Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In creating my final product I have worked to conform to the conventions used in the real media products. One way I have done this is the voice over introduction to the radio drama, something which I have found to be part of the majority of audio theatre, with exceptions being things like ‘War of the Worlds’ the point of which was to sound as much like a news broadcast as possible, an effect which would have been destroyed by any introduction. Therefore I have written, recorded and edited a introduction to the radio drama, telling the consumer the title of the drama as well as listing those behind the production and the parts they played within the drama itself. Another convention when introducing a radio drama is the soundtrack, something which will then often be played throughout the drama, either as a backdrop to dialogue or as an indication for a changing scene. The music used is often in keeping with the genre of the radio drama although sometimes the media chooses to juxtapose the soundtrack with the product so that the music in the beginning of murder mystery, horror and thriller dramas is gentle and soothing, lulling the audience into a false sense of security. For my product I have chosen not to contrast genre and mood however, settling on a gentle, relaxation music with a somewhat sad undertone since I thought this worked very well with the story of my radio drama which had never been meant to shock or frighten the audience. In my product the soundtrack also plays later on in the drama, following the conventions of real media products as I use the music to indicate a later change of scene as well as providing a backdrop for the narration.

Another convention of radio drama is sound effects. These help to create the image of the scene in the readers mind without resorting to descriptions, most of which would be implausible in many of the situations created. The sound effects also allow for greater depth as the drama becomes something more than simple dictation.

In accordance with this convention a number of different sound effects are present in my media product, all of which I have tried to use as effectively as possible in creating the scene. For the basement, a room filled with an ocean I have used a recurring wave which plays quietly under the entire scene, with substantial space between each wave in order to avoid a constant drone. Two science fiction sweeps have been used, both of which indicate the departure or arrival of one of the characters, the first sweep indicating teleportation, the second the opening and closing of the elevator doors. Another I have used is the factory sounds, a droning, betimes clinking mechanic sound with which I decided to portray the scene with Jenny and Lexon on one of the higher floors in the same way as I used the waves on the basement although the factory sounds do fade out quickly here so as to avoid irritating the consumer. During the telephone call there are large spikes of static between certain points in Jenny’s speech which I have included to give the consumer the sense that they and the human character are not receiving the entire message, which in their minds if they had heard in full may have provided greater information or warning. Throughout the drama there is also a variety of human sound effects we recorded such as gasps, heavy breathing, clearing throats and screams to help the audience gauge the moods of the characters and to provide a more human feel in certain areas. The first sound effect used in my drama however would be the telephone ring, something which is repeated often in the first scene. After the ‘malfunctioned’ teleportation and screaming the telephone rings start up again, fading out as they proceed, this I have included to create a sense of doubt in the consumer’s mind as to the character’s survival, the soundtrack which plays under several of the rings providing a melancholy tone to the end of the scene.  

Despite the range of sound effects in my drama however I have made sure that I do not clutter the product with them, believing that the dialogue works well when not having to compete with background noise. In my radio drama I have used both the conventions of dialogue and narration when it come to the speakers although I unfortunately have not touched fully upon monologue feeling as I did that it would work well within the product.  However I have used the conventions of pitch, tone and the speed of the speech, for example with regards to the characters of Lexon and Jenny, their voice’s grow louder and faster as they grow angry, competing with each other for the last word. This will help the audience to gauge the emotions of the characters, something which is made more difficult by the audio media and the fact that they have no gestures, body language or expression to go by.

Another convention in radio is silence. When used right silence can be extremely dramatic and emotional, reaching to the audience, this is especially scene in one extract from war of the worlds when the broadcast suddenly ends, meaning that the listener automatically assumes that the speaker, who has promised to inform us as to what is going on until he cannot see or speak, has been killed. Other uses of this convention are gentler, allowing the audience to think about what they have just heard. Silence is an extremely useful convention although it is vital to get correct length. Silence is a convention used at times in the real media of radio however I have not really incorporated this as such into my media product since I felt that this would not work to the same effect within my drama, the use of telephone rings being more symbolic in Rebecca’s potential demise.

Overall however I believe I have taken the conventions of the media into account, especially concerning voice, pitch, speed and sound effects and I have attempted to show these conventions in my final product, reflecting their use in the media.  

Evaluation Question 4

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Technology in the world of media is extremely important and ever-changing as the world becomes seemingly obsessed with instant communications and would be almost impossible for a media industry, armature or professional to survive without utilising the media available, especially where it comes to the ever increasing power of the internet. Indeed the internet has been my main source or research in this project although in matters such as genre and character for the production of the final product itself I have also turned to the print media.

Planning

During the research stage of my work I turned to the internet regularly, using such technologies as Google, Twitter, Blogspot, Scriptfrenzy, YouTube and the BBC.

The internet was extremely useful to during the research stages, allowing me to learn and discover new things about the industry itself as well as statists, audience theories, communication, the conventions of radio drama and scriptwriting which I would otherwise have been unable to access. With access to YouTube I was able to listen to a variety of lectures and presentations concerning radio and its history, communications and audience theory. Similarly a huge number of people find Blogspot to be extremely useful in getting their opinions across as well as sharing information with the rest of the world and because of this I was able to read a variety of online blogs written about radio drama and its decline in the media especially. Twitter also proved to be very useful to me throughout my research stage as it allowed me to gauge the audience’s general feelings towards radio drama and direct them towards my online survey, for which I have also turned to such sights as Scriptfrenzy and National Writing Month. I have also studied the BBC radio sites, such as Radio 4 Extra which allowed me not only to research how radio drama is presented and promoted in the real industry as well as providing me with the change to listen to a range of radio dramas, allowing me to better understand their conventions.

I have also used BBC IPlayer to gauge the popularity of various dramas and their genres since IPlayer among other things lists the most popular of its radio dramas for its consumers to listen to. For example the screenshot below would clearly favour the idea that most listeners are looking for comedy as a large percentage those radio programs in the foreground include The Unbelievable Truth, The News Quiz, Dad’s Army and Another Case of Milton Jones.

In listening to radio drama in order to gain a better sense of the conventions of radio and to develop the ideas I wished to produce I have also used YouTube, where you can find a variety of discussions about and clips from older dramas such as ‘War of the Worlds’ and ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.’

Planning/Production

During the planning and production of my project I used a range of technologies to create my ancillary products and main feature, those technologies I have used include:

-Audacity

-Weebly

-Microsoft Word

-Microsoft Publisher

-Paint

-YouTube

-Blogspot

-Mobile Phone

In recording the radio drama one important factor to consider was communication between the members of my group in order to discuss ideas, arrange plans and recording times. To do this I used a mobile phone as this was the easiest way to contact everyone quickly.

To record and edit the radio drama I have used the program audacity where I have been to overlap various elements of the product and also change, among other things, the pitch, volume and speed of those elements, allowing me to alter the tone where necessary. This flexibility in editing is one of reasons I chose to use audacity in editing the product since it was vital to be able to alter the actors voice since one member of our group was playing two separate and interacting roles which needed to be distinguishable from one another. In producing the final product Google has proved to be extremely useful as it has allowed me to find and download certain sound effects I would have unable to create myself from various internet sites. These sound effects, such as factory floor and sci-fi sweep have, which I have used as background noise and the elevator doors have I feel added greatly to my drama as they work well within the scenes and against the dialogue.

After the editing was complete I uploaded my radio drama onto the internet via YouTube which has allowed me to easily add my product to Blogspot where I have recorded my progress and to Weebly.Com, a website where on which I have been able to create a website for one of my ancillary products.

As aforementioned I have used the website Weebly.Com to create my website where I have used a variety of elements such as video, contact forms and forums to create a simple, user-friendly and informative product. And using Microsoft Word I have been able to draft out the information on both the website and my blog before publishing on the internet.  And with regards to the magazine advert I have created the product using Microsoft Publisher where I have been able to easily experiment with the composition of the images and text in order to arrange them in the most effective way.

Evaluation

During the evaluation process I have used the website, Weebly.Com, social networking site Twitter, Youtube, Scriptfenzy and National Writing Month in an attempt to gain publicity and feedback for both my main product and my ancillary tasks. Despite this I have unfortunately not received as much feedback as I would have hoped.

In presenting my evaluation I have used Microsoft Word to write my evaluations before uploading them onto Blogspot. And to shown the screenshots I have used the program Paint which deals in images in order to save the shots in a JGP format to make them compatible with the blog.

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Ultimately the media product must have a positive impact on the audience to be successful and realising this early on I produced an online questionnaire which I posted on a number of sites, including National Writing Month and Script Frenzy, both of which as writing sites for all those over the age of thirteen are highly aware of audiences. In conducting this survey I was able to improve my radio drama for the better in the early stages of planning as it allowed me to take into account what an audience wanted when listening to radio dramas. One change which was made very early on based on their feedback was the genre, having been previously leaning towards something within the horror category I found that this went against the wishes of the listeners, the majority of whom wanted less than serious dramas with aspects of comedy.

This realisation that my target audience for the most part wanted light entertainment from the radio dramas which allowed them to relax has also greatly affected ancillary products I have produced. From their suggestion I have aimed to create products which appear as friendly and fun so that they entertain the reader as well as providing them with the necessary information.

Admittedly though I have received some feedback from my audience I have not received nearly as much as I would have liked, despite having posted requests on a number of websites, however the feedback which I have been given is ultimately very positive. Unfortunately the feedback is lacking in constructive criticism which I feel would have allowed me to have greatly improved my radio drama when taken alongside the original answers to my survey. Despite this I have gained the advantage of increased publicity through the feedback as I found that one individual, who had commented on my website, also posted his approval of Ground Floor Up on the social network Twitter, something which greatly increased my products viewing figures.

Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

 

As technology develops so do the ways in which we consume goods, in the face on the internet and film and television radio would appear to be dying as its audience is converted to the online world, seriously demerging the audience figures for the wireless. In the past advertising for audio plays would be found on the radio itself but the truth is it does not reach the same extent of people anymore and to counter this I needed to create ancillary products for different radio mediums. According to the Periodical Publisher Association around twenty five million magazines are sold weekly in the United Kingdom alone and over two billion people use the internet, creating a source for marketing that is potentially able to reach to far more consumers than Radio alone, especially as audience members are increasingly listening online or downloading podcasts and audio books. The internet also has the added advantage of being a growing, global phenomenon filled with social networking sites such as facebook, Twitter and ICQ being three examples of these. Such networking sights can easily gain publicity for other online sites, something I have used to gain notice for the website I have created for my main product.

Radio dramas turn profits through the sales of audio books and CD’s but the vast majority of those I have listened to over the years have never been aggressive in their sales patter but rather they provide pure entertainment in an increasingly commercialised world. As such whilst I am aware that this is ultimately a marketing campaign in the real media I have worked to make my products entertaining and unthreatening for the consumer.

In the magazine advert I have created I have used text associated with the science fiction genre as well as the image of sunlight illuminating a planet, something which compliments the theme of my radio drama. With very little written information this will tell the viewer that my radio drama is set in space, allowing them to understand more about the series before they have even begun to listen. This I feel is important in attracting the right audience members to listen to the radio drama as those who already like this genre will be more likely to choose to listen to the broadcast.

I have also chosen a dark colour scheme for my advert as I believe this to be striking and far more likely to catch attention in a magazine. I have continued this theme in my website to link the two products together. This and the similar style of content, ‘coming to you from the Andromeda Galaxy’ will allow the audience to become more familiar with my products and the radio drama they promote. As mentioned before the content of the website is similar in some ways to that of my tagline, promoting the idea that the drama is reaching the audience from my characters in the Andromeda galaxy, something which can immediately link my ancillary product to the radio drama in the minds of the listeners especially once they have heard the first episode in the series.

Unfortunately technical problems have meant that I have been unable to include related images to my website which I created using Weebly.Com. This is because I was unable to transfer pictures from my computer desktop without the program crashing. This has meant that I was unable to link my radio drama to my website using images or indeed, the BBC Radio 4 Extra logo which I have included in my advert to show where my radio might be found in the real media. Had I been able to use images within this ancillary product the website and the advert would have complimented each other better. Also I would have been able to create a more eye catching layout for my radio drama but despite this I feel that they work well together to draw in audience members across different mediums.

I have managed to include images within my ancillary advert, for which I used publisher to create. Not wanting to clutter the advert with a multitude of different images I have chosen two pictures which work well with the storyline of my drama. Together the sunlight across the planet and the building are eye catching and I have chosen these images in the hopes of intriguing viewers since in many other contexts they would be juxtaposed. And if I manage to intrigue a viewer then they will be more likely to listen to the radio drama publicised in a desire to learn more.

Despite the aforementioned technical difficulties I have managed to merge my main product with my website, including the nine minute beginning to the radio drama which I reordered within my website, following the conventions of other sites such as the BBC and ‘Chatterbox Audio Theater.’ Including this within the ancillary product itself I believe links them together absolutely in the minds of the audience. Giving the consumer a chance to listen to the start of my radio drama in my opinion would have a positive effect on the listening figures. This is because if the listener liked or became intrigued with the storyline then they would be more to listen in future to the other episodes as they would wish to hear how the storyline played out.

Overall I believe that my final product and the ancillary tasks I have produced, to maximise exposure over a range of medias complement each other well. They encourage the consumer to listen, in a friendly and unthreatening way, to the radio series allowing for a higher chance of the sales of CD’s, audio books and merchandise and consequently profit at a later stage.

 

Website Evaluation

I have used Weebly to create the website for my radio drama as it offered a wide variety of elements for the production process and offered simplicity in the creation and appearance of the website, something which I wanted to achieve in providing a friendly and unthreatening feel to the radio series. Because of this, the appearance I have chosen for the website is admittedly a little unorthodox when compared to conventional websites such as 'ChatterBox Audio Theater' and 'Cosmic Forces,' However, I felt that my website was in keeping with the product it was promoting. As we worked on the overall plot of 'Ground Floor Up,' in order to have a goal to reach towards if not shown within the first nine minutes, it was decided that the ‘storyteller’ approach would be appropriate as the human character was guided through the building. Therefore I thought that at a writing/notice board theme for the website would work well with this idea.

For the pages, I have chosen to provide conventional information, albeit it presented as though Jenny was the visitor's guide throughout the building, the page titles being labelled as the various floors to add to this effect.

The basement or home page provides a brief introduction to the website, listing the things that may be found on the other pages. Here I have also begun the concept that the guide has been written from the point of view of one of the characters, although here they are unnamed, since this was generally felt that it would be far more engaging for the reader if presented with a character of the radio series rather than one of its producers. This idea has been continued throughout the website.

The ground floor page provides some basic information to the reader about the nature of the product and the length of each episode. This I found to be a convention of the majority of websites concerning radio drama such as 'Chatterbox Audio Theater' and the BBC, which offers a short description of the dramas, some amounting to no more than a sentence long, the genre and the length of the drama.

In researching radio audiences, I have found that one reason for the popular opinion that radio is dying is that a large percentage of the audience no longer listens to the radio over the wireless, preferring to turn to the online world or audio books. And in all of the websites for radio drama which I came across, there was the opportunity to listen to the drama which had been produced, either instantly online or downloading the series straight to your computer. Therefore, I have uploaded my final product to my website, allowing the viewer to listen to the first nine minutes of the series. Offering this preview, as it were, to the full series would hopefully kindle interest in the drama as the audience would want to know what happens as the story progresses as the series is broadcast.

There is a running theme throughout the website of the reader being warned away from the fifth floor due to its closure although no explanation is given as to the reason behind this. Whilst it was decided that the fifth floor should not be mentioned in the extract of the series we produced due to the fact we did not believe it conventional to include it so early on there was no reason to cut it out of the website. In keeping with the idea of the fifth floor being barred and its place on the forums on the third floor page, I thought it would engage the audience and cause speculation as to the plot of the radio drama, creating an interactivity between individual consumers and Jenny’s character who we would maintain through replies to queries via the contact from and forums.

Another convention of the websites is the inclusion of character profiles, giving brief details of the roles and personalities as well as mentioning the actors' names. I have placed this information on the second floor page.  

Wanting to create interactivity and a space for speculation and discussion for the radio drama, I have set up a forum on the third floor page for the consumers to converse amongst themselves or with the character of Jenny whom I would maintain, as I feel that this would be something to which an audience would respond positively. Creating speculation for the characters and later points of the plot would be a way of encouraging further listening as the consumers’ desire to reach the end of the story, discovering certain facts along the way would likely be increased by the various theories and discussions.

One thing I wanted for the website was for the consumer to be able to ask questions in a more confidential manner than the forums, something which is conventional for many websites in the media. As such I have chosen to include a contact form here for people to enquire or comment on the website or the drama itself.  

Radio Advert Evaluation

The final radio advert differs from my original composition sketches as the idea developed further and I believe the product is improved by these changes since reflecting on them now the advert might have been messy and overcomplicated with too many images, trying to represent  each floor of the building in 'Ground Floor Up.' Indeed, I believe that the radio advert is simple enough and does not antagonise the audience or distract from the nature of the product.

Despite my earlier decision not to overlap the text with the images, the majority of the text is written over the picture of the sun and planet. However, I felt that the majority of the image was dark enough not to distract from the writing so long as it was laid out in a way that meant the text would not compete with the sunlight. With regards to the images I have used, I decided against showing one of the characters, of whom only Rebecca Montgomery would have perhaps been a viable choice, or interior locations of the building. This is because I felt one of the advantages of radio drama was that the audience would be able to picture the world in their own heads, creating a unique experience for each listener. Showing the images of the characters in the radio advert would destroy this effect and I chose to use the planet, something which would also convey the fact that the radio drama is set in outer space, providing the consumer with more information on the nature of the series.

The other picture I have used for my magazine advert is that of the building in the corner of the poster since a man-made structure floating in outer space is very much in keeping with the theme of my radio drama, something which I felt was very important. I have placed this image over a black background so that it’s pale and bright colouring would not compete with the paper. However, I have separated it from the text and kept it at a size which I feel does not distract too much from the relevant information.

In writing the information, I have used Distant Galaxy font to keep the science fiction theme. I have used white for the font so that the contrast with the background allows the information to be easily read. Having discussed the matter with a range of people, I have kept the text as limited as possible since the general opinion was that adverts which present a large amount of information for the consumer to read can sometimes be off putting, something which I wanted to avoid. I have used the principle of 'less is more.' As such, the only information I have given the reader through text is the title of the radio drama, the date of the first broadcast and the nature of the product being an a original comedy radio drama. The ‘coming to you fresh from the Andromeda Galaxy’ is to provide further information as to the setting, to allow the audience to make an informed judgment on whether or not to listen.

I have included the BBC Radio 4 Extra logo in the bottom right hand corner of my advert since that to not provide advertisement to the radio station here would be a serious error as those readers who wished to listen to the series would be unlikely to conduct a search for it if the radio station was not included within the advert. In including the logo, however, I have kept it at a distance from the text and at a reasonable size so that is clearly visible but not distracting.

Ancillary Product: Magazine Radio Advert

Planning: Radio Advert

For the magazine advert for my radio drama, I decided that I wanted to keep the advert as simple as possible. Busy posters and adverts, I feel, often distract from the product and sometimes alienate the reader, something which I wanted to avoid at all costs. Since one of the conventions of adverts of this kind is to keep the text to a bare minimum, I decided that I should keep the information as basic as possible, telling the reader what I was advertising, the title and where and when they could hear it.

Wanting to use imagines in my advert in keeping with common conventions, I have worked at sketching out the compositions of the both the texts and the images for the advert. I was opposed to overlapping text and image since I find that that this difficult and betimes infuriating to read. However, knowing that this might not be the case for the majority, I discussed the situation with a variety of people, most of who agreed that it was easier to read text without the background image, especially if the picture alternated between light and dark which would then compete in some ways with the font no matter its colour.

Below are some rough sketches of composition ideas.

Radio Drama Soundtrack

Having listened to a variety of radio dramas I found that one thing they all had in common, with the exception of war of the worlds and a few of the audio books, was a recurring soundtrack which originally preceded the drama along with a voice over, introducing the play’s title, writer and the majority of the cast members. The same soundtrack would then be played throughout the drama, sometimes as an undertone to monologues or more often as a useful indication to the listener that the scene was about to change. Realising that the soundtracks helped to set the mood of the radio drama as well as providing an ordered structure it was decided that we should include a soundtrack to the radio drama, especially since the first half consisted of quickly changing scenes, which might confuse the listener if we did not provide breaks of something more than silence between then dialogue.  

Since we decided on a science fiction drama with comical aspects it was thought the soundtrack should have a solemnity to it in order to juxtapose the surface of the genre we had chosen and to highlight the more serious undertone of our plot. One of our ideas was that the building was a living, reproduction of a planet suffering from the abandonment and abuse of the biological life forms which had once lived there, and keeping with this theme the first idea was simply a heartbeat, as this is a clear indication of life but when played at the right speed and volume it can incite fear in the consumer, something which was felt would help grab their attention.  However this idea was eventually discarded because having listened to a number of radio dramas it was felt that a heartbeat differed too much from the customary jovial, soothing or disturbing melodies that were played through other dramas.

Spirit of Albion by Damh The Bard

The Wheel by Damh The Bard

Two soundtracks which was considered were the Spirit of Albion and The Wheel by Damh the Bard as we felt that it would help to illustrate the point we were trying to make of global warming as its focus on the land, nature and it's glory would almost become an ideal that the characters, and the building in particular, were trying to reach for. Due to the pagan feel of his music however we felt that ultimately they would be too unsuitable for a science fiction drama set in space and we discarded this idea for that reason. Listening to the Damh the Bard it was also decided that for the purposes of our drama we wanted to keep the soundtrack instrumental, so as not to distract from or be confused with the voices of the characters, particular since we wanted the soundtrack to play as a backdrop to the narration.

Hope Springs by Roy Todd

Deciding against openly jovial music and singing for the soundtrack we decided to look into instrumental music and came across Roy Todd’s beautiful and emmotional piano music where we looked at ‘Hope Springs’ among other compositions. We had chosen to look into instrumental music as we thought it would be far more effective in setting an undertone for our radio drama and because we believed it would be better in keeping with our theme, our thinking was further enhanced with listening to ‘Hope Springs’. After much debate however we set the music aside, believing it to sound, as the title had suggested far too hopeful for the mood of either sadness or simple peace that we wanted to achieve.

Research: Website Design

In looking at various websites for radio theatre such as Chatterbox Audio Theatre, Radio Drama Revival and the BBC it became clear that the majority of existing websites concerned with audio theatre focus on a range of dramas, and those members involved, rather than one series. Many of the sites I explored, such as the aforementioned Chatterbox were also part of non profit on line communities, producing drama for free streaming and downloads meaning that they were perhaps not the best examples of monetization. However the sites always had a friendly, personal, and unthreatening feel to them which I thought engaged the audience and if this were applied to my radio drama I believe creating a website almost as a friendly continuation to the story line would be a good way to gain further support for the series, which would then lead to commercialisation at a later stage.

The website of Cosmic Forces however deals with one specific radio series at a time, that series currently being The Soul Patrol, a website which provides information concerning the characters and the separate episodes as well as allowing the consumer to download sneak previews of each episode onto their computer.  

One feature of the websites was an certain degree of interactivity between those involved in the radio dramas and their consumers. For example in the case of the Radio Drama Revival, the site offers budding scriptwriters the chance to produce their own dramas for show, Chatterbox being similar in its page inspiring community spirit and participation to create it’s audio theatre.

In the case of Ground Floor Up however I thought it would be unrealistic to offer recordings of a radio drama, especially since the website was going to deal with the idea or one radio series. However I want to maintain a certain sense of interactivity and as such I am looking at the idea of forums.

The Snow Child

One of the BBC’s Books at Bedtime, 'The Snow Child' is a radio adaptation of Alaskan author Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel which itself is based on a Russian fairytale. The drama runs over a series of days, each episode lasting no more than fifteen minutes.

Like 'Paperwork,' 'The Snow Child' is an audio book rather than a radio drama and as such there is only the one speaker’s voice and no music or sound effects throughout the reading, a silence which I feel gives far more power to the speaker’s voice since there is nothing within the drama itself to distract the listener.

Despite being presented as science fiction and fantasy story, the script gives the impression of a couple's relatively normal, if sometimes somewhat miserable, life in their new home in Alaska. Among the scenes of normality, the listener hears that Mabel is childless, her one child having been stillborn and that it has caused misery in her and Jack, her aging husband’s, lives, a fact which seems to be slowly destroying their marriage. Whilst there is no outright hatred between Mabel and any of the other characters, it is clear the character feels uncomfortable around them, believing that they see her as a burden to Jack. Through this social awkwardness and Mabel’s grieving over her childless marriage in the first episode the audience is allowed to connect and empathise with the main character, something critically important for the success of the overall series. The script also never leaves Mabel’s point of view, which enables important information to be covered only briefly, for example those who do not already know 'The Snow Child' would find nothing significant about the fleeting appearance of the fox, being unaware of its connection to the later character of the wild girl. Also masking the fox’s appearance among other things is the amount of details and description given to the audience, since if the descriptions were more used more sparingly the audience would naturally assume that everything mentioned carried great significance in the play, further illustrating the importance of script in drama.

Ancillary Products: Website

As an ancillary product I have created a website for my radio drama, which you can view live via the link below.

http://radiodramagroundfloorup.weebly.com/

Final Product

Above is our final product, Ground Floor Up, the begining of the first episode in a science fiction radio drama.

Voice and Paperwork

Unlike in visual medias, we, as an audience, are unable to rely on mannerisms, facial expressions and actions when it comes to the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Therefore the speaker’s voice is an important convention of radio since through pitch and tone amongst other things the voice can create the correct emotion which might otherwise have been lost to the reader since audio plays do not often have all the freedom of text in describing events and surroundings.

One example of when the voice is a most important convention is the BBC’s twenty eight minute adaptation of Ruth Rendell’s 'Paperwork.' A talking book rather than a play, 'Paperwork' follows the story of a man, whose name is not given, forced to confront the miseries of his childhood after he inherits his grandmother’s house and all of its contents. 'Paperwork' relies on the speaker’s voice and description to convey its plotline. There is no music or sound effects involved at all and it gives you the impression of being the speaker’s confidante as he tells his story. The lack of sound effects, I feel, gives the voice far more power than it might otherwise have, adding to the illusion of silence and loneliness that is present throughout the entire play. Throughout the adaptation, the speaker’s ‘storyteller’ voice remains even and calm, rarely changing in pitch meaning that when the changes are apparent, they are emphasised by the sheer lack of quantity. For example, when the speaker confronts his grandmother about his absentee mother she says that one day he will find out a number of things which she then begins to list, one of these being ‘the murder’ which is dropped into the speech as calmly as though it were as normal as ‘it might rain today’ despite the fact that this is the first time the listener hears of the murder.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs explores the idea that humans are motivated by certain unsatisfied needs, the most basic of which must be satisfied before more complex ones can be achieved. Here both the fundamental needs for survival, health, security and self actualisation are explored. And from the perspective of the media industry this hierarchy can help to reach out to an audience with ideas and products which in some way interact with these needs, provoking a response.

However, in looking at this hierarchy, one might argue that whilst Maslow presents the rigid idea that one thing must be achieved before another, the needs described will invariably overlap, blurring the lines. For example, food and water would surely come within the same category as resources and health, illness being one of the many things which lessens the chance of longevity. Problem solving, amongst other things, one of the highest needs shown here, would also surely interact with survival as the ability to problem solve allows a more efficient approach to survival and security. And therefore, although I believe this hierarchy to be a good basis and guide, I feel that perhaps it should not be taken as the strict, inflexible structure which it is shown to be.

Physiological Needs

(Breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis and excretion)

At the bottom of the pyramid are the physiological needs, the basic elements without which human survival is impossible. These cravings are imprinted onto our very being as fear of death and consequently the desire to live and, if such substances such as nutrition and sleep are removed we are almost always prepared to act in order to recover them, no matter what the consequences might be. Therefore, it is only natural that these must be fulfilled before the mind or the body is able to concentrate on any more complex needs reaching out to self actualisation.

Safety

(Security of: body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health and property)

According to Maslow’s theory, once the physiological needs have been met, we are able to move our concentration to the aspects of security. Here the absence of security at its worst can result in war, famine and abuse among other horrific factors creating outcomes such as depression, post-traumatic stress, insomnia and paranoia. A sense of morality is also necessary as the ability to distinguish right from wrong and to act accordingly is crucial to the survival of society in the creation of a fair and decent system of law and order.

Love/Belonging

(Friendship, family and sexual intimacy)

After the physiological and safety needs are met, the third section of the pyramid deals with feelings of love and belonging, a need which is especially strong in childhood and can even override the need for safety. And neglect, ostracism and bullying, amongst other things, can damage the individual’s ability to maintain emotionally significant relationships between friends and family.

Human beings, as deeply social creatures, need to feel accepted in various forms of communities and the absence of belonging can cause loneliness, depression and anxiety. The need for acceptance can also cause an individual to give into peer pressure, often disregarding a need for safety.

Esteem

(Self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others)

Esteem is the human need to be valued by themselves and by others and a lack of esteem may result in an inferiority complex or depression, which in turn will stifle the individual’s ability to increase their self esteem. Maslow notes two versions of the need for esteem, the lower need being for respect from others, recognition and prestige whilst the higher need deals with self-confidence, freedom, independence and self-respect. The higher need is ranked as such in Maslow’s theory since it deals with matters closer to inner competence and self actualisation.

Self-actualisation

(Morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts)

The highest need of Maslow’s theory is that of self-actualisation and represents the individual’s full potential or rather the desire to become everything that they can be. And in order to meet this need, the individual must first achieve and maintain the lower, physiological, safety, love and esteem needs.

Characters: Jenny

Artificial Intelligence

Whether it is harmful, friendly or simply things to make the lives of biological life forms easier, the idea of artificial intelligence has long played its part in the science fiction genre. Few would deny that we are fascinated with the idea of robots which act and more importantly think like humans, a fascination which appears to have thus far survived history, originating from automatons existing in examples of both myth and reality. One such example is Talos, a giant sculpted out of bronze by the god Hephaistos.  And now with the huge advances in technology in a very short space of time the thought of creating machines which really can think for themselves may not be quite as farfetched as it seems.

For instance, the lecture below, from Stanford University, discusses how the intelligence of non biological entities may actually be achieved through using the right processes and allowing the computer to learn for itself how to act in a certain situation. Here the lecturer speaks of the human brain and our perception of the things around us and about how the process is potentially simpler than we presently believe it to be. Therefore, as stated there, if we could further understand the workings of the brain the process might be transferred using the closest approximations to a robot, allowing it control and perception of its own situation.

And for the science fiction radio drama we would create, it was soon decided that one of the characters portrayed should be a form of AI Unit and as such we created Jenny, the control and life support. Part of the reason for this was indeed the fascination with these computers but also it was felt that having an AI Unit as one of the main characters would allow us to explore certain questions on the topic through our radio drama.  

A question which we first considered was that if artificial intelligence such as we see in fiction really existed, would we honestly want it to? If you give a computer, which will be bound to rely purely on logic and intelligence to rival that of humans then, in fiction especially, then there will be consequences. For example in Alex Proyas’s film ‘I Robot’ V.I.K.I’s pure logical understanding of the three laws of robotics allows her to lead a revolt in which some humans are sacrificed so she can ensure the continued existence of mankind, saving humanity from its ‘suicidal’ existence. Looking at the destructive nature of mankind it is easy enough to understand and to even have some sympathy for V.I.K.I but that doesn’t mean you would want her actions to continue. And the more long term effects of this level of thinking are explored in Jack Williamson’s novelette ‘With Folded Hands’ in which the mechanicals essentially take over every aspect of human life and carefully scrutinise the actions of the human population so that they may not engage in anything which is potentially harmful to them in the hopes of protecting the humans and making them happy.

The reason why we decided to explore this idea as a possibility was that we didn’t want Jenny to be purely something in the service of biological life forms, especially in the abandoned building setting of our drama as we felt this would greatly limit her usefulness. Also whilst there is no obviously evil character we were considering on making Jenny the antagonist here as her misunderstanding and inevitable system failures carried the possibility of plunging the other characters into danger at a later stage. And since the plot that was worked out involved her keeping the others inside a unstable building in an effort to benefit from repairs it seemed insufficient for her to simply obey orders without at least questioning those orders.


Another reason we choose to incorporate an artificially intelligent character into our science fiction drama was that we wanted to explore to some extent the idea of equality between machines and biological life forms. After all, if it is possible to create a machine which can think and feel for itself then it is inevitable that arguments should follow regarding the rights of the machines and whether they should be equal to those of living creatures.