Codes & ConventionsBy Smiles

CODES

Words & VoicesWith radio, there is an obvious lack of visuals so you have to imagine what is going on, and to do that you need to have an interesting voice and be saying stuff that will keep you listening.

Radio will always have to evoke a response from the listener. This makes the listener reliant on the wording of the script and what they’re saying.

Music & Ambience Music and ambient music is often used throughout music just to settle a mood of a scene and help people relax or get emerged into the realism an drama of the scene.

With radio, it’s very effective because you are solely focusing onto all sounds that are being played.

With radio, this becomes more essential due to the lack of visual cues for the audience.

Sound & SilenceWithin the radio drama, they use silence to their advantage to add suspense to the situation/scene.

The silence has to be used well though, because if you leave it to go on for too long, the user will lose interest in the show.

The silence is also used to mark the ending of scene and will break off the dialogue.

Although you can have too much silence, you can also have too little. If you had too little silence, then the audience would not know the cut between the scenes. It is crucial to get the right amount of time of a break between them.

SpeechSpeech is the way that the words are spoken and presented in the radio drama. This can vary from the tone of their voice, the accent they are speaking in and even pitch and volume.

All these points are crucial throughout the radio drama because they can affect certain emotions and feelings towards a character and is also a way to entice the listener.

CONVENTIIONS

Aural SignpostingAural Signposting is where the setting of the scene is established and created using other sounds and music. This is usually done through the accents of the characters, ambient noise like vehicle sounds for the background. This is in the place of visuals so you can imagine the scene without them.

Use of Fades & SilencesOften throughout cinema and television, they use fades and silences to change the scenery and pace of the film. This is used throughout radio dramas as well because it impacts a lot harder than with visuals shown.

This is because you have nothing else to concentrate on so you have to pay attention to the audio and nothing else. They’re used to note the passage of time and dramatic effect.

Narration & Direct SpeechWith no visuals in a radio drama, this means that the audience is essentially blind and has to create the environment that has been presented to them.

A narrator is breaking the “Fourth wall” and tends to talk directly to the listener. This is so that the listener can have a better understanding of the situation.

Cliff-hanger EndingsUsed in both audio and visual dramas as a way of keeping the interest of the listener.

BY not giving them everything, the writer keeps them interested while allowing the listener to have their own experience.

Titles & Credit sTitles & Credits can be used to bookend the story. Simple audio list of key figures in the production.

STYLES

TraditionalConsists of a strong storyline that involves a narrator and many characters. There is usually a problem or dilemma the characters are working towards solving.

AdaptationWhere a script takes an idea or concept and adapts it for a difference medium or audience

SoapSame as Kitchen Sink but with elements of danger and usually based around an area rather than the home.

Kitchen SinkBased around the idea of a family in an

everyday home.

Post-ModernUnlike traditional dramas where problems and questions are solved – Post-modern radio drama, there are more questions being raised and it is up to the audience to answer themselves