Freeze Frame
OVERVIEW
Freeze Frame is a simple scenic exercise that allows participants to quickly jump into and out of scenes without needing to have a performer's understandng of how to sustain them. Particularly good for large groups as the exercise can comfortably engage groups as large as 16. Good workshops focused on:
Agility
Collaboration
Confidence
Communication
Creativity
Team Building
Trust
REQUIREMENTS
Number of Participants:
Minimum: 6 participants / Maximum: 16 participants
Time Required:
Minimum: 15 minutes / Maximum: 25 minutes
Materials Needed:
None
EXERCISE INSTRUCTIONS
Have participants form a backline. Explain that Freeze Frame is a game of quick thinking and support.
The game begins with two players coming off the backline into the playing area and exploring their space by aggressively cavorting their bodies in strange and unusual configurations. When they have engaged in this activity to the instructor's satisfaction (usually somewhere in the 5-12 seconds range) the instructor calls out the word, "Freeze!" The players then freeze in their current positions. A moment later they begin a scene that explains their unusual positions.
Once a scene begins anyone on the backline can call "Freeze," and the players will do so. The player who called "Freeze," now steps forward and replaces a frozen player of their choice by tapping them on the shoulder and assuming the position they were in. (Meanwhile the tapped player makes their way offstage to the backline.) The new player now initiates a brand new scene that explains the new positions the two actors find themselves in.
The game then continues until everyone has been in at least one scene, but can go longer (to the instructor's preference).
It is important that players specifically adopt the frozen position of the players they tag out, instead of just assuming a general position where their predecessor was standing onstage. This is the central challenge of the game that practices quick thinking: adopting another's position and making a new context for it.
Make sure players understand that after each "Freeze," the scene that follows has nothing to do with previous scenes and features no previous characters. It is a fresh start.
Encourage players in scenes to make dramatic physical choices (Pointing to something far in the distances, crouching through a low door, twisting off the cap to a particularly stuck jar of pasta sauce, etc...) which should inspire players to call "Freeze."
Scenes shouldn't go long, 30 to 45 seconds max. Instructors should be prepared to call "Freeze," themselves if players fail to quickly do so. The instructor can then direct a player to tag in, probably whoever has participated the least so far.
Variations
Easy: Insist players entering tag out the player who has been in two scenes already, rather than the player they feel most comfortable assuming the position of. This way no one gets stuck in too many scenes in a row or becomes the "star" of the game. It also forces quicker thinking and creativity.
Easy: Reduce performance stress by pairing all players up and having them play freeze simultaneously. This can be done by having all players cavort their bodies and calling "Freeze" after 5-12 seconds. You can run this game that way for 3-5 scenes, either switching partners up between scenes or not.
Hard: Tell players that instead of tagging in themselves after they call "Freeze," they will point to or a name a person on the backline to tag a frozen player out. This is a great variation for advanced focus on agility and teamwork.
INSTRUCTOR DISCUSSION POINTS / LEARNING TAKEAWAYS
AGILITY
Encourage players to jump into scenes quickly before the have a prepared idea. Tell them that when they feel the urge to call "Freeze," it is typically ten seconds too late already. Therefore they should never hesitate to make the call when they feel the urge.
Remind players that there is a wealth of research that indicates that shooting from the hip can generate brilliant ideas, as evidenced by Malcolm Gladwell's classic book, BLINK: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking. Encourage them them to experience this phenomenon for themselves by calling freeze and beginning scenes before they know what they are about to say.
Perhaps the most successful improv theater in history is The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Their motto is "DON'T THINK" for a reason.
CONFIDENCE
Confidence can come when we know we are proficient at something, but that often isn't the confidence we need. When people say they need to work on their confidence they mean they are preoccuppied by negative possibilities. Ask them to work on their confidence in their innate abilities and instincts, to trust that they will demonstrate proficiency even under unknown or challenging circumstances.
Remind them that when you don't act confidently in this game the result is often that you don't call "Freeze." This means your teammates are left carrying the weight of the exercise while you hide. Your lack of confidence falls on them, not you. In this way confidence, even misplaced confidence, is an act of support, not arrogance.
CREATIVITY
Yes, great ideas can come from sitting down and making a plan. But that is only some of our mind's power. We also have the power to instantly conjure great ideas by surrendering to our instincts with confidence and abandon.
If we refuse to ever surrender to our instincts, we limit our natural abilities and our options substantially.
TRUST/TEAM BUILDING
Most improv games have something in common: It feels uncomfortable when it is our turn to contribute. Something very similar can happen when making contributions at work or in any group.
This is particularly true in Freeze Frame. Payers often feel uncomfortable when in scenes. Explain how powerful it is for you to sacrifice yourself by tagging another player out and taking on that weight for them.