Evaluation

The radio drama we created used the same conventions as many other radio dramas such as theme music and sound effects but our piece was based on a film genre which is heavily based on aesthetic style, which meant we had the difficult task of using sound effects and atmospheric music to set the dismal scene.

Social groups generally represented in film noir media products are private detectives who don’t play by the rules, high flying, wealthy women and seedy criminals. Our radio drama represents social groups similar to generic film noir but slight differences include; the detective in our piece works for the police and the femme fatale in our piece is the Chief’s daughter rather than an actress or a model.

The radio drama we created represents women with access to power as selfish, bloodthirsty, confident and malicious; this is based on the character Abby in our piece.

Abby will do anything to get what she wants, even if it means deceiving her own father and framing one of his closest friends and best officers.

Detective Justice was based on the generic film noir idea of corrupt law enforcement but was represented in a relatively good light,

making him somewhat of an anti-hero. Justice doesn’t agree with the depth of the corruption around him but he isn’t perfect either; he doesn’t mind bending the rules to get what he needs, however, he would never kill in cold blood. Based on the representation of Justice in our piece, the police are represented as a group of people who use unconventional methods to enforce the law and have a pessimistic outlook on life due to the hard times they have had to endure.

The Sconer is the criminal in our piece, he is arrogant, sly and hungry for power. The Sconer is said to ‘kill for sport’, this shows that he is uncompassionate and cold. This represents criminals in a very bad way, implying that they will kill for fun and show no remorse. The Sconer’s only ally was Abby, this indicates that he had some wealth and status because of her shallow nature and it shows that he has friends in high places, which implies that criminals are wealthy and can gain immunity to the law depending on who they know.

I researched radio drama and film noir using the internet, by watching films and by listening to radio dramas. We had to find out about film noir in detail in order to effectively impersonate the style for radio and I believe that watching old film noir movies such as 'Touch Of Evil' (1958) and 'Laura' (1944) helped to develop my knowledge thoroughly and using the internet meant I could read about the general conventions of noir as well. I listened to many radio dramas but the ones I found most helpful in developing my knowledge of radio conventions were 'War Of The Worlds', 'Twilight Zone' and 'The Archers'. We also had to use a file hosting website called mydatanest.com to host the clips that are on our blogs. The clips were uploaded to the website and we used the Html codes on our blogs that blogspot would understand.

We recorded our scripts using the microphones and radio equipment, the track went on to the Mac in the radio room and we put it on a usb to edit it in class. After recording our radio drama we used Soundtrack Pro to edit it. I had never used this software before but I had used Final Cut Pro which is relatively similar. The general idea and processes on both the programmes are similar so I didn't find it hard to work, it was mainly cutting the clips, adding transitions and adding sound

effects. All the other people in my group were familiar with different audio software and film software so we all had some understanding of how to work Soundtrack Pro.

I used InDesign to make my poster and radio listing page, this was easy because I learned how to use it last year. The only problem I encountered was when I was editing the picture for my poster. The reason I found this problematic was that I am not familiar with photo editing software such as Photoshop. I managed to overcome my photo editing problems by playing around with Photoshop and eventually getting the hang of it. To make the picture look older and more film noir I used a 'sketch' filter and desaturated the colours.

Original picture

Edited picture

Before making the advertising poster for the radio drama I planned it out on paper but when I finished this design on InDesign I decided I didn't like it so I started again and created a poster I was happy with.

First design of poster

First design of radio listings

Final design of poster

Final design of radio listings

I believe that the combination of our radio drama and my ancillary texts are very effective. Alone they all give the impression that the radio drama is in the style of noir but combined they fit together to represent the film noir style and atmosphere with professional looking aesthetics. If our radio drama was actually going the be broadcast the listings page would have helped create audience interest because the 'pick of the week' was Transgression. The pick of the day box has writing in it describing the radio drama with a picture of our 'poster boy' in 1950s apparel. The writing in the box says;

"Transgression made a storm in the radio drama world last week when it was first aired on Radio 4.
The moody thriller is set in 1950’s Detroit, deep in the shadows and dark alleys of a film noir atmosphere.
Stunning performances are given by all the actors, adding to the raw realism of the series, which compliments the compelling storyline and really gets the listener hooked.
This week Inspector Justice thinks he’s getting closer to catching the murderer of his partner, little does he know the murderer is closer than he thinks."

I think this write-up is attention grabbing and sells the radio drama well. The poster I made also represents the radio drama well as it is eye catching and clearly accentuates the style of the radio drama, leaving people who see it curious about the product.