jamescreativeprocess-blog

[jamescreativeprocess-blog]

Doing some work at an indoor playlot while my kids run around like lunatics. My 2 year old just brought me this girl-centric coloring book. This is the first activity page.

[jamescreativeprocess-blog]

Curriculum development

Here are a list of goals written up for my play and sketch class. From this list I'll reverse engineer a curriculum. Though I have long standing ability for organizing a class, those classes have mostly been under the umbrella of a department head who has outlined what material should be covered on a given day. This time I'm making all of it from the ground up. 1. Have a fundamental understanding of creating story and characters. 2. Be capable of recognizing, naming and generating a variety of sketch types. 3. Write from abundance. 4. Be able to use improvisation to both generate new material as well as re-improvise for honing existing collaborative writing assignments. 5. Develop a personal manual for reference. 6. Understand the parts of, and be proficient at, using the Rewriting Pyramid. And with this knowledge, be able to both give and receive useful creative criticism. 7. Collaboratively outline and develop a one act play. 8. Write the first draft of a long 2 to 3 person scene or short play for workshop purposes.

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Teaching a writing class on satire tomorrow and mindlessly came across this political cartoon when preparing. So good. 

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I’ve easily watched this video 30 times -- if not more.  The story of it, the feminine energy meeting such aggressive angular lines ... it just gets me.  

It’s one of those pieces where I say to myself, “God damn it, I want to make that.” It really does inspire me to work.  

Check out their page.  They’re a hiphop dance couple doing some really amazing work. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ewoIklu7boJqNOq-hUciA

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Where am I heading, indeed.

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A conversation I started over on reddit regarding a tough interview question. Feel free to join the discussion. 

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Demo at ChiARTS

Yesterday, in a sweltering room of the ChiARTS high school building, I held a demo class. I’m gaming for a part time position teaching Playwrighting and Sketch.  

... You know ... you should always over plan but I may have over OVER planned. I made it past the video portion of my material (leaving out half).

The folks evaluating my teaching ability (performance?) provided 6 great kids.  It was a truly fun experience.  

Crossing Fingers!

Warm-up

Vroom

Name & Motion

Yes, Pencil!

Describe the playwright and sketch writer’s process.

Quick material generating

Listing and Clustering exercise for idea generation

List of 10 occupations (examples: beat cop, astronaut)

List of 10 situations (examples: falls in love, discovers gift for speaking to animals)

List of 10 Locations small enough to fit in a classroom (examples: coffee shop, a candy shop)

Cluster on one thread (“free associate to make connections and dig out specifics”)

Well made play

Exposition

Inciting action

Rising acting

Crisis moment

Climax

Denouement

Example: Cinderella

Watch video and apply Well Made Play structure

(Audible) Return to cluster and roughly sketch out the exposition and inciting action using Well Made Play structure

Aristotle’s 6 elements of drama

Plot

2 types: Today’s the day and slice of life.

conflict leads to action which leads to resolution (use Cinderella example)

Strong plots allow a reader to see the story move chronologically both forward and  backwards. (explosion results from fuse being lit)

Character

The way one acts in context to others, the environment, and situation.  

What does “He is a character” imply? (external qualities — manner of speaking or holding body)

What does “She has character?” imply? (internal qualities — moral compass)

Use characters from video

Theme

What does it mean in context of when it was written and current societal standards?

Language

Poor language makes characters sound like the same person.

Music

The sound track and sound effects of a production.

Examples: Jaws music.

Spectacle

Spectacle includes the set design, costumes, properties (the things the actors hold like swords, etc.), lighting and special effects.

List of 10 Personal life events (3 minutes)

Examples: First job, First time walking into ChiArts

Chose one and cluster (3 to 5 minutes)

Example: Learning to drive

Stage Scenic Setup (3 minutes)

If time, all students (if not, randomly choose 3) to stage their life event.

Scenic set-up (who/what/where only)

Object work environment (mime)

Only 2 lines of dialogue  

Expect these to be no longer than 20 seconds long

(Audible) What makes a play a play and what makes a sketch a sketch

- If there were only 2 channels on TV, one playing SNL for 24/7 and one playing ChicagoMED 24/7, how would you be able to tell each channel apart? What are the tropes of a play and a sketch?

“Homework” (Scenic setups before the inciting action)

5 over-the-top scenic setups. Example: A falcon trainer, on an astroid, eating Wisconsin cheese curds

5 boring scenic setups. Example: Librarian, in a library, organizing books by serial numbers.

Half a page of over heard conversation

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Planning an Improv for Actors class at Second City -- they just drink the material up as fast as it's poured out.

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'The cat sat on a mat' is not a story. 'The cat sat on the dog's mat' is a story. - John le Carre

Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon