Task 3

In this essay, I will be analysing 2 different radio dramas one traditional and
one postmodern. A traditional drama is one that is set back in the day and a
post-modern drama is one that is more recent. The two examples I will be
drawing from are The Blind Mans Confession and Father Knows BestThe Golf Challenge. The Blind Mans Confession is a short horror radio
drama about a young mans joyride one October night which turns into a hell he
could never imagine, and Father Knows Best- The Golf Challenge is a
family comedy radio drama where Betty (daughter) needs a new dress for $17
but when Bud and Kathy break the garage window playing golf in the garden she
knows her dad wont give her the money. When dad comes home in a good mood
from the golf course the whole family are surprised by his reaction.

The Blind Mans Confession

The main character, that is male, begins the story, which could be considered a
flashback as the narrator is reliving what had happened to him, and narrates for
the duration of the 12 minute drama. The idea of a flashback is effective as they
interrupt the normal chronological development of a story- time in literal manner.
This may have also been considered to be a dramatic reconstruction- which is
when you recreate an entire scene of a drama by using different sounds. Another
word for recreating the scene is melodramatically. In The Blind Mans
Confession this would be the whole story of when the narrator is telling us what
had happened to him. This is reconstruction as he is re-describing an experience
he had had. Narration is important because it helps the listeners follow what is
being said. The narrator in this story was speaking in first tense, which means
that the story is about him. The drama begins with him describing what he is
doing, what he is feeling and what is happening, the way in which he words the
narration makes it obvious to the listeners that he is retelling something that has
already happened to him. You can tell by his voice that he is probably in his
early 20s and from his accent; we are able to determine that he is American.
The first scene starts with him driving fast on a road. We know this because of
the aural signposting- which is a technique used to establish the location of the
opening scene of the radio drama- this is done with its use of sound effects. In
this case it includes car speeding, heavy car music, lightning and rain, and the
narration. Sound is used to help set the scene and describe what is happening;
this also helped with the opening of the first scene. Ambience- which is another
word for background noises- is beneficial to this drama as it is a good way to
describe how the characters in the drama are feeling and also creates more of a
scene. For example, we are able to tell that the weather is not great with
lightning and rain echoing in the background. It is most likely set at night time
due to the lack of other cars on the road and the speed at which the driver is
going. But also because the narrator says death had flashed at me too many
times already that night.
In this radio drama, there are a total of 3 characters- the narrator, unnamed man
and the truck driver. Using more than one voice in a radio drama makes it clear

to the people that are listening who is speaking, and also helps to keep the
listeners engaged due to the change of voice. The tone of voice used in radio
dramas are also extremely important as they give the audience a sense of how
they are feeling and helps to set the mood. For example, while character one is
describing himself driving and what he is doing, he sounds very energetic and
excited. But, then he crashes. His voice changes with almost an ounce of guilt in
there. His tones and the way he is talking work well with what is going on, and
express the emotion he was/is feeling at the time.
As well as being able to distinguish peoples voices, the way in which they
pronounce words is also very important as it enables the audience to tell where
the character, that is speaking, is from. For example, we as listeners know that
the drama is set somewhere in America due to their pronunciations of words.
Also, the second character speaks quite well and doesnt use slang, so this tells
us that he is an older character- late 30s maybe- so is a formal character. He
uses words such as fine job you do there; take it from an expert; Im sorry to
scare you, it just helps to have the upper hand in my profession.
Silence is often used to build up an atmosphere and create tension, for example
a build up of a long silence would cause the listeners to wonder what is
happening as everything has gone quiet. Silence can also be used for the change
of scenes. In this radio drama, silence is used to create the effect of character
ones death. He describes what he is seeing and then the moment when
darkness plushedmy eyes shut. Silence then follows. This was really effective
to me as a listener as it really helped with what the character was feeling and
really engaged me. An example of a fade then followed by introducing the next
scene. The sound of rain gradually faded in, bringing us to the next scene in the
forest. This was effective as it wasnt confusing to the listener as to what was
happening, but I believe they should have waited a couple more seconds before
starting the next scene as it might not have given the listeners long enough to
digest what had just happened, and could have made them more engaged as
they waited for what was to happen next. Fades can be used in radio dramas as
a way of changing scenes, used as a transition from one scene to the next. Fades
are also used to show distance.
A cliff hanger is used to make the listeners wonder and want to know what will
happen next. Cliff hangers are a good edition to the end of a radio drama as it
will keep the listeners wondering what will happen, so will keep them wanting to
listen to the next show to find out what happens. In The BMC, the cliff-hanger
that is used at the end of the radio drama was that the listeners werent told
whether the man was caught and if anything was going to happen to the main
character as he had said more than what he was meant to. This was effective to
me as a listener as it didnt have too many unanswered questions but made me
wonder what was going to happen. The way they worded it and ended the drama
I liked.
Titles and credits are used at the end of an episode to tell the listeners the
names of the actors and producer of the radio drama that has just been played.
It is often the main people in the production who are in the credits. In The Blind
Mans Confession, the listeners are told who voiced each character and who it
was written and produced by. For example, the drama was written, produced and
narrated by Frederick Greenhalgh, the killer was voiced by John Coons and the

truck driver was voiced by Barry Hilton. Credits are a good thing to have because
if a listener liked a specific actor or producer and wanted to listen to other
dramas that have been produced by them, they can. It also helps promote them.
Radio dramas have to be appropriate to the target audience it is aimed at as
they need everything to be suited and appropriate to the specific audience.
Stereotyping your audience enables you to give a style to your drama that is
appropriate to your selected target audience. I believe the target audience for
this drama was to teenagers and young adults. This is because of the story of the
drama and the language used. It made it feel that it was intended for a younger
audience due to the characters ages as well and the ending of the drama, which
wished the listeners a happy Halloween. The most common styles in radio
drama are horror, comedy and mystery. We know that this drama is a horror
because of the story plot, dialogue and sounds used which all help to create a
mood and atmosphere of the horror drama.

Father Knows Best- The Golf Challenge

Father Knows Best was an Old Time Radio Situation Comedy, broadcast during
the early to mid 1950s, depicting the 'typical American' household. This
particular episode was 13 minutes long and included a narration at only the
beginning of the radio drama, then relied on the 6 different characters and use of
sound to tell the story for the remainder of it.
The episode begins with a quick advertisement of Maxwell House Coffee- which
the show is sponsored by- and then introductory music which gradually faded
into the narration. This engages the listeners right away, if they were a fan of the
show, they would recognise the music and know that it was about to begin. The
fading also worked well as it made sense what was happening and also told the
listeners that story was beginning. During the story though, there wasnt any
fades because it was a continuous scene, as we followed the characters from the
kitchen to the garden. The second fade was to end the episode from the last
dialogue, to the audience clapping which faded in with the music coming in with
it. This told the listeners that the drama had finished.
The first scene is set in the kitchen with the mother and daughter. We know this
because of the aural signposting and actual dialogue. For example, there is the
sound of cutlery and dishes being moved, and the mother also says we are in
the kitchen. Sound is used to help set the scene and describe what is
happening. The ambience in this radio drama help to add more excitement and
interest as there is not a lot of other things happening with the storyline other
than conversations between the different characters. For example, when the
sound effect of the ball breaking the window was played, it engaged the listener
as it was unexpected and made them curious.
The six characters in this drama include a mother (Margaret), father (Jim),
daughters (Betty and Kathy), son (Bud) and Ed. Using more than one voice in
this radio drama made it clear to the listeners who was speaking, and also helps
to keep the listeners engaged due to the change of voice. Also, the tone of
voices used in this radio drama ranged from what was happening in the scene.
For example, when the father got home, the mothers tone was a bit nervous and
you could sense she was trying to avoid him knowing what had happened to the

window. This also helped to build tension, as the listeners would be wondering if
he was going to find out or not. Tones in voices are very important as they give
the audience a sense of how each character is feeling, and it also helps to set the
mood. As well as being able to distinguish the different characters from their
voices, the way in which they pronounced the words also told the listeners that
the drama was being set in an American household. This made it more
interesting for me as I dont hear an American accent every day, so it was more
enjoyable to listen to, and I was also able to understand what was being said and
that they are a typical American middle-class family due to their pronunciations
and words they used. For example Im sure you will dear; I told them to be
careful; you and Bud come in here this very instance; mother; father; oh
Margaret, Im home, etc.
Titles and credits are usually used at the end of an episode, but in this case it
was used at the beginning to tell us where it was set- Hollywood- and that it was
Starring Robert Young as Father. This told the listeners the name of the actor
who was starring in the radio drama, and also where it was transcribed. Credits
are a good thing to have because if a listener liked a specific actor or producer
and wanted to listen to other dramas, which have been produced by them, they
can. It also helps promote them, as well as who was sponsoring them, which in
this drama was Maxwell Coffee House. The target audience for this particular
drama was families and teenagers. This is because of the storylines, characters,
language used and overall feel of the show. By the shows writers stereotyping
the audience, it enables them to give a style to the drama that is appropriate to
their selected target audience. I believe this was a good target audience as they
would be able to relate to certain characters and the storylines.
In radio drama, dramatic reconstruction is when you recreate an entire scene of
the drama by using different sounds. Another word for recreating the scene is
melodramatically. This wasnt used in this radio drama. The most common
styles in radio drama are horror, comedy and mystery. In this case, it was a
family comedy. We know this because of the background noises of people
laughing, dialogue and the atmosphere of the drama as a whole. Narrative
Structure is important in a radio drama as you have to consider how long you
want your drama to be and what kind of narrative structure you want it to follow.
This is why it is important to plan it out well beforehand so you know all of this
and are ready for when it is to be aired. The development of the plot for a radio
drama is crucial. It is the ideas of the actions and consequences that will happen
in the story. From the plot you are then able to develop the characters that will
be in your drama, who they will be and how they will speak. Having a good initial
plot will also help you develop and decide on the structure of your radio drama.

In conclusion, I believe radio dramas have changed dramatically over the years,
which became very obvious once I had listened to the two different radio
dramas. These two radio dramas are very different, not just because one is
postmodern and the other traditional, but also because of the style they are. For
example, BMC is a horror drama, whereas FKB is a comedy. So the content is
each was very different and the whole atmosphere, scene and feel while listening
to each one were a completely different experience. The language and way in
which each character spoke from the traditional to the postmodern was also very

diverse. In the traditional radio drama, their voices are very old like, and are
able to tell that it is a very old piece because of this, whereas in the postmodern
drama, their voices sounded normal and more recent. The storylines in each
drama were also completely different. FKB was a friendly drama, which included
people of all ages, whereas BMC was more aimed at teenagers and young adults
due to its content and style of it being a horror.

Father Knows Best- https://archive.org/details/FatherKnowsBest45Episodes

BMC- http://www.finalrune.com/the-blind-mans-confession/