Mind Map: Which Genre?

Before deciding what to base the radio drama on, we had to explore the different genres we were all comfortable to see what ideas could be generated for each one. We looked at horror, sci-Fi, comedy and romance, looking at the stereotypical sound effects, characters and settings. We then discussed what plots could work.

[SCAN MINDMAP OF GENRE]

Codes & Conventions

Cultural Codes:

• Dialect- The words that you use and the way you say it. (helps you judge what type of person the character is) eg. formal/informal.
• Accent- The way you say things
• Language Register- Choices made in different situations in speech (eg. interview & pub/ on phone & not)

Symbolic Codes:

• Texture- Volume, pitch and rhythm and the way they all combined in someones voice.
• Volume-  How loud someone speaks. eg. Chris Moyles (connotes confidence)
• Pitch- High/low
• Rhythm- Slow/fast (slow romantic/sad) (action/adventure/stressed/excited.) Can be used to show emotion or to amplify a scene.

Technical Codes:

• Sound effects- to add genre or mood
• Music- fast/slow shows genre of drama
• Silence- suspense/realism/awkward moment- mood of scene

The Archers

• Longest runninga radio soap in the world
• Since BBC 1951 Janurary 1st and is still running tody
• Monday to Sunday except Saturdays
• Massive Cast
• INitially created so that government can educate farmers about agriculture technology
• They even have their own map of their fictional village which is supposingly next to Birmingham.

• 2001- 13 1/2000 episodes
• Still run on special ocassions for example the begining of ITV which was a big ate for BBC. Another example is the general elections on the 11th May, this goes to show The Archers cannot be moved for anything or anyone.

Storylines

• Gay marriage- Sexuality
• Numerous Adultery- Family affairs
• Heroin addicts- Drugs
• Pregnancy(sperm donors)- New Technology
• Killed by a tractor- Death
• Gambling addictions- Life issues
• Ghosts- Hauntings
• Cancer- Common illnesses
• Abortion- Morality

Twilight Zone

The Thirty Fathom Grave 1963-Haunting

• 1950-60
• Supernatual, Sci Fi,Fantasy
• popular and successful
• Hollywood stars in episodes

Comparison between TV series and Radio drama codes and conventions

1. CC

• Dialect, language remains formal as TV series

1. SC

• Voices generally louder & clearer
• Captains voice is deper and puts emphasis on his role of authority
• Deep dense texture and volume.

1. TC

• Louder sound effects
• Faster Pace could be due the fact there is no visual aspect of drama and to stop listeners loosing interest.
• Less silence to keep tempo of drama, keeping it exciting
• Sound effect: heavy breathing

Personally i enjoyed this drama more than others I have previously studied. This radiodrama interests me because it is exciting and triggers my imagination into action. i prefer the radio drama to the series which s suprising because people generally watch TV instead of listening to the radio and will therefore have more interest in it, but since i started to analyse various radio drmas i have leart to apprecate the art in it.

Overview Of Radio Dramas

1920-1930

• War of the Worlds 1938
• UK BBC- only broadcaster
• UK BBC- 54 radio dramas a year; 1 a week
• Variety

1940

• WAR: people didn't get out much
• Radio was the number 1 source of entertainment and information
• became popular

1950

• Radio Programmes- Curtain up
• Light programme
• 7 1/2  million audience
• BBC radio 2

• Sturday night theatre- Home service
• 63 3/4 million listeners (same as x factor&strictly come dancing)

1950-60

• Sci Fi became popular and brought in a new audience
• Journey into space (Charles Chilton)
• Moon missions

1980

• Radio drama broadcast stereo
• The Galaxy

TODAY

• We have a wide spread
• BBC radio 4 and others
• Not as popular as before
• Varied format- Every genre

Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy

Plot:
Arthur Dent middle class man is about to get his house knocked down but a friend, Ford Prefect reassures him, that it doesn't matter because the world's coming to an end.

Characters:
Arthur Dent

• Well spoken
• American
• Pitch: Moderate

Ford Prefect: Alien Saviour

•  Pitch: Interesting & less moderate
• changes when scene goes on
• Pitch goes higher because he is excited due to the amount of knowledge he has on aliens and the world's survival.

Sound effects:

• Wind
• People Shouting& screaming

Narrator

• Closed silent gaps with speech

Comparison between War of the Worlds and HH guide to galaxy

Similarities

• Both dominantly consist of male voices

Differences

• 40 year gap between the two
• HH guide to galaxy's narrator played a greater role whereas music played that role in War of the Worlds
• Different Mode of address; War of the World was addressed to the audience but HH guide to galaxy is more of a drama
• HH guide to galaxy is less informal choice of language
• War of the Worlds and HH guide to galaxy completely different genres.
• HH: Sci fi/ Comedy
• War of worlds: Sci fi/ Horror

I found The hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy quite easy to follow. Unlike War of the Worlds it did not require a lot of effort to try and understand the storyline. I think this radio drama was more informal which made it easier to get into and follow. I think the character Ford Prefect played the role of the narrator, because Arthur Dent was as clueless about the storyline as we were. It was almost as if we were in his shoes. I think this makes this radio drama successful because listening to them does require a lot of imagination and having a character discovering along with us lifts the burden.

Although the construction of this radio was effective and successful it still didn't really grab my attention mainly because Sci Fi isn't really my thing and because there was minimal characters in the drama, this made it quite boring and doesn't feed my imagination.

War of the Worlds: Fake news broadcast

1. Narrative

•  Well spoken formal English

• In depth very descriptive and serious
• Texture: rich & thick
• Volume: loud
• Pitch: low
• Rhythm: moderate speed

Forecast

• Middle pitch
• Rhythm: :fast

Music

• Slow classical orchestra

News

• fast and punctual
• Pitch: high/moderate
• Goes straight back to music after news bulletin leaving audience in shock but hoping the music will calm them down. This also makes the story seem more believable to listeners that were not tuned in from the beginning

Princeton New Jersey

• Calm voice ( show he knows what he's talking about)
• Sound effects- muffling in background vibration)
• Professor Pierson: deep voice slightly not bothered
• Music: calm light piano to add to the overall feel of the drama

New York

• Pitch: high
• Volume: loud (shows anxiety & excitement new news have arrived)
• Sound effect: abnormal (made to cause panic)
• Volume: at this point the reporters voice is made louder to put emphasis on the anxiety of the scene
• Sound effect: police pushing crowd back showing commotion (explosives,silence,coughing, screaming)
• Mr Wilmer dialect: 'Bingo' slang word used shows not formal

Why did the Radio drama seem so real?

• Power cut during the fake news report matching the story lines so listeners following the story are bound to panic.
• Substation overloaded and blew up causing massive explosions adding to realism of the news report

Outcome of it all

•  People fainted
• Some ran 2 miles
• Guns were taken
• People stole petrol to go to nearest church to confess to priest
• no one could call and contact loved ones due to the power cut
• People who didn't follow tried to calm others down
• People who weren't even from Concrete Washington travelled to see if it was true and then when seeing police and commotion this assured their superstitions.