Final Techniques
Hi folks,
I’m taking a final look this week at the advice offered by Erik Barnouw in his Handbook of Radio Writing (1947). This time the attention is focused on “simulating movement, manageing the climax, and closing” a radio drama. These techniques are common sense but nonetheless easy to overlook.
Dialogue on the Move (simulating movement on radio)
Characters can move from place to place while engaged in dialog. There are two techniques which can help to sell the idea that movement is occuring during conversation.
Fade out Fade inOne way to achieve this is to fade the conversation out and then back in to suggest the movement (the actors moving away from, and then back towards, the microphone). The audience members identify themselves with a fixed point in one location, listening to the conversation depart, and then with a fixed point in the new location, listening as the conversation approaches.
The Moving MikeThe second way to achieve this effect is to use sound effects to give the impression of movement. Going from inside to outside one might keep the actors voices level in the foreground but include the sound of footsteps, a door opening, and fade in the sound of bird noises etc to indicate the outdoors are being approached.
The Radio Climax
Unlike the stage where it is possible to give the spotlight to one particular party in a conflict at the climax, radio rarely has this luxury. The need to keep both parties to the conflict “alive” in the minds of the audience usually requires the writer to include shorter and shorter speeches, of increasingly dramatic delivery to build the necessary impact and heat.
Of course, there are a variety of ways to maintain the tension; someone sobbing throughout the speech or constantly attempting to interrupt it with more and more desperation would also work.
Closing a Radio Drama (the Radio Close)
A denoument scene can be written whereby the characters bring the drama to a close through dialog, but this is not the only means of closing a drama.
Narration in closing
Narration can be very helpful as a means of presenting the close of a drama.
It can shorten the anti-climax period since it is more economical than dialog.
It allows us to leave the drama at a point of high interest dialog in order to maximise its impact.
It gives us a chance to skip the story forward directly into later days and years.
Music in closing
Music is an essential curtain for the drama. It signals the end of the drama, provides a place for the credits to be read out along with any final sponsorship messages, and can be gradually snuck into the closing moments of the story, swelling when the end is accomplished, to help audiences prepare for the inevitable conclusion of the play.
Because our sample scripts end before we reach the climax and close, we can’t show you any examples of how we manage them, but be sure to visit http://weirdworldstudios.com/product-category/our-products/. We have lots of free samples you can download and our full scripts are always available for purchase.
This was our final review of Mr Barnouw’s advice. Thanks for tuning in with us as we’ve explored radio drama writing this year.
See you next time.
– Philip Craig Robotham
