Speak - From Page to Stage
Unit 2, Lesson 2
Creating Soundscapes
by Abbie Craig and Emily Trejo
Intermediate Theatre Class
National State Theatre Standards
TH:Cr1.1.II.b. Understand and apply technology to design solutions for a drama/theatre work.
TH:Cr2-II.b. Cooperate as a creative team to make interpretive choices for a drama/theatre work.
TH:Pr4.1.II.a. Discover how unique choices shape believable and sustainable drama/ theatre work.
TH: Re7.1.II. a. Demonstrate an understanding of multiple interpretations of artistic criteria and how each might be used to influence future artistic choices of a drama/theatre work.
Utah Effective Teaching Standards
3.e Extends the learning environment using technology, media, and local and global resources.
7.g Supports content and skill development by using multiple media and technology resources and knows how to evaluate these resources for quality, accuracy, and effectiveness.
Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the elements of sound design by creating a multilayered soundscape using Garageband for a scene in Speak.
Materials:
Computer for each student with either Garageband, Pro Tools, Audacity, or iMovie
Soundscapes/music for movement activity
Hook: Interacting with Soundscapes - 10 min
Do this activity with a song first, and then with a soundscape.
Play a song. Have students move around that space, letting the sounds influence your movement and interactions.
Once students feel comfortable moving to the music begin playing soundscapes and allowing students to continue moving to it.
Dialogue how different sounds and songs influence the mood, tones, etc.?
Keep this in mind as we move on today.
Class Soundscapes with Images - 20 min
Last class we went to a different location, listened to the ambient sounds, and wrote down what we heard. There were so many sounds that made up the surroundings. Varying volumes, distances, repetitions, and tones come together to create a complex background to the space.
We’re going to pull up an image and, as a class, create a soundscape for it. We will use our mouths and voices, hands and bodies, while staying in our seats, creating layers, to match what we see.
Bring up the images, create sounds, maybe have people share songs that come to mind, layer it, and discuss.
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If technical difficulties occur:
describe and draw a basic images of the landscapes. Proceed with the rest of the activity as written.
Group Soundscapes - 45 min
As a class, list scenes in Speak and their varying locations and write them on the board.
This list may include school hallways, Melinda’s room, the library, the cafeteria, etc.
If students need prompting begin the list with School Library, School Gym, Melinda’s Room, and Mom’s Store.
Explain to students that for the next activity we will be using Garageband to create a multilayered soundscape for a scene of their choosing from Speak.
Pull up screenshots of Garageband and provide a short tutorial on how to use the software through step by step examples.
Show students how to upload, edit, and layer sounds.
Put students in groups of 3-5 and have each group pick a scene on the board. Once picking the scene they will find a specific moment or event that occured in the space. For example, they could choose the school hallway, but to be more specific they could do the hallway on the first day of school, or the hallway after Melinda beats up Andy. They will then create a soundscape for the specific scene location.
These soundscapes must:
Be 30 seconds long
Include at least 5 different layers of sound
You must use at least 3 different sources
Sources may include your mouth/body, YouTube, sounds in the space, music, etc.
Instruct the students in how to use Garageband (or whichever platform you decide to use, or what is accessible in your classroom).
Go step by step with screenshots and examples.
Gather your sounds and layer them in Garageband. Be prepared to share with the class at the end of the class period.
For teachers: This is work that students could go on to create in film, theatre, or other production work. Technology is prevalent all around us and sound is a part of this world we live in, so touching on these resources broadens horizons for the future.
In case of technical difficulties, have the groups create soundscapes with their mouths, bodies, and classroom materials. Instead of recording them, just perform them live for the other groups.
Share - 5 min
Have each group share their soundscape, describe their process and sources, and discuss how the soundscape influences and informs the scene. Remind students that there are people who do soundscapes for a living, in theater and in film. Reemphasize the fact that putting this play on a stage would require a soundscape similar to ones they have been creating.
Assessment- Have students write a short reflection on their soundscape and their experience with Garageband (or whichever platform they use). They must include what sounds they used, from what sources they got them, and how it would impact or create the scene.
ELL Accommodations:
Peirce’s Firstness, Secondness, Thirdness (Throughout the two lessons): The EL students are engaging with sounds identifying with what they are, they then engage with different sounds and reflect on how they respond to them, The students then take these sounds and begin to create their own meaning with them by exploring and creating sounds and applying them to the text.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory: EL students are being introduced to sounds and their meanings in the context of our culture. This is helpful as students become more familiar with the sounds of the culture and can observe how it has affected it.
Zone of Proximal Development: In groups the students will be creating their soundscapes. The teacher will walk around and help with using the technology and teach the students how to use it. The EL students can then use the others in their group to help them learn and be able to participate in the project. This is helpful to them as it stretches them to use materials they don’t often get to use but are provided with assistance so they won’t feel completely helpless and give up.
Provide a copy of the novel in the EL student’s primary language if they get stuck in translation. They can then refer to the translation if they don’t understand a scene and need more ideas for their project.
Culturally Diverse Students Accommodations:
Have students take note of Melinda’s personality traits and think of how she might react in certain situations. How can you have her behavior reflect through the sound? This is useful so that the students can compare Melinda’s culture to their own. They then need to continue drawing on this culture rather than reflecting their own in the project.
Provide Feedback- Regularly check in with the student and their group. Reflect on their decisions and why they are appropriate within the context of the scene. These check ins can be used to gauge the student’s understanding of how Melinda’s culture work. If they are pushing too much of their own culture on to the project, begin a dialogue with the student to help them come to the conclusion that these choices are not appropriate for this project.
Sensory-Friendly Accommodations:
Have students draw or write how the music and sounds make them feel during the warm up activity. This will be helpful to student who are unable to move about the room easily.
When the class is working on the group projects have the student focus on one specific sound, decided by the group, to give them more control and focus for the project.
Deaf Student Accommodations:
Discuss “visual noise” and how that changes scenes. When students are creating a soundscape for a specific scene and location, a group with a Deaf student (or students) could create a 30 second video about the “visual noise”--what is Melinda seeing? What are the tones? How are the feelings communicated? Etc.
