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.