Middle School Miming: Big, Small, Heavy, Light

Students new to mime will often just start moving their hands haphazardly, like an item magically appeared in their hand out of thin air. But one of the ways a mimed object is made “real” is by portraying the process that a person goes through to physically interact with an object. We don’t think about it because actions like picking up and passing objects to a classmate are things we do every day. But if you break it down, it’s actually a full series of movements: reaching for the object, grasping it with our hand(s) and gripping it without squishing or dropping it, lifting it and accommodating its weight and size, manipulating the object in some way, and then dispensing of the item somehow, such as by passing it to another person or setting it down. That’s a lot of steps!

When miming, each series of movements needs a beginning, a middle, and an end — like a miniature story. This makes the invisible, mimed object more clear for the actor to portray and for the audience to understand. In this exercise, students will practice accurately miming objects of different sizes and weights: small, big, light, and heavy. Using the beginning/middle/end framework, each student’s beginning movement is taking the object from the student on their left. The middle movement is holding/interacting with the object. The end movement is giving the object to the student on their right. Let’s get practicing.

Instructions

1. Have students stand in a large circle.

2. The teacher will introduce the four invisible “objects” that students will be passing around the circle, one for each category listed. (“Objects” is in quotation marks because the items will be mimed and therefore aren’t real.) For example:

• Small: an eraser, a ping-pong ball, a thimble
  
• Big: an inflatable pool float, a giant novelty teddy bear, a large cardboard moving box
• Light: a feather, a balloon, a silk scarf
• Heavy: a bowling ball, an encyclopedia, a brick

3. The teacher will start the exercise by slowly “picking up” the small “object” off the floor (a beginning movement) and describing the “object” verbally. While the item is being described, students will use the visualization technique they learned and practiced to imagine the object in their mind’s eye. Remind students that the item is not a magical item and doesn’t change (grow, shrink, etc.) as it’s passed from person to person — each student needs to maintain the structural integrity of the mimed object.

4. The teacher will slowly pass the invisible small object to the student on their right, who will take it from them. The student will briefly interact with the item in some way (holding it in their palm, passing it from their left hand to their right, testing the weight of the item), and then pass it to the student on their right. Each student will repeat the process with the invisible small object: taking it from the student on their left, manipulating it somehow, and passing it to the student on their right. Remind students to move slowly and deliberately, so everyone can see clearly how the mimed object is being used. Audiences will look at what the actor is looking at, so encourage students to use their full bodies and faces — especially direction of eye focus — while miming.

5. Have students observe how they themselves and their peers interact with the small item. How do they pick it up? Does the student next to them place it in their hand or do they hold it in their palm for the next student to pick up? How firmly or loosely do they need to grip the item? Do they use one hand or two?

6. When the final student passes the object back to the teacher, the teacher will place the object back on the floor (the overall end movement).

7. Repeat the process with the big, light, and heavy “objects.” Students will need to adjust their lifting and passing movements to accommodate the differences in the objects. Compare and contrast the movements needed to accurately portray each of the objects.

8. If your students get really good at this exercise, try the exercise again with “objects” with two qualities: big and heavy, big and light, small and heavy, small and light. Remember to continue to use the beginning/middle/end framework.

Note: If your students are having trouble visualizing or miming certain objects, it may be helpful for them to start by interacting with four real objects representing each of the four qualities. For the big and heavy items, be sure to select objects with some size/heft, but that aren’t so unwieldy that they’ll seriously hurt someone if they’re dropped. Be aware of the strength level of your students — some students might not be able to lift very much weight, and you don’t want students to hurt themselves. Once they are clear on the physical qualities of the objects, they may be able to more accurately portray them.