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.