// R A D I O D R A M A // // U N I T 4 2 //

// C O D E S // Words & Voices In a radio drama, no visual footage or content is used and so to grip the audience the words and voices of the characters are essential. The dialogue needs to be exciting and entertaining in order to hold the viewers attention. Music & Ambience It is important that the music and ambience in a radio drama is fitting to what is happening in the drama. The lack of visuals means that the scene has to be set by the ambient noise and the music sets the emotion and both can be an indicator of what the genre of the drama is. Sound & Silence Sound in radio drama is as important as silence. Silence can be used in different ways, it can be used to illustrate a chance of scene in the drama or it can be used as an emotive technique to build tension and create suspense.

// C O N V E N T I O N S // Aural Signposting Aural Signposting is a technique that is used in radio dramas to establish where the scene is set and what the genre of the radio drama is. Audio such as background noises has to be used to do this as there are no visuals. Cliffhanger Endings Cliffhanger endings are used in both radio and tv dramas as a way of keeping the audience interested without giving them everything, sometimes this convention can be over used and the viewer or listener becomes bored and cliffhanger endings become uninteresting.

Use of Fades & Silence This is a widely used convention in radio drama. Silence in a drama is always used for one reason of another. Fades are used for the sound as a way of bringing the scene to an end. The silence after that is the change of scene itself, in the gap between sound you expect to notice a change between the voices or background noises. Titles & Credits Titles and credits are used to bookend the drama it is spoken by the narrator of the story or a character within the story.

Narration & Direct Speech The narration in the drama is essentially the eyes for the listener as the narrator can talk directly to the listener. Which means they can easily understand what’s going on.

// S T Y L E S // Appropriateness to Target Audience. The appropriateness to target audience in radio drama is how well the content that is in the radio drama fits the audience that will be the majority that listen to it. From the storyline and genre of the radio drama you can determine who will listen to it. For example, The Archers is a soap aired on BBC 4 and so young people may not be interested in it the target audience is more likely to be people middle aged and older.

Dramatic Reconstruction Dramatic reconstruction is where a script is taken from a previous drama production then it is edited and dramatised to make it more appealing for a different target audience or generation.

// S T R U C T U R E S // Duration Radio dramas differ in duration, for example The Archers is a soap and it is on daily so it is a short drama however, North of Riga is a stand alone drama and so is longer in duration. Radio dramas won’t be longer than 45 mins in length as listeners will get bored and switch off. Narrative Structures Narrative structure is the storyline of the radio drama linear storyline would consist of a beginning middle and end all in chronological order, a non linear storyline would have the different parts of the story in different places, it might start with the end, and may include flashbacks for example Earthworm Jim’s uses flashbacks and so has a non linear narrative structure. The Archers however is linear

Development of Plot Development of plot in a drama is usually where it has a beginning middle and end and the characters are faced with a obstacle to overcome an example of this is The Archers.