Unit 41: Radio drama

Unit 41 - Radio Drama

Task 1: Choose 3 radio dramas of different genres and write an analysis of each. (P1, M1, D1)

Analysing Radio Drama - The Archers

The Archers is the longest running radio drama show in the world and is produced by the BBC, the first broadcast o

f the programme was back in 1951 on New Year’s Day, the initial targeted primary audience was farmers. To the present day the show can be streamed over the BBC website to listeners all over the world and can also proudly acclaim itself to be one of Britain’s broadcasting enduring institutions.

The Voice. The pitch is generally quite normal with it never really being too high nor too low as the voices are just part of normal conversation, the same applies to the volume as the need to adjust it is unlikely.

Cultural Codes. The accent helps decipher a lot within the story line, as for one, it helps connote the setting, which is in a farming town, as a typical rural accent is spoken. This is also crafted through the dialect as the stereotypical rural accent is used for a farmers voice, which helps inform the audience of the characters background. Considering the language register, The Archers programme is most likely to be aimed at 30+ years old and those of which with an upper class background.

Task 2: Produce 3 x 20 second clips, each clip should emulate the codes and conventions of a specific genre. (P1, M1, D1)

Task 3: Produce a mind-map of your ideas for each text. Use the language that you have become familiar with from the first two tasks and create the min-map in the software of your choice. Use the example below to help you structure your diagram. (P2, M2, D2)

Task 4: Write 2 proposals for each drama (4) briefly stating the different possible ways in which you could produce your dramas. (P2, M2, D2)

Proposal 1 -

'Viva la Brasília' is a sports drama about a young English semi-professional footballer, Steven Loft, trying to make the big time, in an attempt to achieve his dream he travels to Brazil in aid of some football inspiration. The setting is Rio De Janeiro, where our main character enrolls into the local Copacabana beach football side only to be scouted by a Flamengo coach, Thiago De Suazo, after a string of impressive performances. After signing a 6-month contract and embracing the Brazilian culture, Steven must decide wether to return to local club Weymouth and all his family or extend his stay in Rio with newly found father figure Thiago and continue to live up to his local hero status as the only successful Englishman ever to ply their trade in Brazil. The target audience of the sports drama will ideally be teenage boys from 16 to 22 year as it is a football based story so it is more likely to appeal to the male audiences. I doubt the drama would appeal to an older audience as due to its footballing aspect, they could lose interest quickly as sports tend to be favoured amongst the younger generations. There will not be a narrator within the production as I believe all the speech should come from the characters as it enables the audience to grasp a better understanding of the cast and possibly build relationships as they begin to relate to them.

Proposal 2 -

'Jimbo & Juliet' is a modern adaptation of the classic romance 'Romeo & Juliet'. The genre of the production is a drama/rom-com. Jimbo lives on the local council estate with his happy go lucky family whose ideal Friday night is getting leathered down the local pub. Juliet on the other hand is bliss defined, and her wealthy family pride themselves on their sterling reputation. But when the two lay eyes on eachother and strike up and extremely unlikely romance, both families start to get bitter of the prospect of togetherness. The target audience could vary anywhere between 16 to 35+ year olds, as despite it being a classic originally written by William Shakespeare which would appeal to the older audiences, this drama production is a modern adaption and with references to stereotypical tag-lines like 'chavs' and 'snobs' it would appeal to the younger audiences all the same. The radio drama would include a narrator as the story needs a narration to carry it along at times, it also helps keep the audience informed throughout.

Task 5: Write a treatment for each drama (P2, M2, M3)

Treatment 1

Jimbo & Juliet is a spin off drama/comedy based on the classic tragic love story of ‘Romeo & Juliet’. The target audience would most likely be 18 year olds to early thirties in a mixed gender category. The story more or less follows the one of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ yet it contains a slight twist, Jimbo is your typical ‘Jack the lad’ kind of guy who goes to his local every Friday night with the boys, he is also your stereotypical chav. Juliet is an angel sent from above, beautiful, polite and caring. Her father owns a very successful steel works company and the highly credited ‘Brandling Golf Club’ therefore making him one of the wealthiest men in the town. One Friday night at the ‘Pink Pig’ pub, Jimbo meets Juliet and they consequently fall in love with each other after a few drinks and a deeply enthralling conversation. But there is also so much more to the story than that, with it being a tale of friends being there for you, achieving your goals and also proving that social backgrounds aren't everything. I think any audience would be interested in this storyline as it is a modern day spin off to the classic, people would therefore like to see the difference in the changing times.

The locations consist of the ‘Pink Pig’ pub, Juliet’s fathers golf club, Jimbo’s council estate of Manford where he lives and of course Juliet’s upper class residential estate of Brandling, both towns being based in Yorkshire. With the social hierarchy issues, people can build personal relationships with the two main characters, Jimbo & Juliet, as both are at opposite ends of the rankings, this could also comfort the audience as it can tell the story of how equality can exist in the social hierarchy no matter what class your in.

The manner's of speech will also oppose eachother, with Jack's side of characters using an informal/common approach due to their chav-like background and Juliet's obviously being more formal due to her upper class personality. This can relate to the audience and draw in more listeners as it portrays opposing social backgrounds and how they can mix regardless of this. A regional dialect will also be used by the characters and with the drama being based in the county of Yorkshire, it will attract more listeners as PGFM is a Yorkshire based radio station.

This radio programme would most likely be a serial drama, with a cliffhanger ending for every episode to keep the listeners hooked to the story line and want to return for the next part. The first episode would basically be introducing all the characters and connoting the parts they will be playing throughout the drama.

In the needs of recruiting a cast, auditions will be organised to find the appropriate voices to suit the corresponding characters personas by inviting several possible candidates. I will bring along a colleague who also has a vast understanding of what is required for a radio drama piece and also having another opinion helps to assist in the search for a cast. Both young and old actors will be needed, as well as male and female, which overall relieves any representation issues.