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Scene openings and accompanying activities
Routine or standard activities are particularly well suited for scene openings. They are relatively easy to portray and quickly recognised. Almost all of them can also, if necessary, be carried out for a longer period, e.g. as a steady, continuous activity during a longer dialogue (in which something other than this activity is at stake).
They often already contain one or more pieces of basic information, in particular about the place.
Tips
- Try beginning the activity silently once and keep it up for half a minute. That can often be more exciting than the entire scene. The most beautiful routine is often destroyed by "pointless" chatter!
- When something is said, the basic rule is: don't talk about the activity that is just being carried out!
Problems and conflicts
Routine activities in the sense described above should not necessarily already be linked to a problem: on the one hand, they are then no longer routine activities; on the other, you should usually not start a scene right away with a problem, see Being positive.
An example of a possibly problem-laden (routine) activity would be the (lengthy) search for a lost contact lens on the floor.
List
*Wallpapering
*Painting (walls, windows)
*Ironing
*Hanging up laundry
*Pouring beer, opening bottles, and similar bar activities
*Meditating (sitting cross-legged)
*Watching TV (sitting and staring at one point, zapping with the remote)
*Cooking (adding ingredients, adjusting the heat, stirring, seasoning, etc.)
*Throwing pottery and shaping something round on a turning wheel
*Working at the computer (screen) and using the keyboard
*Working actively on a fitness machine
*Mopping or sweeping the floor
*Cleaning windows
*Sweeping
*Praying (church)
*Chopping wood
*Sawing
*Driving a car (steering, shifting gears)
*Garden work (pulling weeds, planting, harvesting, mowing the lawn)
*Watering flowers
*Swimming
*Climbing a ladder
*Making music, e.g. playing piano, guitar, violin
*Painting a picture or portraying someone
*Doing sports, e.g. darts, (table) tennis, (mini) golf
*Showering or bathing
*Sewing, knitting, crocheting
*Washing hands
*Brushing teeth
*Cutting or polishing nails
*Lighting a cigarette and smoking
*Pouring a drink and drinking it
*Doing the dishes
*Sunbathing (spreading out a towel, applying cream)
*Working on a conveyor belt
*Doing manual work (e.g. resoling a shoe)
See also: Routines