Developing Freeze Frames
Freeze frames are quick to create and can be used as stepping stones to more sophisticated drama activities and performances. This video shows a group of teachers on a course with David Farmer, developing a movement/dance piece from a sequence of three freeze frames about WW2 evacuees. It also shows how we used dance/movement to explore science themes.
Freeze frames can easily be used across the curriculum:
- Fairy tale tableaux are a good place to start – ask small groups to choose a fairy tale and create three still images (beginning, middle and end)
- Improve students’ vocabulary skills by asking them to illustrate a word or phrase in a story using a freeze frame
- Fun can be had making Ten Second Objects that turn from one thing into something else – for example Cinderella’s pumpkin turns into a coach, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen
- In Science, groups can develop a series of images showing the process of metamorphosis (e.g. caterpillar to butterfly or frogspawn to frog).
- Explore a work of art or documentary photograph by bringing it to life as a 3D Living Picture
- This drama lesson on refugees makes use of freeze frames to explore a real-life story
- For more advanced use of freeze frames with teen/adult students, take a look at this interesting analysis of a scene from Goodfella’s (R-Rating).
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Bring pictures to life through freeze frames, thought tracking and improvisation.
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Action Clip is a quick way to bring a freeze frame to life – with no preparation!
Conscience Alley
One person walks down an alleyway made by the group and listens to thoughts or advice.
Cross-Cutting
What is Cross Cutting? The dramatic action switches quickly between two scenes in the same space. Cross-cutting (also called split-screen)
Developing Freeze Frames
Exciting ways to use freeze frames across the curriculum and in performance.
Flashbacks and Flash Forwards
What are Flashbacks and Flash Forwards? Expand on a freeze-frame to create the before and after. Performers in a scene
Forum Theatre
Why use it? The strategy breaks through the barrier between performers and audience, putting them on an equal footing. It
Freeze Frames
Freeze frames (also known as still images and tableaux) are a fast and effective method to use with any age.
Hot Seating
A character is questioned by the group about his or her background, behaviour and motivation.
Hot Spotting
An amazingly fun and easy way to mix up hot-seating and freeze frames to develop characters
Image Theatre
Image Theatre is the use of still images (freeze-frames) to explore abstract concepts such as relationships and emotions, as well
Mantle of the Expert
Mantle of the Expert involves the creation of a fictional world where students assume the roles of experts in a
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Marking the Moment is a dramatic technique used to highlight a key moment in a scene or improvisation. This can
Role on the Wall
Role on the wall is a collaborative activity for developing thoughts and ideas about a character.
Soundscapes
The group is conducted to create a sound picture or “soundscape” using their voices and bodies.
Storytelling
Storytelling is one of the simplest and perhaps most compelling forms of dramatic and imaginative activity. A good place to
Teacher in Role
Teacher in role (TiR) is an invaluable technique for shaping the dramatic process and developing students’ learning. Simply put, the
Thought Tracking
Characters in a freeze-frame speak their thoughts and feelings aloud.
Whoosh! Bringing Stories Alive through Drama
An interactive technique in which participants become characters and objects in a story as it is told.
3D Living Pictures
Bring pictures to life through freeze frames, thought tracking and improvisation.
Action Clip
Action Clip is a quick way to bring a freeze frame to life – with no preparation!
Conscience Alley
One person walks down an alleyway made by the group and listens to thoughts or advice.
Cross-Cutting
What is Cross Cutting? The dramatic action switches quickly between two scenes in the same space. Cross-cutting (also called split-screen)
Developing Freeze Frames
Exciting ways to use freeze frames across the curriculum and in performance.
Flashbacks and Flash Forwards
What are Flashbacks and Flash Forwards? Expand on a freeze-frame to create the before and after. Performers in a scene
Forum Theatre
Why use it? The strategy breaks through the barrier between performers and audience, putting them on an equal footing. It
Freeze Frames
Freeze frames (also known as still images and tableaux) are a fast and effective method to use with any age.
Hot Seating
A character is questioned by the group about his or her background, behaviour and motivation.
Hot Spotting
An amazingly fun and easy way to mix up hot-seating and freeze frames to develop characters
Image Theatre
Image Theatre is the use of still images (freeze-frames) to explore abstract concepts such as relationships and emotions, as well
Mantle of the Expert
Mantle of the Expert involves the creation of a fictional world where students assume the roles of experts in a
Marking the Moment
Marking the Moment is a dramatic technique used to highlight a key moment in a scene or improvisation. This can
Role on the Wall
Role on the wall is a collaborative activity for developing thoughts and ideas about a character.
Soundscapes
The group is conducted to create a sound picture or “soundscape” using their voices and bodies.
Storytelling
Storytelling is one of the simplest and perhaps most compelling forms of dramatic and imaginative activity. A good place to
Teacher in Role
Teacher in role (TiR) is an invaluable technique for shaping the dramatic process and developing students’ learning. Simply put, the
Thought Tracking
Characters in a freeze-frame speak their thoughts and feelings aloud.
Whoosh! Bringing Stories Alive through Drama
An interactive technique in which participants become characters and objects in a story as it is told.
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Drop of a Hat
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