself in a costume so that he cannot be recognized as Peter Parker. In science fiction, aliens often take on a human appearance wearing "human suits" as a disguise.  In epic poetry, Odysseus uses the disguise of a beggar to test his family's and servants' loyalty upon his return from a 20 voyage. Disguise is sometimes used in criminal activity and in spying, and is a common trope in detective fiction and in spy stories. Sherlock Holmes often disguised himself as somebody else to avoid being recognized.

     

     

     

4                                   Mime 

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4.  Mime is considered one of the earliest mediums of self-expression. Before there was spoken language, mime was used to communicate what the primitive people needed or wanted. Instead of fading into obscurity when the spoken language was developed, mime had became a form of entertainment. It then developed into a true theatrical form in ancient Greece, where performers enacted everyday scenes with the help of elaborate gestures. The principle mimes were known as ethologist, and the scenes they would perform would teach moral lessons.  Mime originated in the Theater of Dionysus in Athens. Masked actors performed outdoors, in daylight, before audiences of 10,000 or more at festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of theater. Mime enjoyed much success and growth under Emperor Augustus of Rome.  The most elaborate form of Mime, known as hypothesis, may have approached the level of true drama. This would be performed by companies of actors, who would often concentrate more on the development of their characters, than the plot itself.Mime  Often one actor would play the part of several individuals in the production. Mime continued to entertain through the Middle Ages, and reached its height in sixteenth century Italy, in the form of Comedian departed. Comedian dell' Arte originated in the market places of the Italian streets in the early 1500's. Street performers began donning masks with exaggerated comical features to draw attention to themselves and to complement their acrobatic skills. The characters they created became affectionately known as Nanni.  Basically, there are two major types of mime: literal and abstract or a combination of both. These types are evident in all the schools of mime. Literal mime is primarily used for comedy and story theater. Literal mime generally tells a story with a conflict through the use of a main character. The actions and visual design clearly tell the viewers the story which is usually humorous. Abstract mime is used to generate feelings, thoughts and images from a serious topic or issue. Normally there is no plot or central character. It is considered a more intuitive experience or image rather than literal actions.

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    5                              DUES EX MACHINE

   A dues ex machine  A dues ex machine Latin: "god out of the machine"; plural: dues ex machine) is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object. The Latin phrase dues ex machine comes to English usage from Horace's Ars Poetica, where he instructs poets that they must never resort to a god from the machine to solve their plots. He refers to the conventions of Greek tragedy, where a crane (methane) was used to lower actors playing gods onto the stage. The machine referred to in the phrase could be either the crane employed in the task, a claque from the Greek "god from the machine" ("ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός," apò mēkhanḗs theós), or the riser that brought a god up from a trap door. The idea is that the device of said god is entirely artificial or conceived by man dues ex machine The Greek tragedian Euripides is often criticized for his frequent use of the dues ex machine. More than half of Euripides's extant tragedies employ a dues ex machine in their resolution and some critics go so far as to claim that Euripides invented the dues ex machine, although Æschylus employed a similar device in his 'Eumenides'. Aristotle criticized the device in his "Poetics", where he argued that the resolution of a plot must arise internally, following from previous action of the play. During the politically turbulent 17th and 18th Centuries, the dues ex machine was sometimes used to make a controversial thesis more palatable to the powers of the day. The novelist Andrew Foster Altschul satirized reality television in a 2011 novel titled Duse Ex Machine.  The classic novel Lord of the Flies uses a dues ex machine in its conclusion when the savage children are rescued by a passing navy man.

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14.                                        Chorus 

15.  is a group of actors who function as a unit. It was a characteristic feature of the Greek tragedy. The members of the chorus shared a common identity, such as Asian Chanteuses or old men of Thebes. The leader of the chorus was called choragos. He sometimes spoke and acted separately. In some cases, the chorus participated directly in the action; in others they were restricted in observing the action and commenting on it. The chorus also separated the individual sins by singing and dancing choral odes, though just what the singing and dancing were like is uncertain. The odes were in strict metrical patterns; sometimes they were direct comments on the action and characters, and at other times they were more general statements and judgments. A chorus in Greek fashion is not common in later plays, although there are instances such as T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, in which the Women of Canterbury served as a chorus.