2nd Draft Script

Potential titles for my radio play

• The Sub-Prime Minister
• The Un-Prime Minister
• The Prime Morrister
• Past his prime
• The Un-prime Example

I have chosen The Prime Morrister as a name. This is a good 'play on words' with the name of the central character. I can also use 'Prime Morrister' as a nickname that the public give him out of affection towards the end of the play.

Evaluation of my 1st draft script

Advantages:

• It has a clear narrative structure i.e. equilibrium (unpopular Prime Minister), action (PM goes on a tour) and new equilibrium (refreshed, more popular, PM)
• It has a good 'cliff hanger' (the PM calling a general election). This also means other episodes could be made, making it into a series
• There are some funny bits. My personal favourites being the weather forecast and the mobility scooter race
• There is good use of sound effects and location sounds; I've tried to create an 'imaginary world' and hope this will translate into the production
• The Prime Minister, Morris Lloyd-Jones, shows his humanity and emotion when seeing himself being mocked on the television, making the audience (hopefully) feel sympathetic towards him
• Continuity is good. I have tried to make each change of scene a 'leap' in time, with a fade in at the beginning and fade out at the end of each scene

To be improved:

• In general, I need to re-visit each section of dialogue to ensure it is natural. This is one of the most difficult aspects if writing a radio play and why I have drafted a script
• Some jokes need to be altered or perhaps even removed (e.g. the joke about it always raining in Scotland)
• A scene, or maybe even several, may need to be cut (Maybe scenes 2 & 3?). The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, my play in its current form I think is over my five minute time limit. Secondly, I feel that the beginning of my play is too long before the 'action' of the tour begins
• In my opinion, the quality of the writing gets better throughout - a by-product of improving my script writing skills with more experience. This needs to be solved.

1st Draft Script

Other Characters

 

Click mindmap to enlarge.

2nd Focus Group Meeting

Video Diary 5

Ancillary Tasks

Whilst I am currently writing my script for the main task, I am starting to plan my Ancillary Tasks. The two tasks I have chosen are:

A double-page listings magazine feature about the play (10 marks)

"The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• awareness of conventions of layout and page design
• awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size
• accurate use of language and register
• the appropriate use of ICT for the task set
• appropriate integration of illustration and text
• framing a shot, using a variety of shot distances as appropriate
• shooting material appropriate to the task set; selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting
• manipulating photographs as appropriate, including cropping and resizing."

A page from the radio station’s website promoting the play (10 marks)

"There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:

• producing material so that it communicates clearly to the ‘reader’ and is appropriate to the audience, using the conventions of web publishing to enable the ‘reader’ to navigate the material appropriately;
• using ICT effectively to appropriately integrate images, written text, sound and video;
• using conventions of image, video and sound production appropriately and effectively;
• accurately using language and register, showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size."
  

Media theories

I have already set out my target audience profile so I will now look at several key media theories and how they relate to my radio drama.

The Hypodermic Needle Theory

The Hypodermic Needle Theory dates back to the 1920s. It is the theory that audiences passively receive what they see, hear and read in the media with content being 'injected' into the audience's mind like a needle (hence the name).

Relating the Hypodermic Needle Theory to my radio play, it could be argued that my radio play will subconsciously re-enforce the message that all politicians are clueless.

The problem with Hypodermic Needle theory is that it is too simplistic; arguably in an age where people are better educated to look at the world around them, rather than taking everything at face value,  it is no longer relevant  The theory was also developed in an age where governments would use the media to put out propaganda.

Two-step flow Theory

The problem with Hypodermic Needle Theory soon lead to an alternative being developed. In 1940, Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet invented the Two-step flow theory. The theory is that "opinion leaders" influence others who are less active in interpreting media. Therefore, social factors are also important in how an audience interprets a piece of media.

For example, in this theory my radio drama would be discussed between friends and those friends would look to one person in the group to gain their opinion of my radio drama, say someone who knows about politics/current affairs.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

During the 1960s and mass media expanding, a new theory developed that claimed audiences were not passive but actively chose what to consume and when in terms of media. In this sense, people 'use' the media for their own gratification. Harold Lasswell said the media has four functions:

• Surveillance (e.g. parents watching programmes that their children watch)
• Correlation of components of society
• Entertainment
• Cultural transmission (e.g. from one generation to the next)

Blulmer and Katz developed their own version of Uses and Gratifications Theory, listing the following functions of the media:

• Diversion/escapism to 'get away from everyday life'
• Personal relationships (particularly important for radio because it is such an 'intimate' medium)
• Personal identity
• Surveillance - in this case, meaning information for everyday living

Relating Uses and Gratifications Theory to my radio play, I think my target audience will use it for entertainment since it will be humorous, diversion (for the same reason that it is entertaining) and, to some extent, for personal relationship.

Main Character Profiles

Plot development

Notes from Annie Caulfield's 'Writing for Radio'

Over the weekend I have been reading Writing for Radio by Annie Caulfield who is a radio dramatist. Here is what I have learnt:

• Radio has intimacy. It is good for 'below-stairs' conversations - perhaps an idea I could use?
• Questions are very important. Encourage the listener to ask themselves questions throughout.
• The beginning is very important and should begin the story, not just set the scene. Questions should still be left unanswered in the 1st line.
• It is important that the listener must know whose side they're on from the start, although it can turn out to be that they were on the side of the wrong person.
• If your idea for a play slightly predictable, start far away from that story line (e.g. the story of an unhappy marriage starting when the couple are newly married).
• Be sure the beginning doesn't give away the end.
• Try giving characters extra problems. So, in my play, the Prime Minister could have other problems aside from his falling popularity.
• Words must be used sparingly. It might be tempting to use lots of flowery adjectives in dialogue but people do not speak that way.
• Let actors surprise you by keeping stage directions to a minimum.
• Make dialogue natural - people don't always complete their sentences and frequently interrupt each other.
• To create variation between scenes, make sure scenes that are following each other are not too similar.
• A good comedy is based on the characters, not the situation.
• Character names go on the left of the script and are in capital and bold. Speeches in each scene should be numbered. Directions should be underlined and in capital letters, except for when they are in the middle of dialogue and here they should be in brackets, bold and capitalised.

BBC Writers' Room Website

I have discovered the BBC Writers Room website which can be accessed here. It has some scripts of past radio dramas on it, information how scripts are written, including a template script, and gave me some inspiration for my radio play.

Notes from Tim Crook's 'Radio Drama'

Here are some notes from relevant extracts of Tim Rook's book Radio Drama.

Plot decision

A dull Prime Minister decides to go on tour to ‘re-connect’ with voters with hilarious and surprising consequences

Advantages:

• It has the potential to be very funny
• Reflects the zeitgeist of ‘anti-politics'
• Good opportunities for use of sound effects
• Quite easy to understand – only three main characters
• Has potential to sound professional

Disadvantages:

• Too ‘cheesy’ but it will have to be for some of the humor
• Is it too obvious?

A Foreign Secretary is at an international summit and becomes paranoid after a series of misdemeanors, only to discover a plot against him – by his own adviser

Advantages:

• I like the ‘action’ slant of it
• A plot by his own adviser is believable
• Again, it is easy to understand

Disadvantages:

• Maybe very unrealistic?

Conclusion
I have decided that I prefer the first idea because out of the two it is more likely to be the plot of a professional play, although much of how professional it is depends on how well it is written, acted and edited. I will now take the 1st idea forwards to be my final idea. However I believe I can use an element in this idea from the 2nd idea by including an incompetent ‘adviser’ in the drama.

Are my ideas realistic?

One of the frequent elements that made a good radio drama, according to respondents to my survey, is how "realistic" it was.

I have been thinking about my ideas and how realistic they are. A Prime Minister acting the buffoon and a paranoid Foreign Secretary are not really that realistic - does this matter?

I think what my respondents meant by "realistic" is whether they could picture it in their mind's eye and whether they could 'feel the play' emotionally. My plot ideas are both unrealistic in the sense that they are unlikely to happen but I think the majority of people could imagine them happening in their imagination, particularly the Prime Minister acting a buffoon to win over support!

Narrowing down ideas

I have decided, after my focus group yesterday and considering all my plot ideas, that I will be considering two of my four original ideas for my radio play. Here are those ideas:

• A Prime Minister's popularity is falling. In an effort to 're-connect' with voters, he goes on tour with heliarious consequences and as a result people take them to their hearts.

• A Foreign Secretary is at an international summit where comical bad things keep happening to him. Upon investigating, he becomes paranoid that he is part of an international conspiracy. However, it is actually his assistant causing all the trouble.

One of the main reasons for eliminating the other two ideas is that they are too complex for the audience to follow in a five minute drama.

Focus group

I found this article useful in planning and carrying out my focus group.

Here is the agenda that I handed to members of my focus group:



Here is the audio of the focus group:



Here are the minutes of the focus group:

Criteria

This is more for my own purpose than anyone else's. Here is he criteria for a "Level 4" (the highest level) radio play:

"The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• use of microphone(s) to record voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting and on location

• appropriate use of scripted and non-scripted material

• appropriate use of music, sound effects and location sounds, as appropriate

• use of editing equipment (digital or linear) and/or mixing equipment to mix sounds appropriately in order to create continuity and meaning. 

Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident."

My target audience

Aided by my survey findings, I have identified and created a profile for my potential target audience.

My target audience are men and women but my play will be female-friendly as women are a larger audience for radio plays, according to my research.

My target audience are middle aged (i.e. 40 - 60) and are in professional jobs. Their interests mainly centre around anything cultural; they love to read or to watch films.

They also have a good sense of humour, particularly an appetite for topical humour and whilst some will be very interested in politics they will all take a keen interest in current affairs.

Video Diary 4

Survey findings & analysis

Survey raw data

Here is the raw data from my survey (online and offline versions).

Plot idea: Member of public to whlo stands for election

After the plot ideas I posted yesterday, I have been doing some work on my idea of a radio drama about a voter (rather than a politician) and their relationship with politics. What I have so far is a slightly different idea; it is a hybrid of the two where the ordinary voter, disillusioned with politics, stands for parliament.

Here is the idea:

The episode starts off with a confrontation between an MP and an angry member of their constituency who is disillusioned with politics. The rest of the episode is a flashback to before the MP became an MP. He has his house burgled and looses his job within a matter of weeks between each other and as a consequence writes to his MP. The then voter has a disastrous meeting with the MP. The choice for the voter is to become apathetic or to do something about it and stand for election; he chooses the latter, wins by a huge majority and popular support and becomes an MP.

This is more a drama than political satire but there is space for humor in there (e.g. the meeting between the then voter and the politician).

Plot ideas mindmap

I have used my earlier work on story arcs to help me produce the following ideas for plots in this mindmap:

My aim is not to start eliminating ideas just yet and I will be coming up with more ideas for plots as I am not yet satisfied I have found the winning formula yet. My aim is purely to show my thinking.

Audience research update: I will be distributing paper surveys tomorrow around college and aim to set up a focus group this week. Once I have collected all information, I can analyze and identify my target audience.

Calendar of tasks for November

Turning political satire upside down?

I am continuing to develop my early plot ideas for my radio play whilst working on audience research (it is important that I know who my target audience are before I finalise my plot).

My latest idea is to turn political satire upside down. Most political satires in the past and today centre around politicians or political advisers. How about a political satire that focuses on a voter, rather than a politician?

Development of this and other potential plots to be continued.

New idea for central character

Up until now I have been thinking along the lines of the central character being a politician (e.g. Prime Minister or Foreign Secretary). I have just had a fresh idea: the central character being an advisor to a politician who becomes embroiled in a scandal. Focusing on the advisors and civil servers is not new or innovative - 'Yes, minister' is just one previous example of a drama to do this - but it remains an option.

Video Diary 3

Institutions: Radio stations and production companies

A key part of the media as an industry are institutions. An institution is "an organization, establishment, foundation, society, or the like, devoted to the promotion of a particular cause or program, especially one of a public, educational, or charitable character".

In this case, the institution is the radio station that broadcasts or produces a radio play. Some radio plays are produced 'in-house' by the radio station themselves or by a production company.

Radio stations

There are only two stations in the UK that broadcast radio plays regularly: BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra.

BBC Radio 4 first started broadcasting on 30th September 1967 and has 10.85 million weekly listeners. Radio 4 is largely a speech station, broadcasting news, current affairs and drama. It is most famous for The Archers.

BBC Radio 4 Extra, formally known as BBC Radio 7, is a spin-off station from BBC Radio 4 and broadcasts 'classic' radio dramas as well as new ones.

The role of radio stations is important. Most people tune into a radio station not knowing what to expect (the opposite of Television where people decide what they would like to watch from a schedule) and this represents its own challenges for radio drama because it is quite a 'niche' type of programme.

Audiences will also know what to expect from particular radio stations.

Production companies

Production companies often produce radio dramas and documentaries for radio stations. They may also produce jingles and manage talent as well. A radio station will put a programme out for tender with a budget, a production company will produce an idea, work out their costs and put in a bid, and the production company with the best bid will win the contract from the radio station.

One such production company is Wise Buddah, started by Mark Goodier in 1997. They have produced Weekend Wogan for BBC Radio 2, Nemone for BBC 6 Music and many documentaries. Another production company is USP Content who produce BBC Radio 5 Live's Formula 1 coverage.

The role of the production companies is an interesting one. They can help save costs and time for radio stations because otherwise radio stations have to find all the actors themselves. Production companies also bring new ideas and other ways of doing things into a programme.

Audience research: paper-based survey

I will be carrying out a paper-based survey to go along side the online survey to increase the number of responses. The questions will be the same to ensure the results are not biased.

Here's the survey sheet:

Early ideas mindmap

Please click on the image to enlarge the mindmap.

It goes without saying really that these ideas are still in their very early form; for example the story lines need a lot of developing (I will refer back to my earlier work on story arcs to aid this process). However, it is a start and I am confident that political satire, done properly, is the correct route to go.

Radio Terminology

Here is my mini-glossary for radio dramas.

Act - A section of a radio drama.

Actuality - A sound effect or piece of speech recorded in the field.

Ambiance - A background sound to indicate the setting.

Antagonist - A character who exists to oppose the protagonist (i.e. the bad guy).

Bed - A piece of music or sound behind the action in the sound mix.

Decibels (DB) - Unit for measuring the volume of sounds.

Dialogue - The words that actors speak.

Closet drama - A drama that is read rather than performed.

Echo - Often used to create the feeling of being outdoors or to give the dialouge an ethereal feel.

EQ - Adjusting the pitch of a recorded sound.

Fade in & Fade out - Gradual increase or decrease in the volume of the sound.

Flashback - Showing event(s) from the past.

Gain - Loudness.

Metaphor - Comparing things that are not alike.

Mix - The sounds, music and speech mixed together in a radio drama.

Narrative - Story or tale.

Pan - Moving the sound of a track to make it sound like it is coming from either the left or the right.

Plot point  - A piece of information that the audience has to understand before they understand why action is happening.

Post-production - The mixing and editing that takes place after the recording of a radio play.

Segue - A smooth transition froom one element to another without a pause.

SFX - Sound Effects.

Sting - A sharp musical chord to add punctuation.

Voiceover - Usually used as narration in radio dramas, if at all.

Video Diary 2

Apologies for the lip-syncing being out of sync! I'm afraid I wasn't able to fix it.

Idea

I have already decided that the genre of the radio drama I will be producing will be political satire/parody.

My original idea was a storyline based around the character of a politician who thinks he is part of an international conspiracy.

Another new idea I have had is a story about a politician who tries to appear as if they are 'normal' with disastrous affect!

Audience research: Comments from social media

I have asked for some comments on Twitter about peoples' opinions relating to radio drama.

Here is my original tweet:

Doing some research for an A-level project. What do you expect from a political satire on the radio?
— Laurence Scott (@radiolaurence) October 18, 2012

Here are the responses:

@radiolaurence Depends what you mean- Something gentle like the Now Show or Chris Morris' original radio show (before the Day Today)?
— Robert Turner (@ReynardCity) October 18, 2012

@radiolaurence I'd expect political satire to be mildly amusing... X
— Andrew Davis (@AndyTheClown) October 18, 2012

@radiolaurence I think that it could take almost any form. Doesn't have to be funny. Doesn't have to be topical (as history repeats itself)
— Joe Baker (@evil_chutney) October 18, 2012

Take my radio drama survey...

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Audience reasearch

Next, I shall be moving onto the audience research phase of my research and development. This is essential fore the success of my finished radio play. Here's what I hope to achieve:

• A profile of the type of people who listen to radio dramas
• Find out who the target audience will be for my radio drama

I am going to use three methods: a survey on Survey Monkey, a focus group and comments from social media.

UPDATE 1: I found this article on how to put together a good survey very useful.

UPDATE 2: The focus group will be Qualitative research because it will be to gain reasons and motivations for listening to radio drama as well as ideas. The survey is more Quantitative (although it does include some Qualitative questions) because it is looking for demographic information.

Representation in radio dramas

What makes a good radio drama?

After my textual analysis of several existing radio dramas, I have been thinking about the ingredients of a successful radio drama. There is, of course, no magic formula (I wish there was!) but here are my thoughts, which are entirely subjective.

First, a radio drama must be just that: a drama. This may seem an obvious thing to point out but unless it has twists and turns, emotion, ups and downs, it won't effect the audience in a memorable way.

Secondly, it has to be targeted at the right audience. Therefore one of the next things I will be doing is my audience research. Because radio is such a personal medium, you have to know your audience before you can speak to them in a way that resonates with their lives. The station that broadcasts a radio play is also important to reach the correct audience.

Thirdly, it must be simple. Simple does not have to mean boring - just easy to follow.

Fourthly, it must reflect real life. That doesn't mean that terrible things can't or won't happen! The main area the drama must reflect real life is in the dialogue. The dialogue has to be how that type of character would speak in real life. One of the things I realised listening to other dramas is that the listener can join the dialogue part way through the action.

The future of radio dramas

Do radio dramas have a future?

Some have doubted as to whether radio itself has a future, yet these worries have been mainly refuted due to radio’s willingness to adapt or even embrace new technologies – the internet and DAB are two examples.

Radio dramas, on the other hand, I believe do have some future, although of course they will never as popular as they were in their hay day. The biggest test for radio dramas is to find new audiences with a new tech-savvy generation. If they can do that – and that is a big if – I can see radio plays surviving.

Whilst traditional radio plays, broadcast on the radio, are declining in popularity, audiobooks still remain popular. Podcasting also offers an alternative mode of distributing audio dramas which have the advantages of you being able to listen to anytime and a worldwide audience.

One of the problems facing radio dramas is the concentration required to listen to them - radio is a “background” medium. I found this particularly a problem when analysing existing radio plays for this project.

Timeline of radio broadcasting

The history of radio on Dipity.

Media Key Concept

Representation (conventional, stereotypical v challenging, alternative) - links very closely with the target audience, their expectations and pleasures.

1. Laurence, do some analysis of the representation of characters in 2 radio dramas.

Media Language - technical codes e.g. sound, sound effects, editing, etc.

Audiences - audience segmentation, audience profiling, audience research, uses and gratifications (meaning why we consume what we do, what please it gives us - entertainment and education?)

2. Start constructing some audience research e.g. questionnaires, surveys, interviews with your target audience.

Institutions - e.g. BBC Radio 4? Time slot?

The history of radio dramas

Textual analysis: 15 Minute Drama, HighLites: Retouched, Episode 1

This is my analysis of Episode 1 of HighLites: Retouched, part of BBC Radio 4's 15 minute drama series. It was broadcast on 8th October 2012.

Story Arcs

Whist doing my textual analysis, I began to think about how the radio play I will be producing is going to be structured. After researching narrative structures, I found this useful information on 'story arcs'. Here is an outline of a story arc in my own words:

• Everyday life where people are going about their business as usual

• Something happens to the main character that is out of their control

• Some action (a "quest")

• A surprise

• The main character has to make an important choice

• Climax!

• A turn-around in the story which is the result of the important choice

• The story is resolved and there is a new "everyday life" situation where the characters are better off or worse off because of their experience in the story

Video Diary 1

Video Diary 1 from Laurence Scott on Vimeo.

Textual Analysis: Lost in the Lanes, Episode 2, 'Calling'

This is my analysis of Episode 2 of 'Lost in the Lanes' entitled 'Calling' which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 23rd September 2012. It was written by Emma Darwin and read by Philip Voss.

Textual analysis: The Archers

'The Archers', BBC Radio 4, broadcast on 18th September 2012. 

Speech

• The accents of the characters are a defining feature of The Archers. They define the location because they are stereotypical farmers' accents (excluding Pawel); you immediately imagine farms, tractors and countryside. Since radio is theatre of the mind, the accents will be important in my radio play and I will have to pick my actors wisely. Accents also help to develop the characters. Everyone who listens to The Archers will have their own unique image in their mind's eye of each character. From their accent alone, you can tell the character's age, class and even job.

• Tone of voice in The Archers varies from character to character and, more importantly, changes depending on which characters are speaking to each other and their relative status in the community e.g. Jenifer speaks to Pawel in a mother-like way as Pawel is young.

• Speech is a good determiner of how a character expresses their personality. Tim Crook, in Radio Drama, challenges the perception that radio is a blind medium. I would say that the absence of the audience seeing the character's clothing, duologue is the best way of telling someone's personality and how they express that personality. For example, when speaking to Pawel, Jenifer shows that she is wise and family-orientated.

• The mode of address is not direct (i.e. the characters are not speaking directly to the audience). The dialogue tells the story with the listeners as audio onlookers. The advantage of this is it is more realistic. However it can be hard to follow at times, particularly if you loose track of the dialogue!

• The rhythm of speech varies from character to character in The Archers. The rhythm depends on the character's age and who they are speaking to. For example, the old characters such as Joe speak slower than the younger characters.

• The Archers uses what I am going to call a 'snapshot' style of dialogue where you don't hear the full scene. What I mean by this is that the dialogue does not give you the full story - it leaves some of it for you to fill in for yourself. For instance, the start of the episode is part way through breakfast.

Music

• The theme tune for The Archers is unmistakable! Arguably one of the most recognizable themes from both TV and Radio. It is upbeat with quite a simple melody. I will be composing my own theme tune so The Archers will be some good inspiration.

Sound effects

• One of the key things I noticed when listening to this episode is how the sound is balanced and mixed to make it sound like the 'action' is happening around you. I will make good use of this myself.

• One thing that could be better about this episode is when Joe is in the pub celebrating his birthday, there should be more ambient sound (unless it was a very quiet pub!) of people talking, eating and drinking.

• There is good use of sound effects e.g. the plates at the start of the episode and the knocking at Jenifer's door.

• The sound in The Archers is mainly diegetic - it is part of the world of the characters and the characters can hear the sounds.

Editing

• The pacing of The Archers is quite slow. Perhaps this is to reflect the pace of life in a small farming community in the countryside? It is also quite consistent - the pacing doesn't speed up or slow down throughout the episode. The only point it slows down even slightly is when David starts to cry and silence is used for a brief moment.

• As you would expect, sound levels are consistent throughout the play, there are no extreme variations in the duologue. The loudest part is the theme tune to catch the listener's attention. The times that sound levels are used well, along with mixing the sound left or right, is when a person is a bigger distance away from where the main 'action' is happening e.g. the landlord of the pub.

• The Archers is edited with a silence (approximately 3 to 5 seconds) in between the scenes to make it clear where one scene starts at the other ends. I like this technique so I will probably use it myself in my radio drama. There is also a fade in and a fade out of each scene to make it a smooth transition.

What I have learned from The Archers:

1. Use sound mixing to make the listener feel like they are part of the action
2. Use transitions between scenes to help tell the story
3. Let the dialogue tell the story
4. It is okay for the listener to join the action part way through a scene

Another good book

Another book I have bought is 'Radio Drama' by Tim Crook. I will be using it a lot for research.

'Made to stick' by Chip & Dan Heath

I once read a great book that, whist it was not directly about radio dramas, I believe will be useful. It's 'Made to stick' by Chip and Dan Heath. They examine what makes ideas that people remember successful.

They came up with 6 principles of successful ideas:

1. Simple - Does the idea get to the 'core'? Is is easy to remember? By 'simple', it doesn't mean patronizing but radio dramas must be easy to follow.
2. Unexpected - Does it surprise the audience? Surprise is vital in any drama. What would you remember in a radio play: the expected or unexpected?
3. Concrete - Will people be able to understand it? How will my radio drama 'paint a picture' in the listener's mind?
4. Credible - Is it believable?
5. Stories - Is there a story behind it? My radio play will have to have a strong, memorable narrative.
6. Emotional - What emotion(s) does it create? Fear? Happiness? Empathy? Or maybe even all of them at different times?

If I follow these principles it does not necessarily mean my radio play will be successful but they will be useful when writing the script.

Time management (September - October)

These calendars above are only a rough guide. I will be posting a short weekly video diary to keep you up-to-date with my progress. At the end of October, I will plan the November to January phase of this project.

Welcome

Welcome to the blog for my A2 Media Studies project where I will be posting my work and tracking my progress.

My task is to write and record a radio play, which is a new thing for me but I'm looking forward to the task ahead.

I will start off with my research and development (worth 20 marks out of 100). Here are my ideas for the research I will carry out:

• Calendar of tasks
• History of the radio industry
• History of radio dramas
• The future of radio and radio plays
• Radio terminology
• Textual analysis of 3 or 4 radio plays
• What makes a good radio drama?
• Survey from Survey Monkey
• Results from focus group
• Comments from social media
• Results/analysis of audience research (including offline paper-based surveys, focus group and social media)
• Target audience profile
• Ideas for locations, characters and sound effects
• Ideas for story lines
• Draft script(s)
• Final script
• Unedited sounds collected
• List of actors & the characters they're playing
• Creating the theme tune
• Screenshots of the editing process