Blocking is a theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 term which refers to the precise movement and positioning of actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

s on a stage

Stage (theatre)

In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...

 in order to facilitate the performance

Performance

A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...

 of a play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

, ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

, film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 or opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

. The term derives from the practice of 19th century theatre directors such as Sir W. S. Gilbert

W. S. Gilbert

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...

 who worked out the staging of a scene on a miniature stage using blocks to represent each of the actors (Gilbert's practice is depicted in Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh

Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...

's 1999 film Topsy-Turvy

Topsy-Turvy

Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 musical drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and stars Allan Corduner as Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville. The story concerns the 15-month period in 1884 and 1885 leading up to the premiere of Gilbert...

.)

In contemporary theatre, the director usually determines blocking during rehearsal, telling actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

s where they should move for the proper dramatic effect, ensure sight lines for the audience and work with the lighting design of the scene.

Each scene

Scene (fiction)

In fiction, a scene is a unit of drama. A sequel is what follows; an aftermath. Together, scene and sequel provide the building blocks of plot for short stories, novels, and other forms of fiction.-Characteristics of a scene:...

 in a play is usually 'blocked' as a unit

Unit of action

Units of Action, or Units , were first suggested by Konstantin Stanislavski as a means of helping actors determine the through line or super objective of a role. A unit is a discrete piece of action in a play-text, marked by a significant change in action. This could be a change in what the...

, after which the director will move onto the next scene. The positioning of actors on stage in one scene will usually affect the possibilities for subsequent positioning unless the stage is cleared between scenes. Once all the blocking is completed a play is said to be 'fully blocked' and then the process of 'polishing' or refinement begins. During the blocking rehearsal usually the assistant director or the stage manager

Stage management

Stage management is the practice of organizing and coordinating a theatrical production. It encompasses a variety of activities, including organizing the production and coordinating communications between various personnel...

 (or both) take notes about where actors are positioned and their movement patterns on stage.

It is especially important for the stage manager to note the actors' positions, as a director is not usually present for each performance of a play and it becomes the stage manager's job to ensure that actors follow the assigned blocking from night to night.

By extension, the term is sometimes used in the context of cinema to speak of the arrangement of actors in the frame. In this context, there is also a need to consider the movement of the camera as part of the blocking process (see Cinematography

Cinematography

Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...

).

Stage directions

The stage itself has been given named areas to facilitate blocking.

• The rear of the stage is considered up-stage. This derives from the raked stage
  Rake (theatre)
  English theatre stages in the Middle Ages and early Modern era typically sloped upwards away from the audience. This is known as a rake or raked stage and improves the view for the audience....
  
  , where the stage sloped up away from the audience.
• The front of the stage is down-stage.
• Stage left and right, at least in British and North American theatre, refer to the actor's left and right facing the audience. Because this is sometimes misunderstood, the terms prompt (actor's or stage left) and opposite prompt (actor's or stage right) are also used. (See also Prompt corner
  Prompt corner
  The prompt corner or prompt box in a theatre is the location at the side of the stage where the prompt is located in order to coordinate the performance and prompt the performers when required.-Location:Historically, the prompt corner was situated on the left side of the stage, therefore Prompt...
  
  )
• House left and house right refer to how the audience perceives the stage. The audience’s left is referred to as house left, and the audience’s right is referred to as house right. (These may also be called camera left and camera right for a filmed or sometimes unfilmed production.)