1. CHARACTERISATION

2. Part played by an actor/
ROLE
Part played by an actor/
attitude adopted
i.e. The witch

3. The process of fully
Developing a
Character
= characterisation

4. Knowing your character inside and out
CHARACTERISATION
Knowing your character inside and out
will help you be a
better actor!

5. told to you by the script or not
YOU MUST
Consider and Decide
EVERY POSSIBLE
DETAIL ABOUT
YOUR CHARACTER.
told to you by the script or not

6. BACKGROUND STATUS SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS LIFE LANGUAGE characterisation
will help us
investigate
SOCIAL
LIFE
RELATIONSHIPS

7. The following are
Characterisation
Techniques

8. Character card Name Age nationality occupation personality appearance
relationships
hobbies/interests

9. Improvisation “I wonder what type of relationship the Evil Queen had
with her parents?
Let’s re-enact her 6th birthday
to see what that was like.”
Improvisation

10. ROLE PLAY a means of exploring attitudes and beliefs
Like you did with the magic book

11. Questioning a character in role
HOT SEATING

12. VOICES
IN THE
HEAD

13. I miss you so much since you left me. I can barely eat, I can’t work
Dear Anna,
I miss you so much since you left me.
I can barely eat, I can’t work
I can’t talk to anyone at all.
Say you love me and come back to me. Please. I beg you.
Yours always. Ricardo
WRITING IN ROLE

14. THOUGHT TRACKING LETS FREEZE THE ACTION RIGHT HERE.
MAXIMUS IS SAYING LET’S FIGHT
But
LET’S ASK HIM
WHAT IS HE THINKING?
THOUGHT TRACKING
the character speaks their thoughts out loud

15. IN CHARACTER
NOT IN CHARACTER
THOUGHT TUNNEL

16. ROLE ON THE WALL
Written inside the character outline is aspects of their personality
Written outside the character outline is suggestions for their physical appearance, voice and movement

17. BACKGROUND STATUS SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS LIFE LANGUAGE characterisation
will help us
investigate
SOCIAL
LIFE
RELATIONSHIPS

18. PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Think back to a character that you successfully portrayed on your Drama Course. Describe that character.
(3marks)
List five characterisation techniques you used, or could have used, to develop this character.
(5 marks)
Choose one from the list above and say how this technique helped you, or might have helped you, to develop a greater understanding of this character
(4 marks)

19. Candidates may include standard character card details such as name, age, occupation, personality, appearance, relationships, hobbies/interests etc.
3 marks for a description which summarises the character succinctly but fully.
2 marks for a description which gives basic information but is not fully informative.
1 mark for a brief, unhelpful, fairly superficial description.
Techniques listed in the lexicon are:
• character cards
• improvisation
• role-play
• hot seating
• voices in the head
• writing in role
• thought tracking
• thought tunnel.
1 mark for each correct technique. Accept no others. Be alert to inclusions that are not on this list eg angel and devil, and to confusion with conventions. Do not give marks for any technique not on the list above.
No mark for choice. If more than one is selected, mark the better response.
1 mark for each valid point made about how the chosen technique helped develop a better understanding of the character.