Year 12 Drama Units 3 and 4
Overview
The focus of Unit 3 & 4 Drama is on contemporary drama practices. You will be supported to create original works through play-making. To achieve this, VSV offers a course that blends complementary online and in-person learning experiences to meet the requirements of the current VCAA Drama Study Design.
Original work you will create:
ensemble work in Unit 3, and;
solo work in Unit 4
You will unravel the dramatic potential of stimulus material and prescribed structures to devise and perform these new works, which aim to take audiences into a world ‘beyond real life as it is lived’.
In Unit 3 you will attend a professional performance at the theatre, the analysis and evaluation of which, establishes your own practice of appreciating the work itself and the exploration of how its play-making process and production areas can information your own and others’ work. This work is selected from the Drama playlist, published annually by VCAA.
In both units, there will be opportunities to explore production areas, performance styles and the play-making process. You are expected to participate in and make contributions to, all parts of the play-making process, for ensemble and solo and to do the work of the actor in both units.
Who is it for?
This VCE sequence focuses on the creation and performance of characters and stories. Drama is a way of communicating our stories and giving voice to the stories of others and our parallel dreams. We are all storytellers.
What do you do?
In this VCE study, you will:
- be a valued member of an ensemble
- explore your capacity as a solo practitioner
- research the dramatic potential of stimulus material
- learn and apply play-making techniques
- develop and refine expressive and performance skills
- document play-making
- investigate how production areas convey and heighten meaning
- apply creative and analytical problem solving in discussion and writing
- develop drama literacies through practical application
What skills do you need?
You give voice to your thoughts about how to solve performance problems. You have the capacity to build reciprocal relationships with your fellow artists. You engage collaboratively in all stages of play-making. You dip in and out of play and critique to experiment with material in different ways.
What skills do you develop?
Drama supports and develops the following skills:
- confident articulation of your ideas
- analytical, critical and creative thinking, discussion and application in writing and in practical work
- fostering an appreciation of contemporary drama practice
- collaborative literacy
- aesthetic sensibility of different types of theatre
Requirements
Students enrolling in Unit 3 & 4 Drama at VSV must have the necessary supports at home and / or at the home school to study this subject effectively.
- This course is a blend of online and in-person contact.
- Students and their parents/guardians must take responsibility for travel and accommodation costs and arrangements
- Student are required to attend weekly online classes.
- Students are required to attend 3–4 in-person workshops, as well as presenting their work to an audience
- to meet Unit 3, Outcome 1, VSV Drama teachers will assign students to ensemble groups. Note that ensembles are comprised of 3–6 students
You will need:
- internet access
- a headset with microphone
- a webcam
- a camera or device with good quality image and sound to record practical work in progress
Things to think about
You will be:
- working collaboratively and independently
- documenting the play-making process
- viewing, analysing and evaluating a professional drama performance
- attending 3–4 in-person workshops to create and develop devised work
- expected to invest in your ability to think, write and speak critically about your own and others’ drama work
- attend weekly online classes
- meeting the VSV submission timelines
- meeting the VCAA assessment and authentication requirements for the study
- assessed by your teachers for all outcomes in both units
- assessed by VCAA in the solo performance examination at the end-of-year written examination
Things you can do now
- Go to the theatre; see different kinds of productions in different kinds of venues. See a mix of original work as well as productions of the work of established playwrights.
- Get to know the theatre companies and venues for theatre and performance in and around Melbourne and around Victoria.
- Explore the VCAA website information for DRAMA. Read the DRAMA Study Design, past exam and reports and view Top Class Solo Performances.
- Go to the VCAA website for more information about this subject.