When I first read the article featured in the previous blog, a rebellious little part of me thought "You know what? What does that Crook guy know? Well, quite a bit as it turns out.
I turned to the BBC and their site How to Write, which contains all sorts of useful tidbits about writing in various formats, including a radio play. (A bit odd if these never got off the ground in the UK, but I digress.)
The article "How to Write a Radio Play" is found here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/howtowrite/radio_struc.shtml
In the article, award-winning writer of radio plays, Mike Walker has a similar view to Crook:
"What
you're aiming to do at the beginning of a play is hit the ground
running. You don't want to spend time introducing, laying the ground
work and saying this and that. You just want to get in there and grab
the listener so that the drama is moving from the very second the play
begins."
But as I mentioned earlier, since each script runs at about two minutes each, I don't think that starting off slowly is going to hurt the play. It's slow, but it's short enough so that the listeners (hopefully) don't grow bored.
In terms of characters, they suggest no more than six characters in every half hour play. (Does that mean I need less in a shorter play? Probably) Each episode I've written so far consists of an Announcer and a Narrator (both voiced by me, but with different accents and vocal qualities) and no more than three named characters per episode. No more than two characters interact with each other at a time, which should keep it easier for listeners to tell who is who. The other advantage to this is that I require less actors.
"Each [character] will have their own individual speech mannerisms. Don't have them all speaking in your tone of voice."
Each voice I've already established within my scripts, is unique:
The Announcer: Loud and booming like an old-time ham radio personality.
The Narrator: Relatively neutral, very much like my own voice.
Drake Mandible: Smooth, cheerful, classy, reassuring or hard-edged when needs to be.
Nickelby: Archetypal British butler, mature, measured voice.
The Assassin: Low and sultry, with an indeterminable European accent.
The Computer: Electronic (like that lady you hear on your message bank)
Jake Mandible: Can be similar to Drake (they ARE brothers after all) but a bit higher. Rougher around the edges, with a surfer dude/ bogan quality. Perpetually friendly.
This encourages my actors to test their versatility with characters that are noticeably different from each other.
As the series progresses, I will be slowly introducing more characters, which may necessitate finding more actors for these roles.
Walker then explains the need to establish the characters early on, which I hope I've managed to do with the first lines of each character:
The Announcer: THE ADVENTURES OF DRAKE MANDIBLE (Audience instantly knows this is the announcer)
Drake: My goodness, what a magnificent morning! (Suggests intelligence/masculinity and also sets up the precedence for Drake being a little old fashioned.)
The Assassin: Mr Mandible, I presume. (Mysterious, beguiling and possibly a little dangerous)
Jake: Hey, hey, little bro! (Perpetually cheerful, laid back demeanour)
Again, once the story progresses, the characters will change and develop further but for now, these first lines of dialogue establishes the characters as they stand.
That's about it this time. Stay tuned, ladies and Gents ;)
Nate.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Write Pun Here.
While researching how to write radio plays, stumbled across a fellow by the name of Tim Crook. While I was unable to acquire a copy of his book Radio Play, I was able to find an article of his entitled "Principles of Writing a Radio Drama" in which he had some choice things to say about the matter.
He opens with:
"Most radio drama is very badly written. Radio Drama is an endangered species. It has never taken hold of mainstream programming on commercial radio in the UK. It used to be mainstream in the States and in Australia, but lost out to TV in the mid to late fifties."
Cheery stuff.
However, I can't say I entirely agree with this statement.
Okay, yes, there are VERY few radio stations that still play any kind of serialized adventures, and it certainly has been overshadowed by television. Yet even the colossus that is the idiot box is beginning to lose out to the internet. If these mediums are to survive, they must adapt. Just as many TV series are available to download onto our computers when it suits us, Audio Drama has found a second (if smaller) life online in the form of Podcasts. Groups such as Pendant Productions, RadioLovers and On Air are dedicated to bringing back the serialized adventure to the ears and minds of people everywhere.
And that's what I want to achieve with the audio adaptation of Drake Mandible.
Mr. Crook also provides a set of rules and guidelines for writing and developing a successful radio play. Sadly I've not really adhered very close to some of them.
Basically, the beginning of the series is a big deal, it's make or break. Crook explains what he calls the "Moment of Arrival" in which you drop the readers into the story, right in the middle of the action.
"Don't give them a warm bed with comfortable pillows and a hot water bottle. The background and sub-text of previous histories is better explored through revelation in dramatic action. So parachute your listener into a top dramatic moment."
Well. Dropped the ball on that one.
My first episode consists of the hero waking up and going about his daily business. Hardly thrilling stuff.
However, I stand by my decision.
I believe that the plays Crook is expecting to be written are about 15-25 minutes in length. In which case, YES it would be better to deposit the readers along with your character in a dire situation. However, since the length of each episode of Drake Mandible is roughly 2 minutes in total, this isn't strictly necessary. The other reason is that I've gone for a "dynamic" tone in my writing, which will hopefully translate onto tape (well onto digital file)
The idea behind Drake Mandible is that the man is such an archetypal, Alpha Male Action Hero, that even the most boring parts of his life stay interesting. In fact, the first inkling of danger doesn't come until the end of the second episode. But when there's not action, there's humour, derived from the fact that some omnipresent voice is narrating the life of one man, who the entire universe seems to revolve around (Note: Consider playing with self-awareness in future episodes?) The first episode serves to set the tone of the series. Light-hearted, good clean fun. (for now).The other is that builds a sense of intrigue with the introduction of the female stranger, foreshadowing a recurring component of the series.
Since we live in an uber-connected world where we can get so much at the click of a button, it makes sense to cater to this "get it now" mentality we have developed. Attentions spans are shorter, so the individual episodes of Drake Mandible are shorter. And this will hopefully make the readers come back for more. In fact, these short plays are probably the shortest things I've ever written, as an admitted rambler.
Oh sure, I probably still ramble, but it's not as noticeable when you can break it up with wacky sound effects.
Another big sticking point for Mr Crook is how there must be a balance between character and plot. Drake Mandible has always been primarily plot driven, like I've said, the idea is to put a character into increasingly ridiculous situations and have him find a way out, that's either equally ridiculous, ridiculously cool, or even just comically pragmatic.
So yes, I am again flouting Crook's rules, but I justify it again with the fact that these are small, sharp instalments of a greater narrative. Drake Mandible is not meant to be a identifiable character, but he IS a recognizable one. He is a capable hero, who takes everything in his stride, even going so far as to enjoy every situation he's in, regardless of the risk. And yes, I do live vicariously through the guy. Sue me. This doesn't mean that there WON'T be character development. The written series is starting to incorporate this, but for now, the podcast will just be pulpy, over the top, action/adventure fun.
I HAVE however, been careful to include a climactic moment at the end of each chapter, usually to be resolved in the following instalment and ALWAYS pointed out (sometimes unnecessarily so) by the Announcer.
Episode One: A mysterious stranger has come to Mandible Manor.
Episode Two: The stranger pulls a gun on Drake.
Episode Three: Drake incapacitates the assassin, but she escapes.
Four: Drake's investigation is interrupted by familial matters.
Another suggestion I HAVE been able to adhere to in the writing of this series is
"Modulate charm with alarm...humour with tension...tension with humour..."
I don't know how well I've done this, but I've given it a go.
In the First Episode, Drake's attempts to impress a lady go comically awry, unexpected for someone purported to be so competent.
Later, even when faced with the possibility of death, Drake still can't resist a cheeky bit of fun at the expense of the woman pointing a gun at him.
The fourth episode introduces his almost bogan-y brother, who derives comedy from his stark contrast in voice and manner from his brother, yet there are hints of tension as Drake is reluctant to talk Jake.
I guess what I'm saying is that I'm using Crook's rules as guidelines more than gospel. After all this is MY project and its up to me to decide how the writing goes.
SO THERE :p
Stay tuned, Ladies and Gents ;)
Nate.
http://www.irdp.co.uk/scripts.htm)
He opens with:
"Most radio drama is very badly written. Radio Drama is an endangered species. It has never taken hold of mainstream programming on commercial radio in the UK. It used to be mainstream in the States and in Australia, but lost out to TV in the mid to late fifties."
Cheery stuff.
However, I can't say I entirely agree with this statement.
Okay, yes, there are VERY few radio stations that still play any kind of serialized adventures, and it certainly has been overshadowed by television. Yet even the colossus that is the idiot box is beginning to lose out to the internet. If these mediums are to survive, they must adapt. Just as many TV series are available to download onto our computers when it suits us, Audio Drama has found a second (if smaller) life online in the form of Podcasts. Groups such as Pendant Productions, RadioLovers and On Air are dedicated to bringing back the serialized adventure to the ears and minds of people everywhere.
And that's what I want to achieve with the audio adaptation of Drake Mandible.
Mr. Crook also provides a set of rules and guidelines for writing and developing a successful radio play. Sadly I've not really adhered very close to some of them.
Basically, the beginning of the series is a big deal, it's make or break. Crook explains what he calls the "Moment of Arrival" in which you drop the readers into the story, right in the middle of the action.
"Don't give them a warm bed with comfortable pillows and a hot water bottle. The background and sub-text of previous histories is better explored through revelation in dramatic action. So parachute your listener into a top dramatic moment."
Well. Dropped the ball on that one.
My first episode consists of the hero waking up and going about his daily business. Hardly thrilling stuff.
However, I stand by my decision.
I believe that the plays Crook is expecting to be written are about 15-25 minutes in length. In which case, YES it would be better to deposit the readers along with your character in a dire situation. However, since the length of each episode of Drake Mandible is roughly 2 minutes in total, this isn't strictly necessary. The other reason is that I've gone for a "dynamic" tone in my writing, which will hopefully translate onto tape (well onto digital file)
The idea behind Drake Mandible is that the man is such an archetypal, Alpha Male Action Hero, that even the most boring parts of his life stay interesting. In fact, the first inkling of danger doesn't come until the end of the second episode. But when there's not action, there's humour, derived from the fact that some omnipresent voice is narrating the life of one man, who the entire universe seems to revolve around (Note: Consider playing with self-awareness in future episodes?) The first episode serves to set the tone of the series. Light-hearted, good clean fun. (for now).The other is that builds a sense of intrigue with the introduction of the female stranger, foreshadowing a recurring component of the series.
Since we live in an uber-connected world where we can get so much at the click of a button, it makes sense to cater to this "get it now" mentality we have developed. Attentions spans are shorter, so the individual episodes of Drake Mandible are shorter. And this will hopefully make the readers come back for more. In fact, these short plays are probably the shortest things I've ever written, as an admitted rambler.
Oh sure, I probably still ramble, but it's not as noticeable when you can break it up with wacky sound effects.
Another big sticking point for Mr Crook is how there must be a balance between character and plot. Drake Mandible has always been primarily plot driven, like I've said, the idea is to put a character into increasingly ridiculous situations and have him find a way out, that's either equally ridiculous, ridiculously cool, or even just comically pragmatic.
So yes, I am again flouting Crook's rules, but I justify it again with the fact that these are small, sharp instalments of a greater narrative. Drake Mandible is not meant to be a identifiable character, but he IS a recognizable one. He is a capable hero, who takes everything in his stride, even going so far as to enjoy every situation he's in, regardless of the risk. And yes, I do live vicariously through the guy. Sue me. This doesn't mean that there WON'T be character development. The written series is starting to incorporate this, but for now, the podcast will just be pulpy, over the top, action/adventure fun.
I HAVE however, been careful to include a climactic moment at the end of each chapter, usually to be resolved in the following instalment and ALWAYS pointed out (sometimes unnecessarily so) by the Announcer.
Episode One: A mysterious stranger has come to Mandible Manor.
Episode Two: The stranger pulls a gun on Drake.
Episode Three: Drake incapacitates the assassin, but she escapes.
Four: Drake's investigation is interrupted by familial matters.
Another suggestion I HAVE been able to adhere to in the writing of this series is
"Modulate charm with alarm...humour with tension...tension with humour..."
I don't know how well I've done this, but I've given it a go.
In the First Episode, Drake's attempts to impress a lady go comically awry, unexpected for someone purported to be so competent.
Later, even when faced with the possibility of death, Drake still can't resist a cheeky bit of fun at the expense of the woman pointing a gun at him.
The fourth episode introduces his almost bogan-y brother, who derives comedy from his stark contrast in voice and manner from his brother, yet there are hints of tension as Drake is reluctant to talk Jake.
I guess what I'm saying is that I'm using Crook's rules as guidelines more than gospel. After all this is MY project and its up to me to decide how the writing goes.
SO THERE :p
Stay tuned, Ladies and Gents ;)
Nate.
http://www.irdp.co.uk/scripts.htm)
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