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stage business

German translation: begleitende schauspielerische Gesten und Handlungen

00:13 Feb 17, 2017
English to German translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama / theatre (stage)
English term or phrase: stage business
My question concerns use of the term in the theatre, but it is also used in film/TV production. [Note: lang. pair is wrong, but the ... software won't let me change this without deleting all input.]

See, for example: http://olympia.osd.wednet.edu/media/olympia/activities/drama...

"Stage business refers to the gestures and activities an actor performs as part of a scene on stage. While blocking refers to the large movements -- crossing the stage, sitting, standing -- business refers to the smaller things -- combing hair, sipping tea, tapping pencil, etc."

Usage example: 'In the latter song, the challenge is [to sing] while bounding about the stage among “concealed” police and pirates (excellent stage business in this scene, by the way).'
K. Pfeiffer
German translation:begleitende schauspielerische Gesten und Handlungen
Explanation:

Mein Vorschlag: englischer Originalbegriff mit Erklärung in Klammern oder umgekehrt

(begleitende) Gesten und Handlungen des Schauspielers

oder:
Bühnenanweisungen für den Schauspiler (but that's not so specific)

-----------------

http://olympia.osd.wednet.edu/media/olympia/activities/drama...
Stage business refers to the gestures and activities an actor performs as part of a
scene on stage. While blocking refers to the large movements -- crossing the
stage, sitting, standing -- business refers to the smaller things -- combing hair,
sipping tea, tapping pencil, etc.
There are two types of Stage Business that are used in scenes. They are called
necessary and interpretive actions.
Necessary actions are actions that are called for or referred to in the script. For
example, if a character says “Just a second, Iʼm putting on my lipstick”, we know
that the character needs to be putting on lipstick in that scene. Lines such as
“This cookie tastes stale” tell the actor to take a bite of the cookie before that line.


http://www.thefreedictionary.com/stage business
stage business - incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect; "his business with the cane was hilarious"

http://tinyurl.com/zukfgb9
stage business - Bühnenanweisungen

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2017-02-18 04:29:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

oder auch:

begleitende Gesten und schauspielerische Handlungen

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2017-02-18 04:35:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

PS: immer mit "begleitende"; das Wort ist wichtig.
Selected response from:

Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 18:20
Grading comment
Dear "Mitwirkende",

many thanks for your help! There appears to be no one-to-one correspondence. It was not for a translation (sorry, I forgot to mention), but merely for my own use. "Statisterie" ("extras" in film/telev. or "supernumeraries" in the opera), I would also agree, is wrong.

I forgot that I have to assign points, so my apologies in advance to any who feel overlooked, and thank you, again.

-Kevin Pfeiffer
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +1begleitende schauspielerische Gesten und Handlungen
Bernhard Sulzer
3Bühnenhandlung(en)
Johanna Timm, PhD
3Aktionen
NGK
3 -1Statisterie
Danik 2014
Summary of reference entries provided
stage business, byplay
An-Ja

Discussion entries: 11





  

Answers


19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Statisterie


Explanation:
"Wollen Sie einmal ein Tablett mit Sektgläsern über die Bühne tragen, einen oder mehrere Sätze sprechen, auch mal beim Umbau auf der offenen Bühne helfen oder für Werbeaktionen unseres Theaters eingesetzt werden? Dies alles und noch viel mehr gehört zu den Aufgaben einer Statistin bzw. eines Statisten an unserem Staatstheater.
Uns stehen für solche Aufgaben ca. 150 Frauen, Männer und Kinder zur Verfügung. Manche sind schon einige Jahrzehnte dabei und freuen sich mit uns, dass sie sich dieses Hobby ausgesucht haben.

Manchmal suchen wir auch Menschen mit besonderen Fähigkeiten und Merkmalen und alle fühlen sich bei uns wohl.
Wen die Statisterie am Staatstheater Mainz interessiert und wer hier mitwirken will, kann sich beim Leiter der Statisterie, am Bühneneingang des Kleinen Hauses oder mit diesem Formular (PDF, 3 MB, bitte ausdrucken und ausfüllen) bewerben."
http://www.staatstheater-mainz.com/web/service/statisten

"Statisten werden in Film- und Theaterproduktionen und der Oper eingesetzt. Sie agieren vornehmlich in der Menge mit anderen und haben keine individuelle oder tragende Rolle. Sie sind dabei unauffällig und „einer von vielen“. Die Hauptaufgabe ist es für ein glaubwürdiges und lebendiges Hintergrundbild zu sorgen."

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statist

Danik 2014
Brazil
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  NGK: Statisterie = background actors
10 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Bühnenhandlung(en)


Explanation:

Stage Business: all visual activity not involving movement from one place to another that helps to complete the expression of the idea without words
http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/mkennedy/auburn/drama.glossary....

more detailed info:
https://wiki.vpa.mtu.edu/wiki/index.php?title=Stage_Business

"Sie ist als laufender (fußnotensparender) Kommentar zum englischen Text gedacht. Sie wird durch vier Arten von Fußnoten ergänzt: stilistische und strukturelle Anmerkungen (rhetorische Figuren, Wortspiele u.ä.), theaterbezogene Anmerkungen (Stellung der Schauspieler auf der Bühne, Bühnenhandlung usw.), Anmerkungen zum kulturellen oder historischen Kontext (z.B. zu Shakespeares Zeit gängige Vorstellungen und Denkweisen, die zu einem besseren Verständnis des Textes beitragen könnten),[…]"
It serves as a running commentary to the English text and is complemented by footnotes of different types: stylistic and structural (rhetorical figures, word play, etc.), theatrical (positions on stage, stage business, etc., cultural and historical (e.g. contemporary notions which might be important for a full understanding of the text), {…]
https://shine.unibas.ch/shine_timon.htm


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day5 mins (2017-02-18 00:19:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

abgegrenzt dazu: (im Glossar des ersten Links oben)
Blocking (2)
in theatre, blocking refers to the process of creating and recording stage business and movement

Blocking

manchmal auch: plotting, selten: grouping, actor placement; meist als Technik der Szeneninszenierung (to block a scene); deutsch oft: Choreografierung

(1) Als blocking bezeichnet man in der englisch-amerikanischen Theater- und filmischen Inszenierungspraxis die präzise Festlegung der Bewegungen von Akteuren auf der Bühne
http://filmlexikon.uni-kiel.de/index.php?action=lexikon&tag=...

Johanna Timm, PhD
Canada
Local time: 15:20
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 55
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 day 1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Aktionen


Explanation:
Habe ich so von deutschen Regisseuren gehört.

NGK
United States
Local time: 17:20
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 57
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 day 4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
begleitende schauspielerische Gesten und Handlungen


Explanation:

Mein Vorschlag: englischer Originalbegriff mit Erklärung in Klammern oder umgekehrt

(begleitende) Gesten und Handlungen des Schauspielers

oder:
Bühnenanweisungen für den Schauspiler (but that's not so specific)

-----------------

http://olympia.osd.wednet.edu/media/olympia/activities/drama...
Stage business refers to the gestures and activities an actor performs as part of a
scene on stage. While blocking refers to the large movements -- crossing the
stage, sitting, standing -- business refers to the smaller things -- combing hair,
sipping tea, tapping pencil, etc.
There are two types of Stage Business that are used in scenes. They are called
necessary and interpretive actions.
Necessary actions are actions that are called for or referred to in the script. For
example, if a character says “Just a second, Iʼm putting on my lipstick”, we know
that the character needs to be putting on lipstick in that scene. Lines such as
“This cookie tastes stale” tell the actor to take a bite of the cookie before that line.


http://www.thefreedictionary.com/stage business
stage business - incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect; "his business with the cane was hilarious"

http://tinyurl.com/zukfgb9
stage business - Bühnenanweisungen

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2017-02-18 04:29:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

oder auch:

begleitende Gesten und schauspielerische Handlungen

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2017-02-18 04:35:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

PS: immer mit "begleitende"; das Wort ist wichtig.

Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 18:20
Works in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 23
Grading comment
Dear "Mitwirkende",

many thanks for your help! There appears to be no one-to-one correspondence. It was not for a translation (sorry, I forgot to mention), but merely for my own use. "Statisterie" ("extras" in film/telev. or "supernumeraries" in the opera), I would also agree, is wrong.

I forgot that I have to assign points, so my apologies in advance to any who feel overlooked, and thank you, again.

-Kevin Pfeiffer

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Johanna Timm, PhD: da lag ich ja gar nicht so verkehrt! (discussion box)
3 days 19 hrs
  -> Genau. Vielen Dank!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)




Reference comments


12 hrs
Reference: stage business, byplay

Reference information:
business: movement or action (as lighting a cigarette) by an actor intended especially to establish atmosphere, reveal character, or explain a situation —called also stage business

byplay: action engaged in on the side while the main action proceeds (as during a dramatic production)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at   12 godz. (2017-02-17 12:21:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

+ http://www.dict.cc/?s=byplay: byplay - die Nebenhandlung

+ http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Nebenhandlung:
Nebenhandlung: (in einer Dichtung) neben der eigentlichen Handlung herlaufende Handlung
Synonyme zu Nebenhandlung: Episode; Zwischenstück

http://www.dict.cc/?s=Zwischenstück: interlude - das Zwischenstück


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at   12 godz. (2017-02-17 12:27:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

+ http://www.freethesaurus.com/stage business:
Synonyms for stage business
byplay: incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect

+ http://www.freethesaurus.com/shtick

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at   13 godz. (2017-02-17 13:18:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

+ http://www.definitions.net/definition/byplay
business, stage business, byplay;
incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect;
"his business with the cane was hilarious"


    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/business
    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/byplay
An-Ja
Poland
Native speaker of: Native in PolishPolish
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thanks for the response. I would not consider "byplay", however to be a proper synonym of "stage business". Merriam-Webster defines it quite precisely: "action engaged in on the side while the main action proceeds (as during a dramatic production)." However, I am not directly familiar with the second term. While byplay certainly would involve stage business, I don't think you could say that stage business is always byplay, e.g., the single character on stage lighting a cigarette and setting down an ash try is certainly engaging in stage business, but I wouldn't call this byplay. (In fact, a quick lookup of Nebenhandlung offers "subplot" and "secondary story line" as the most common translation. Best wishes, K. Pfeiffer

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