Unit 41- Radio Drama

The History of Radio Drama:

 

Radio drama gained a large amount of popularity in the early 1920’s. However this popularity was rather short lived as the television became more favoured over the radio and therefore caused radio dramas to reach their peak. The broadcast of radio dramas meant that the creators of the drama have to be very specific with what speech the characters say, the background noise and sound effects. This is because there is no visual aid for the audience and the listener has to rely totally on the sound of the production. However although the popularity of radio drama has steadily declined, there are still dramas being broadcast. These productions are broadcast on radio stations such as BBC Radio 4. Examples of radio dramas which are still broadcast regularly are Silver Street, Westway and Afternoon Play.

Task 1: (P1, M1, D1)

Using some of the websites listed below, choose 3 radio dramas of different genres and write an analysis of each using the notes above and in the picture below.

The ‘Silver Street’ has the primary target audience of the South Asian community, therefore because of this audience the drama is broadcast on BBC Asian Network. At the beginning of May 2006 ‘Silver Street’ has an early evening slot allocated for itself on the Drive Programme which was broadcast at 7:20pm-7:30pm. However a few days later the series was moved to the 1:30pm-1:40pm slot on Nikki Bedi Show. In 2007 facts showed that this radio drama became one of the very first Asian Programmes to be made available via podcast and is the most downloaded show.

‘Westway’ focused on the life surrounding a health centre, Westway Health Centre, in West London. The radio drama was broadcast twice weekly on BBC World Service from 1997 until late October 2005. However fans of ‘Westway’ were given the opportunity to listen to the drama again when the show was repeated on BBC7, on the other hand unfortunately the final episode was broadcast in March 2008. The main characters were Dr Margaret Sampson, who was played by Jillie Meers, Dr David Boyce, played by Nigel Carrington, and also Dr Joy Onwukwe, who was played by Abi Eniola. The producers of Westway purposely included Dr Joy Onwukwe as the character is from a different ethnic background, this would avoid listeners with a different ethnicity becoming offended by an all white British cast.

The radio drama ‘Afternoon Play’ is broadcast from BBC Radio 4 at 12:45pm on a weekday with the duration of 45 minutes. Each singular episode is classed as a drama, however some form a series. Some of the Afternoon Play episodes were broadcast from 20 underground BBC Wartime Broadcasting Service stations which provided general information broadcasting which helped the country's momentum for 100 days after surviving a nuclear attack. 'Afternoon Play' was announced one of the most popular dramas, this was stated because the listening figures varied from 800,000 and 1.1 million people.

Task 2: (P1, M1, D1)

Produce 3 x 20 second clips, each clip should emulate the codes and conventions of a specific genre.








Task 3: (P1, M1, D1)

Create a mind map of your ideas

Task 4: (P1, M1, D1)- Write two proposals briefly stating different ways of presenting your drama

My radio drama enables listeners to be diverted from everyday life and be transported into the life of Crumpet, the main character in the drama. The animated script combined with realistic sound effects, allows the audience travel with Crumpet and the other characters on exciting adventures. The primary target audience is children aged approximately 6-9 years of age, this is because they will find the drama more entertaining than adults would. As my primary target audience will be at school for the majority of the day until approximately 3.30pm, I will broadcast the drama at approximately 4pm.

The two main characters, Crumpet and Nevey Bee are close friends; therefore as a result of this the dialect used between them will be informal to mirror a real life bond. That said, the words will be pronounced using correct and Standard English so that children will be able to understand the conversations and it will encourage them to speak correctly. AS my primary target audience is aged 6-9 years of age I will ensure that the narrative is single strand to avoid confusion between the several adventures stories.

Another way I will avoid any confusion with the audience is not to end the adventures with a cliff-hanger as by the time the next episode is broadcast there is a likely chance that the audience will forget the plot.

Throughout “Crumpet’s Adventures”, there will be realistic sound effects, which are there to mirror that of a real life setting. For example, the first episode will be set in a forest, to mirror this I will add woodland ambience such as flowing rivers and insects in the distance. This will make the piece believable and more entertaining.

I believe my piece would be suitable for listeners of PGFM, I would add the show into a slot within the show which would appeal to my primary and secondary target audiences 

Snow White Proposal.

Snow White is a traditional fairy tale that was primarily aimed at children; I am going to modernize this story in order to mock the original. Therefore the adults can also enjoy the fairy tale as well as children because the adults who already know the old plot will have the basic knowledge to ensure that they understand the newer, funnier version. My modernised story changes the characters original personas. By this I mean that Snow White, was traditionally “the fairest of them all” however the modern twist I have added to the tale results in Snow White being an easy drug addict who suffers from a severe addiction to drugs of any kind. As I have changed all the characters from the traditional tale, this results in the Seven Dwarves transforming into seven evil drug-supplying dwarves who do not have Snow Whites best interests at heart. The Stepmother was traditionally wicked and tried to kill Snow White, however I decided that I should also change this and made her want to help Snow White beat her addiction to drugs and alcohol and want to send her to rehab in the hope that she will over come, and beat her addictions. The final character, Prince Charming will be a therapist at the rehab, which the Stepmother makes her attend after Snow White suffers from a heroin overdose. However in a bizarre way this works out for the best for Snow White as she meets her true ‘Prince Charming’ and gets on the road to recovery.

One of the negative points about this modernisation is that it is not politically correct and therefore I have made the decision that I should not play my piece on PGFM. A more appropriate choice of station would be Galaxy 105 or BBC Stations such as BBC 4; I think this drama would be played after the watershed on a commercial radio station due the content of the piece.

This story falls under diversion when considering the Uses and Gratification theory. This is because; it will entertain the audience and divert them from real life, as the adaptation is clearly not realistic.

My drama will have a closed ending narrative to ensure that the drama is not taking away all of the codes and conventions of a children’s fairytale. All fairytales follow the hero, villain, and damsel in distress pattern. My drama will also follow this but the characters will have changed their roles in mine from the original, which I have previously described. Also, there is an equilibrium, disruption and resolution in the drama, which also mirror a real fairytale.

Crumpet's Adventures Proposal:

Crumpet's Adventures is a short radio drama which is primarily aimed at children. The drama will be about the woodland animals which Crumpet and Nevey Bee save from various woodland villains. My secondary target audience for the radio drama will be adults which may be listening to the drama with their children.

My drama incorporates the theory of Propp as Crumpet is the hero, Nevey Bee is the helper, the various woodland creatures are the damsel-in-distresses and the two fierce woodland beasts are the villains.

I have kept the language of the drama very simple due to my target audience as they will be able to understand it. Therefore because my target audience are young children and I feel that it would not be appropriate to be broadcast on my school's radio station PGFM. A more appropriate station would be BBC Stations. This story falls under diversion when considering the Uses and Gratification theory. This is because; it will entertain the audience and divert them from real life, as the adaptation is clearly not realistic.

Task 5: (P1, M1, D1)

Create two treatments based on your proposals using as much relevant media language as possible.

“Crumpet’s Adventures” Treatment

Crumpet’s adventures, is a serial drama for the target audience of 6-9 years and has a mixed genre audience. The story is based on a Rabbit and a Bee, which save other animals from danger. The characters are the child alternative to Batman and Robin as they are a team, which fight against evil. The adventure drama holds a pattern of fantasy throughout as it is set in several locations with personified animals to make the drama interesting and entertaining for the target audience. The first instalment of the drama establishes characters and locations that may be returned to in the future. This helps the audience to understand the roles, which the various characters play; there are only characters because I wanted to keep the story simple due to the young target audience. Another way that I will make the drama appropriate for the target audience is by using simple, everyday language that will be understandable for them.

Out of the five characters, the audience may be able to relate to at least one character. When considering the uses and gratification theory, the drama will fall under diversion and personal relationships. This is because the audience can build relationships with each other when talking about what they heard. It also diverts them from real life – particularly with the talking creatures.

Crumpet acts as the hero in the drama, having Nevey Bee as his helper; these two characters are the heroes in the story, as they are the main characters. Maisy Mouse is the damsel in distress and Terrorclaw and Hound dog are both villains. Therefore because of the stereotypes the audience therefore do not like these characters.

Task 6: (M1, P1, D1)

Produce two scripts, one for each of the treatments.
 

Snow White Script.

Narrator:

[Stereotypical fairy tale ambience]

Once upon a time in a far away town, there was a King and Queen who ruled a kingdom. Shortly after the Queen gave birth to their daughter, the queen tragically passed away, the King was devastated but after a few months the King found a new wife who he loved very much and treated her as if she was his most treasured possession. However when his daughter grew up but unfortunately took the wrong path and became a drug addict and spent, well.. how do I put this politely? A.. A rather lot of time with the gentlemen of this town. What is her name I hear you ask yourself. Well the daughter was named Snow White; in her childhood she was once the fairest of them all. Now it seems that this name is rather ironic to say the least.

As if this wasn’t enough, the local magazines such as “Heat!” and “Look” 

[paparazzi camera shutters]

were splashing pictures of her with an infamous group of seven short men. If you are not aware of who these men are- they are the towns main drug dealers.

Even when Snow White went erm…“off the rails” her stepmother and father still loved her more than anything in the world. One fateful day Snow White met these mysterious men and suffered from a heroin overdose.

This was the final straw and the King and Queen made the sensible decision to send Snow White into the Priory

[ambulance siren]

in the hope that she can beat her demons and regain her “fairest of them all” reputation. During her rehab stint Snow White made many friends during group therapy such as Amy Winehouse (who was battling a drug addiction) Britney Spears (who was regaining her strength after a nervous breakdown)

[crying]

Lindsey Lohan (who was getting therapy for an eating disorder) and many other celebrities who had folded under the pressure of the celebrity lifestyle. However this rehab stint made the biggest change to her life as she finally met her Prince Charming…

Every girl dreams of her happily ever after, the gentlemen who sweeps her off her feet and they travel into the sunset via horse and carriage.

[horse hoofs hitting the floor]

It would be an understatement to say that this wasn’t at all how Snow White’s happily ever after came about. Instead her Prince Charming was a therapist at the Priory. Snow White felt a rush of blood flow through her body, which felt bizarre as she was used to her daily dose of heroin, and instantly knew he, was “The One”.

[romance ambience]

With his good looks and kind words Snow White found the inner strength that she needed to kick her drug habit for good. Prince Charming aided her through recovery and gave her the treatment, which she needed, a magic apple. Instead of poison or drugs this apple was filled with love, care, devotion and hope.

The next week Snow White was back at the semi detached house that herself and Prince Charming had bought and realised how lucky she was. After all the worry which people felt for her was no longer present and Snow White was fully recovered and a far cry from the person she used to be.

Crumpet’s Adventures Script:

Characters:

Crumpet the Rabbit- he is the hero.

Nevey Bee the Bee- she is Crumpet’s helper like Robin from Batman.

Maisy the Mouse- the damsel in distress character which Crumpet and Nevey Bee rescue.

Terrorclaw the Eagle- is the villain who captures Maisy Mouse.

Hound Dog- another villin of the woodland

Opening Line:

[woodland noise]

Crumpet: [sigh] “What a lovely day. The sun is shining in the sky without a cloud in sight. Hmmm I wonder where Nevey Bee could be on this fine day….”

[bzzz]

Crumpet: “There you are Nevey Bee! I wondered where you were”

Nevey Bee: [breathless] “Hiya Crumpet. I’ve just being collecting honey. Here is a pot for you. I know it’s your favourite sweet treat.”

[Crumpet takes the pot of honey from Nevey Bee and opens the jar]

Crumpet: [talks with his mouth full] “Mmmm yum. I love your honey. It’s the best around in this woodland forest.”

Nevey Bee: “Gee whizz thanks Crumpet! What are your plans for today?”

Crumpet: “Well I might make the most of this brilliant weather and chill out in the field with a cold bottle of lemonade

[Opens the bottle]

What about you Nevey?”

Nevey Bee: “I was going to collect some pollen from the flowers”

Crumpet: [swallowing his drink] “Oh cool, maybe later on we could meet up and go for a walk or something…?”

Nevey Bee: [squeals] “Gee I’d love to! Isn’t it great when the forest is at peace with no trouble in sight?”

Crumpet: “Hmmm, definitely. However I have a feeling this calmness won’t last long. Not in this forest anyway.”

[Maisy the Mouse screams in the distance]

Crumpet: “Oh dear. I jinxed myself. Ready Nevey Bee?”

Nevey Bee: “Right behind you Crumpet! Lets GO!!”

[bzzzzz and Crumpet’s running]

Nevey Bee: “Woah slow down Crumpet, your making my wings hurt!!”

Crumpet: [breathless] “No… time to lose. Animal.. in danger.”

[stop running and pant]

Terrorclaw: “MWAHAHAHA!! Nobody is here to save you now. Not even Crumpet will be able to find you! Or his sidekick Nevey Bee. I have finally outsmarted them!”

[Maisy Mouse whimpers]

Crumpet: [hushed tones] “Psst Nevey Bee. Let’s hide behind that bush to makes sure that he doesn’t catch sight of us.”

Nevey Bee: [whispering] “Good idea Crumpet, we cannot risk getting caught.”

[High 5]

Maisy Mouse: I’m sure they will find me. They always find everyone. They’re the heroes of this forest and you know it. Your just a big bully!!”

Terrowclaw: [roar] “HOW DARE YOU?!!”

Maisy Mouse: “ You know I’m right Terrorclaw! You may succeed in hurting me but it won’t change any other animals opinion of you!”

Terrorclaw: “SILENCE!!!”

Crumpet: [whispering] “Yo, Nevey Bee, here’s the plan. Come closer and listen up dude.”

[bzzzz]

Nevey Bee: “Fill me in”

Crumpet: “I’m going to cause a distraction and make a log fall over and then you will race over and sting Terrorclaw right where it hurts… at the back of the neck. Then I will gallop over and tip this pot of honey over him and he will be stuck, then grab Maisy and fly away with her, ok?”

Nevey Bee: OK Crumpet, you always know what to do!

Crumpet: GO

[Sound of log falling (thud)]

[Buzz]

[Splurge of honey]

Terror claw: I’LL GET YOU FOR THIS, CRUMPET.

[Buzz]

Crumpet: I’d like to see you try!

Nevey Bee: “Another success for the team Crumpet. Nice work.”

Crumpet: “Thanks mate. Let’s get out of here. C’mon Maisy. Your safe now.”

[Buzz and Crumpet and Maisy running.]

Maisy: “Oh thank you so much. You have no idea how scared I was! I thought he was going to really hurt me for a minute there. I owe you guys. How can I make it up to you?”

Nevey Bee: “Well you could start with a”

Crumpet: “NEVEY BEE No! We don’t do this for the reward. We do it because we want to help save our friends.”

Maisy: “Thanks guys. I’m really grateful. Anyways, I must go I have to tell my family I’m okay. Bye!”

Nevey Bee and Crumpet: “Byeeee!!”

[Woodland ambience]

Crumpet: “Phew! At least that drama is over now.”

Nevey Bee: “Tell me about it! Now, let’s enjoy the fine day whilst we can do.”

Crumpet: “Sounds good to me Bee. Fancy that walk?”

Nevey Bee: “Sure.”

[Howling in the distance]

Crumpet: [sighs and groans]

Nevey Bee: “Here we go again!!”

[Buzz and Crumpet running]

Crumpet: “Its Hound dog again causing trouble with the other animals in the forest!”

Nevey Bee: “Oh no! its becoming a habit for him!! We need to sort this guy out!”

Crumpet: I know, COME ON!

[Buzz and running]

[Get to the river where Hound dog is, a boat is passing]

[Foghorn]

Nevey Bee: “Wait for this boat to go past and for it all to go quiet again”

Crumpet: “Okay and then we can get him.”

[Goes quiet apart from sound of water and woodland ambience.]

Crumpet: “He’s getting a drink out of the river…”

Nevey Bee: “I’ll sneak up behind him, and sting him then you run over and push him into the river. He can swim it will just shock him.”

Crumpet: “O.K… GO!”

[Buzz then scream from Hound Dog.]

[Crumpet Running then splash of water.]

Hound dog: “THIS WATER IS FREEZING!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Crumpet: It serves you right for causing more trouble with smaller and innocent animals.”

Hound dog: “Well what else am I supposed to eat around here? There’s nothing else.”

Nevey Bee: “Well how would you like it if somebody wanted to eat you?”

Hound dog: “Well… I… Wouldn’t like it ”

Crumpet: “Exactly so just think about that next time you get hungry! Next time you try anything like this Hound dog, you’ll be sent away from the Forest.”

Hound dog: “Okay, I’m sorry guys.”

Crumpet: “Its ok just don’t do it again.”

Hound dog: “I won’t I promise.”

Crumpet: “Okay well we’re going now, see you soon…”

[BUZZ AND RUNNING]

Crumpet: “I knew this day wouldn’t stay quiet for long…”

Nevey Bee: “Just a normal day around these parts…”

[THEME TUNE.]

Task 7: (P1, M1, D1)

The final radio drama- "Crumpet's Adventures"

 

Task 8: P1, M1, D1

Evaluation of ‘Crumpet’s Adventures’:
The original aim of my radio drama, Crumpet’s Adventures, was to create a drama which young children would find entertaining and humorous. I feel that this purpose was successfully achieved because I played the drama at home to my younger family members and they actively listened to the drama, I could see this because whenever Crumpet and Nevey Bee rescued one of the villains’ victims they cheered. Therefore this gave me confidence that I have met my purpose successfully.

After listening to the radio drama the four children said that they enjoyed the piece and found it funny. As my primary target audience is young children aged approximately 6-9 years of age I made the plot line simple and easy to follow so that they would understand, this technique worked well as the audience took my preferred reading of Crumpet being the woodland hero and Nevey Bee as his helper. I ensured that the overall message of the drama was positive as the villains learn their lesson and stop bullying the woodland creatures. My package included both male and female characters. Crumpet was played by Lewis as he gave the representation which I wanted him to- which was that Crumpet was friendly. I played Nevey Bee as I wanted her to have a high voice and I knew how to use my paralinguistic features to bring the character to live. Danny played Terrorclaw as he had a deep voice and could bring a sense of evil to the villainous character. Niamh played Maisy Mouse because she had a quiet voice which helped add a sense of vulnerability to the character which was beneficial because Maisy was the damsel-in-distress. Curtis played Hound Dog because like Danny he had a deep voice and helped add the right feel to the character. Unfortunately there were no ethnic groups in my drama, the reason for this was because there was nobody from a different ethnic group in my class, however if I were to produce the drama again then I would definitely include this.

The music at the start of the drama is appropriate as it has the connotations of a cartoon superhero; therefore this signifies what the drama will be about before any of the characters speak. Also by choosing this music the mood of the piece became very sinister and secretive. The locations were extremely appropriate for my radio drama because Crumpet lives in the forest. Therefore because of this factor I added the sound effects of woodland ambience to help set the scene so that my primary target audience would know where the characters were which would help them create a better mental picture of what was happening in the plot as it happened. Due to the fact that the primary target audience is children aged 6-9 years of age I made sure that in my script the language was simple and that the children would understand what the characters were saying. A way for me to improve Crumpet’s Adventures would be to compare the finished product against a similar professional product; by doing this I would be able to see techniques which I could use to improve the quality of my piece. If I were given the opportunity to produce the drama again I would definitely use this method. 

The sound levels of my product were very good when the piece was in the software GarageBand. However when I converted the file over into an mp3 to go into iTunes the levels seem to have changed and now the sound effects seem to be louder then the voices at times. When editing the drama I accidently cut some of the characters voice short, therefore to correct this problem I asked the people who played the various characters to re-record the selected lines which were badly edited. However the overall quality of the voice recorders was excellent due to the fact that the microphone was a piece of professional equipment and therefore produced the best quality of sound. As the primary target audience are young children they would naturally become distracted easily, to overcome this obstacle I ensured that different problems were encountered with a different villain each time so that there was enough material to keep the children entertained. I have used sound effects such as, opening a bottle, a splash of water, woodland ambience and many more, this made the drama more believable and entertaining. Overall the editing was very good as I edited out any mistakes and laughing, the sound effects were placed in the appropriate places and also the theme tune at the beginning was highly appropriate for the purpose and genre of the radio drama.

The genre of the radio drama was comedy; this is reflected by the fact that the purpose was to create entertainment for the children. Therefore because of this the typical features in relation to the genre were humour, alternative interpretations and also a range of comic characters. In a similar professional product these typical conventions will be the same but the producers of the more professional drama will have a certain amount of advantages over mine. These advantages are that they may have more professional recording equipment which will help to produce better sound recordings, they may have better editing software, and they will also have more time to spend on both recording and editing the radio drama whereas my class were given a deadline of two weeks.

In regards to the narrative of Crumpet’s Adventures I chose not to include an enigma. I chose not to do this because the target audience may be confused and not understand the plot; I therefore decided to keep it simple and straight forward. I chose to incorporate Todorov’s equilibrium, disruption and resolution theory. This is evident by the fact that I have started the radio drama with an equilibrium as Crumpet and Nevey Bee are having a normal, everyday conversation and then hear Maisy Mouse scream in the distance, this is the disruption of the drama. However approximately half way through the resolution is evident as Crumpet and Nevey Bee save Maisy Mouse from Terrorclaw. A second resolution is evident when Crumpet and Nevey Bee save the second creature from Hound Dog. I also used Propp’s theory of villain, hero, helper and damsel in distress. The obvious hero of the drama is Crumpet, the helper is his sidekick Nevey Bee, the villain is both Terrorclaw and Hound Dog and lastly the damsel-in-distress is Maisy Mouse. The story is multi strand as two stories occur, however each story occurs individually and therefore could also be classed as single strand at the same time.

Whilst writing my own performance evaluation I realised that I have improved my editing skills on GarageBand and can now confidently import the voice recording and edit them appropriately. I also learnt how to use the professional radio recording technology as I had never done that before. I have realised that my weaknesses still lie in knowing what format the audio had to be in to work in GarageBand, iTunes or iMovie. As I worked with Niamh Park on this radio drama I feel that we worked well as a team as we are already close friends and therefore understand each other and have a professional attitude, however on a personal level I feel that I was a good team member as I did an equal amount of work and also I was prepared to listen to Niamh’s alternative ideas and therefore produce a better final piece of work.

If I were to improve my radio drama, I would definitely include people from different ethnic backgrounds so that no offence will be caused. I will also compare my piece of work with a more professional piece so that I can use the same techniques as what they use to make improvements. However overall I am very happy with my radio drama and my contribution towards it.