GCSE Drama Devising - supporting notes on Genre and Structure (amongst others which will follow on this site)

1. Q3 and Q4:
DEVELOPING YOUR IDEAS FOR PERFORMANCE
• Check where your group is against the following criteria:
• You have a clear intention for the piece
• You have established key scenes and the plot (what happens in the
play)
• You have all allocated characters and understand how they relate to
each other in the story.
• You have an idea of GENRE, STYLE and FORM and STRUCTURE?

2. Q3 Focus – ‘Significant Moments’
•Q3 What were some
of the significant
moments during the
development
process and when
rehearsing and
refining your work?
• Understand the requirements of
the WRITTEN PORTFOLIO
• Focus on the requirements for
Q3

3. Understand the requirements
of the WRITTEN PORTFOLIO
Focus on the requirements for
Q3
Significant moment What happened Why it made a difference
1. One instance was
when we used our
research on the
topic to develop a
scene between the
child and her Mum.
We obtained some research on a real life
study of grooming from the school’s child
protection team. We were able to
include real statements from a Mum
whose child had been groomed.
This then made the scene
much more realistic, but also
made me realise the
seriousness of the issue, and
helped me to focus in my role
when rehearsing the scene.
2
A ‘significant moment’ means a decision or moment when the
progress of the drama really improved. It could be through
research, or the use of a technique for instance.

4. Q4 Focus
•Q4 How did you
consider genre,
structure, character,
form, style, and
language
throughout the
process?
• Understand the requirements of
the WRITTEN PORTFOLIO
• Focus on the elements for Q4
• GENRE
• STRUCTURE
• CHARACTER
• FORM
• STYLE
• LANGUAGE

5. 1. GENRE: What type of story?
• This relates to the TYPE of story you are telling, such as:
• COMEDY
• ROMANCE
• THRILLER
• DRAMA
• HORROR
• What elements of the genre does your story contain?
• Example – Drama would contain realism, real events and situations.
• Horror might contain a suspenseful soundtrack, and lots of tension

6. Portfolio Pit stop
Recording the evidence
• In your books complete the following tasks:
• Title – Q4 notes: Genre + Structure Date
Point Evidence Evaluate Link
We had to consider genre
when developing our ideas
Due to the subject matter, it
became clear that our piece
was
educational/dramatic/largely
realistic/comedic in nature.
Therefore when devising our
scenes we used actual
dialogue that we had
researched about a family
who had been victims of…
We exaggerated our facial
expressions and gestures and
added in slapstick at key
moments
We decided to include
narration of the factual
This was a key decision for us
because we all had to agree
on the overall type of story
we were trying to create in
line with our original aims.
Contrasting ideas would have
meant a messy and chaotic
performance. Knowing we
were creating a thriller
helped us a great deal.
From our original stimulus of
A bullet
A story about loss
The history of the railroad
And considering our
audience, the decision about
genre was a
choice/easy/straightforward
and it was crucial to make
that decision early on in the
process.

7. 2. STRUCTURE: What happens when?
• This relates to the way in which the story will be told, such as:
• The story unfolds as events happen in real life – LINEAR PLOT
• The story is told out of sequence by using techniques such as
FLASBACK or CROSSCUTTING, or MULTIPLE VERSIONS of the same
story
• The play moves through several different TIME PERIODS and
LOCATIONS

8. Portfolio Pit stop
Recording the evidence
• In your books complete the following tasks:
• Title – Q4 notes: Genre + Structure Date
Point Evidence Evaluate Link
The structure of our piece
also took shape as we
devised. It was important
how the scenes and
moments we created fitted
together.
We used a classic narrative
structure because our piece
was realistic with real life
characters, happening in a
natural sequence of events.
We used cross cutting to start
with a dramatic moment,
drawing the audience’s
attention into the story.
Planning the structure was
key because we could refer to
the plan during rehearsals
and keep adding details to
the overall story as we
developed each scene and
character.
I really liked knowing why
each scene was important
(see appendix #3)
Because our stimulus of loss
was a cycle of emotions, it
felt so important to also
create a performance which
followed a similar structure
Because ours was an
educational piece, the
structural pattern needed to
be clear for younger
audience members, hence

9. 3. CHARACTER: Who is involved in the story?
• This clearly relates to the figures used to tell your story, including a
PROTAGONIST (Main character) and related individuals.
• You may perform as the same character throughout, or be performing
in a few different roles.
• You will be expected to show understanding of how you have
developed your role/s and considered
• HISTORY (role on the wall, improvised scene of what happened before)
• RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER CHARACTERS (relationship map)
• MOTIVATIONS AND OBJECTIVES (role on the wall)

10. Relationship map
• This is an excellent way to demonstrate how you have considered the
characters in your piece and how they relate to one another.
• Q4 deals with this (Character) and you can also show evidence in
your appendix of the map you will now create with your group.
• Refer to the example I have given you.
• Using paper and pens provided, create your own, adding in extra
details such as who is playing which character for example might be
of use.
• In what other contexts would this task be relevant or useful?

11. 4. FORM: How do you show what happens?
• This relates to the HOW the story will be told, such as:
• NARRATION
• ROLE PLAY
• STILL IMAGES
• THOUGHT TRACKING
• PHYSICAL THEATRE
• And also relates to transitions and scene changes as structure will.

12. 5. STYLE: What type of story?
• Having considered Genre, the style of the drama will need to follow
along similar lines.
• For instance if it was a comedy then the style might be a silent movie,
or a situation comedy, or a commedia del arte masked piece.
• If a Drama, then is it centred around a family, a situation (such as
revealing a secret) or an issue (e.g. illness) or a community?

13. 6. LANGUAGE: How will you and other characters use
spoken language?
• This relates to how your character may speak about themselves and
others in the piece.
• Do they use formal language or informal?
• Will it be appropriate to speak in slang if your character is a lawyer for
example?
• How have you considered your language in different roles, or in
different situations your character finds themselves in during the
play? How might it change?