Tips for students to be able to interpret a character while applying Verbal Jiu-Jitsu on conflict resolution situations.

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Acting
Guidelines
Taken from “Guia Práctica para la interpretación actoral en la escuela” by
Narda Martinez and Carolina Barrios

2. “Instead of thinking outside the
box, get rid of the box.”
Deepak Chopra

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Spontaneity, Imagination and
Creativity
 Spontainety is the way of expressing feelings. It is
natural.
 Imagination is the capacity of seeing different ways to
deal with a problem. New combinations, new correlations.
It is rooted in observation and experience.
 Creativity is finding the right solution to a problem. It is
the faculty of creating of new ideas, objects or procedures
by placing them in a specific context or area.

4. z
Improvisation
 Each exercise begins with the development of spontaneity
and imagination to end with creation.
 Do not interfere on stage 1.
 Use your body language.
 Do not give ideas to other partners.
 Never say no a to a proposal.
 Participate actively.
 Work in teams.

5. z
Improvisation
You gain:
 Physical resistance
 Body sensitivity
 Response capacity
 Concentration
 Mental alertness
 Team Work

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Memorizing Phrases
Phrase Character Action Time Place
1 A shadow moves softly No data No data
2 A shadow stretching its arms No data On an frozen
wall
3 A shadow turns around No data The stage

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Character Building
Interesting aspects such as:
 Attitudes
 Movements
 Space management
 Voice volume
 Text interpretation

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Key elements on Character
Building
We build a character when we deeply know who he / she is.
 What he thinks.
 What he feels.
 How he acts.
And… we try to represent him accurately!

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Personification
 To be another person. Not to show yourself, it isto
represent others before an audience. -Torstov
 It means to interpret internally and externally a person
who owns a different life from ours.
 The mission it is to build a character in a coherent and
interesting way.
 It means to explore different emotions by approaching a
different ambience.

10. z
Approaching the character
 POV: Point of View
 Personality Traits: sad, happy, shy, kind…
 Physical Features: age, type of body, disability
 A short biography: where is he/she from?, what
happened before that situation?, what kind of life has
he/she had, easy/hard…?
 Draw the character

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Dialogue Interpreting
 Motivations
 Feelings
 Thoughts of the character
Pharse Verb Image
But my wife
insisted.
insisted A woman
lecturing

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Recommendations for your voice
volume
 Do not shout
 Open your mouth widely while speaking
 Keep your head vertically, try not to tilt your
head up or down.
 Control and correct body tensions.

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External characterization
It is the creation of the physical structure of the character, by taking into account these
physical elements such as:
- The hair
- The eyes
- The way of walking
- The way of speaking
- The way he sits
- How he grabs objects
- The type of gaze
- His mouth shape

14. z
Makeup and Costume
Think of things you may bring to make up your
character, such as
 Beards
 Wigs
 Scarfs
 Glasses
Use the mirror. Draw your character.

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Reflect on…
 Each movement and action of your character.
 What is the character thinking?
 What does he want to get?
 How is he feeling?
 Do not give reasons. Just show it.

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Scenography
 Transform the stage by using real objects.
 Use your creativity to transform objects with other objects.
 Remember the entrace and exit of the character, (left / right / front / back)
 Be aware of the space you will have and the time.
 Use lights, music, background sounds, live instruments.
“The preparation of the decoration helps develop imagination” L. Vigotsky

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1. Classwork: September 20th-22nd.
 With a partner you feel comfortable to work with, plan
your conversation first, in Spanish by exploring ideas.
1. Characters (Bully / VJJ Learner)
2. Plot: Description of the conflicto
3. Dialogue: Usage of the three steps for Verbal Jiu-Jitsu:
1. Agreeing
2. Acknowledging (Smart questions
3. Turn around (creativity, good sense of humor, compliment)

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2. Homework: September 25-29
 Once you have submitted your planning to the teacher,
start adapting the text into English. Pay full attention to
the dialogue by using the language learned during the
previous lessons.
1. Dialogue: Usage of the three steps for Verbal Jiu-Jitsu:
1. Agreeing
2. Acknowledging (Smart questions
3. Turn around (creativity, good sense of humor, compliment)

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3. Rehearsals: September 25-29th, 2023
 Start practicing your dialogue.
1. Build your character by drawing it and looking at yourself at the
mirror.
2. Improvise with your partner the dialogue before memorizing it.
3. Apply the strategies of memorization seen during this lesson.
4. Rehearse several times paying attention to the artifacts,
scenography and other resources at hand.
4. Video Crafting: October 2nd-5th, 2023