Radio Drama's

The Archers

The Archers is a soap opera radio drama created by the BBC in 1951. Due to it being a soap opera, the show follows many realistic yet exaggerated scenarios for it's storylines. The dialogue is also written and performed very realistically. This fits the genre, due to soap-opera's often trying to be more realistic. It will also add a lot to the listening experience, as everything sounds and feels natural. The drama follows many different stories as it revolves around numerous different farming families. The large amount of characters is another typical convention of soap-opera's, making the show even more fitting to it's genre. episode that I selected to listen to started with a rather upbeat introduction song. This is common in many radio dramas, as the song can become familiar with audiences and let them know what is in store for them. This is particularly effective if they hear the show on the radio, as the music could allow the listener to know when the show is starting. When the characters are introduced they have very noticeable York accents. They speak casually, allowing the audience to insert themselves into this world easier, as it won’t be different from their own. This is good as the target audience for this show is likely people who are middle class and middle age. This is the target audience for most soaps, including this one. Also, younger people are less likely to use radio over television, so marketing towards older people is more effective. The episode features relevant sound effect's as-well, which is a common feature in radio drama's. An example of one such sound effect is the sound of plates clashing and rattling while two characters talk to one another in a dining room. This realistic and normal sound effect once again fits with the soap opera genre, and could even add more immersion to the scene by making the setting feel more active and alive. Within the episodes that I studied, The Archers did not employ any fade in's or out's, which is uncommon for a radio drama, so I feel they may have been used in some of the other countless episodes of the show, and just not featured in the episodes that I heard. The show ends with the same theme song it opens with, signifying to the listener that it has finished until the next episode.

The War Of The Worlds

The War Of The Worlds is an infamous radio drama that first aired on Halloween in 1938. The show used a very unique format, as the first half of the show was presented as if it was a real radio broadcast. This is very different to most radio dramas, and was absolutely unheard of at the time that it was done. The show used breaking news updates that interrupted musical intervals to talk about an alien invasion on Earth. The use of the interruption was very effective. It was so effective at seeming real, that it’s believed people thought it was, and ended up in a panic. The use of many Sci-Fi tropes such as laser sound effects are used. However, the show takes a different turn halfway through. It starts following a more traditional radio drama format, and follows a survivor in an attempt to survive. The show uses many sound effects, ranging from cannon fire to crowds screaming. These both play into Sci-Fi and horror also, allowing the drama to capture the feeling that it was after. Besides from the musical intervals used in the first half, the rest of the music used is subtle,featuring low horns that sometimes grow faster. This is to try and create more immersion in the second half, to make things seem more hopeless and scary to the listeners, and to build suspense. The show uses subtle fades between different parts of dialogue, perhaps to signify a pass in time or just a change in perspective.

Editing Techniques

Continuity editing is when different related shots are all put together in a film to allow the viewer to understand that there is consistency within the story, and everything flows normally. Alternatively, there is non-continuity editing which is where many shots are mismatched and seemingly random. This can be used to disorient the viewer, or it can also be used to montage many different scenes so that many things can be shown in rapid succession.

Parallel Editing

In the movie Way Down East, there was a scene that used relatively unknown editing techniques for the time. This scene used parallel action. This is when two separate events in separate locations are shown as taking place at the same time. Oftentimes, they could be taking place very close to each-other. The audience will typically be shown these scenes due to many quick cuts between them both, which is used to generate excitement. This film used this technique for the exact reason of inciting excitement within an audience. One character was shown as being in a moment of distress, while another was shown as rushing to help them. The woman character was shown to the audience lying down on a surface of ice, seemingly in pain and unable to stand. A man is then shown hurriedly jumping from ice to ice, trying to reach her before she drifts to the nearby waterfall and drops down it. This scene constantly shows her nearing her demise, and the man struggling to travel quickly. This is to generate excitement within the audience via intensity, but also a sense of dread that he won't make it, and he won't be able to save her. In the last possible second however, he reaches her, and carries her away from the waterfall. The parallel editing showing the exact moment he arrives is very effective as-well, as it couldn't be done as well with different forms of editing, as we saw the man gradually getting closer and closer to the woman. This makes the relief that the audience feels when she is saved much stronger, as the task always seemed nearly impossible, and he only barely succeeded with completing it.

Parallel editing was then later used in the film Silence Of The Lambs. Here, it was used to very effectively trick the audience. The audience is shown a man named Buffalo Bill who is keeping a woman in his basement and brandishing a gun. We are then shown a swat team arriving at a house, heavily armed. They send one man to go the doorbell with a present, and ring it. Bill is shown again, reacting negatively to his doorbell ringing due to the woman he has in his basement that he is trying to deal with. The FBI outside grow impatient, and burst through the doors and windows of the building. They rush inside, but discover the house to be completely empty. We are then shown the armed man answering his door, to show a woman, who asks if she can come inside to ask him some questions about a recent murder. The action cuts back to the brake in, as the man giving all the instructions realizes the mistake that he has made, and how his co-worker, Clarice, is in danger. The editing in this scene is very effective, as it tricks the audience into thinking that the FBI are actually breaking into the house of Buffalo Bill, due to the doorbells both being shown as going off at the same time. This initially gives the audience hope, as they believe the serial killer will be brought to justice, but the big reveal that the main character is in danger completely destroys this, and instead fills the audience with a sense of dread.

Between these two examples of Parallel Editing, I personally believe the use of this technique in Silence Of The Lambs to be more effective. This is because of its usage to actually deceive the viewer is something that not many films have used the technique for, and when the audience realizes it becomes more effective due to the suspense of what may happen next. Way Down East is still effective, but all it has is slight suspense, whereas Silence Of The Lambs has great suspense and deception.

Montage Editing

In Rocky III, a montage is used to show Rocky training for his boxing match. A montage is when numerous related shots that took place at different times are shown in quick succession. This is so that they can give away a lot of information/show a lot of things happening in a relatively short amount of time. These are typically non-continuity, as they don't flow exactly together from when they happen. In Rocky, the training actually likely takes place over the space of a month. This alone shows how effective the montage technique is, as watching a much longer clip of nothing but training could end up being boring, but instead they condensed everything down to only take up three minutes of screen time. In the montage, Rocky is training with his friend Apollo. Noticeably, Apollo is faster than Rocky in the scenes of the montage where they are running along a beach. As the montage reaches it end however, Rocky is seen outpacing his friend. This shows him progressing, indicating that the training is actually paying off. If the montage wasn't used, a great deal of time would have had to have been used to show this progress, but instead, they can do so quickly and get the same effect of making the audience feel a sense of proudness for the main character.

A montage was also used in the film Team America: World Police. The montage here is used for comedy reasons, as it borrows many cliches and conventions of montage's to show how they can be quite absurd. It follows traditional montage steps, showing the main character training to face off against Kim Jong Il, and eventually growing stronger to the point his is defeating the man training him in karate showdowns. The montage also shows what is happening to his captured friends that he wants to rescue, as they are being electrocuted and by Kim Jong Il's workers. We also see his plan coming together, as he invites world leaders to a special event with intentions to destroy the world. While the scene is a parody of montage's, it still uses it's own montage very effectively, showing all of these important things in only one minute and twenty seconds. The audience, while likely just enjoying the scene for its comedic intent, are still being show everything they need to be shown in a very small space of time, indicating this scene to be smarter than it may seem to some viewers who only see it as parody. 

Between both examples, I believe the montage from Rocky III to be more effective. This is simply because the audience watching this film will want Rocky to succeed, so seeing him improve on his skills will make them feel proud and happy. In Team America, wile the montage still works, it's mainly played for laughs and it simply isn't meant to make the audience feel many other emotions.