Unit 42 LO1

Guy Andrews

Codes:
In the use of Dramatic
Content
Im going to be talking about in radio
dramas is the codes and conventions of it
all and then the style and structure of how it
is all set up, I will be doing several topics for
each one I will first be talking is the codes of
Radio Drama.

Codes:
Words
Words can be used very differently in radio.
We are going to be talking about Radio Dramas mostly and words are obviously a
key feature when doing radio dramas because people want to hear it, sometimes
they will use certain language and big words to describe certain things in the
drama to get a much better and immersive feel of the storyline. You can also tell
which character is talking if they have a certain method of talking, like a teenager
would be very grouchy and use a lot of words that teenagers would
stereotypically use.
It can be used as lyrics in songs too, though sound is much more important when
talking about music on the radio, lyrics are there to explain and give meaning to
certain songs, if people can hear the words in the song it can show the true
meaning to them or maybe interpret their own meaning from it.
Other radios can use poetry and rhyme with it too. Poetry has to rhyme so they
would have to use certain words when making a poem, this isn't very popular on
the radio as people use it mainly for listening to music but there are still a lot of
people who to it.

Voices
When there are several different characters in a radio drama on the radio
they will usually have the people have completely different voices or
accents so people can tell each other apart, this is very useful technique
and stops the audience from getting confused.
Even if there are lots of characters in the drama they usually only have
around 2 3 on at a time so its not so hard to tell who is who, whereas if
they had around 10 people on at once it would be confusing to keep track of
so many characters.
A good example would be the radio drama Sherlock Homes: Three
students There are several voices which all have the same accent which
can be hard to tell characters apart but they all speak in different tones to
tell apart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjq-SdNm5KE
Start at 9:43

Speech
When using speech it can be very important, the tone of how people speak can
set the mood of the event that is happening in the drama, if there is something
bad that is happening and people are not very happy about it then this can be
expressed in a way of their tone and level of speech, the way they say their
words can really make effect, its the only way that can make effect too since
the people listening cant see their faces and this means they have to pour
everything into the voice and making the situation seem real.
How people sing lyrics is important, if they are singing about an emotional
problem then the song can be improved if they sing it in an emotional way that
way it gives the song much more meaning and people who have possibly been
through the same situations can relate to it more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65j06uOltmQ
Start 30:20
You can hear how the people in The Ghost train speak so much more
differently.

Music
Music is really important when making a radio drama, the music can help
set the mood. If something sad is happening in a radio drama then it would
use sad music to help set the tone and understand what is going on.
Music is also played a lot on the radio and listening to music is actually the
most popular thing that people do with radio, there are so many people who
drive and when on long journeys people like to listen to the radio or listen to
CDs. Music is incredibly popular and is almost essential when making a
radio drama as it can give a real feel for the situation at hand.
An example of music being used would be from this radio drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW8BkrkjtxQ
At 15:55 they add suspenseful music to give a lot of effect to the scene.
This works very well and it certainly makes what is happening much more
suspenseful.

Ambience
Ambient sounds are the sounds that are found in the background
of productions, for example if in the radio drama the scene was
taking place in the jungle, the audience wouldnt know this
because they cant see it, so by using the ambient sounds in which
case since its a jungle it would be birds and insects and just
general jungle sounds, this would tell the audience where they are
and ambience is very helpful with immersion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doTcOzH9qcc
Start at 23:35
You can hear in this radio drama that the ambient noise in this is
the talking of people in the background, it lets the audience know
that they are out in a busy place.

Sounds
Sounds are very useful to help set the scene and also
give general immersion to the scene taking place.
One Radio Drama I looked at took place in an elevator, I
only knew this because of the sounds of the doors
opening and the elevator noises, sound is that
important, listeners would honestly be very lost if there
werent sound effects to back it up.
A good example would be from the radio show Twilight
Zone from their episode The After Hours. The
background music adds a lot of suspense and gives us a
feel of whats going on.

Silence
Silence is used very effectively when doing radio dramas, its
mainly used to add effect on the situation, like suspense. One
radio drama we looked at in class had a phone call in it where
the main picked up the phone and there were lots of pauses
between the two characters talking and in the end one of them
said someone they both knew had died in a car crash, if they
had just been talking normally then it wouldnt have been so
tragic but its the fact that there were pauses and it built up a lot
of suspense.
A example of silence being effective in 47:47, after she speaks
there is a long silence which shows how empty the world is after
the nuclear attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0CB7DTc6cE

Conventions:
Aural Signposting
Aural Signposting is when you use sounds to understand what is
happening where they are and it can also help explain what
location they might be in.
An example of aural signposting would be a door opening, this
would show that the scene is taking place inside somewhere or
exiting somewhere, it gives us little pushes to understand what is
going on.
An example of aural signposting in a radio drama would be the
ghost train, it uses the sound of the train going in the background
to suggest that the people talking are currently outside in the rain
and it works very well and shows the audience where they are.
Start at 40:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65j06uOltmQ

Cliffhanger endings
Cliffhanger endings are used not just in movies but in Radio as well. A
Cliffhanger ending is when the end of the movie ends so abruptly that it
could possibly lead onto another film, The most famous cliffhanger
ending is from The Italian Job when the van is hanging on the edge of
the cliff with all the gold in it, this is a literal cliffhanger ending and also
one that leaves it an open ending and leaves the audience wanting to
know more about whats going to happen afterwards.
An example of a cliffhanger ending would be the very end of the radio
drama An Inspector calls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWD800m7jmk
Start from 1:20:35
It is very effective how it leaves it on an unknown note so it leaves the
audience guessing on what's going to happen.

Flashbacks
Flashbacks are also used in movies as well, flashbacks are when
certain characters see a moment of their past and it tells the audience
what has recently happened in his/her life and how its affected the
current situation.
This is also a very good way to use character building on certain
characters, it gives us more information on the character and their
past.
A very good example of flashbacks in radio drama would be the war of
the worlds as the entire story is actually a flashback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs0K4ApWl4g
This is actually really effective because its almost like a plot twist and
is a big surprise to the audience. Not many radio dramas or TV shows
do this and it can be quiet a hard thing to pull off.

Use of Fades
Use of fades is a lot easier to do when making a film but its
used in the same instance its just harder to understand when
listening on the radio. It is used when switching scenes in
radio, its just an easy way to do it so people can then tell what
is going on, if they didnt do this they would just think it was
one long big scene or wouldnt know when the next scene
would have started.
This is used in the Hobbit radio drama, it works very well in
fact that it gives a sort of calming effect and the scene is quite
relaxing so it makes a lot of sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pco0hNLAx8
Skip to 23:05

Use of silence
Silence much like I said earlier on is used to add suspense,
if there is a long pause during talking its mainly used to
add suspense and effect to the conversation and give it
more meaning.
Its main use it to add suspense or to build up things but it
keeps the viewers interested and eager for more.
A very good example of use of silence to create suspense
is from the radio drama Everyday time machines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHHc8eehe8Q
Start at 2:35

Characterization
Characterization is used in radio to give characters back
story and make them much more believable and using
certain elements to make the character much more
believable, this is very important as having believable
characters can enhance the story so much and make it
thrilling and relatable.
An example would be The house on Highbury hill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doTcOzH9qcc
The entire radio drama slowly builds up the backstory of
Casimir and his friends and family, it works very well in
the way that I makes them all very believable.

Chronological
development
Chronological Development in Radio is when you use
sounds and ambience to show a characters life in
chronological order, from birth to death to help get a
better understanding of the character and their life.
Almost every Radio drama does this.
A good example would be The strange case of Edgar
Allen Poe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4elJQdekN0
It follows the the entire story of Edgar and really fleshes
out what kind of person he was.

Narration/Direct Speech
The Narrator is a very popular technique, its used in a lot of movies
too, this is very popular in so many areas in radio, in a lot of radio
dramas Narration can be used to help explain what is happening in
the situation, and on radio stations where they play music they are
talking before hand and also you can listen to people reading out
books, this also ties in with Direct speech much like radio stations
do as well, Direct speech is when the people on the radio speak
directly to you and aren't speaking as a character.
An example of Narration in radio drama would be from a doctor who
radio show episode.
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpfzlsQRbDI&list=PLh-HQDe3_4tqj1R
zm_aFFwSbbzVNs0UbH
Start from 1:30:57

Titles
Titles are very important, it shows people what they are
listening to, if nothing had a title it would be harder to tell
things apart but you see a title online of a movie or something
else and if you want to watch that you can click on that, you
only knew that was the production you wanted to watch
because of the title so titles are 100% essential.
Some titles and introductions are also known straight away by
their music, the archers would be an example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNEawM6vZf4
It helps people already know what they are listening to before
something has even started, that way some people may
already be interested.

Credits
Credits are very important as it gives credit to all the people
who have worked hard on the radio drama, since its on the
radio they cant exactly read it so they have to will announce it,
its usually at the very beginning and usually only says the
director and producers. Credits are used in everything, in
movies they usually take place after the movie is finished and
credit every single person who took place making the film.
Almost every single radio drama does this but a good example
of credits in one would be this from an episode of Twilight Zone.
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH3mp33soYw&index=2&list=PLh
-HQDe3_4tqj1Rzm_aFFwSbbzVNs0UbH
Start from 45:50

Styles:
Appropriate audience
Appropriate Audience is very important if you want your
radio drama to do well and have a proper target
audience. If your target audience is old people (60+)
then you want to make sure your script and use of
words is appropriate to them and wouldnt have things
teenage slang, they want to have things are appropriate
and relatable to their own audience, if it was all wrong
the audience who weren't the set target audience then
you would be confused and wouldnt enjoy the radio
drama so its very important to get it right.

Dramatic Reconstruction
Dramatic Reconstruction in Radio Drama is when
something that was originally on a different platform is
moved onto radio or the other way. An example of this
would be Torchwood, it was originally on TV and then it
moved onto radio, this is good for promoting the show
on both Radio and other platforms it may be on, this is
usually quite an uncommon thing to do but its much
more popular in the movie industry that Books are
developed into movies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhaTIHzBimQ

Radio Drama Styles

There are lots of different Radio Drama styles, this is good because it gives us a lot of
diversity and choice.
Realism Realism is a radio drama that takes content from a book, play or film and
uses its story, it mostly uses the same characters, setting and elements.
Non-Realism Non realism are radio dramas that tell stories from a completely different
angle, like someone reading a diary and telling the story would be a good example.
Drama Documentary Drama documentaries usually mix pre-recorded clips in with
the radio, things like interviews and fictional scenes.
Feature Feature just includes fiction elements into the storyline, making it different
and unique to all the other styles.
Comedy Comedy style mainly just focuses on comedy values to make the radio
drama very lighthearted and enjoyable instead of normal talking.
Musical Musical refers to listening to radio stations, what happens is they play popular
songs at the current moment and on certain days they might do things differently, for
example Heart radio does Club classics from 8pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Creation of Mood or
location
Radio dramas must successfully create a real mood or
location when live, people enjoy things much more if they are
immersed and feel it is believable. It doesnt mean that the
radio is bad if they cant pull it off but it certainly is a big
improvement if they can do it.
Here are a couple examples of some radio dramas that help
create a real mood, it really makes the story more believable
and when something is believable it makes it a lot better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysr06neScco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWD9Q6klzco

Structures:
Duration
The Duration of the radio drama is talking about the length
of the radio drama, some dramas usually last around 15
45 minutes where as radio stations are on 24/7 but have
several people on in shifts, for example someone might do
3am to 8am and then someone else would do 4pm to 6pm.
Examples of a short radio drama would be The Babysitter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3fe2CAXkAI
And an example of a long radio drama is The Forgotten
Planet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Q_rY77XX8

Narrative Structure
The Narrative structure in a radio drama is basically a
very useful way of explaining what is currently
happening in the radio drama, this is helpful to the
actual production and to those who also might be lost
while listening to it, also if someone has turned on the
radio mid way and doesnt know whats going on.
Narrative structure is also a very good way of setting up
scenes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWD9Q6klzco
The war of the worlds does this in several parts and it
was even famous for making lots of people believe that
the events were really happening as the narrator
described what was going on.

Development of Plot
The development of plot is when the storyline in the
radio drama is thoroughly developed, there are many
different ways of developing the plot, 2 examples of
development of plot would be when the plot develops
instantly and the entire drama is focused on it
completely, this is usually used for much shorter drama
that are usually only a few minutes long. Other radio
dramas that are usually around the length of 20 40
minutes will stretch out the development of plot so its
not all just rushed to the beginning and the audience
get and overall feel for the entire drama.