Audio production on

codes and conventions of

Radio Drama.
By Marcus Aleo

Words

Words in a specific radio drama are important because they are used to

paint a picture to the audience. When words are used, the aim for the
radio drama is to create an image of what is happening as they go
along because you cannot see the drama in a picture unfolding as it is a
radio drama. For specific genres of radio drama, you picture different
things. Words make the drama seem more effective and interesting.
Words in radio drama are extremely important because they are the
only way to communicate to the audience.
Here is The Rocket Science Comedy
Radio Drama. You can see that the
words in this sequence make you
think of a different picture due how
the words are being said.

This Radio Drama audio is

from a entertainment
babysitting show, and as you
can hear the used in here are
different compared to the
comedy one.

Voices
Voices used in radio drama are extremely important because for certain
radio dramas, certain voice tones are used to distinguish who they are,
and the listeners will immediately know who the people doing the voices
are if they are an average listener. The tones used by people when they
start the radio drama are recognised straight away by the listeners, and
certain voices are used to describe the image put into the listeners head
in more detail, judging by how they use the voices which is important.
Voices make a sequence more effective and can enhance a scene as well.
The use of acents really helps to tell certain characters apart as well.

Here is a piece of speech

from Ricky Gervais. You
can clearly tell that it is
Ricky Gervais if you are a
fan or recognise his voice,
because he uses his
certain tone which
everyone could identify
easily.

drama, the addition of noise which

Is a term used for in radio
Ambience

communicates the weather and scene of a background

setting. If the script of the radio drama is in a location of a
certain place such as a road, you would add background
noises that you would find if you were on a real road such as
cars driving past, car horns and other noises. You can also use
music to show the emotion and feeling on what a certain
character is saying. It is also a way of helping to describe a
scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D6ulnJq2Pk
Ambience is what creates the atmosphere
for each scene in a radio drama, so things
such as thuds, footsteps, doors slamming
ect. For example, if a door is slammed this
would suggest someone is angry and that
they have stormed off from an area. This all
adds more detail into the story and gives
us more of an idea of the current situation.

Sounds

Sound is important to the listener as sound brings a whole range of

information and emotion to the listeners in a radio drama. An example is if
you hear a car driving and somebody shouts taxi!, then you immediately
know that a person or individuals are waiting for a taxi. The way in which
you use sounds is also another way of setting and describing the scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D6ulnJq2Pk Right at the start of the
radio drama we hear the chime of big ben which instantly informs us that
we are set in London.
The sound will happen during a tape so
the audience can have a listen. Sounds are
very important. Sounds can determine
what has just happened in a scene, the
sound in the background of a scene can
help us determine where they could be,
and a sound within the scene could
suggest they are actively doing something.

Silence
There are a few things you can do with silence. Silence can be
used to create tension in the radio drama, for example if they
are running then you hear a sudden silence, this can explain
and set the mood of the scene dramatically in a listeners
mind. Silence can also be used to separate two parts of the
story.

The use of silence is a way to let the specific

audience know that its the end of the series or
episode, or its the end of a scene in the
drama.
The use of silence is a very handy tool as we
cannot see anything going on in the drama, we
need something to realise that it is the end of
something, because we hear this we can feel
more involved and feel a lot more sure of what
is going on.

Conventions
Aural Signposting
This is a way of establishing the location at the opening of a scene, and they ways
you can do this is by effects and can be opened by a description. The effects are
introduced at the start of a scene and then the dialogue of the story begins. For
example if an outside location is being established, the audience will need more
time to absorb this new information. Another example is a supermarket.
Announcements used from the supermarket is used to establish it this way.

https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D6u
lnJq2Pk
Skip to 48 seconds is a perfect
example of aural signposting.
This suggests that they are in the
day time and somewhere
outdoors.

Cliff hanger-endings

A Cliff-hanger is used at the ending of a Radio Drama, and the

reason for the word hanger is because the audience has to
hang and wait for the next episode or series to begin. It is
good because it makes listeners think and maybe talk to
friends about what they think is going to happen in the next
episodes or series which could make them eager to watch
more and tune in. This could also leave frustration in the
audience which can be a bad thing as they might desperately
want to hear more and could end up not listening to the
drama every again.

Dramas use this technique because it is a great way to

get the audience to come back for the next series or
episode as you will be much more keen to find out
what will happen next as we want to know. It also
makes the radio drama much more realistic and
dramatic with a open ending to then lead onto the next
episode as if something big is going to happen.

Flashback

Flashbacks are a very good way to telling a short story to an audience

listening in a radio drama and it can explain a lot. Radio dramas show
use of flashbacks at the beginning of each episode which briefly
explains what happened in the previous episode or something that
happened in someones life. Flashbacks are a narrative to an earlier
event that is aimed to interrupt the normal chronological development
of a story. A flashback is where we go back to a memory that once
happened in a persons life. This is a good technique to learn more and
discover more about a person and their past.
This is very useful in radio drama as a flashback could
teach us even more about a character as it will be
harder task to do so due to being just a radio drama,
this could help us understand the character more and
get more into the drama.

Use of fades

You can use fades when changing scenes in radio drama to

make the scene more dramatic and understandable. Uses of

fades show distance, for example if a car is driving fast and
away from you, you would hear the sound of the engine fade
away and get quieter and quieter so the audience have a
rough estimate on how far away the car is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=6D6ulnJq2Pk
At 21:36 there is a good use of
fades, in this example you can
hear him walking away and his
voice is getting more and more
quiet which suggests he is
leaving and a new scene is
coming.

Use of silence
The use of silence can be used to set the mood of a piece in the radio
drama. They can be used to identity a certain character or bring tension
to the radio drama, for example if somebody was shocked about
something the use of silence will kick in and the audience will not know
what will happen next after the silence, therefore bringing tension.
Another example could be if someone told an awful joke and after
silence would come in, and the listener will immediately know that the
people in the radio drama have no found it funny or it was awkward.
Will I need audio for this one?
Dont think so.
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=6D6ulnJq2Pk
at 21:41 silence is used to
then fade to the next scene.
This certainly lets the
audience know that the scene

Characterisation

Characterisation is used to show your characters throughout the radio

drama using speech and sound effects. The types of actions, language,
speech, voice and the recognition of certain characters phrases can easily
give out the information that the person is who the audience thinks they are
and can easily be identified this way. Another way of using characterisation
in radio dramas is by their name always being repeated which is very
common, you will find when listening to a radio drama their name is always
being repeated so we in fact know who is talking and who they are talking
to. Its a great way to help the audience and help them identify who is who.

Chronological development
Chronological development is arranged in order of time, it is a stage

where something starts from the beginning and then has an ending. It is
also the order in which the story, or radio drama is written. Chronological
development in radio drama can be very important, this is when a series
of events happens in order and we need to know how it has happened.
With radio dramas we cannot see anything so it is important we know in
which direction time is going, if it is in chronological order then that
means the time is going in order and this helps the audience to really
understand what is going on and make things clear.

Narration
Narration is done by someone who has a clear, open, and a

formal/informal voice, so they can be easily understood by the audience

of listener. Narration is important because the listener will need to be
able to understand the narration in order to understand the person. It is
a key element to setting the scene or mood. The audience can easily
relate to narration because when something is shown for example, It
was a horrible windy, and snowy day, and driving through the snow is
impossible gives the audience a clear indication and picture in their
minds on what is happening in the scene and the mood of the scene.

the audience
that the characters opinion,
speech
This is used to tellDirect

speech or conversation are to make the listener understand

the characters more often. Direct speech is mainly used by a
main character in the radio drama. It is a different form of
genre for the audience. In radio drama this is a great
technique to make the audience feel more involved as this
makes us feel important, because we feel like they are talking
directly to us informing of us of what is happening or telling
their story to us, we then pay much more attention and are
gripped to what we are hearing.

Titles

Titles are important in a radio drama because they show what the radio
drama is going to be about and gives the audience a clear indication on
what is going to happen. Titles and credits is very important in any form of
production as we then are informed of who did what and who was in what
we just watched. For example at the end of the film we can see who the
producer was to the shop keeper who may have been a character in the
film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D6ulnJq2Pk in the gunpowder plot
radio drama 38 seconds in there is a example of title and credit being used.

Credits

Credits are used to identify a programme for the listener. They are for the
listeners telling us who the actors were and the editors. They also say who
filmed, produced, and uploaded the drama. This helps the team by
promoting and showing off who is responsible for the radio drama, so there
names can be heard and can by given applause by the listeners for their
work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D6ulnJq2Pk in the gunpowder plot
radio drama 38 seconds in there is a example of title and credit being used.
This shows that it is finished.

Music
Music can be used in a lot of different forms. Music can be
used to set the scene on a specific part of the radio drama.
Music can be even used to separate two different sections of
the radio drama, or can simply soften the mood in the
background of a speech given by someone talking. Music can
be used to start a radio drama up at the beginning, or be
used to bring a radio drama to the end. Music as well can be
used in a radio drama to even indicate how far something is,
or where help show the plot of where the location in the radio
drama is set, for example a magical piece of music can give
a better indication to the audience on where the location is
like a palace, or something including a fairy story.
The music is helping the listener
understand the key point of what someone
is trying to say and can impact a lot of
thing. Such as scary music can easily
change the mood, by silencing the
audience making them think what is
coming next. It is helping in the drama

Appropriateness to target audience

Needs to be aimed at the right target audience for example, if it is a radio advert for a new
band or artists album, they would use small samples of their work and it would be on the
correct radio channel. If it was a top of the charts song or album, it will most likely be aired on
Heart, Capital FM or Kiss FM for example. If it was a smooth classical song, then Classical FM
would be the correct radio station for it. It is important in anything that the target audience is
appropriate to what type of radio drama is being made, as radio drama doesnt get much of
an audience compared to other platforms of media, the content in the drama needs to
analysed and based around the target audience of a radio drama, this way people will listen
more to the radio drama if the target audiences perforations are included in the drama.
For example Capital will most likely be aimed at people under the age of 30 because of the
trend of the popular chart music.
Heart will be aimed at young to middle aged people because of the occasional old and
unusual songs and news.

Dramatic reconstruction
Dramatic reconstruction is also known as an adaption. Shows such as

torchwood have been turned into a radio drama when jack is in a coma. This is
where an actor will recreate a scene melodramatically. They would recreate a
scene to make it more exciting, more serious, more action, or change part of
the scene in different ways but keeping the new dramatic reconstructed scene
similar to its original piece still. Torchwood was very popular in TV and after
their success they decided to try it on a different platform. This is a great way
of appealing to all different types of audiences because people who watch
torchwood may hear of their being a radio drama special and be tempted to
listen to more radio dramas such as the archers.

Development of the plot.

The development of the plot is split into two sections. A 5

minute radio drama where the drama jumps straight into the
plot and the action or adventure of the drama is shown
immediately. The other section would be for 30 minutes
where the plot develops in little bits and gradually builds up
to the action or adventure. The Plot will always develop in a
chronological order and be made very clear to the listener so
they can easily understand the details of the storyline, Often
individual characters will have there own storyline

Creation of the mood

The mood and location an be made clear to the location by

using a narrator, stereotypical sounds of the location so for

example seagulls at the beach, we can then identify that
there is a high chance they are at the seaside. The tones of
specific sounds can embrace the mood of the audience. A low
pitch voice for example can show that someone is bored or
not in the mood, whereas a high pitched voice typically shows
that someone is happy and cheerful.

Use of scene changing

Scene changing is very important for radio drama. For

example, if f two characters were walking out of a school and

to the next scene which both characters are in a car, I tell the
audience that the scene has changed by playing a familiar
tune a few seconds long. This shows the audience that the
scene is changing.

Radio Drama and the different styles

Traditional - A traditional style of radio drama consists of a strong story line that involves a

narrator and many characters. There is usually a problem or dilemma that the characters
are working towards solving.
Adaptation - An adaptation is when the script writer takes an idea that has already been
used before and changes and adapts it so that it is a different take on the same story.
Kitchen Sink - A Kitchen sink style of radio drama is usually based around a family and the
idea that it is just the everyday life inside a home. Similar to Soap's but less characters and
there is never usually problems that are serious.

Post-Modern - This style of radio drama is different because rather than a traditional style,
where questions are answered, In post modern radio drama's there are more questions
being raised but the audience is left to answer them themselves in their heads.
Soap - Similar to kitchen sink, soap's are about everyday life but there is also elements of
danger and there is also problems within the public of the drama. They are usually based
around small towns. Some examples would be; EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.