Radio Drama : Codes and conventions

by Natalia Rogalska

What is radio drama ?

Radio drama, commonly known as radio play, is a dramatized, purely audio performance that is usually broadcast on radio, tape or CD. With no visual component, this performance relies on dialogue, music and sound effects so as to help the listener visualize the story and characters.

Codes and conventions

Codes and conventions are forms of media that helps to make a final piece. The Codes are the elements that have to be included in the production, and conventions are elements that listener expect to hear.

SCRIPTIt is very important to have a script, without it radio drama cannot be produced. Script contains all the information that you need for your production, for example important cues for dialogue, music and sound effects. This helps to understand writer’s intentions on how the production should be looking. It also helps to be organized for everyone who is taking part of that production.

MUSICMusic at the background of the radio drama creates atmosphere and heighten emotion. Music keeps the story moving by giving it colour and holds the attention of the listener. There is different kinds of background music, for example for a horror radio play music would sound darkly and mysterious. Romance would contain romantic orchestral themes depicting different emotions etc.

Sound effectsSound effects are the records that you can hear it at the background of the radio play. They add realism to the production and give a clear idea what is going on in the story. It helps the audience imagine the situation. However, sometimes sounds effects make the dialogue or monologue harder for listeners to follow. This is why in many radio plays we can hear a silence, which keeps the audience tense and curious. However, silence should not be too long.

SpeechEach radio drama has different characters whose job is to make the radio drama more interesting, by changing their voices or having different accents. This shows various personalities of the characters from the story, and make the audience want to spend more time listening to it.

Signposting

is the technique for establishing the location at the beginning of a scene. This is done by effects, spot or FX, and sometimes backed by description.

If a new location, especially an outside location, is being established, the audience will need more time to absorb this information. So the scene will be established in this way: the beach - sea waves - with a seagull (though that is now a cliché), the ambience of a crowded street.

Examples of signposting (realism)• dog barking• mowing the lawn• old-fashioned shop door bell• knock on door• walking in outside acoustic• inside car acoustic, with traffic

Cliff-hanger

A "cliffhanger" is a major event at the end of a chapter or film episode, one that leaves the viewer/reader in suspense, eager to know what happens next.

It that leaves the viewer/reader in suspense, eager to know what happens next. It is often used to help keep people interested in its resolution (e.g. in soap operas and therefore increase the potential audience.

The term is connected to early movie serials, more than one of which featured a hero falling or being thrown from a cliff. When the next episode was shown, there would usually be some new factor that helped him survive (e.g. a ledge, a lake, or a tree), or a scene showing that he was not the person who actually fell.

Flashbacks

Shift in a narrative to an earlier event that interrupts the normal chronological development of a story.

Use of Fades

You can use fades when changing a scene. You can also use fades to show distance, for example if someone is walking away and you hear the voice getting quieter you know how far they have walked away.

Narration

Narration is done by someone who has a clear voice so they can be understood by the listener. They mainly speak in third person.

Genreis the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or entertainment, e.g. music, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are

formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones are discontinued. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.

Radio drama conventions chart

GENRE OF PROGRAMME : CRIME, HORROR, ROMANCE, ETC

What types of the following were included in the programme whilst you were listening?• Speech• Sounds• Music • Silence

Who is the audience for this type of genre? Age, gender, social class etc.

BloodyScotland

Links• Bloody Scotland: http://www.bbc.co.

uk/iplayer/episode/b03bq5tv/Bloody_Scotland_Waiting_with_the_Body/

• The Rivals: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03bdw8c/The_Rivals_Series_2_The_Clue_of_the_Silver_Spoons/

• What do you think about these radio dramas?

• How would you describe it ?