Soundtrack Pro

When we had finished our recording we were introduced to 'Soundtrack Pro', this is a piece of sophisticated software which can edit audio. There is also a free music and sound effects library within this program which was incredibly useful, with hundreds of suitable SFX available in the bottom right corner of Soundtrack Pro and with a helpful search button, the perfect SFX were easy to find and to get to grips with. There are various tools on Soundtrack Pro such as the blade tool, fade tool and echo tool. After a few lessons, I found Soundtrack Pro was much easier to navigate.

We split our recording into three sections so we could each do our own editing and I edited the first two scenes. In the first scene there were lots of fake radio broadcasts that had to be added into the recording. For this, I had to cut up the entire recording, and find the dialogue that was read by the radio broadcaster. When I did this, I then had to change the levels of the speech and use the distortion tool to create a 'radio' effect. I used bitcrusher for this. I then also added an SFX underneath the speech called 'WalkieTalkie', which made the whole radio broadcast seem much more realistic and effective.

In scene two, there is a key moment where a building collapses and Jen nearly gets killed. For this, I cut the speech up using the blade tool and used many different sound effects piled on top of each other to create a realistic sound. It took me well over two hours after extensive research into different SFX to decide which ones were suitable to use. I finally decided to use the sound of an earthquake, followed by very heavy breathing and then the sound of lots of people running. I also varied the volumes of each different sound effect by putting them in different tracks, and overall, I think that the sound of the building collapsing sounds realistic and proffessional.

After I had finished editing my section over three weeks, my group added all of our scenes together and had a final run through and edited final small things, such as individual fading, before it was put forward for the listening party.

Raw Recording

This is the raw recording of our drama, before we made any changes and started any editing.

Production Log - Details of Studio

We learnt how to begin recording our drama and we had an introduction to the radio room. This was extremely useful and helped massively when it came to actually recording our final script. I was taught how to set up the booth by using the following steps:

1) Ensure all plugs are on.
2) Move sliders 1, 2, 3 up, and turn on each section.
3) Log into Imedia.
4) Begin Soundtrack Pro software.
5) Change Location for saving audio files.
6) Always export audio tracks as MP3's at 192KBPS.

We recorded our entire script in one sitting after much practice in the radio booth previously, however as a group we had alot to edit due to small mistakes which would have been very unproffessional if were left in our final radio drama.

Script - Final Version

SCENE 1


RYAN: Have you got that radio working yet?


NICK: I’m trying! Bloody political war, breaking my equipment!


(RADIO TUNING IN, EMITTING STATIC)


NEWS BROADCASTER: (D) …The nuclear fallout has swept across the world leaving devastation in its wake. We have reports that America has been all but destroyed...


NICK: I’ve got it!


RYAN: Shh! There might be something important!


NEWS BROADCASTER: (D) …Listeners are reminded to stay in groups for safety reasons. Do not go anywhere near irradiated zones. These areas are usually highlighted with signs surrounding the area...


NICK: Ahh, it’s the same as all ways.


NEWS BROADCASTER: ...We are happy to report that several fallout shelters have opened up all around Britain. What follows is a complete list of all shelters that have opened: Norfolk, Torquay…


NICK: Ahh! They’re too far.


NEWS BROADCASTER: …Suffolk…


NICK: Come on! (STATE OF PANIC) Please, please, please!


NEWS BROADCASTER: …Brentwood: Essex…


NICK: YES! Ryan, did you hear that? We’re gonna’ be ok, we’re
gonna’ be ok...


RYAN: I heard it. Come on, leave it, we can’t afford to take it with us.
…Jen, Daniel! Where are you guys?


JEN: What’s all the commotion? …What are we doing?


NICK: I’ll tell you what it is, Ms Jennifer! Bloody Salvation! Hah!
We are leaving this hell is what we’re doing!


DANIEL: We’ll be safe?


JEN: You’re kidding?


NICK: I am most certainly not. Ask Ryan if you don’t believe me.


JEN: Is it true Ryan? Well, I mean, where are we going? What are
we going to do?


RYAN: Don’t worry I’ve got it all worked out.


JEN: But…it’s way too dangerous out there! There’s irradiated areas, and who knows what else!


RYAN: Just calm down, it’s going to be fine, like I said, I have a plan.



SCENE 2


JEN: Oh my god! I can’t believe it! Everything’s been destroyed!


DANIEL: I remember a park was once there.


RYAN: Come on, we need to keep moving.


JEN: How far do we have to go?


RYAN: We need to get out of the city, I’d say at least 2 hours of
walking. Come on, let’s get moving.


JEN: 2 hours?! Is there no transportation?


RYAN: No! Look around Jen, everything’s blown to hell


DANIEL: I’m not too keen on walking.


RYAN: Well we need to get out of here now!


NICK: Yeah so get bloody movin’!


Ambience


NICK: Watch that gap Jen.


JEN: How long are we gonna’ keep going like this?


RYAN: Stop. Did you hear that?


NICK: What is it Ryan?


Falling debris between them


RYAN: That building is going to collapse! We need to go, move!


Footsteps, running and heavy breathing


NICK: Where’s Jen?!


RYAN: She’s fallen! She’s over there!


NICK: C’mon let’s get her.


Footsteps, running, sound of dragging body.
Building collapses.


NICK: (Heavy Breathing) Why didn’t you help us Daniel?!


DANIEL: Oh, I, um…


RYAN: We’re supposed to be a team!




SCENE 3


RYAN: (D) JEN! CAN YOU HEAR US? JEN! JEN!


NICK: You coward Daniel!


DANIEL: I already said I’m sorry, I didn’t know the building was
gonna’ collapse…


NICK: She could have died!


DANIEL: But she didn’t, did she?


NICK: You’re towing a fine line. I’d be careful what you do.


JEN: Euurgh, what’s going on? Why are you shouting?


NICK: This coward just left you underneath the building as it was
collapsing.


DANIEL: ...It’s…It’s not like that…


NICK: Oh! So how is it Daniel? Because to me, you just left her to
die!


DANIEL: I’m sorry…


JEN: Where are we anyway?


RYAN: It’s an old library; we thought we could rest here for a while.


NICK: That’ll be a challenge. This is falling apart.
JEN: Have we got any water?


RYAN: Yeah sure. (RUSTLING OF BACKPACK)


JEN: Thanks (GULPING OF WATER)


NICK: Let’s just try and get some rest.


DANIEL: Err, sure.


SCENE 4


NICK: Jen, are you sure you’re ok to carry on? We’re nearly in
Brentwood.


JEN: (BREATHLESS) …Just a few more steps.


RYAN: I see it!


(SOUND OF RUNNING)


NICK: C’mon let’s get inside. Quick Jen, Hurry up Ryan.


(DOOR SLAMS BEHIND THEM, ONCE ALL INSIDE)


RYAN: So this is our salvation eh? No food, no water, nothing!


DANIEL: No, the shelter’s underground! See that hatch there? We need
to go down there… But I’m not so good with heights, you
guys go first. I’ll be right behind you.


RYAN: C’mon then, we need to go down here. Watch out, it’s pretty
dark…




(SOUNDS OF CHARACTERS DESCENDING LADDER)
(DANIEL REMAINS)


…You coming Daniel?


DANIEL: Not today, Ryan!


RYAN: What?!


JEN: (SHOUTING) Ryan! We’re at the bottom, but theres nothing
here! It’s a trap!


RYAN: NO! DANIEL, WAIT!


(SOUND OF HATCH BEING LOCKED FROM OUTSIDE, TRAPPING THEM IN THE SHELTER)


SCENE 5


Sound of mobile phone beginning to record and Daniel Filming himself.


DANIEL: They don’t understand, this is hell. No, this is worse than hell.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide when things get rough. We’re
all just better off dead. I just don’t know who I am anymore.
They were naïve. They thought everything would be fine, yet
most of the world is DEAD! This isn’t a movie, it’s real life!
We may as well just give-in now. After all, it’s only a matter of
time before we get poisoned by radiation anyway... Do you like
my gun? Found it in that drawer over there. Hah, shall we listen
to the news? I think we should...


(DANIEL TUNES A TRANSISTOR RADIO IN)


NEWS BROADCASTER: (D) ‘…With the face of the earth in ruins, only wastelands
remain. Be vigilant, be alert, and most importantly, be safe…’


(SFX OF RADIO DYING)


DANIEL: (*SIGH*) …Goodbye.


(SFX OF GUN BEING COCKED, WITH A SINGLE GUNSHOT, FOLLOWED BY SILENCE)

Script - 1st Draft

This is the first draft of our script 'Under the Mushroom Cloud'. We had a script read-through with our class and got some constructive criticism. We decided to completely change the ending to add a massive twist and create strong emotions. We also decided to add more detail into our location and change some character's motives.

Location Details

Our radio drama 'Under the Mushroom Cloud' in the United Kingdom. This would be relatable to our target audience, rather than doing an 'American' drama which could potentially outcast and alienate the whole of our main audience. We did some research into actual fallout shelters and where they were located in the UK, which meant we could focus our narrative on one very specific location. We chose on the fallout shelter in Brentwood, Essex. We chose this because it could be a focal point in our story, the aim of the plot was for the survivors to get to this shelter. We decided the the whole story could emitate from London. Not only is this the capital but this is also an iconic location for an audience to recognise. Brentwood is 53 miles from London, which meant the dialogue could take place as the journey along the deserted and destroyed roads commenced.

Story Development

We decided to create a six-part drama and write and record the ending and conclusion. We created four characters that can interact and have an emotional and physical journey throughout the six episodes. Our group decided to have a twist in our narrative which could make our drama not only dramatic, but also memorable. In the early stages of development in our story, we also thought of many conventions we could use. We came up with using radio broadcasts in our radio drama. We thought about doing this because it meant the narrative could be clearly explained and the story would flow much better but in an interesting way. I also thought that using radio broadcasts made the drama feel much more realistic and easier to imagine and connect to it. We also decided of a target audience aged 18-30, mainly male and also the majority of them being middle class.

We also decided on a name for our drama - 'Under the Mushroom Cloud', we felt this reflected the drama perfectly and it was a unanimous decision across our group.

Characters

We developed four characters Jen, Ryan, Nick and Daniel. We decided that each character could go on a journey throughout our drama. Their aim is to survive and to get to salvation which gives each character a change to develop.

Jen is the only female in the group, however she is a strong individual and does not depend on anyone else, until she gets into trouble that is. She's slightly fearful but does not bring that to the surface. She seems somewhat shy at first and is very intelligent. Jen being a female brings a balance to the whole plot.

Nick is an outgoing scottish character with a proud heritage. He is very brash and in your face and could get on other character's nerves perhaps. He is fairly aggresive and always tries to act the leader but noone follows his orders.

Ryan is the obvious leader of the group. He is very confident and very strong and brings a level of calm to the group as he can sort situations out and provide solutions and answers. He hates to lose and can be aggressive in certain situations. However, he cares for every individual and wants to get them all to safety and that is his one and only aim. He is the main protagonist.

Daniel is also the last character in the group. He is very shy and quiet and doesn't contribute to the group much. Noone really knows much about him and all the other characters are slightly wary of Daniel. He could also be seen as an antogonist.

Theme

The theme we chose for our radio drama was post-apocolyptic adventure, taking influences from genres such as sci-fi, action and also horror. Listening to radio dramas such as Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and War of the Worlds definately helped and influenced when deciding on a theme as all of the group members loved these two dramas in particular. We originally thought of a zombie apocolypse horror, however we thought the whole story and ideas were a bit predictable and not original enough. We wanted to create a drama that would be memorable and individual and felt this was not the direction to go in. We all agreed that a theme such as a nuclear fallout was original and interesting, and could be portrayed in such an intriguing way on the radio.

Influences

My group (Alex Martin, Joe Frost and me) all came to the conclusion of a zombie/post-apocolyptic/nuclear sci-fi thriller kind of radio drama. We decided that this was influenced by the game 'Fallout 3'. We also took inspiration from films such as Cloverfield and 28 days later.

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone was originally a very successful television series and then much later was developed into a radio drama in 2002. It is that of the science fiction genre, which influences from the horror genre also.

The episode I listened to was 'The Thirty Fathom Grave', I was geniunely scared by this radio drama and therefore found it very interesting and enjoyed listening to it.

Much like The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and The War of the Worlds, The Twilight Zone relys heavily on sound effects. For example, this particular episode was set on a ship, and we heard sound effects that you would normally hear out at sea. This gave us a sense of location, even though we didn't have visuals.

Theories

Throughout learning about radio and in particular radio dramas, I have learnt about many different theories that I can apply to my drama. Theories such as Todorov and his 'equilibrium' theory, Strauss and his 'binary opposites' and Propp and his fairytale characters. These can all be applied to radio dramas and helped massively in the creative process.

Todorov:
Todorov stated that all films/programmes etc should begin with an 'equilibrium' (a state of calm), then an 'agent of disruption' comes along and causes a disequilbrium (a period of distress). This problem should then be resolved by the protagonist and therefore causes a brand new equilbrium. This is narrative theory and can sometimes be classed as 'The Hollywood Narrative' as it is the most common.

Strauss:
Strauss suggested that the main focus in a narrative is conflict and he stated that this can be caused mainly by binary opposites clashing. A few example of these are 'hell and heaven', 'good and bad', 'black and white' and 'fire and water', but these are often represented through actual characters.

Propp:
Vladimir Propp conducted a theory in the twentieth century about narrative and character representation. He stated that their are eight key characters and these are he hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father. A character can often have a few of these traits in a drama.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a hybrid genre combining science fiction and comedy. It was a series written by Douglas Adams and aired in 1978. I particularly enjoyed this radio drama as I hadalready seen the feature film and read the books which were later adapted after the radio drama was an absolutely huge success.

I found that in this particular drama the sound effects were absolutely vital to the piece as it enhanced the location and let our imaginations run (which is a key component when thinking of radio dramas). As the drama is set in space, we hear futuristic and unusual sounds that we would automatically associate with space and science-fiction.

Another convention used heavily in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is the use of voice and accents. They are a very effective tool when there is no visual to focus on. An example of this is when the 'Vogons' are speaking, the antogonistic characters in the drama speaks with a more upper-class accent with a ruthless tone presented into their voice. This is a complete contrast in comparison to the demolition workers with their regional accents which implies their lower class status and perhaps are seen as more vunerable.

War Of The Worlds!

War of the Worlds was a radio drama aired on Halloween in 1938 by Orson Welles. This particular radio drama cause a huge controversy and buzz and may be known as one of the most critically acclaimed dramas ever to be made on the radio.

Due to the clever scheduling times, many listeners tuned in after the drama had already started, and therefore what they heard they believed to be real. Listeners had missed the initial introduction stressing that this drama was fiction. The context of the drama was completly misinterpreted causing mass hysteria and a sense of general panic. War of the Worlds was recorded in the style of a normal radio broadcast (which explains why listeners were confused). The theme was a horrific alien invasion, and when listening on air, this seemed geniunely real.

There were very typical radio drama codes and conventions included in ‘War of the Worlds’, for example the address was mainly used in a direct nature, this makes us feel more involved as listeners and gives the impression of reality. The accents were typically recieved pronunciation American,which were more common accents in the 1930s. There are also plenty of effective sound effects such as explosions, cannon fires and screaming. These all add to making the drama seem more real, and in the horror genre, seem more scary. However the music throughtout was very misplaced and extravagent, but Welles did this to create the effect of a real radio programme of the time.

Radio Genres

There are many different genres when it comes to radio, just like films. You can also come across hybrid and sub-genres in radio such as rom-com and black comedy.

Radio Conventions

There are four main aspects that are used when making a radio drama, these conventions make radio so unique:

1) Silence

2) Speech

3) Sound Effects

4) Music

These key codes and conventions are absolutely vital when it comes to radio production. They can help to create a picture in the viewers minds, help them understand the scenario and also enhance their imagination. Without visual help, the audio can take over the mind and make the imagination run absolutely wild. In particular, I find horror on radio much more terrifying than on screen. This is because my mind often gets the better of me when listening to a radio drama. The majority of the time our own brains can often think of something much intense than what the television of films can produce.

History of Radio

It is argued that radio is losing its value, especially with young people. However the media form radio has expaned massively over the past few years with the invention of internet and DAB radio, but how did it all start?

The first radio transmissions were in 1896 by Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), these were coded signals that reached approximately a mile. Marconi was an italian student studying at the University of Bologna. His inspiration for his work was from Hertz's theory and discovery of radio waves and signals, Marconi soon realised that radio waves could be used for sending and recieving data, information and messages.

However, voices on the radio did not emerge until 1921, again discovered by Marconi. There have been many disputes and court cases over who the actual inventor of the radio was, with many people suggesting Marconi was not the only man who made the discovery.

Nikola Tesla argued that he invented the 'radio' years prior to Marconi's discovery. Tesla had been experimenting with wireless telegraph and had invented a theoretical model for the radio in 1884. After many court cases for many years, it was finally renewed in 1943 that Nikola Tesla was indeed the inventor of the radio.

Radio is now a huge part of the media industry. There are more than 33,000 radio stations in the world and more than 2 billion radio sets being used. However, has the radio industry decreased as the television industry has been booming? Is the radio still as popular as it was?