Treatment Working Title Graduate

The Story
Treatment follows the life of 4 undergraduates as they struggle to get into the
media industry. They end up working as underpaid actors on a blatant archers rip
off on a deserted FM radio station. We watch them come to grips with their
reality and work towards restructuring the radio station from the ground up. They
are helped along their journey by a nave American producer and a shy sound
engineer with a passion for music.
Format
This radio drama will be a series, as the narrative involves the characters taking
steps towards their goal every episode will be a step and end on a cliff hanger in
order to keep the listener interested.
Drama Outline
My drama falls into the comedy genre all though it isnt entirely a funny piece
the overall narrative is fairly light. When researching for the radio drama I
listened to the archers (A radio drama mentioned within the narrative itself) and
picked out the key elements that made it interesting which are gossip, detailed
sound scaping and cliff hangers. These elements come together in order to
create an immersive atmosphere for the audience so I figured if I could apply the
qualities of the archers into my radio drama I could achieve the same immersive
effects. The story behind my drama is about trying to follow your dreams in the
face of adversity I chose the idea of my characters being newly graduated media
students because I have seen as more and more people go into the industry it is
more difficult to land a solid job, however the radio drama industry is still fairly
open with radio 4 and various online outlets taking on new one off dramas and
series like the adaptation of Animal Farm which was aired this year. From this I
decided that I could make a piece about radio dramas through the format of a
radio drama in order to create an interesting narrative for the audience and also
to reflect the current state of the media industry itself something integral to the
plot itself. We watch the characters come fresh out of university and in order to
survive take up a place as actors on a radio drama called Country Living which
is aired once a night on a failing radio station funded solely by an ex Hollywood
producer called Eve. As time goes on the main characters take more of an
interest in running the show and with the help of a sound engineer loyal to the
station it is transformed into a popular hub for underground music. My aim with
this drama is to make it interesting for a younger audience as I have noticed that
web series can be popular if marketed correctly. An example of this is the surreal
podcast series welcome to night vale, it communicates to a niche but loyal
audience and I feel that the same effect could be achieved due to its inclusion of
new music into the narrative.
Narrative
My narrative is a naturalistic linear narrative with a small use of flashbacks. I
chose naturalistic and linear due to the fact that what the audience takes out of
the drama is what is said and the conversations between the characters,
therefore non naturalistic and potentially distracting sounds like lasers and SFX
would be inappropriate. This does not mean I will not aim to produce an

immersive atmosphere I will include useful sound effects like doors opening and
closing and sounds that add to the narrative but other than that I will keep the
vocal gain high and the background noise mixed low so that every word can be
clearly heard. Conflict and resolution is seen in the various problems engrained
within the media industry like lack of jobs and no space for new talent as well as
budget cuts due to online demand. The conflict mostly comes in the form of
hassle from other stations attempting to buy it out and from the lack of initial
viewers of country living the resolution is seen whenever Matildas ear for
underground hip hop is brought accidentally to light on the channel and the
channel viewer rate highly increases as the channel goes further into stardom
more problems emerge as the cast begins to struggle with the pressures of fame.
Character Profile
Archie- The leader of the group he graduated top of his class and has
dreams of reaching the top even though he can be grumpy he is relentless
in pursuing his goals and knows how to manage a team. He acts like hes
always in control but in reality does not know where he is going and fears
that if he shows weakness hell let his friends down.
James-Picked media to coast through university easily, although he is lazy
if lead in the right way can be creative and find easy ways to produce high
quality results on a low budget, a skill useful in the early days of their
radio career. He has unsupportive parents who want him to join them in
medical supply distribution something which never truly interested him,
he lives on Archies couch.
Matilda-Did the course to the best of her ability although over the years
she has become hollow and has developed a dislike for the industry,
however she feels she is too invested to back out so follows Archie in the
hope that she can make some money
Eve-Is an ex Hollywood producer, she was a successful television
producer but was fired when loss of views due to VOD services caused
the station to close down, in a n act of rebellion she made off with the remaining
funds of the station and fled to the UK to start a new life. She bought out
the station in the hopes she could take her most successful American TV
show Finding lost celebrities and sell it to a UK distributor but did not
realise it was a radio station until it was too late. In a frenzy she devised
country living without realising it was a blatant rip off of the archers.
Suzy- Suzy is a highly skilled sound engineer who despite her age has
been loyal to the radio station from its rise to its fall right through until
its bought out by Eve. Although she does not agree with the setup of Country
Living she is too shy to voice her ideas, she leads from the background
and allows Eve to make decisions but always rationalises them down so
they dont become a complete waste, if she was to leave the station it
would crumble into nothing. She is key in pushing the station into its
new golden age as she accidentally broadcasts her selection of
underground hip hop over the air waves late at night whilst cleaning the
studio.
None of these characters fight into a particular stereotype due to a
narrative choice I have decided to make. I have decided that I would leave all

visual information about the characters to be decided by the audience own

interpretations. I learned this from the online podcast series welcome to night
vale which due to its lack of visual information has caused inspiration for many
such as fans producing art pieces of what theyre favourite character looks like to
them.
Main Locations
The Early Worm Caf
This is where the main characters went to pull all night study sessions during
their university. It is quite orderly place where the only real sounds are the noises
of cutlery across plates and unrecognisable conversation. Archies flat is placed
on top of this caf from which he blatantly abuses the cafs free WiFi policy. I
will set the location by mixing in the sounds of plates clicking and low mixed
indistinguishable conversation the sound of chairs sliding forwards and
backwards to indicate a character sitting at a table will be used when
appropriate.
Archies Flat
Archies flat is a simple and minimalist flat which only holds Archies essentials,
his roommate is James who sleeps on his couch. This scene would be difficult to
set as there is little noise in this flat. However I will use the sounds of a door
opening and creaking shut and the sound of keys being scattered across a
counter.
Suzys Room
Suzy Lives on site at the radio station in a room above the studio, it is typically
very noisy as she likes to blast her music across the stations speaker system,
there is always a muffled hum from the studio below and the sound of an
unplugged audio cable, like the radio station itself the floorboards creek, as she
lives in a large space there is a slight reverb that fills the room
The Radio Station
In the golden age of radio the station formerly known as 24 Radio was a one stop
shop for entertainment it ran for 25 years before being shut down due to musical
artists laundering money through the station. The fine crippled the station and as
it was based on core family values meant its view count plummeted and the
station was forced to close. Suzys fathers both worked in sound engineering with
one of them rising to be a producer she was raised amongst the trailing wires
and creaky floorboards and was given a job after in an emergency she ran a
show for an hour. She promised to stay loyal to the station and after she heard of
Eve buying out the station she showed up every day until Eve arrived and
immediately asked for her job back. It is a dilapidated but charming space with a
large studio and rooftop garden overlooking the city. In order to set the scene for
this location I will use the sounds of creaking floorboards a mouse clicking and a
low mixed hum other sounds like tape recorders clicking will be used when
required
My demographic surprisingly for my radio drama is actually young people aging
from 16-23. I aim to make the show interesting by using characters of a similar
age throughout and by using the show as a platform for new underground music,

the inspiration for the music segment also came from welcome to night vale with
their segment called the weather this is when a new artist is played to close the
show and I feel I could weave this idea into my narrative in the same way with a
new underground song being played at the end of each show to indicate a new
radio show beginning and the show ending. Another way I would make this
entertaining for a younger audience would be by airing it on the rising station
BBC 6 Music. I originally thought that Radio one would be the best platform
however they are strictly music based whereas BBC 6 music on a regular basis
airs talking programs and in depth interviews and especially as my narrative is
based around underground music it would fit comfortably onto the channel.
Budget
https://www.voices.com/resources/rates
http://business.anglia.ac.uk/page.php/Recording-studio-hire-73/

This show can be produced on a low budget the main cost being the voice actors.
As the show is based in a radio station we could cheaply record our own sound
effects as opposed to buying them outright from a website, I decided to keep my
show realistic so it means our budget would be low and our own sounds could be
recorded, the only real sounds that need to be sourced will be the sounds of
creaking doors opening and closing and caf sounds.
There is also a way income can be generated by the show as well as spent. This
is through the inclusion of music at the end of each show record labels will
approach the show and pay a fee for their rising artists to be featured, I estimate
the show will cost just over 1000 per episode actors and sound effects included.
My actors and actresses are as follows:
Archie: Ruairidh Johnston
James: Isaac Oppong Donkor
Eve: Eve Warner
Matilda: Ali Colqhoun
Suzy: Faith Adikpe
Statement of intent
With this Radio drama I intend to produce an interesting and revolutionary radio
drama that will communicate to a younger target audience. I also intend to
create a new platform for new musical talent to be shared to the masses.