Tableau "still pictures"

What is a Tableau?

series of still images made with people's bodies that represent a scene, three essential elements include facial expressions, different heights and a mainpoint of the play that displays the message

series of still images made with people's bodies that represent a scene, three essential elements include facial expressions, different heights and a mainpoint of the play that displays the message

Tableau is an immediately accessible technique that gives students a high degree of control and demonstrates their understanding of the scene or story they are working on. Using their bodies, individuals, pairs, small groups, or the full group create an image or “human statue” that communicates an idea or a single moment of action from a story or event. When done well, a tableau consists of bodies frozen in the midst of strong action suggesting what the characters are doing, how they are interacting with other characters, and how they are reacting to the situation. A tableau should have a strong point of focus and consist of a variety of levels, actions, and character intentions.

Our first assignment was to discuss and prepare a tableau, or still performance based on topics given, my group was given Fans—both happy and angry—at a sporting event. What went well for us was the actions preformed gave the audience an understanding of what our theme was, what didn't go well for us was unfreezing and freezing at the same, expressing emotion and facial expressions I learned that facing the audience at all times, putting more expression in actions, working with my group to be in sync, practicing till perfect and that developing a play that clearly states what the topic is about is very important in Drama especially tableaus. Our second assignment given was to divide a Robert Munch Story into 10 different scenes and make a tableau to effectively display message, this activity showed us the importance of levels, depth focus, story telling, facial and body movements and smooth transitions, we had to try to not only freeze and transition effectively but to display a message, My teacher gave us another assignment on tableau but this time we had to create it to reflect the meaning of the song we chose. My group worked very well together we had trouble finding a song and making the tableaus that represented the song. I learned that music sets the tone and makes your performance more realistic and enjoyable, without music the presentations wouldn't be the same and would not be easily identifiable

Example of Tableau : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM1aNlGIUt4