Production Planning

1. Production Planning Carly O’Connor- ‘Supermarket Showdown’

2. Other radio plays • The first play I listened to was The Archers on BBC Radio 4. The only problem with using BBC Radio 4 was that the programmes were deleted after a week of being on the website which only gave me a week to listen and analyse it. • The Archers is a weekly drama played on BBC radio 4 and is very widely listened to. • Ambridge is portrayed as a 21st century village, with all the pressures of modern rural life. You'll become involved in the characters' personal and business struggles, love affairs - happy and troubled - and village activities. And there are plenty of lighter moments too. • http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/two_minute_guide.shtml

3. The first person to speak is a male voice, speaking in a British accent, although he is not the narrator as it is a character from the story. He speaks about working on a farm, suggesting he is working class and not of any particularly high status. He is speaking to another character which appears to have a father/ daughter relationship. The girl has a soft voice and also of the working class status as she discusses the farm and working on it. • The next sounds we are exposed to, is the rustling sound of coats coming off. This gives off the connotations that it is winter time and that they have been out in the cold. This is shortly followed by the sound of water running and the sounds of hands being washed. This suggests to us that the work on the farm that day has been dirty and gives off the connotations that they don’t mind getting “stuck in” on the farm.

4. The Daughter begins to sigh as the father starts to ‘nag’ her about her older boyfriend. This gives off plenty of connotations about the relationship in which the father and daughter have. Although it is clear from the way in which the father is talking to the daughter that he cares, the teenage girl gives off the idea that she has heard what her Dad is saying before and sighs because she is sick of hearing it. • The Next sound effect we are exposed to as an audience is the phone ringing. Although at first the sound of ringing is far away as the sound of footsteps grows closer to the phone the ringing becomes louder. • Although it is a normal voice we can tell it is on the phone due to the fact that there is a slight twang to the voice and it is a bit quieter than the voice of the man suggests it is on the other end of the phone. This gives us the impression that a voice morph of some sort has been used to make this sound effect possible.

5. The father next slams down the phone suggesting to us that what he has heard on the phone giving off the connotations that there is a sense of urgency. There is then a sound of car keys rustling suggesting to us that the man is going out somewhere and in a rush. • The use of the sound effects in this extract is very important to the way in which the audience perceives what is going on. The sound effects help the audience to realise the movements of the characters and what is going on around them, helping us to understand the environment that they are in. Also the accents and dialect of the characters mean that we can get an idea of what the characters are like as people and the surroundings they live in.

6. Research By Theme • The Faraway Tree- Enid Blighton • Jo, Bessie and Fanny come to live at the edge of the Enchanted Wood where the trees, "a darker green than usual," whisper their secrets: "Wisha-wisha-wisha." In the wood is the Faraway Tree — a huge tree inhabited by fairy-folk and laden with fruit of all kinds from acorns to lemons. Its topmost branches lead to ever-changing magical lands above the swirling clouds. • The three children make friends with colourful characters like Moon-Face, Mister Watzisname, Silky, and the Saucepan Man, feasting with them on Pop Biscuits and Google Buns and sliding down the slippery-slip which spirals down inside the trunk. Climbing the tree involves dodging the dirty washing-water which Dame Washalot pours down the trunk at regular intervals and avoiding peeping in at the Angry Pixie, who throws things at those who poke and pry. • Excitedly, the children explore lands like the Land of Take-What-You-Want, the Land of Dame Slap, the Land of Topsy-Turvy, the Land of Spells, the Land of Goodies, the Land of Dreams and the glorious Land of Birthdays.

7. Narrative • My narrative can be described as linear as it follows the normal narrative structure of beginning, middle and end. I have not used an interior monologue or flashbacks. I have used key characters such as a villain which would be the toffee and the vegetables as the heroes, this means that it is easy for people of all ages to relate to the characters as they are easily identifiable. • I have used many narrative codes so that the audience get a clear view of my characters. I have used the codes if character to ensure that the little girl is liked and people sympathies with her, whereas I have used different codes of character to make the toffee seem like a horrible character and not very loveable. 

8. The code of action included in my story is that the mother looses her little girl. The cultural code of my radio drama is a very British/ westernized way of educating children about certain stories. • The use of fairy stories is a way of the westernized people teaching children morals through fairy stories. • I have used the symbolic code of the gold jackets to represent the character of the toffee has a gangster and to make it clear that they are the characters who are not liked. I done this so that the stereotypical image of a “thug” could be portrayed to the younger generation.

9. Layout • The layout of my script had to be clear so that my cast was able to read it easily. • In order to do this I had to set it out so that the character names were in bold and underlined so that it was apparent when they had to speak. • I made a copy of each script for each member of the cast and then I ensured there was a run through of it to make sure everybody was clear on exactly what they had to do.

10. Direction • The aim of my radio drama was to ensure a preferred reading and see the toffees as the villain and the bad guys, whereas I wanted the audience to feel sympathy towards Rosie and the vegetables making their way around the supermarket. • The representation of the toffees in their gangster gold jackets and the sly voice used made this possible to create, giving off the connotations that the toffees were in fact evil.

11. Potential Target Audience • My target audience is predominantly children. However, by advertising on BBC Radio 4 it means that I will also have to target this at adults so they can show it to their children. I have attempted to achieve this by putting in the fact that children should not eat sweets as the main subliminal message of my radio drama. • By putting it on during the day time, it can be used by teachers who perhaps want to teach their pupils this message or by parents who are at home with young children. • My target audience ranges between 3 and 11 years old.

12. Organisation of Actors and Equipment • I began my recording of my final product on march 22nd. When I went to upload the work I had recorded there was no recognition of anything I had recorded apart from an empty file which stated that I had recorded for only four seconds yet the file was 14,673 KB. • This clearly showed a mistake had occurred as a normal recording of a four-second piece of work should be roughly about 150 KB. When I played my file it was silent, so an error had occurred in my recording and I knew I would have to record again. • The problems I find with recording this piece of work is trying to gather all of my cast at the same time on the same day. This proves difficult as I used a student from year 7 to play the role of Rosie. It is difficult to get a time to slot in the year 7 as she does not have any free lessons. Also there is the issue of getting permission off of her parent to let her stay after school. This has made rescheduling my recording more difficult.

13. When working with new technology it is difficult to ensure that everything is working correctly and is likely that nothing will come out as planned the first time. This has taught me to leave more time for recording in future and to schedule two-time slots on different days to record to ensure it is successful. • Also I found that using the digital recorders was difficult because it is hard to always get the recorders when other people need to use them also. This meant that I had to book certain time slots and stick by them.

14. Drafting and Redrafting • I thought that re-drafting my script would be difficult. However, when I went through my first script, I realized that there were many ideas that I hadn't thought about adding. • For example my script needed to be given more detail so that although its a fairy story, the characters seemed more realistic.

15. Communication Through Play and Blog • My radio drama was successful in communicating the message I wanted to. This was due to the fact that I was able to create scenes that would have been a lot harder to create in any other form of medium. • I found the blog an easy way of presenting my work and a good way of uploading it because everything was named and listed so it was easy to find where it was. Also it was easy for people to comment on so I knew what other people thought.