Radio Drama

Task 1

(P1,M1,D1)

Radio drama 1 –

Foul play (BBC Radio 7)

The pitch of the voice(s) in the drama ranges from a low-medium pitch of the narrators voice, slowly describing the scene and narrative, allowing the listener to take in the information. The voices are not very loud, I think that this means the listener can hear the drama, but it is not too quiet that the information cannot be heard, that said, if the voice was too loud, then any ambience noise used in the drama could not be heard properly. Due to the show being recorded as live, it has a conversational tone, and also changes to and from a slow and suspenseful rhythm; this connotes the drama and suspense in a certain piece of the drama. The cultural codes of a drama relate to the accent of the voices, as well as the dialect, or regional language used, for example; different areas of England use different words or phrases in place of others; as well as slang words. Theses differ from place to place, and therefore they may not be understood in different places. This means that the best way for a radio drama to be universally understood across the country is for the voice to be in standard (or “Queen’s”) English, which, when used, contains no dialect phrases or slang words, in order to make sure that the maximum number of the audience can fully understand the program. The jingle in this radio drama is heard before the voices in the drama, this shows that there is no interruption once the voices in the piece begin to perform. The atmosphere of the drama is suspenseful, due to the “murder mystery” genre of the drama.


Radio drama 2 –

The voice of the radio drama is high pitched and soft, although this person’s voice changes from different characters and a narration voice, as if she was trying to read a story. There is no outside noise in the drama, so the volume of the voice(s) is loud. She also tends to rise and fall in rhythm as the script changes from the conversations of characters, which also contain several accents and dialects within the speech. The drama is recorded as though there is one person reading a story, much like the tone of an audio book. Therefore, the steady pace as well as the several changes in accent for the different characters affects the tone and rhythm of the drama.

Radio drama 3 –

The jingle in this radio drama is the first thing you hear, instead of any voices. There are several characters in the drama, of varying accents and dialects; as opposed to many radio dramas, where the characters seem to be of a similar accent. There are many different conversations going on at the same time, this does not allow for any “space” between voices. I think that this creates a more realistic tone for the drama. Because there are different people from differing regions, there are also several different cultural codes to include in the drama.


Task 2:

(P1,M1,D1)


Task 3:

(P1,M1,D1)

Mind map 1



Mind map 2




Task 4:

(P1,M1,D1)

Radio drama proposal

Radio drama genre:

Horror/Sci-Fi

Radio drama title:

The Scary Door

Length:

3-5 minutes

Used sound effects:

Creaks, Impacts, suspense synths, etc

Music:

Slow, classical, suspenseful

Description:

A twilight zone-esque show, where ridiculous situations happen to people, causing horror and panic; The show will however, have a satirical theme, playing on the fact that the codes of the genre as well as the tone of the content, are exaggerated to the point where the show no longer becomes scary, but dark humour.

Possible ideas for the narrative:

A parody of the “last man on earth”

“Shaun of the Jed”

“FlashSideways”


Proposal 2

Adaption of Goldilocks and the three bears –

Genre:

Thriller/horror

Title:

Bears

Length:

4-6 min

Used sound effects:

Door creaking, banging, suspense sounds.

Music:

Quiet, suspenseful

Description:

A re-imagining of the classic story, where the bears are home invaded in the night and must try to scare the burglars away


Task 5

(P1,M1,D1)

Treatment for "The Scary Door"

The Scary Door is a one off broadcast, with the possibility of becoming a series if it becomes popular enough, the target audience will be teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16-25 of a mixed gender audience. The narrative of the show is based loosely on the classic "The Twilight Zone" television show. The motif of my narrative is to create one or two different short stories per broadcast, I will create a script for one such possible short story. This will be called "Shaun of the Jed" This would interest my target audience because I tihnk that they would understand the references of both shaun of the dead and the x factor. Therefore, parts of the story would also reference this film. However, the plot and the characters will not be the same as in the film.

The characters in the drama follow a revised version of the Propp theory of Hero/Villain/Damsel in distress. Where the main character, "Shaun" is attacked by thousands of "Jeds" in a nationwide pandemic of x factor fandom. to defeat the Jed invasion, Shaun and his best friend Mick must: "Sit in the Winchester with a pint and wait for it all to blow over" because the basic premise of the story is a horror, and that I will write the script as a parody; this drama will be more of a dark comedy, with elements of horror within the story.

Here is a short example of my script:

Opening:

Narrator: Imagine if you will, a world in which nothing is true, and everything is permitted. A universe in which the imagination of students run riot; creating unimaginable horror beyond your wildest expectations.

Welcome to...

The Scary Door

*Music Jingle plays*

Narrator: We enter the Scary Door and find ourselves in a strange world... Where reality television rules over the masses. However, one such phenomenon has gone too far; and the safety of the people has been threatened...

Our only hope is...

Shaun of the Jed.

*Voice fades into ambient noise*

I hope that this would become a series of broadcasts, although I have only planned for it to be a one off broadcast. If oit were to become more than one episode, it would help the storyline ad 3-5 minutes is not long enough to tell the whole story properly.


Treatment for "Bears"

Bears is a serial broadcast based on the classic fairytale: "goldilocks and the three bears" However, the roles have been reversed, and "Goldilocks" (now the Goldi-lock picker) Is now the villain in the story, who is a well known criminal. Therefore, the bears are now both the Heroes and the "Damseles in distress" of the narrative, who fall victim to goldi-lock picker and must get get help or rid of him before it is too late. The first broadcast would introduce the characters and the storyline, as a news broadcast warns of more goldi-lock picker attackes in recent times.

The bears are a typical family, who, despite being bears; can speak english, and are also able to walk, and use technology just like humans. Therefore, they are treat as if they are actually people. As with the old story, there are three bears, a family of two adults and a child. So there is a lot of need for the story to be slightly changed and altered in order to create the nessasary re-imagining of an old tale.

This drama has been created in mind of it involving more than one episode; possibly four to six episodes as a series. So i would want to record several episodes, and edit them together into a series of broadcasts, complete with sound effects and music, into around 6 episodes.

Task 6:

(P1,M1,D1)

Radio drama scrpits

Bears – Episode 1

“Prologue”

Written by Joseph Scaife

Caracters:

Pa (

Ma (

Simon (

News reporter (

Goldi-lock picker (


*A cold night in December, the wind and animals can be heard outside*

*Simon is watching a cartoon, suddenly, a news broadcast appears*

Simon – Ma! Pa! Something’s wrong with the TV!

Pa – What? *From the other room*

Simon – Come quick!

*The parents enter the room, the news reporter begins to speak*


Reporter – Good evening, there has been yet another attack by the goldi-lock picker. This total 10 attacks in the past two weeks, the police are yet to find any leads into the identity of this menace, we advise you to stay in your homes, lock all of your windows and doors, and if you see or hear anything suspicious, please dial 0113-HELP-NOW and a task force will arrive to assist you.

This criminal is extremely dangerous, so please do not hesitate to contact the authorities if you know anything.

*The TV is turned off*

Ma – Pa, go lock all of the doors, Simon, go to bed, it’s far too late for you to be up.

Simon – But I want to know about this goldpicker-locky!!!

Ma – No arguing, off to bed!

*The phone rings, everything falls silent*

*Pa answers the phone*

Pa – Hello?

*silence*

Hello!? Who’s there?!

*A raspy voice breaks the silence*

G-lp – You... You and your family... Are Next!

Pa – Who is this? What do you want???

G-lp – I’m coming bear... I’m coming for you...

*Scared* Pa – N-n-no... I-it can’t be......

*The phone is hung up*

Ma – What is it? Who was on the phone?

Pa – It was him... He... H-he’s coming... He’s c-c-coming for us

Ma – Wha! *gasps frantically* bu – he – we.....

*Ma collapses*

*Pa sits down, and begins to call the police, however he is so frightened, he cannot concentrate properly*

Operator – Hello? Village task force hotline. What is your emergency?

Pa – It’s him, he’s coming, you have to help us!

Operator – Who? Who’s coming?

Pa - The Goldi-lock picker!!! He called us! He’s coming for us! Send help now!

*The phone line is cut dead. The door creaks open*

Pa - *Scared* Hello???.......

*The episode ends*

Task 8: Radio drama