How to Write Radio Drama Essay Example for Free

How to Write Radio Drama Essay Here are some horrible truths: Most radio drama is very badly written. Radio drama is an endangered species. It has never taken a hold of mainstream programming on commercial radio in the UK. It used to be the mainstream in the States and Australia but lost out to TV in the middle to late fifties. It is under threat within public radio services including the BBC because of the pressure of monetarist ideology and the fact that authors and radio drama directors have been too complacent. IRDP is a significant oasis and continues to support the principle of the original play. Ground rules The Beginning The beginning is everything. If this part of it does not work you are up shit creek without a paddle. Your listeners will desert you. You have failed. You do not exist as a dramatist. Booo! The Moment of Arrival This is how you drop your listeners into the story. Dont 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. Not the climax. That would be premature. Find the MOMENT to join the story. Avoid the slow snails explicatory route. Kick em into a high energy trip and whoosh them through the rapids. Structure Set upstruggleresolution. You can reverse this if the set-up is more dramatic and explosive than the resolution. Regard your play as a series of phases The Plot This is the story with lots of twists and turns. The more the merrier. Most listeners like good exciting plots. Without a good plot youre eating a souffle that has gone flat. You need plot, more plot and more plot. Run at least two story lines. Two sub plots would be interesting. Keep the plots linked logically within the same play. The best system is a major and a  minor storyline linked to one another. Get them to come together at the end. Surprise People are hungry for entertainment. If they wanted boredom they would be filling out their tax returns instead of listening to your radio play. Make people afraid, but also excited. Character Your main character must have the sympathy of the audience. Your audience has to identify with your main character. If this does not happen you have created a failure. Booo! Conflict Drama = conflict = audience. There has to be an emotional, financial, human, moral, physical struggle so your listeners can laugh or cry. Yes, you want your listeners to laugh or cry or laugh and cry. If you dont, give up. Polarities or Extremes The art of story telling is exploring the extreme limits of our psychological or physical existence. To pitch one polarity against another. The Climax I apologize for the sexual metaphor. But there is something in this. The better sex has foreplay, development, sustained excitement, surprise and affection, nay love followed by an explosion of ecstasy. Good radio drama is not all that different. If you dont use it, you lose it. Dialogue This is how we engage dramatically with the world. Characters inform, argue, amuse, outrage, argue through the ebb and flow of dialogue. When we do we talk and that is how great radio plays are made..by talking in dramatic dialogue. Atmosphere / Ambience This sets the emotional spirit of the play. It determines whether your  listeners believe in the world that you have created. Worlds are not created by dramatic dialogue alone. There is attitude and atmosphere. This is determined by detail and relevant detail. It could be in a sound effect. It could be in the writing. It could be in the music. It could be in everything. But the result is that the fifth dimension of radio writing the imagination of the listener is stimulated to become a picture palace of the mind. Emotion Got to be there. You have to generate an emotional response from the audience.preferably to the main character.also not so strongly in relation to the other characters. Emotion = love, hate, admiration. Never mind about the type of emotion..concentrate on whether it is there or not. Emotional connection between the writing and the listener = good radio drama. Balance Character and Plot You have to have both. You cannot trade. One can predominate over the other. Where they are balanced equally.it can only work if characterisation relates to plot development. If your main plot is character intensive, make sure that your minor plot is plot intensive. Purpose Crooks golden rule is that every word, every line, every scene must serve a dramatic purpose in terms of characterisation and plot development. Drop anything that does not have a dramatic purpose. Tension and Humour To stop the listener dropping off or switching off, maintain the tension always and throw in the humour. Tension, humour, tension, humour, tension humourlike the foxtrot..Make the emotional rhythm of the play dance on the listeners heart and mind. Charm and alarm, charm and alarm. But theyve got to be linked. Your character uses humour to react to the tension in the scene or play. Keep one character who uses humour to deal with difficult situations. Make sure the humour is verbal. Slapstick belongs to a different  type of play or entertainment. Make sure you do not have characters taking it in turns to be funny. This is not stand up comedy or sitcom. Make sure that the character who uses humour has a consistent sense of humour. Get your listener inside the world of your play. How? a. Sympathy or empathy with the main character. b. A bloody good set up. c. A big, nasty antagonist or villain. d. Great PlotGreat Story.twists and turns. e. Crisis at the beginning is dramatic and a great start. f. Emotional intensity. Hit some high points. g. Escalating conflict so the structure climbs with tension and humour. h. Strike the colours with detail so theres an atmosphere, moodambience. I. Modulate charm with alarmhumour with tensiontension with humourfunny policeman nasty policeman. j. Surprise, surprisethats what you do to the listener, through the plot. The principle of developing scenes 1.Introduction. 2.Character onegoal and objective. 3.Character twogoal and objective. 4.Purpose of scene in overall plot. 5.One of the characters achieves a goal. 6.Link to the next scene by introducing or pointing to location of next scene or presence of character in next scene. Question marks in the mind of the listener. Always keep one, better two or three The Principle of Character 1.Believable and recognisable. 2.Purpose within the plot. 3.Characters have to have function. Character has to be consistent with function. 4.Characters have to be intentional. 5.Start with a stereotype to ensure rapid recognition, then twist the stereotype. Challenge the homily that there is nothing new under the sun by making it new under the moon. 6.Give each character a dominant physical or behavioural characteristic. Make the dominant characteristic purposeful. Make it extreme. 7.Your main character must be active. 8.Active character / urgent plot. The characters energy has to fight the urgency of the plot and the urgency of the plot makes the character more energetic. The principle of Hero / Heroine 1.Listeners look up to main characters, want to admire them because we all want heroes and heroines in our lives. Lifes eternal fantasy that transcendent people and transcendent moments conquer adversity. 2.If you are very clever you can transfer the hero from the obvious to the humble and make great the inferior or character who has greater potential for human dignity. 3.Charisma. Characters need intensity and conviction. They may not be perfect but they are attractive. You cannot identify with people who are unlike ourselvestoo perfect, no beliefstake themselves too seriouslylack a sense of humour.. 4.Give your characters private moments when they drop their guards and allow us into their minds and hearts. Make the listener privileged. Use this moment for revelation. 5.The main character has to change and has to be changed by the plot. 6.You must have a main character and secondary characters. Your main character changes. Your secondary characters are probably more singular in their characteristics. Your secondary characters are already committed. Your main character is still weighing up the options. 7.You must have characters who are extreme in relation to each othercharacters that are different make drama. Where are we now? Well, we should be here. a. The main character is in the middle of the story. b. Youve used dominant characteristics. c. The listener likes the main character. d. The listener cares what happens to the main character. e. The listener hates the antagonist. f. The main character is developing. Principles of Dialogue a. Dialogue must be a response to a situation, plot or action. b. Dialogue must be a response to each character in the scene. c. Dialogue must be comic relief. d. Dialogue must connect to the next scene. e. Avoid reflective, passive and neutral. Go for active, and direct and emotional. f. Dialogue must be believable by being specificby being specific to the characters background and emotional state. g. If dialogue is reacting to action or situation then it must be dramatic and poised on polarities. The goals of the characters in each scene should be different. h. Dialogue should be continuous. Tipcharacters often take a tag by repeating the last word spoken by the first character. i. Dialogue must relate to function. j. You can mix direct with indirect between two characters because they have different goals. k. Humorous dialogue is not a character telling a joke but a line or lines responding to the dramatic situation. l. Heightened dialogue vs naturalistic dialogue. Heightened language is the language of the theatrehigh octane communicationpoetic, philosophicalcharged..the expression of the playwrightIt serves not only the development of the plot and character, but it also presents the view of the writer. Works well in radio. But there is now a tendency for more naturalism. Radio producers like to go out on location and explore realism. In these situations you must stick to natural dialogue. Principles peculiar to Radio 1.The inner existence. 2.The tension and conflict between the interior and exterior. 3.More psychological. 4.Easier to explore the real and the surreal and to delineate the line between the two. 5.Have to work in the fifth dimensionthe energy of the listeners imaginative participation. 6.The interior existence offers exploration of personal thoughts, fantasies, emotions and conflicts. 7.All  levels of external conflict can be explored. 8.The precipitating event through plot has to threaten the inner life of the main character. This is the kick-off in radio drama. 9.The end or resolution in radio drama is more deeply rooted in the emotional equilibrium and insight of the main character. Changes are internal as well as external. 10.Time transposition and translocation are faster and more rapid and more complicated. Flashbacksflashforwards different ages. 11.Radio requires less rather than more characters. Characterisation needs to be strong and fascinating. 12.Maintain the focus of the main character and plot. 13.Economy of words underlines subtextual surprise and engagement with the listeners imagination. 14.Wit is vital because language is so importantcleverness with wordsenergy with words..humour with wordsWit is advanced by surprising the listenerbeing aggressive with the listener..being fast, short and clever with the listener. 15.Irony is pathos and bathos. Its conflict between the inner life and outer action. Other radio drama producers in the world Norway: NRK kulturkanalen, P2 RODD- 0340, Oslo, Norway. Swedish Radio, SR S-105 10 Stockholm, Sweden. YLE Finnish Broadcasting Company Radio, PO Box 79 FIN-00024 Yleisrdio, Finland. HR, Hessischer Rundfunk Bertramstrasse 8, 60320 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. DR Danmarks Radio, Radio Drama Department, Ewaldsgade 3-9, DK 2200, Copenhagen N Denmark. ABC Australia, ABC Ultimo Centre, Level 5, 700 Harris Street, Ultimo NSW 2007. CBC-SRC, Radio Drama Department, Box 500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, Canada MSW 1E6 SDR Suddeutscher Rundfunk, Neckarstrasse 230, 70190, Stuttgart, Germany. Radio Television Hong Kong, Broadcasting House, m 30 Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Other radio drama producers, SABC, South Africa, Los Angeles Theatre Works, LA, California, Public Radio, New Zealand.

Hooligans Essay -- Hooliganism Football Sports Athletics Essays

Hooligans â€Å"Hundreds of English fans have been departed from Belgium after scenes of mass violence in Belgian cities and football authorities have threatened to expel the English team from the competition if there is another outbreak of the English Disease† This was an article dated 20 June 2000 written by an English journalist. It is obvious from this article that world is facing a great problem nowadays. Actually it would be wrong to use the term ‘nowadays’ because the ‘English Disease’ namely hooliganism have been a problem for many centuries. There are many things to say on hooliganism but first it would be better to start with its definition. Hooliganism doesn’t have a standard definition. But it can be defined as destruction of properties or injury to persons, sometimes involving theft, whether by a gang or a small group of young people. Hooliganism is characterised as a lack of self-control, love of malicious mischief and idleness passing into dishonest and crime. Hooligans are usually made up of boys and young men, aged between 15 and 25 and their main targets are other groups, who only differ from them in their being composed of fans of another football team. And another interesting fact about hooligans is that they consider themselves to be true fans: they support the team for better or worse, they create the highly praised ‘atmosphere’ inside stadiums. Their main interest does not seem much to see brilliant football but to see their team win. As I mentioned in the beginning football hooliganism is known as the ‘English Disease’ but it has been a problem throughout Europe especially in Germany, Holland, Italy and Belgium as well as in the UK. Also Greece, Czech Republic, Denmark, Austria and Turkey witnessed these disturbances in football matches. There are a lot of work done all around the world to avoid the harm hooligans give to the environment and themselves. European Parliament and the National Parliaments of the European Union made effort to avoid the violence throughout Europe. European Council issued a report on hooliganism September 1999 and tried to take further steps on this problem. After all the work done by various sociologists and initiatives of the European Institutions still it is difficult to observe decline in violence in European Stadiums. To make it clear that World is suffering enough from hooliganism for many years... ...cisive measures like banning Britain from football games. I want to end my essay with an article written by Graham L. Jones in 26.06.2000. This article will be helpful in making a summary of the works about hooliganism. ‘The time for talk is over: Ban the Brits! Don’t wait another minute. Forget the possible quarterfinal game. Send Britain from Euro 2000 back to home. Yes, it’s my own country I’m talking about. And yes, it’s the team and players that I want to see pay the price for the absolute ineffectiveness of English Government and English judiciary doing nothing about hooliganism’ Bibliography HOLT R. 1989.Sport and the British. Oxford: Oxford University Press KERR H. 1994.Understanding Soccer Hooliganism. Buckingam: Open University Press TAYLOR R. 1992.Football and its Fans. Leicester: Leicester Universty Press Resources from Internet noviolence.com/archives dailynews.yahoo.com-22.06.2000 bbc.com- Hooliganism made in England but big abroad-26.02.1998 titonet.com/hooligans thesportjournal.com- A developmental view of soccer hooliganism by A.J Harley intorminc.co.uk- Hooliganism-a political football eserver.org- Playing for England by Paul Smith

Why Obama Won the 2012 Election

Why Obama won the 2012 Election The American elections of 2012 was very competitive between the Democrat candidate Barrack Obama, who was the president then, and Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate. The campaigns and presidential debates were quite heated and as has been earlier mentioned, it was tight for each of them as polls clearly indicated that both Obama and Romney had more or less an equally high chance of winning the presidential elections.Demographics played a significant part in seeing Obama take the day. The groups of people that actually made the difference include groups of young women, African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans. Some of the states in which Obama won include New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Maryland, Wyoming, Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Maine, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, California, Washington DC and Rhode Island (Sherman, 2012).President Barack Obama significantly overcame a bad economy, a fractured poli tical landscape, high unemployment which gave him a great advantage over his challenger. When it comes to the states, it is seen that Obama took a number of key battlegrounds sates. As has been earlier pointed out, the Northeastern states remained loyal to Obama’s column by significant margins. In addition to this, he took no less than six of the nine swing states including Ohio. In the end, the fifty one year old president had more than the two hundred and seventy votes that would guarantee him a win.It is interesting to note that the New Jersey electorate, even with the major challenge of the Hurricane Sandy, showed their faith in the president emphasize and in addition to this, just to emphasize their solidarity for the Democrats, reelected Robert Menendez the Senator. He defeated the Republican Joe Kyrillos quite easily (Heavey, 2012). In my opinion, one of the major reasons why Obama won the 2012 presidential elections is that he had a unique campaigning strategy. It is seen that Barack Obama displayed great skill in micro-targeting voters, strategic planning, messaging, and raising funds to boost his campaign.Obama also got into the challenge with in-built advantages . Obama’s family remained increasingly popular, with Michelle Obama having succeeded in portraying a positive image of Obama’s administration. His appeal to a wide public caused him to be the preferred candidate over Romney. The federal government’s bailout of Chrysler and General Motors as well as Barrack’s union support was essential in winning the election. This was seen particularly in Ohion where out of every eight persons, one has a job in the auto industry.Across the upper Midwest from Ohio to Pennsylvania to Wisconsin to Michigan, the operations of the union’s voter turn out to a significant extent supplemented the efforts of Obama. Obama also used social media effectively to win the election. Analysts have states that Barack Obama campaign m ission was to involve people through empowerment. It is also said that his was the very first political campaign in history to ultimately harness the real power of social media to garner support spread the word and get people engaged and involved.Barack’s campaign succeeded in reaching five million supporters on fifteen different social networks during the campaign period (Heavey, 2012). He used social media to establish energy of participation as well as a sense of purpose in their supporters. He used the social media as the vehicle to connected real people in real time and enthusiasm as well as providing an easy and accessible platform to demonstrate their support for change through President Obama. There are important lessons which can be drawn from the 2012 American elections.For any presidential candidate, or political aspirant for that mat matter, it is crucially important to lay focus on the individual. People felt connected to Obama on an individual basis because he m anaged to think of one American as opposed to American citizens as a group. He focused on the teacher, health official, mother, child in his campaigns. Another significant lesson is the importance of authenticity. Because of his connection with people through thw social web, Obama managed to prove his authenticity to the voters.In his Facebook page for instance he indicated his favorite music, movies, interests and kept his followers updated on his campaign. It made him real and authentic. Every single bit of support ultimately counts. Obama acknowledged that everyone, despite their backgrounds or income, is equally important in driving the wheels of change. This is the attitude that ought to be carried along in political bids and campaigns (Sherman, 2012). A huge margin win was unexpected because as the results trickled in, Barack and Romney were hot on each other’s heels.This was clear right from the onset of the presidential debates that preceded the elections, where both parties gave a considerably good show. The impact of social media as has been earlier mentioned was profound. This was not expected because other previous political campaigns had not to a large extent been influenced by this technology. All the same, when Romney conceded to defeat, it was clear for Americans that it was quite difficult to make predictions as to who would take the day as both candidates had equally strong support from the American citizens (Heavey, 2012).References Obama wins 2012 presidential election, defeats Romney in tight race | NJ. com. (n. d. ). New Jersey Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather – NJ. com. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www. nj. com/politics/index. ssf/2012/ Heavey, S. (n. d. ). Obama win shows demographic shifts working against Republicans| Reuters. Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters. com. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www. reuters. com/article/2012/11/08/us-usa-campaign-diver sity-new-idUSBRE8A70QK20121108

Mummy Case of Paankhenamun Essay - 1072 Words

Mummy Case of Paankhenamun Works Cited Not Included The work I chose to analyze was from a wall fragment from the tomb of Ameneemhet and wife Hemet called Mummy Case of Paankhenamun, found in the Art Institute of Chicago. The case of the Mummy Paankhenamun is one of the most exquisite pieces of art produced by the Egyptian people during the time before Christ. This coffin belonged to a man named Paankhenamun, which translates to â€Å"He Lives for Amun† (Hornblower Spawforth 74). Paankhenamun was the doorkeeper of the temple of the god Amun, a position he inherited from his father. Interestingly, X-rays reveal that the mummy case of Paankhenamun does in fact contain a mummy inside dating back to the years of c. 945 – 715 B.C.†¦show more content†¦Nonetheless, during the 12th Dynasty, there was a temple built for Amun’s worship and toward the end of the 18th Dynasty, Amun’s status increased even more and he became known as â€Å"†¦the great royal deity who was â€Å"Father of the Gods† and ruler of Egypt and the people of its empire (Rosalie 104). The Mummy Case of Paankhenamun was composed of a substance known as cartonnage, which was usually made out of linen or papyrus strips bound together with a sticky substance in order to form a flexible shell. After mummification, the wrapped body was placed in the coffin-case through the back, which was then laced up and a footboard was added for support. Only then the case was ready to be painted. Such cartonnage cases as the case of Paankhenamun were normally placed inside one or more layered wooden coffins and were also decorated. The innermost coffin was always in the shape of the mummy and due to its utmost importance, it was the case with the richest decorations. The amazing detail is still a wonder to many historians and anthropologists (Stockstad 120-3). Similarly to other Egyptian funerary rituals, the case of Paankhenamun was also buried inside of a â€Å"sarcophagus† case, a huge stone case for the coffin, and then inside of a decorated tomb, which most likely contained his most valuable personal belongings and religious symbols. The decorations often consisted of imagesShow MoreRelatedEgyptian Religion and Immortality Essay1395 Words   |  6 Pagesmost noticing aspect of Egyptian religion is its obsession with immortality and the belief of life after death. This sculpture can show you this on how mummification gave upbringing to complex arts in ancient Egypt. The sculpture is the Mummy Case of Paankhenamun. The artwork is currently viewed at The Art Institute of Chicago. The sculpture was from the third period, Dynasty 22, in ancient Egypt. However, the sculpture has many features to it that makes it so unique in ancient Egypt from any other