Mime

The Art of Mime

Let’s Mime!
Get your white gloves and beret ready, because we’re about to do some mime.

I’m kidding.  In our Drama class, there are two kinds of mime:  the classic mime wearing white gloves, black pants, a beret, and white pancake make-up, and more contemporary mimes like Mr. Bean.  Classically trained mimes can spend decades perfecting their craft. Our mime lessons will be a tad less time consuming, and are meant to introduce you to a world in which you must speak without saying a word.  

Btw, if you are hungry, click the pic below for lessons on how to properly make a sandwich:

Dictionary.com defines Mime as follows:

verb

1. the art or technique of portraying a character, mood, idea, or narration by gestures and bodily movements.

noun

1. an actor who specializes in this art.

2.  an ancient Greek or Roman farce that depended for effect largely upon ludicrous actions and gestures.

Essentially MIME is a theatrical technique of suggesting action, character, or emotion without word, using only gesture, expression and movement.  A MIME is someone who suggests action, character, or emotion without word, using only gesture, expression and movement.

This page has TWO sections:

SECTION 1:  Introduction to Mime
PART A:  Famous Mimes
PART B:  Conventions of Mime
PART C:  Mime Warm-Up
PART D:  Basic Mime Techniques

SECTION 2:  Next Steps in Mime
LEVEL 1:  Simple Actions
LEVEL 2:  More Complex Actions…With Motivation
LEVEL 3:  Asking Without Speaking

SECTION 3:  Magic Box

Tape Face on AGT

Silver Elvis (Pete Jarvis)

SECTION 1:  Introduction to Mime

PART A:  Famous Mimes

The most famous mime that you might picture in your mind is probably Marcel Marceau. Here is a link of his famous Liontamer performance…but before you start, you should know something:  it’s awesome but it’s a but old fashioned.  In the video, Marceau is taming an invisible lion.  Notice how he interacts with the lion as well as the audience.  Sure, his expression is exaggerated, but if you watch his expressions, you’ll see how precise he is in communicating the story to the audience.  It’s only a five minute video, and well worth the time.

Marcel Marceau:  “Liontamer”

Questions:
List three things Marceau “says” to the lion.
Discuss how you can use Marcel Marceau’s style of performance in your miming

As stated in the introduction, we won’t be putting on make-up and wearing pants with the highest waist ever, however we will be performing a type of mime that has its roots in the very same style. 

There are many contemporary mimes that might come to mind, most notably Mr. Bean.  While Marceau spent a lifetime training as a mime, and emphasizes formal technique, the mimes of Mr. Bean, and Tape Face are often more accessible to a wider audience (although still equally trained and skilled).  

Here’s one of my favourite Mr. Bean episodes:

Mr. Bean Takes a Test

Did you see the way Mr. Bean conveyed his thoughts?

Did you see how Mr. Bean talked to us without uttering a word?

Question:
Watching the video, list some challenges Mr. Bean encountered

Next, take a look at Tape Face, a mime who performed on America’s Got Talent.  Tape Face not only utilizes the conventions of mime, but he adds pop culture references as well, and the result is awesome.

Tape Face Audition

Did you see how Tape Face told the judges his name?  Perfection.

Question:
How does music impact his performance?

Each if the mime artists, Marcel Marceau, Mr. Bean, and Tape Face find comedy in making the mundane interesting.  Their physicality, use of facial expression, and engaging stories have made them icons.

PART B:  Conventions of Mime

Here the five main conventions of mime:

1. Do not speak
2. Exaggerate your facial expressions
3. Exaggerate your physical movements
4. Be precise with your actions:  show the size and detail of objects
5. Maintain the reality you create

The other convention is HAVE FUN!  As in most things, if you have fun, it will affect your engagement, your energy, and your overall performance.

So, as a Drama student, you can decide on which mime style you’d like to embrace. 

You could say, you have to decide which mime you’d like to mimic.

See what I did there.

While Marcel Marceau embraces a very disciplined approach to the classic style of mime, while Mr. Bean and Tape Face are somewhat less disciplined, and often break the classic rules of Marcel Marceau’s mime world. 

Mr. Bean faces innumerable challenges in achieving his goal (and even utters a word occasionally).  Tape Face finds inventive ways to tell a story, relying on props that he uses non-traditionally, and often gives a surprise reveal. 

Taking cues from Mr. Bean and Tape Face, while utilizing classic mime techniques from “those white gloved” people, means we can learn how to mime without having to buy a new beret!  

If you really want to be a GREAT mime, you gotta look like this.  Naw, kidding.

Mime is a very physical activity.  In fact, it is ONLY physical and does not involve speaking.

Take a look at this wikiHOW link for a simple overview (and ignore Part 3.  White make-up?  Ugh):

Basic Mime Overview

Task:
To do the following, you are going to have to get out of your chair and move around to practice the following activities…because, we are going to try to learn mime online.  I know, wha…

PART C:  Mime Warm-Up

First, we are going to start with a warm up.  It’s a good practice to warm-up and stretch on a regular basis, but since mime involves doing something physical, we are going to get our bodies ready to move, and do a theatrical warm-up.   

Any short warm-up or stretch will do, but this video shows some basic warm-up activities.  Click on the link below watch the video.  Then, try to do some/one/all of the stretches.  Obviously, not all can be done at home or in the Studio, but they give you a good idea of some Aerobic, and Mobilization & Stretching exercises:

Mime Warm-Up

Notes:

• You should not do anything that will hurt you 
• You may have to adjust for the space that is available
• When you do these activities alone, you might feel a bit dumb, so if you’re at home, feel free to engage some of the other members of your household to do this. 

You aren’t likely to get a cramp or hurt your muscles doing mime, and you don’t even have to do the video, but it’s a good idea to stretch because, when performing a mime, you want your body to be able to move freely.

Questions:
Which warm-up did you find most useful/easy to do at home?
How does your body feel after doing a warm-up?

PART D:  Basic Mime Techniques

After warming-up, we are going to start with a few videos to help you understand some very basic mime techniques. You should watch the videos and then practice them yourself. I would suggest you try to do them wearing socks in a clear area, however, you can even do them in front of your mirror, or as an ‘illusion” around your family members.  It’s not ideal to be practicing mime at home, so do the best you can, and try to have fun.  Honestly, you might even feel a bit silly, but that’s okay.  You can tell your family “Instead of reading a chapter and answering questions, I have to pretend to walk/climb stairs/stand against an invisible wall…”. 

The goal of mime is that you experiment, explore, and develop your own technique.  Don’t feel like you’re trapped in a box.  See what I did there…trapped in a box…mime…oh never mind…

The following are examples of the two types of Mime:  Fixed Point Mime, and Illusion Mime.

Watch these short videos (2-3 minutes each)  and try to master the Basic Mime Techniques displayed:

Tug-of-War!

Leaning Against a Wall

Go For a Walk

Walking Pt. 2

Walking Up Stairs

When finished, practice two of your favourite techniques, and if possible, have a family member watch and see if they understand what you are doing.

These exercises are examples of Object Oriented Exercises.  That is, they have a purpose, require a level of characterization and motivation, and include an object (which may be an actual object like an apple, or a wall, or even the floor in which to walk).

Btw, exercises like walking are called Illusion Mime, while exercises like tug-of-war, as well as the classic “trapped in a box” are Fixed Point Mime.

To Recap:
Illusion Mime creates the illusion of objects that have size and weight, and place (i.e., holding a glass of water, deriving a car…)

Fixed Point Mime creates the illusion of a fixed point the mime performer moves around (i.e., walking up stairs, bumping into a glass wall, being trapped in a box)

Try to do these exercises a few times (and maybe even over a few days) so your body can remember the movements. You can to do them in front of mirror to see where you need to make improvements.   You can also think about improvements that you could make to the movements (like walking on a rock, stepping on gum, changing your mind halfway up the stairs, getting a muscle cramp in tug-of-war…).

To Think About…

• What about your facial expression while you are miming?
• Think about the motivation for why you are going up stairs, or walking, or…
• How can you incorporate these tasks into a narrative (story)?
• What style of dance isolates physical movements?

Questions:
List three tips for performing some of the mime exercises in the links above.
Which of the technique(s) in the links did you most enjoy?  Explain.
Why do you think it’s important to connect a story when performing a mime.

Assignment:
Write a story idea (+/- 50 words) for a solo mime that you might perform for the class, using some or all of the techniques in the links (walking, climbing./descending stairs, tug-of-war, leaning).  Underline the techniques that you would use
For example:  Mr. Mac walks into the classroom, says hello to the class.  He then leans against a wall for a moment, before walking to a student, telling them to put away their phone, and trying to take it away from them in a tug-of-war.

End of Mime Part 1:  The Art of Mime

SECTION 2:  Next Steps in Mime

Before we start, take a look at Et the Mime.  This performer is amazing.  While watching, look at how they interact with the audience, how they communicate without speaking, and how they use their body to tell a story.  In this video, Et the Mime goes for a drive

Introduction
After starting to establish the physicality of mime, the next goal is to learn how to use imaginary objects, and tell a story with your face.

Marcel Marceau

The first activities are SIMPLE because they focus on using only one OBJECT.  Also, there are no links in this section (although that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your own investigation).   It is important to apply what you have learned, and establish your own technique.  The fact that you didn’t study mime for a a decade doesn’t mean you can’t be a great mime artist…

There are are three levels to this section:

• LEVEL 1:  Simple Actions
• LEVEL 2:  More Complex Actions…With Motivation
• LEVEL 3:  Asking Without Speaking

At the end, there are some questions, and a few BONUS exercises that you can do if you want a diversion from the world.

Check out this commercial.  It’s pretty funny:  Starburst Screaming Mime

The techniques in this part are called “Illusion Mime” because the rely on creating the ILLUSION of an object that you can manipulate, move, and/or utilize.

A note about engaging the audience…
There is something really fun about mime.  It’s a style of theatre where you can easily break the fourth wall.  The Fourth Wall is the imaginary wall that separates the performers from the audience.  Since most sets have three walls (Upstage, Stage Left, and Stage Right), the imaginary one is the fourth wall (where the TV is usually located in the living room of a typical sitcom set).  On stage, we spend our time to create the illusion of reality, and breaking the Fourth Wall is the actor’s way of acknowledging they are in a fiction.  Therefore, it can often destroy that illusion…unless it is done with a purpose.  Since Mime cannot rely on words, breaking the fourth wall is a great way to provide context and motivation for your actions, and to “let the audience in” so they can either feel like they are part of the action, or simply know what is on your mind.

In the following exercises, feel free to break the fourth wall when the story justifies.

Mr. Bean!

Before you start these exercises, please know there is no expectation of normalcy when performing a mime at home.  While it would be great if you could spend some time alone and do all of the exercises, you might feel a bit silly.  Just do your best.

LEVEL 1:  Simple Actions

Try these morning routine “Object Oriented Exercises”.  Remember to establish the object that you are using, and try to use it realistically.

Standing in front of a  mirror, do some or all of the following personal grooming actions:

• brush your teeth
• comb your hair
• wash your face
• remove an eyelash from your eye

To Think About…
Really real, real objects:  When you held your toothbrush, did you pretend to actually hold the object, or just move your hand up and down in front of your face?  Also, how did you have to move your lips to accommodate for the toothbrush?

The set-up:  Did you simply brush your teeth, or did you first put toothpaste on your toothbrush?  Also, did your toothbrush magically appear, or did you pick it up (and where was it when you picked it up)?  When you washed your face, did you just splash water on your face, or did you use a washcloth, and what about using water, and using a faucet…?  Finally, Did you simply mime the action of removing an eyelash from your eye, or did you first blink and realize it was there, get annoyed, try to “blink it out”, and THEN try to remove it?

There is so much to think about when miming aside from the actual object that you are miming.  It’s a fun challenge.

Tape Face on AGT

LEVEL 2:  More Complex Actions…With Motivation

Next, think about slightly more complicated actions.  Don’t forget to focus on the object while using it realistically.  Also, since these are a bit more complex, try to create the space in which they exist–this is especially clear when drinking something, because if you aren’t careful, you’ll spill hot coffee on your lab…

Once again, you can stand in front of a mirror to try these, or you can simply do them wherever you are most comfortable.  If you want to play a sort-of game of charades with your family, ask them if they understand what you are doing.

Try the following exercises, but this time, after perfecting the actual movements, establish a context (i.e., you have to blow your nose because you sneezed…in class…and you have a giant snot ball stuck to your face…):

• blow your nose
• eat a sandwich
• take and send a selfie to a friend
• eat noodles (with a fork and spoon, and with chopsticks)
• put on lipstick or lip balm
• drink a cup of HOT tea

So, how did you use each object realistically, give it a CONTEXT, and establish the space.

Again, if you think beyond the actual exercises, what did you have add to the performance?

To Think About…

• Why did you blow your nose?  Was it a clean and tidy “honk” into a kleenex, or was it gross and messy and needed a second kleenex.  Also, how did you react?
• What were you doing in your selfie?  Did you like the first one, or did you have to take a second?
• Was kind of sandwich did you eat–a basic PB&J, or a giant three-decker club that you could barely fit in your mouth?  Was the sandwich good, or was there a hair inside?
• Was your tea “normal hot”, or molten lave hot?
• Did you feel like breaking the Fourth Wall in any of these?

Btw, when I did these mimes, in order of the exercises, I…

• was grossed out at how much snot I produce (broke the 4th wall to show the audience how gross it was);
• dripped sauce onto my shirt (and broke the 4th wall to say “Aw, come on!”;
• made duck face and hated the first three selfies;
• dropped a mouthful of noodles on my lap because I can’t use chopsticks well;
• made duck face again while putting on my lipstick (and blotted it with a kleenex); and
• drank the hottest tea ever brewed (and let the audience know I burnt my tongue).

LEVEL 3:  Asking Without Speaking

Next, practice conveying a message without speaking (or mouthing) words.  You can practice in front of a mirror, or in front of a family member.

There is no guidance from me for this exercise.  I’d like YOU to think about how to convey the following messages.  Yep, YOU have to be the teacher and ask yourself what you have to do WITH YOUR FACE AND WITH YOUR BODY.  Take some risks and experiment a bit.

Once again, try these Questions to ask (without speaking) either alone, or have your family guess:

• “I’m hungry”
• “What time is it?”
• “Come here, please”
• “Come here you jerk!”
• “Stupid computer–always freezes/buffers!!!”
• “Where am I?”
• “Why is he ALWAYS so late?”

To Think About…

• Why do you think there was no instruction for this section?
• Which is more important, facial expression, or body/hand expression?
• Why do you think it is not necessary to mouth the words?
• How does talking without speaking rely on classic mime techinque AND contemporary mime skills?

Questions:  Object Oriented Exercises

These questions should take no more than 30  minutes to complete.  For each, you only need to write a sentence or two (except for the first question).  There are also some voluntary BONUS questions that follow.

1. In your own words, list “5 Rules” of Mime (note the quotes–there are no right or wrong answers).  If possible, give an example of each.
2. What are the differences and similarities of Illusion Mime vs Fixed Point Mime?
3. Why are location and context important when performing a mime?
4. When conveying a message with, is it important that you NOT mouth the words you are speaking?
5. Who is your favourite mime artist (either from these pages, or from your investigation)?  Explain your answer.
6. Which exercise in Part 1, SECTION C (Mime Warm-Up_ did you find most challenging?
7. Which exercise in Part 1, SECTION D (Basic Mime Techniques) did you most enjoy?
8. How did you personalize one or two of your stories in SECTION D?
9. Which exercise in Part 2, LEVEL 2 do you think was the most accurate?

End of Mime SECTION 2:  Next Steps in Mime

Thanks to Ms. M. Borch for collaborating on this page.

SECTION 3:  Magic Box

There is a magic box in front of you.

The box is magic because only you can see what is inside.

Do you remember this scene from “Mary Poppins”?

Your job is to open the box and use whatever is inside.

Remember to create a context, motivation, and story.

For example…
I am hungry, and in my magic box, there is a HUGE sandwich.  I am going to establish the context before I even open the box by rubbing my belly and looking sad because I’m so hungry, but hopeful there is food inside.  When I open the box, I am elated because there isn’t just  a sandwich inside, there is a GIANT sandwich…with bacon…and it smells great.  As I eat the sandwich, taking big bites, I am blissfully happy (and I even burp), but while I’m chewing, I eat something that tastes gross.  It’s a long hair (and I have short hair).  I am disgusted as I pull it from between my teeth. It is truly icky…but I’m hungry…but it’s so gross…but I’m hungry…and it smells so good…but it’s hair…but I’m hungry…

So I resign myself to eating the rest of the sandwich, and when I find another hair, I even eat that one too!

To Think About:

• How heavy is the box?
• How big is the box?
• How does the box open?

To Do:
Magic Box Part 1:  Open the box, use the object that is inside.

Magic Box Part 2:  Open the box, use what is inside, and encounter a challenge (and establish context…and show motivation…and “interact” with the audience…).

Magic Box Part 3:  Do the same as above, except do it even better!

Bonus Mime Assignments:

Here are two bonus assignments.  You do NOT have to do them, but they might be fun.  Honestly, with the current at-home situation, I don’t know what access you have to technology, how motivated you are to work, and how much work you have from other classes, so this part is voluntary (and waaaaaaay more fun than the questions above).  If you do one of these, SHARE the doc  or link with me.  If you decide to do a bonus, please do not spend too much time on it.

Bonus #1: Create some augmented reality on Holo.com.
Use the free “Holo” app on your phone or computer to pick a character that you will react to in either a short video or a series of 3-5 photos. Your facial expressions are the most important and should change during the video or pictures.  Note:  I have not used this app, but it looks like a riot, and since I can’t get some of you to stop using Snapchat in class, it kind of fits…

Bonus #2:  Use a series of pictures to tell a story.
Using three to five pictures of yourself in extreme facial expressions, make a comic style collage that tells a story.  You cannot write anything on the collage to explain what is happening.  Again, the pictures can be of you, or from the internet.  You can do this on Google Docs, or any other drawing/art/photo/word software.  You can even do this on IMGFLIP.com (just don’t add words).

 

Narrated Mime

Mime Scenarios