Radio drama pres script

War Of The Worlds 
War of the Worlds is a radio drama produced and created by Orson Wells and the Mercury Theater group, produced by CBS radio in the 1940′s

Codes and Conventions:
This particuarly famous radio drama is such for a number of reasons, perhaps the most important is not just in the way the drama uses the codes and conventions previously set but also due to the fact that arguably it created a few. (In the sense that people genuinely believed it to be fact)
The piece begins when the radio announcer starts with the normal conventional greeting for any radio drama/broadcast of that period – “Ladies and gentlemen” and continues to note cast and crew for this production, it also includes introductory music which was and still is a common convention of radio dramas today. As a side not those who didnt hear the introduction, and many didnt, thought this broadcast to be factual. This was achieved predominantly by the interruption of apparently "live" music for an urgent news update, this technique was essentially a two birds with one stone issue. It was used not only to catch the audiences attention but also to draw them in, it worked.
omgThe news bulletin then cuts to a small interlude of music which was common of the time only to lead on to a "factual" interview with Scientist Prof Pearson.

During the supposed interview the use of background noises and effects such as cogs clicking to insinuate actually being in the observatory as the scientist "view's the sky". The realism is ramped up through the conversation the interviewer and scientist are having. Both with accents typical of their respective professions during this period. This may seem like a small aspect of the drama but in actual fact it increases the realism of the piece. Both appear to be well spoken and intelligent. Especially the scientist, because of this we are coaxed in to believing what he says without question and explains what he see's with both clarity, confidence and the use of uncommon scientific terms.
The piece then cuts to another ‘live’ news report with a journalist, interviewing a person who displays a lack of knowledge, of proper interview etiquette (he doesn’t follow the conventions of when to speak, he rambles on and also stands to close to the mike on more than one occasion) this is purposeful in the breaking of conventions, when actually sticking by those very same conventions. The interviewee is being asked live and because of such and the situation he is in would be all flustered and panicked, this again adds to the realism of the show.

The general feeling of the opening 10 minutes of the piece is one of sincerity, importance and concern. The music used in the interludes is dour and sets a somber tone for the upcoming pieces of dialogue, after all this is supposed to be an end of the world scenario, mankind given odds of 1000/1 survival chances.
The narrative is run by the new reporter, again adding to the realism of the show. It works excellently as setting the perfect picture in our minds. Radio drama's rely on a "theater of the mind" concept, this means that you rely on the audience creating your set, your actors and to a certain extent the context of the piece. The narrative in this drama is fairly restricted in what it allows the audience to create, i put a large part of the shows success down to this. By restricting the audiences ability to go and give something a completely different meaning compared to what you intended gives the show an enormous amount of power over the audience and this was reflected in the subsequent fallout. 

How does it abide to the conventions or not?
 This drama i think uses all the conventions of Radio Dramas well, every aspect of it is done to the extreme in order to convince the audience of the shows realism. It uses sounds, music, tone and dialogue to all of its advantages. The people in positions of authority eg. the news reported and scientists etc all sound as you would expect them to, prim proper and professional. This cohereses the audience in to believing what they are saying. 

The little music used in this drama is in tune with the general feel of the entire show. The entire point of the show is believability, without this War Of The Worlds would never have been to phenomenal success it was. They achieved this by not only utilizing the conventions at hand but also challenging them. They did this in the sense through having purposeful elements that were typical of radio during that time. For example during one short sequence it appears the entire show drops out, something completely normal and expected of radio back then, radio signal dropped out alot so this wasn't out of the norm for the listener and so aids in convincing them of the dramas realism. 

The way each of the voice actors perform perfectly to help us get further and further entrenched in the show. I think interestingly while all these things work in unison wonderfully to create a timeless piece of radio its interesting to discuss the mentality of the time. Fairly shortly out of war the country is already still in a sense of fluxing alert and paranoia. As well as the country still feeling the effects of The Great Depression. And finally the fact that radio hadn't been around too long and was still a fairly "new" invention by 1930's standards. All of these factors can be easily overlooked, i think all of these things combined mixed with a bit of trickery from Orson Wells make for the perfect climate for widespread panic and belief. In hindsight this was a bit of a silly thing to do taking all of this in to account.

Style

The style of this drama is one of acute accuracy and perfect conviction in order to achieve its goal. The way that this story was told at the time was to use techniques to make the transmission seem as life like as possible. For example using typical radio failures of the time to further convince the audience of the show legitimacy shows clearly the creators intention. 

Structure

part I: Announcer – Orson Welles: Introduction
part II: Announcer – Announcer three: radio show starts / plays music
part III: Announcer three – (ECHO CHAMBER): Music interrupted for news
part IV: Phillips – (FADE IN PIANO PLAYING): Interview with Professor Pierson
part V: Announcer two – (CRASH OF MICROPHONE): report on the Wilmuth’s farm, Grover’s Mill, New Jersey
part VI: Announcer – Announcer (You are listening to a CBS presentation…): explanation that it is just a radio play
part VII: PIERSON – (MUSIC SWELLS UP AND OUT): dialogue between Pierson and Stranger
part VIII: Orson Welles and Announcer: explanation for the joke and the end


The Lord Of The Rings
 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTledKaqoJ4 - Minds Eye Porduction's

Codes & Conventions
During the opening minutes of the piece you can instantly tell what sort of production this is going to be. The narrator takes instant queue to begin setting the scene and briefly introducing you to the predominant characters that will undoubtedly feature.
In the opening moments the narrators words are backed by gentle pipe music (typical of the tale at hand). Shortly in to the opening a female voice essentially annotates what the narrator is saying, this adds a little diversity in to keep the audiences attention, opposed to being caught up in the mundanity and uniform tone of the narrator.
As the narrator leads us in to the first seen there is a rabble of noise, clearly a group of people restless with anticipation. A much clearer and authorative voice then speaks up, in the form of Ham Gangee. We hear the response of the audience to what Ham is saying. this is clearly some sort of discussion in regards to Frodo moving in with Bilbo. The way these people talk, strained and unfamiliar indicates to the audience that these are not normal people. These are the creation of fantasy, to insinuate such a point within the opening 2 minutes and with only a few lines of dialogue is quite a feat in my opinion.
The use of natural sounds such as trees swaying in the breeze and the chirps of birds in the background may be easily overlooked but shouldn't be, these small things tell us where we are. What our surroundings are, while these noises are subtle and could potentially not be consciously noticed, on a sub conscious level I think the audience takes in these sounds without particularly thinking about it and instinctively factions these pieces of information in to creating the surroundings in which this story lives.
We are then returned to the stabilizing tone of the narrator, a convention the will evidently be used prominently throughout to keep the story and audience on track. As soon as he begins to set the scene for us again there is the faint sounds of hooves on cobbled ground. As the narrator goes on to illuminate the audience on the gossip of the town, a planned firework display so large it is never before seen in the shire, the hooves grow louder. Only then is it revealed that the man riding the cart is Gandalf. During the description of Gandalf sounds of children, laughter and running begin to rise around the narrator only to lead in to Gandalfs opening dialogue.
An essential depth of field is used through the opening scenes to indicate a degree of distance for the audience, this is demonstrated excellently during the arrival of Gandalf. The same can be said for establishing sound effects and voices, the piece does not hold silence exclusively for the narrator. As he talks and gives us important information about whats happening we are treated to the sounds and goings on behind his voice. This is a really useful tool in my opinion, as by simply adding the sound effects your were already going to a little earlier behind the narrator you set the tone for the entire scene. The audience can tell whats coming, it can be dark or light, serious or flippant, scare or inviting. All this can be achieved while the narrator is still giving us all the salient details before ultimately travelling seamlessly between the narrative and the upcoming scene.

Does it abide   
Not only does this particular radio drama follows the rules, it literally seems to be a tribute entirely to the Codes  & Conventions of Radio Drama. It follows every single rule to the dot. From the use of music to seperate scenes or to set the tone behind dialogue. Or be it the dialogue used by the characters, easily aiding the audience to build a staunch image quickly in their mind. They do this with not just the style of langue used but the dialects of the characters and the unfamiliar non-societal styles of voice we as non hobbits are not used to. Every voice I heard within this piece was distinguishable from the last, each had ticks and pronunciations that made it and easy and relatable way to become familiar with each character.
The use of the narrator was tuned perfectly, he was frequent enough to keep the audience drawn in with his summations, back stories and segways but at the same time was diverse enough in his own vocal range and irregular enough to allow the story to flow, not only that but for the audience to build a report with the characters without being constantly interrupted by the narrator.
Sounds were used lavishly throughout, twas as if each scene, discussion or explanation was accompanied by a wealth of sound effects to further "theater of the mind" theory we briefly discussed earlier. From the firework display at the shire to a quiet evening with Bilbo and Gandalf, sounds annotate exactly what was going on in the room or setting the audience is supposed to be a part of. Even down to the fine details of cups clinking or fire wood splitting.
So in my opinion yes i do agree that this piece does abide by the conventions established within the world of radio dramas.


Style 

From a stylistic perspective this was produced to focus primarily on the character development and focusing on story line. I think the reason that they did this was down to the fact that you cannot use visuals such as in  film or on television and so to give a well known story a different perspective. A perspective in which the audience can dictate the settings and can imagine the characters appearance to their own requirements. I think this adds a whole new aspect to a story. As an avid listener of audiobooks and audio pieces I personally enjoy to freedom allowed create my own world within a prefixed context.