Codes and Conventions

Codes
- Words: are very important in radio since there aren’t any visual aspects in radio dramas. due to
this we have to take the words said and imagine the scene in out minds.

Example: “They say you’re supposed to talk to people when they are in a coma” This tells us
that one of the guys in the play is in a coma.

- Voices: With vices the audience are able to distinguish who is talking and whether they are a
female or male or if they are working class or middle class.

Example: “So i suspect this is something the doctors” From this line said in the play we
instantly tell the person is clearly a patient or someone who is at the hospital seeking assistance
from the doctors.

- Speech: The way word are spoken and the tone of voice used. This i s a good way to express
the emotion of the character who is currently speaking.

Example: “I have never heard of someone coming out of one to finish the conversation”
When Ianto in saying this you can hear the emotion in his voice suggesting that he is about to cry.

- Background music and Ambient music: Background music is a good way to set the whole
mood for the play as a whole or the scene being played. However ambient sound is used to to
suggest where the play is set.
Example: During the the dialogue of the character speaking, you arable to hear a beeping
noise in the background conveying to us that the scene is held in a hospital room with the patient
hooked up to a life support machine.

- Sound effects: Sound effects add detail and precision into the scene, even using sound effects
for little things can really make a bug difference in the radio drama and give it a more realistic
immersive experience.

- Silence: Silence is used when either the scene being broadcasted has some awkward
moments in the play or the settings is changing.
Example: In the beginning there is silence to let the audience settle in and get a feeling for the
mood and genre of this radio drama

Conventions
- Aural signposting: This is used to tell the audience that something is about to happen.
Example: a phone may ring in the background conveying that a conversation is about to begin.

- Fades and silences: These will be used to mark a transition form one seen to another.

- Title and Credits: These are spoken in the beginning and the end of the radio drama since they
do not have any visual aspects for them to be able to be displayed on.

- Cliffhanger Endings: This leaves the audience wanting more and is often sued in a series of
radio drama.

Example: “Yeah but you will never be a blip in time for me Into James” Jack says this
asthma since he was listening to what Ianto was saying as he was still in his coma. This leaves us
wanting more and urgent to know what will happen next.

- Narration: This can be used to provide the audience with any information that will help the
audience understand the play a bit more.