Advanced production planning

1. Elizabeth Green – radio drama ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ Advanced production planning

2. Linked stories to my radio dramaJim Morrison’s Death May Be Reinvestigated(Rollingstone.com) • According to his death certificate, Morrison, who was famously found dead in the bathtub of his Paris apartment at the age of 27, died from natural causes. But according to a club manager and friend of Morrison, the rocker died of a massive heroin overdose in the bathroom of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus club in Paris’ Left Bank and was then moved to the tub as part of an astonishing cover-up meant to deflect blame from the posse of drug dealers Morrison patronized. • Bernett recalls he found Morrison’s body slumped over the toilet. “We were certain he’d been snorting heroin because there was foam coming out of his lips as well as blood,” • So why talk now? “I want to get rid of my heavy load,” Bernett says. “At least everything is now out there to be discussed.”

3. Pete Doherty flies to Russia to avoid police drugs quiz (Metro) • Fled: Pete Doherty is reported to have flown to Moscow to avoid police inquiries into the death of film-maker Robin Whitehead • Drug-addled rocker Pete Doherty is avoiding police inquiries into the death of Robin Whitehead, a member of the fabulously wealthy Goldsmith family. • Miss Whitehead, 27, was found dead last Sunday, after spending the evening with Doherty's musical collaborator, Pete Wolfe. • She is thought to have overdosed on heroin, crack and Valium. Police confirmed drugs were discovered at the flat where she died. • Police are keen to question Doherty over whether he supplied drugs to documentary maker Miss Whitehead, who had been filming with him in the weeks before her death. • It has been confirmed that Doherty was at the East London flat the day before Miss Whitehead died, and returned 24 hours after her death. • It has also emerged that he argued with Miss Whitehead hours before she died. • Wolfe, who dialled 999 after finding her body, claimed she had not been taking drugs in the hours before her death. • He said: 'Robin was beautiful, I'm devastated and Pete is absolutely devastated.' • Although the death is not being officially treated as suspicious, an inquest has been opened and police want to speak to Doherty in order to piece together a picture of Miss Whitehead's last hours. • Gill Samworth, an obsessive Doherty fan who owns the flat where Miss Whitehead died, said: 'I haven't seen Pete for a few days now. He has gone to Russia.'

4. ‘The Lady with the little dog’ – Radio 4 ‘Woman’s Hour’other radio play mediums • “Single Radio Plays draw smaller audiences than serials and provide innovative and challenging new drama” (Media and Meaning published by BFI) • The use of accent and different language provides the audience with ‘Girov’s’ cultural background. Radio plays cannot use facial expressions or imagery to represent their character, so this way we can identify how old the man is and what country he is from (what language he is fluent in) and can suggest he may have lived there. • His voice had connotations of higher prestige, giving him qualities of power and knowledge. This can relate to the title ‘The Lady with the dog’ as ‘Lady’ also has a decoded meaning of women having a higher social class. • All scene changes were suggested by dialogue and narration e.g. the use of atmospheric music (piano playing is slowly introduced with other ambient sound effects such as: glasses clinking, cutlery scraping lightly on the sound of delicate plates and the low sound of people talking).

5. Thus the type of radio play is most probably being listened to by an audience who is busy doing something else e.g. domestic chores at home, relaxing or unwinding on the way back from work listening to the radio. Therefore, this radio play is perfect in a sense that it isn’t too difficult to engage with, the characters are clearly defined by accent and their tone of voice so I had a clear understanding of who was saying what in the extract. • ‘Audiences rely on their innate ability to distinguish voices in order to make sense of the unfolding action’ (Media and Meaning, published by BFI) • The sound effects used in ‘The Lady and the dog’ were quite simple and easy to comprehend e.g. the sound of the crunching gravel was decoded as footsteps of the secret lovers walking off together. • Felix Felton suggested ‘ Often a simple sound, just on its own allows the listener to choose his/her own picture. This is better than forcing the imagery over and over again.’

6. Narrative • The narrative of my radio drama is in-between linear and non-linear • The use of flashbacks and different settings indicate this fragmented structure • The code of character – ‘woman of the world’ type of personality, she loves to party with her friends. • The code of action – the ‘falling in love’ story can be seen as very conventional, but does not adhere to the ‘happily ever after’ ending, making this drama conform to the enigma code (Barthes codes) • The cultural code – Lucy’s belief in the Catholic faith is represented by her going to confession. Also the different dialects from the actors can relate to a wider audience, moving away from the usual niche audience radio drama’s tend to appeal to.

7. Layout of the script • The layout of my script needed to be clear in order for my actors to identify the differences between; dialogue and sound effects. The use of brackets and capital lettering page numbers and italics also helped this process. • I made sure there was plenty of copies of the script so all my actors could take a copy home and run through their lines by themselves and when rehearsing with all actors together. • I used separate pages for each scene. This allowed me to direct my actors into the scenes they were needed for. Also it gave me the chance to position my actors around the microphone symmetrically so the sound projection was even between the actors when speaking.

8. Direction • The aim of my radio play was to influence my audience into having a preferred reading and seeing Lucy as a ‘lost cause’ who is trying to resolve her issues and become a better person. • The representation of her love shows she is a caring and thoughtful person, reflecting why the audience should be on her side.

9. POTENTIAL TARGET AUDIENCE • My target audience for this radio drama is for young adults and older adults, as the drama is being aired in the early afternoon this will mostly be heard by people who are at home relaxing or being pre-occupied by household tasks. • My primary target audience would be young adults (aged 17-25) because this is the age of most characters portrayed in the Afternoon Play.

10. ORGANISATION OF ACTORS AND EQUIPMENT • Organising my actors and the booking times to record was a problem because everyone was not available at the same time, my first attempt was to record on Monday 22nd of March, this was not possible because not everyone turned up. The day I recorded all my actors again was on the 24th of March which was successful. • I had difficulty in getting hold of the digital voice recorder as most people were recording at the same time. • Once I got a chance to use it, there was then the issue of learning how to stop, play and pause when recording. • I had to organise my actors into sets of scenes (e.g. Scene 1, Scene 2...) because I needed both actors to be symmetrically surrounding the microphone, due to the sound being projected equally and making the playback of voices sound clear and not distant.

11. DRAFTING AND REDRAFTING • The whole process of drafting my scripts seemed difficult on my first attempt as I was not sure what structure my drama was going to have e.g. Conventional/non-conventional • However, once I had written down my new ideas that I wanted to add in, I simply applied these through dialogue e.g. When Danny finds Lucy’s ring I wanted his first line to have great impact on the audience(‘You looking for me?’)

12. COMMUNICATION THROUGH PLAYWords, Sounds, Music and Silence – the four aspects to making a radio drama • Words • The type of language I used in the play wasn’t too complex as I was portraying two young people falling in love e.g. ‘My beautiful beautiful Danny’ was said by Lucy to portray her love for him, it wasn’t as complex as the language used in ‘The Lady and the Little Dog’ radio play (my analysed play) e.g. ‘I love you my sweet chaffinch, I’ve always loved you’. This type of formal language is most likely to be used by older people (use of metaphors to declare love). • However, the Priest's language was a good contrast and created juxtaposition between him and Lucy, his Scottish accent not only reflecting his regional background but suggesting his values and attitudes as a Priest e.g. ‘You have come here today to confess your sins, of which they will be redeemed by the Lord Our Father in heaven.’ showing he is a dedicated practitioner of the Catholic faith.

13. Danny’s voice portrayed him as a charming ‘Oh, Well, my jolly kind Lady this is just not acceptable for this most beautiful woman, if the bed is not very comfortable she will definitely take it out on me.’ • He was also sarcastic. ‘Crack a smile love!’ showing him to be impatient and to some extent rude to ‘Rachael’ as he has just met her. • Boys 1&2 were represented as ‘cocky’ to the audience e.g. ‘Alright gorgeous’ and ‘Get a load of this!’ decodes that they find both girls attractive and have got their confidence levels up as later on the boys offer them a beer.

14. Sounds • Cars and wind • Door opening • Curtain being pulled back – Priest entering • Sound of heels and bangles • Leaves and twigs breaking • Bird song • Can opening • Picnic sounds (rustling of papers, lighter flick) • Inhaling sound

15. MusicThe Doors - ‘Five to One’ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQrAULjiysk • I chose to use this single just after Lucy tokes on Danny’s ‘Home-grown’. This gives specific connotations to the audience that she is getting involved in drugs with Danny (also reflecting her party cultured lifestyle) the sounds of this tune bring the whole scene ending to life and give a strong impact on my audience to suggest she is doing something bad and unacceptable, going against the norms and values of society.

16. Silence • I used silence at the beginning of the play when Lucy enters the church and the Priest is waiting to speak to Lucy, the brief pause before he says ‘You have come here..’ • And also the sound of the Priest inhaling deeply indicates he wants Lucy to hurry up and say what she has come to confess. • The tutting noise from Rachael when she is asked to stay for a drink suggests she is reluctant to be with these boys and highlights there is tension between her and Lucy. Lucy would prefer to stay with male company, rather than go with Rachael (as Rachael was going to meet ‘Stace’ who she was on the phone to ealrier)