Codes an Conventions

of Radio Dramas

Speech- This is the way

how it sounds. Most

radio stations have

people with loud,

distinct voices. An

example of this is ’North

Of Riga’, there is a

mysterious woman

giving something to

someone and she has a

quiet, weird voice giving

the audience the

impression something is

not like.

Music & Ambience- In radio, these are essential because there are no visuals, where in visual media, they aren’t

so much of an essential, more like something to set the mood. They use this at the start of the drama ‘North of Riga’ having light music with seagulls In the background to set the

scene.

Sound & Silence- Mostly,

silence is used to represent

the end of a topic or

dialogue. Sometimes in radio

they will speak of something

intense, maybe say

something interesting then

go silent. This can be

effective as it builds up

suspense for the listeners

although it has to be used

right. If the silence lasts to

long the viewer will generally

switch off the station. Radio

stations need to know how to

use the contrast of sound and

silence correctly, if they

speak to much without

stopping, people will get

bored or annoyed and switch

over. An example of this is in

drama ‘North of riga’ when

the girl goes to leave and

says bye, there is a brief

silence for people to ponder

on her words.

Words & Voices- As there is no visuals in radio, they need to be able to maintain viewers attention. They need to provoke a response from listeners, talking about popular/controversial topics, giving opinions. There is a reliance on words spoken and overall rapport with the listeners. They do this early one in ‘North of Riga’ mentioning ‘Witches’ which is generally an interesting topic it will make people want to listen on.

Aural• Aural signposting is used to establish a setting, usually when there is

no visual so listeners can get a grip of the scene setting. • This gives viewers an understanding of how they should interpret

the scene to be.• The different ways it can be used are, accents, vehicle sounds and

the easiest interpreted, background noises.

Examples of this convention:

An example of Aural Signposting used is in radio drama, ‘North of Riga’. As it opens, it slowly introduces the sounds of birds, and water swashing giving us the impression the setting is at a beach. Listen to it here:

Aural signposting is used equivalently in visual videos aswell for things like Eastenders, when introducing the program they may sometimes pan across the set where scene is being filmed and give people an understanding. Another way they use actual Aural signposting is if something largely anticipated is coming up at the end of a program, they may have someone speaking saying something that’s ‘big news’ but the camera isnt on them so it makes it more mysterious.

A cliffhanger ending is when a story is at an intense or important point and then it suddenly ends, leaving viewers and listeners not knowing what has happened and what will happen next. It is perfect for things like Soap Operas having the audience want to know what happens next, therefore having them watch the next episode, it maintains the audience’s attention. Although it has to be used correctly, if the technique is used, week in, week out every episode or to often, the audience will get bored and aggravated upon having to wait lengthy times to find out the story endings and they will stop watching the series.

Examples of its use:

• Visual-• A perfect example of where this is used in television is in Eastenders. There is

always one big story, and multiple side stories and occasionally an episode will end with a cliffhanger, relating a side story to the main story, which is clever as it raises the audiences standard of the program and keeps them watching the program.

• Another program that uses this is Dexter, in one scene Dexter kills a man and then as he is performing the act his sister walks in, the program then ends, keeping people wanting to know what her reaction will be.

Failure of its use: This technique also failed for some programs due to its over-use. The programs Lost, and Days of our lives, were reviewed to have used it to much and lost viewers attention span watching it because of it.

Audio-Aswell as in visual media, cliffhangers can be used in audio media, like in radio drama, The Archers, a good cliffhanger is used in this episode.Listen here:

• Fades and silences are used to generally create effect, signify an ending to a scene and to note a passage of time.

• They can be used in visual production and audio production. Visually by showing time lapses, slow fades to create drama. Silences are used to generally build suspense, if something big is being anticipated.

• For audio production, silence is used for the same reason, suspense. Also, fades are used at the beginning and end of audio productions.

Examples of its use:

• Visual-• It is used well in the hit series, ‘Breaking Bad’ as there a lot of

intense scenes, silence is used to increase tension exciting the audience. Also with the fades, they are used for the flashbacks which go on throughout the entire series used to help people remember things that build effect to the present episode.

• Audio- Fades in audio are usually used to signify an ending or start of a scene, for example in ‘North of Riga’ it slowly fades into sounds of seagulls and waves. Using silence in audio production is used in the same way as in visual, to create suspense and intensify scenes. Click on the icon for an example of sound fades and silence:

• Narration-the action or process of narrating a story. For audio productions, the audience are basically blind therefore need some help understanding things.

• Narrators act essentially as a guide to the audience talking them through things, so therefore the audience generally put trust into his words as they are the only things they can use to make out what is happening.

• Narration is also used in visuals but differently. For example, in a radio production narration would be used to describe to people what is happening, e.g, ‘’there is a knock at the door’’ but in visual productions the audience know this so don’t need reassurance. Instead it is used in ways to describe scenes and places.

Examples of its use:

• In visual production, one movie that uses narration a lot is ‘Lord of the Rings’. They describe the surroundings and past of the e.g ‘villages and armies’ to give viewers an understanding of what is going on.

• In audio production, it is used in ‘The Archers’ describing simple things that the audience need to know to make out the scene properly.

Titles + Credits• Titles and credits are generally used to show

an ending, or bookend a story.• For audio, it can give a simple list of key

figures in the production.

Example of its use:• In films like James Bond, they use the title feature to show

they are in new places and a new scene. Also, credits are used generally to list production roles, so all films will have these.

• In radio dramas, credits are used as a simple list of key figures in the production an example of where they use this is in radio production ‘The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror’. Click to listen

Target AudienceThe radio drama generally will always have to be apporpriate to its target audience. It is usually segregated through time of day, so for example something mid day, like ‘The Archers’ wouldn’t have any controversial topics or language because the audience could be anyone at this time.

Dramatic Reconstruction

Dramatic reconstructions are a clever technique, they are re-enactments of something that happened to someone in real life to give the audience a look at what actually happened. They usually consist of various sound effects and voiceovers.

Creation of Mood and Location

• Location can be distinguished from sound involved, for example in North Of Riga, the seagulls at the start show us they are near the sea or a beach.

• With mood, generally you can tell by the narrators voice how the mood is set. Direct speech is also needed for creating mood, for example ‘assertive talking’.

Radio Drama Styles

• Radio dramas consist of four different styles:Post ModernAdaptationTraditionalKitchen Sink

Traditional:Traditional style generally entails sound effects to help the viewer understand what is happening. This is partially used in ‘North Of Riga’ when they use birds and beach noises to set the scene.

Adaptation:The style of adaptation is when things on TV, usually films, and also books get converted into a radio production. One famous one this was done for was star wars.

Post modern: Postmodern productions generally talk of hard truth, trying to make the audience understand in their own way.

Kitchen SinkA kitchen sink drama talks about relative issues, an example of this is ‘The Archers’.

examples of its use:

Duration

The duration of a radio drama has to be well thought of because the audience can switch it off anytime therefore making it to long wouldn’t be recommended but they don’t want to make it too short. Usually episodes last around 30minutes. The only time audience may want or expect the episode to be longer is when watching an omnibus which can last hours. Listen here:

Narrative Structure

Narrative structure is having some sort of order and understanding of the story so the audience can make out what is happening.

Development of plotThe plot is made In a linear order. So the audience can get an understanding of what is happening. Also characters build up gradually and link into storylines together. All this is done by the sound effects used, general codes and conventions and how the script is sorted.