Silent Movies Drama Scheme

Included is a Drama unit of work based on creating Silent Movies, aimed at a mixed ability Year 9 class.

The scheme focuses on:

• Conventions of slapstick
• Commedia Dellarte brief background
• Melodrama
• Stock characters
• ‘Train Track Terror’ script to explore in a lesson
• Exercises to explore the concept of slapstick, melodrama and silent movies
• Finishes with a trust obstacle course for team work
• Includes review questions to ask students at the end of the unit
• RAG rating assessment criteria throughout

There are video links to examples of work from Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy to use as examples.

The unit leads up to students creating their own silent movie with opportunity for them to plan and develop the narrative throughout the unit.

Some work sourced elsewhere and then added to and tweaked for my own classes.