AIM OF THE RESOURCE
The WJEC Drama and Theatre GCE AS/A Level specifications focus on the technical and design skills which are needed in order to stage a drama. The purpose of this resource is to develop learners’ information about the design elements associated with the theatre.
The resource consists of four major units:
- Lighting design
- Sound design
- Costume, makeup and hair design
- Set design
Each unit contains sections which discuss props/costumes used to stage a drama, specialists’ work, the processes allied to creating the staging of a drama, and how the individuals collaborate.
The unit contains:
- Examples of the equipment, e.g. the different lights, sound equipment etc. in the form of labelled photographs and notes describing their uses.
- Film clips of interviews with specialists in every field, e.g. lighting technicians, sound technicians, costumiers, makeup artists, and set designers.
- Film clips explaining how each practitioner designs with the Director for the drama in question. In this section, there will be more of a focus on the Director’s decisions regarding his vision for staging the drama.
- Film clips explaining the preparation processes, e.g. the Designer shows a model of the stage, the Costumier shows the process of creating a costume, the Lighting Designer shows the lighting rig and different lights used to create special effects, and the Sound Technician shows sound effects, when to use them, and the levels.
Each unit contains activities based on the type of questions given in the A Level examination.
Terminology is also a key part of the resource.
By describing the processes in the units, the staging of one specific drama is focused upon, in this case ‘Y Tad’, a Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru production.
Useful links:
