Unit 41 - Radio Drama

41.1 - Understand Codes And Conventions Of Radio Drama Genres

Introductory Task: Using the information provided in this section write a magazine article for a modern day publication explaining the events that have just been described to you. Consider: Audience reaction, why did some of the audience react in the way they did? Why was radio drama such a powerful medium?

War Of The Worlds Magazine Article
‘War Of The Worlds’ radio drama by Orson Welles, evil hoax? Or an example of how the media can control people? The infamous radio broadcast graced the air on the 30th of October 1938 intended to be an entertaining adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel ‘War Of The Worlds’. The program started out with an introduction from the novel then a weather report and smoothly ran into an ordinary music show playing classical music that was actually the CBS orchestra with the direction of Bernard Herrmann. The music was frequently interrupted my news reports, the first few were about strange explosions being sighted on the surface of the planet Mars. The interrupting news reports slowly got more and more alarming until eventually there were reports of flying saucers spewing poison gas all over the country.

The effect this broadcast had on the people of the USA was staggering. Over a million citizens believed the news reports to be real. People fled from their homes for fear of losing their families and their lives. People ran through streets with towels covering their mouths because they were afraid of inhaling the poison gas. Others took a more offensive approach and wielded firearms. In the space of one hour Orson Welles had caused social disarray across America with a simple fictional radio broadcast. This example really does scream the question; how powerful is the media?

Of course we must remind ourselves that this incident occurred over 70 years ago and people today might be a little less naïve before jumping to the conclusions that the public did then. But isn’t the media more powerful today than it was back then? The grip that the media has over the ever-distracted public only seems to grow stronger by the day in our rat race fueled society. The newspapers at the time took to this event with intentions to give radio a bad name seen as it was a new form of media and could damage their industry. Back then newspapers were not held to the standards in which they are today so they could be “expansive” on how many people were affected by the broadcast. We must remember that nothing like this had been aired on radio before consequently people were accustomed to accepting all newsflashes as being reliable. It must be said that the broadcast sounds somewhat graphic in parts with screams, explosions and ‘heat ray’ sounds. The monument in the picture is the only one in the USA dedicated to an event that never actually happened. It’s a depiction of the Martians landing and is situated at Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, the location where the ‘Martians landed’.

There is an excellent part at the end of the drama where a ham radio operator can he heard saying; “2X2L calling CQ … Isn’t there anyone on the air? Isn’t there anyone on the air? Isn’t there… anyone?” I imagine that at the time this part of the broadcast would be reasonably frightening. It is sometimes stated that the attack on Pearl Harbor was received in skepticism by the American public as a result of Orson Welles’ broadcast. So my friends, I leave you with this thought, what if you heard and/or saw something along the same lines? Would you believe it without question? Or confront it with question?



Task 1: Using some of the websites listed below, choose 3 radio dramas of different genres and write an analysis of each using the notes above and in the picture below.

The Archers
Voice
Pitch; There were numerous voices in The Archers so I can’t establish a universal pitch for all the voices. The pitch of the men’s voices was the average pitch for a male voice, ‘Pussy Cat’s’ voice was of average pitch for a woman’s voice too.
Volume; The volume of the people’s voices is average because they’re just talking in a civilized manor, but at one point two men are shouting and the volume levels of the voices are raised to a certain extent, but apart from that there are no real volume changes and it’s not particularly loud.
Texture; The texture of the men’s voices are reasonably smooth, you could say that the voice Ed was slightly rougher than the other man’s because he had a sort of ‘farmer’ accent. The texture of ‘Pussy Cat’s’ voice was definitely smooth because the majority of the time she was trying to calm Ed down, but even when she wasn’t trying to calm him down her voice was still smooth, this could be partially due to the fact that she’s a woman and they tend to have smoother voices.
Rhythm; I think that The Archers has a reasonably consistent rhythm apart from the part where Ed’s and Brian’s voices were raised. The words seem to flow smoothly and constantly.
Tone; The tone of Ed’s voice throughout The Archers seems worried, stressed and anxious. Whereas ‘Pussy Cat’s’ tone is calming, soothing and somewhat reassuring. Brian’s tone is apologetic ands sensitive about Ed’s situation.

Cultural Codes
Accent; Ed has a slight ‘farmer’ style accent whereas Brian and ‘Pussy Cat’ both have a Standard English accent.
Target Audience; I think that the primary target audience could be middle-class, educated middle aged to elderly people. The secondary target audience could be working & middle-class people of a variable education.
Genre; The genre of The Archers is a Radio Drama soap opera.



Alan Partridge ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’
Target Audience; I expect a lot of people would find this program funny, but I don’t think it would be aimed at younger people. The primary target audience could be people aged from 16 – 40 and possibly working class. The secondary target audience could be people aged from 40 upwards maybe there could be a small middle-class audience.
Genre; It’s a chat show spoof comedy, featuring witty humor. Alan Partridge comes across as big headed, inconsiderate and slightly sexist but this all adds to the comedy element and we as an audience know that in real life he most probably isn’t like this at all but to act like it is funny. He makes fun of people in the program, which is completely juxtaposed to how a chat show is usually conducted creating humor. He involves political jokes about things such as communism and he links it to known stars, again creating ‘underhanded’ comedy. Alan Partridge often reminds everyone that it’s ‘his’ show and he takes the roll of the lead very well and is often rude to people who he feels are stealing his limelight creating a comical sort of jealousy. The show follows most of the conventions of an actual chat show but adds witty humor and the humor that a spoof brings to things.
Voice; Alan Partridge’s voice is very funny as he tries to come across as slightly middle-class and the pitch of his voice rises and falls very frequently creating a funny sounding voice. Hearing a middle-class sounding man make fun of people and be impolite towards people is not something often heard therefore it’s funny. There is a man on the show who sounds very upper-class and speaks in a perfect standard English dialect and sort of adopts the same attitude of Alan partridge but has less of a lead roll. The extended signification of Alan Partridge’s voice is that he’s middle-class, but this contrasts with his personality as he is rude, impolite and sometimes comes across as uneducated. In one of his shows there is the sound of him hitting a child, which is obviously acted out because if this was real it would be the end of any actor’s career but it’s funny because this would never be tolerated on the radio or the TV.

‘The Now Show’
Genre; The Now Show is a comedy show on BBC 4; it features parodies of various celebrities and other TV and radio programs along with a Bob Dylan ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ parody at the end. The format is set out sort of like a sketch show, but with people talking in between the sketches. The program also contains original humorous material concerning politics, celebrities and general affairs. The comedy featured contains content that I think the slightly more educated listener would appreciate. The show is performed in front of a live studio audience therefore there’s frequent laughter. I think that the humor is very witty and the pace of the show is reasonably quick but not so quick that you can’t keep up with the jokes just quick enough so that people don’t get bored.
Target Audience; I think the primary target audience would be reasonably educated 16 – 40 year olds and the secondary target audience would be anyone from 18 upwards. The mix and variety of comedy sets out to cover a lot of different topics in a humorous fashion in order to please everyone’s sense of humor.
Voice; The voices of the people presenting the show are well-spoken and standard English. When the people are doing a sketch and/or parody they often do impressions of celebrities or overly silly voices to heighten the comedy element. I think that the extended signifier of the people’s voices is that them themselves are reasonably educated so if we compare this to the target audience that I referenced earlier this is a form of personal identity as suggested by the uses and gratifications theory.




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

Crime

Sci-Fi

Horror




Unit 41.2 - Be Able To Produce Proposals And Treatments For Radio Drama
Hansel & Gretel Radio Drama Parody

Task 3: A mind map of your ideas


















Task 4: Produce 2 x proposals briefly stating different ways of presenting your drama; including ideas on narrative, sound FX, locations, characters, music beds e.t.c.

Hansel & Gretel
Proposal 1
The plot is going to be basically the same as the one in the old fairytale except its going to be set on a council estate. I think this will give the story a somewhat urban twist and I think it will be easier to incorporate comedy this way. For example; the house made out of sweets is going to be a McDonald’s on the outskirts of the estate run by child-flesh hungry employees. Places like McDonald’s will be useful in creating a more real environment, something the listener can relate to their everyday life. It will be a single strain narrative, a typical convention of the children’s fairytale genre. The target audience could be 14 years and up based on the content and the sense of humor.

Instead of being a poor woodcutter Hansel and Gretel’s father is an unemployed alcoholic, the same as their stepmother. When the parents can’t afford to take care of their kids anymore they kick them out on the street. Hansel is a 15 year old typical teenage boy and Gretel, a 13 year old typical teenage girl. The two kids end up at the McDonald’s on the outskirts of their estate which is coincidentally run by employees who enjoy eating children. The rest of the plot is fairly straight forward, following the classic fairytale format. The stereotype of Hansel and Gretel is that they’re “rough” council estate kids who will take anything they can, which is more or less true. This is why they take the free food given to them at McDonald’s by the evil employees. The sound effects featured in my production will be a mix of ones I’ve made myself and ones I’ve downloaded from the internet.

Proposal 2
I was thinking for a second idea that Hansel & Gretel could be set in the future where man has developed a civilization on the moon and in-turn loads of crazy technology. I think this would add a new twist to the story and make it interesting in it's very own way. Again the plot would be pretty much the same but with my own take on it such as the introduction of new technology and new ways of doing every day things. For example instead of the father leading his children out into the woods he's going to pretend to take them for a ride in his flying car and drop them off in the middle of nowhere. From here on the story will pretty much be the same as the original but have slight changes in how they go about doing things because it is set in the future. Instead of it being an old lady's house it will be a holographic house of candy, the holographic house will be being projected by a dirty old cannibal man who, once Hansel & Gretel are hypnotically walking towards the hologram, speeds up to them in his vehicle and kidnaps them. The rest of the story is pretty easy to work out because the place of the old lady is taken by this old man who does the same thing as she does.

Crash Landing
Proposal 1
My initial idea for ‘Crash Landing’ was that there’s a plane taking passengers on holiday, but at some point during mid-course the plane suffers a malfunction and crashes on an island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean unknown and unrecorded to man. The inhabitants of the island are mysterious and unknown but soon make their presence known. I think that this idea falls under the adventure genre and the primary target audience would be 14 – 30 year olds of a mixed gender. The secondary target audience could be everybody else, as the adventure genre has a very wide audience. The island is high in vegetation, which will be mentioned, so it’s hard to see where anything is henceforth creating enigma throughout the drama.

The pilots of the plane die in the crash along with a few other people which leaves a group of survivors. A 23 year old male named Seth is one of the stars and he has a son named Michael who is 12. Seth’s girlfriend and Michael's mother died in the crash leaving them both heartbroken. Throughout the adventure Seth becomes great friends with a woman named Jessica who is the same age as him. These three characters are the focus of the group that’s stranded on the island. Later on in the drama Seth and Jessica could have some romantic moments because in a drama there is usually a romantic situation going on somewhere. I think my drama would be suitable for my target audience because I don’t intend for the content to be unsuitable for kids aged 14 but the drama will be advanced enough for adults to enjoy it too.

Proposal 2
My second idea is basically the same except they crash in the middle of the Atlantic ocean where there's no land and their mission is to find land. There is obviously heavy casualties due to drowning but a small group eventually organizes themselves and builds some sort of raft/boat and set off on their journey to find land. On their way they encounter a boat of pirates who attempt to take the survivors prisoner but in a stunning turn of events the group manage to overhaul the pirate ship and sail to safety along the West Coast of Africa.

Task 5: 2 treatments based on your proposals using as much relevant media language as possible

Hansel & Gretel Treatment


This is an example of a scene in the actual radio drama;

SCENE 1: *Window Smash, Dogs Barking, Children Playing, Shouting*
Dad: Hansel! Done your paper round?
Hansel: Yeh Dad.
Dad: Give us yer money then. Someone’s got to pay for your tea and me and yer mum are skint.

*Hansel reluctantly hands some pound coins to his father (Coins Jingling)*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can tell from the short exert above the target audience for my version of Hansel & Gretel is a little bit older than the original. The opening scene is going to open with the sound effects stated above which I think will set the atmosphere of a typical council estate. The first lines from Hansel & Gretel’s dad also help us to cast judgment over what sort of parent he is. Hansel & Gretel’s stepmother is also placed under the same stereotype as their dad soon enough. When Hansel & Gretel’s parents kick them out because they haven’t got enough money to look after their children and support their alcohol addiction, the children soon become hungry and go to the closest place they know that makes food, this being McDonald’s. Shortly after their arrival the children explain their situation to a seemingly kind McDonald’s employee who in turn offers them some free food each. The employees let the children live in the McDonald’s so long as they work. They also feed them lots and lots of food and eventually decide that they’re fat enough to be cooked themselves, little do the employees know that the children are well armed. When the employees strike the children fight back with their guns they’ve kept concealed and kill all of the cannibal employees.

Crash Landing Treatment
I think that the start of my drama will be very important in setting the standard for the rest of the program, so I intend for it to have a great mix of sound effects depicting a plane crash. Creating the audio for a plane crash is going to be hard but I’m going to try my best and hopefully it will make a great impact as the opening. When the people are on the island I intend for characters to be created instantly through conversation and small actions. I also intend for some people to get sick of each other early on, because some people just plain don’t mix, we see this almost everyday in our social lives. This applies to the personal relationships need as suggested by the uses and gratifications theory. I don’t want Seth to take the part as the leader of the group because I think that’s too generic and typical for a drama to follow the story of the leader. However Seth does possess some leadership skills which will become apparent throughout the drama.

The inhabitants of the island are to be a mystical race of strange monsters. No one knows how they got there or what they’re doing there, but they’re very organized and make sure that they’re watching all the survivors. There will be numerous hints within the drama that suggest that the survivors are not alone on the island this will help build suspense and create an enigma. This enigma will encourage the listener to keep on listening in hope of finding out what lurks on the island. There will be a situation in which Seth and his son become separated at the hands of the monsters, this will create ultimate tension and could be one of the most significant parts of the drama. Seth ends up being reunited with his son.

41.3 Be Able To Write A Radio Drama Script In A Specific Genre

Task 6: You should produce 2 scripts, one for each of the treatments from the previous task

Operation: 1138 Script
The scene begins with the sound of a door opening. Jessica, a small blonde woman in her 20s enters a small room where the rest of the group are waiting. The group consist of:

Roger, a small fat man
Charles, a tall middle class man, whose three piece suit had been ripped and damaged

Margret, Charles wife
Brian, a typical working class fellow who rises to the occasion
Jessica, an intellectual woman who has interests in Brian

[Door Opening]
JESSICA: Quick, the radio’s come back on!
[Chairs squeaking, feet rushing. The group rush out and gather round the radio in the next room. Radio tuning sounds]

[A Low moaning can be heard throughout]
BROADCASTER: Actual statistics are... in-consistent at present but It is clear that we are past the point of no return. The virus had spread throughout every major county in the world, and shows no sign of slowing down. If anyone is hearing this then we have taken sanctuary at Westmount Military base, if you can we urge any survivors to make their way here and join our colony. Over and out. [Radio Static]

JESSICA: Right, it’s obvious to me we need to go there then.

ROGER: The man said ‘if we can’, which we can’t, the city is over run! Why is it only a few of us that understand this!
BRIAN: Okay everyone keep their heads, whatever we do we need to stick together.
CHARLES: NO! Me and my wife are getting out off this... this horrible pig sty of a refuge, isn’t that right dear?
MARGRET: Yes! I am sick and tired of theses god awful people!
BRIAN: Well, sorry we don’t all live up to your standards Margret, but if we want to survive this then we have got to put up with each other!
CHARLES: Who made you the boss Brian! If I were running the show we would all be out here by now.
JESSICA: Where are you going to go? What are you going to do? If we’re leaving we have to leave together!
ROGER: Hey guys, has anyone got any food?
CHARLES: Shut up Rodger, all you think about is food! It’s hardly the main concern here. Me and my wife are getting out of here whether anyone wants to join us or not!

MARGRET: Hold on Charles, I think that...
CHARLES: Don’t question me Margret, I know what’s best!
JESSICA: Don’t talk to her like that you sexist pig!
BRAIN: CALM DOWN! We aren’t going to get anywhere by arguing

CHARLES: We aren’t going to anywhere by sitting in this god awful factory for the rest of our lives! I’ve got too much money at stake to just die in this squalid hell hole! Come on Margret!
[Feet moving away angrily]

MARGRET: Charles I...
CHARLES: SHUT UP WOMAN, You stay here with these rotten degenerates. I am protecting my WEALTH!
[Door opens and slams shut]

BRIAN: THE MINI!
[Group run through to the door, sound of a locked door]
BRIAN: It’s locked...
[Banging on door]
[Garage door opening]
[The constant moan of zombies gets slightly louder]
GROUP: Shouting at Charles
[Car sets off hitting several zombies]

BRIAN: Quick, follow me to the balcony; we can watch him from there.
[Extended footsteps, going up stairs]
[Heavy steel door swings open, Zombie moans at full force, birds above]
MARGRET: My god...
[Group stay silent, the moans grow louder]
[Car driving round a corner, getting increasingly louder]
JESSICA: There he is
ROGER: Wha- What’s that smoke coming from the car?
BRIAN: I never got the chance to fix it...
[Car breaking down]
MARGRET: No... NO CHARLES!
[Charles screams as the zombies smash the windows and rip him limb from limb]
[High Pitched scream from down stairs, feet speeding back up the stairs]
[Margret can be heard crying throughout]
JESSICA (Panting): They’ve got in! There In!
ROGER: What do you mean? They’ve got in?
JESSICA: The Zombies! They must have come through the Garage
[Margret gasps]
ROGER: No! Charles, he let them in and... And he stole our only escape. We’re doomed.
BRIAN: Don’t be stupid Roger; they are decomposing bodies for Christ sake. All we have to do it shut the garage door.
[A Zombie moans close by, Jessica and Margret both scream]
[Brian punches the zombie, sending it flying down the stairs]

BRIAN: and we have got to hurry up, or we’ll be over run. Roger I want you to grab the rifle once we get downstairs. Jessica, you need to watch my back. Margret...
[Margret stops crying]
BRIAN: Just... keep safe. LET’S GO!
[The group hurry down the stairs, the distant zombie moans get quieter, ones inside begin to moan louder]

JESSICA: Brian! Look out!
[Zombie moans loudly, Roger shoots the zombie, abrupt end to the moan of the zombie]
BRIAN: Good shot Roger, thanks.
ROGER: No time for thank you’s, get to the garage!
[More running and moaning remains constant]
BRIAN: Where’s the key?!
JESSICA: It was on the car keys…
BRIAN: SON OF A… Roger, get that one so I can get to the door.
[Gunshots, Distressed zombie moan]
BRIAN: thanks Roger…
JESSICA: Where’s Margret?
[Margret shuffles into the garage as Brian shuts the garage, she stands next to Roger]

BRIAN: Are you okay Margret? We wondered where you’d gone.
MARGRET: The virus has spread too far! You’re all going to die!
[Distorted voice, choking and wrenching as she chomps into Roger’s shoulder]
ROGER: ARGHHH
[Rifle drops to the floor]
BRIAN: Come on Jess! We’ve got to get out of here.
[Hoards of zombies pour into the garage as the pair run away]
JESSICA: They’re through!
[Brian picks up the rifle]

BRIAN: Get to the storage room! We can barricade ourselves in there!
[More running, opening the storage room door, slamming it behind them and propping a chair under the handle]
[Zombies pound on the door, walls and all around moans get louder.]
BRIAN: Two bullets left.



Hansel & Gretel Script
[Window Smash, Dogs Barking, Children Playing, Shouting]
[Hansel walks into the house after his paper round]
GRETEL: Hi Hansel.
DAD: Hansel! Done your paper round?
HANSEL: Yeh Dad.
DAD: Give us yer money then. Someone’s got to pay for your tea and me and yer mum are skint.

[Hansel reluctantly hands some pound coins to his father (Coins Jingling)]

DAD: Cheers son. Oh and yeh we can’t afford for you and your sister to live here anymore.

GRETEL: What!?

DAD: Yeh, me and your mum just can’t afford to have you anymore. You and Gretel best do one.
HANSEL: Pfff. Come on then Gretel.
[The kids walk out of the house and slam the door]
GRETEL: Well, what now?

HANSEL: I dunno do I?!
GRETEL: I’m hungry.

HANSEL: Me too.

GRETEL: McDonalds is the closest place that has food.

HANSEL: I 'ant got any money.

GRETEL: Me neither.

HANSEL: Well we might aswell go somewhere, we’ve got nowhere to go.

GRETEL: Yeh c’mon then.

[Classic traveling music]
[Footsteps, door open]
HANSEL: Right then we’re ‘ere. Now what?
GRETEL: I dunno, we’ll go sit down.

[Footsteps as they walk towards a table and sit down at it, the kids sigh]
GRETEL: What we gonna do then?
HANSEL: I dunno, but we need to find a place to sleep.

[An employee, who is cleaning, whistles nearby]
GRETEL: But where?
CLEANER: Sorry to bother you two but I couldn’t help but overhear you need somewhere to stay for the night, am I right?
BOTH: Yeh

CLEANER: Well look no further! So long as you work alongside us you can stay here! Are you hungry kids?

HANSEL: Not half.

CLEANER: I’ll go sort you out some grub then.

GRETEL: We ant got any money.

CLEANER: Oh that’s fine lovie.
[The cleaner walks off dragging his mop and bucket behind him]
HANSEL: Wow! Livin’ in McDonalds!
GRETEL: Yeh! This is gonna be well good!
[Jingle so signal that time has moved on, busy McDonalds ambience]
EMPLOYEE #1: Gretel! 2 Big Macs now!
GRETEL: ‘Ere you are.
EMPLOYEE #1: Thanks, take one for yourself.

GRETEL: Oh thanks a lot!
HANSEL: Ah, got a sweet life here sis.

GRETEL: I know, a place to sleep and free food, this is better than home.
HANSEL: Yeh, them guys who work here are a bit creepy though.

GRETEL: Yeh, I know what you mean.

HANSEL: Gretel, have you put on weight?

GRETEL: Hmmm. Well if I have you have.
HANSEL: I think we both have.
EMPLOYEE #1: You two! I want to see you both in the back, we’ll be closing in a minute.
GRETEL: Alright.

[Footsteps as the kids walk towards the back room]
HANSEL: I wonder what he wants to see us in here for.
GRETEL: Dunno.

[All of the employees walk into the back room]
EMPLOYEE #1: Now then. We’ve been feeding you for quite some time now haven’t we?

EMPLOYEE #2: Yeh looks like they’re fat enough.

HANSEL: Fat enough? Fat enough for what?

EMPLOYEE #1: Fat enough for the deep fat fryer you little pest!
[The Employees lunge for the kids as the kids pull out loaded guns, cock them and fire at the employees, numerous gunshots and screaming, bodies dropping to the floor then silence]
GRETEL: They were gonna cook us?!
HANSEL: Maybe they were, doesn’t matter anyway. They’re all dead now.

GRETEL: You do realize that we just murdered over 10 people.

HANSEL: Ermmm yeh.
GRETEL: And that doesn’t bother you?

HANSEL: Gretel seriously, how many times have we done this before?

GRETEL: Oh alright then.
HANSEL: Best get home any how. Someone’s gotta look after mum and dad.

GRETEL: True, c’mon then.
[Footsteps towards exit, ending music playing]


Task 7: To produce a radio drama using one of the scripts produced in the previous task

Operation: 1138




Task 8: Evaluate your product

Radio Drama Evaluation
Our original aim was to produce a short radio drama to entertain as well as fitting into certain conventions. In my opinion we did achieve this aim because I am entertained by what we've made, however we do lack listener feedback that would be good to display in our work. We did play Operation: 1138 to Danny's mum and step-dad one time and they both said it was great and they enjoyed Danny's acting. The primary target audience would be 16 - 40 because of the wide appeal that the horror genre has. We hoped that some of the characters would appeal to the listeners in terms of personal identity as suggested by the uses and gratifications theory. I don't think we ever set out to get messages accross in this piece of work so I can't comment on that, but in terms of messages as signifiers we have alot within the drama that usually come in the form of sound effects. We didn't cut off anyone's voice whilst editing the piece, we recorded all the dialogue in one sitting making it less work for the actors we got and just more efficient in general. We were then able to go away and cut up the audio piece and fit sound effects and the rest of the material in and around it. I think that if you're paying attention and following the storyline there is plently to keep the audience interested, we found that if you don't pay full attention to the storyline and what's being said you won't enjoy the drama as much and probably won't understand what's going on. We used many sound effects that we manually had to download from a reliable website called Sounddogs.com. We featured all manner of sound effects from zombie groans to screeching tyres to garage doors.

I think what's usually typical of the horror/thriller genre is: suspenceful music, Vladimir Prop's theory, character(s) being scared of something/someone, screams, unexplained noises, lack of humor, feelings of; panic, anxiety, bewilderment, fear. I think in another professional product of this sort you would still find the basic conventions of the horror genre, that being that there's something/someone that everyone's scared of/trying to avoid, the Vladimir Prop theory can be applied, feelings of; fear and panic are still created. Professionals have some advantages over us when it comes to making these things; they will have access to better quality sound effects, ability to apply for use of copyrighted music, ability to hire professional actors e.t.c. Our radio drama is very much single strand narrative because all of the events that take place revolve around the original group of people in some way. In the production of the drama I learned where and how to get free sound effects and incorperate them appropriately. I think a strength of our radio drama is the sound effects and how we edited each one to serve it's surpose perfectly. A weakness of our radio drama would be the acting, in places it doesn't sound too convincing and/or realistic. In my opinion I was a good team member because I put my full effort into the production; the script writing, treatments, proposals and editing. If I was to ne part of a similar project in the future I would make sure to plan every aspect in detail especially the script because the coordination of the sound effects is important. I think that the ability to create a setting, a set of characters and a storyline through audio signifiers and a script is a great and vital ability, one that is developed through making products like Operation: 1138.