Sunday, September 15, 2019
Production: Reflections upon the product midway through the first edit
I have as of now created most parts of the initial edit, save sound effects and lines from CRT. I have found as of now that I may not approach the three-minute duration that the brief requires. Without sound effects, transitions and the two lines from CRT, but including the show title, intro jingle and episode title, the edit now approaches two minutes. However, I have more than enough material that was initially planned for the original audio content as I did not realise that it had a 30-second limit. The content initially intended for the original audio content now approaches around the same duration as the main show, so I shall be taking some of the best material from that and adding it to the main show. In the event that I cannot seamlessly edit these jokes within the existing ebb and flow of the main show, I shall have to record more content, but finishing the initial edit is currently my first priority.
Planning: Scripts
The final master scripts of the show and the audio content can be found here. I have used the scriptwriting tool Celtx to create the script. It may be closer to the style of a film or TV script as that is what I am personally familiar with and the Celtx tools are designed for but based on my experience of recording the audio tracks it serves its purpose well
Planning: Character Updates, Show Title, Episode Conceit, Audio Content Idea.
Jeffrey's name and character has been left as is.
Rain's name has been changed to Alex. I wanted to use a more common but still gender-neutral name for them. I planned them as non-binary as they are an under-represented group in the media, even among LGBTQ+ focused media. It also made sense for audio-based representation as aside from having 'male' and 'female' voices which is a very cisnormative view of representation, pronouns are sensible and elegant identity markers. This allows me to focus on the writing rather than think about ham-fisting a reference to class or ethnicity into the script, and is an issue I am personally passionate about.
They met each other at Board Game Society, not Tabletop now as Monopoly makes for a wider point of comedic reference than Dungeons and Dragons, but I still keep an intertextual reference to a D&D based webshow in the final script.
New Character: CRT. A CRT Television, inspired by a recent American news story I encountered.
https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/8/13/20804541/human-wearing-tv-head-leaves-tv-porch-virginia
Adds a menacing touch and a sense of magical realism. While Radio 4 comedies are traditionally grounded in reality, I am tasked with courting a new audience and to do that I have to expand the possibilities of genre and tone of the Radio 4 comedy.
The show is now called 'On Air!'
Episode Conceit: The episode title is now "You've got to have a featured guest!". The opening will focus on the state and continuity of the podcast as of now, what exactly the duo want to do with it and them stumbling upon a featured guest, who is of course, neither featured nor a guest - CRT.
For the original audio content I plan a Q&A segment, which will largely just be more jokes with a plug at the end of asking for questions from the audience. I plan for this to be the point of cross-media convergence as the website will have a form to submit questions as well as links to social media to submit questions as well.
Rain's name has been changed to Alex. I wanted to use a more common but still gender-neutral name for them. I planned them as non-binary as they are an under-represented group in the media, even among LGBTQ+ focused media. It also made sense for audio-based representation as aside from having 'male' and 'female' voices which is a very cisnormative view of representation, pronouns are sensible and elegant identity markers. This allows me to focus on the writing rather than think about ham-fisting a reference to class or ethnicity into the script, and is an issue I am personally passionate about.
They met each other at Board Game Society, not Tabletop now as Monopoly makes for a wider point of comedic reference than Dungeons and Dragons, but I still keep an intertextual reference to a D&D based webshow in the final script.
New Character: CRT. A CRT Television, inspired by a recent American news story I encountered.
https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/8/13/20804541/human-wearing-tv-head-leaves-tv-porch-virginia
Adds a menacing touch and a sense of magical realism. While Radio 4 comedies are traditionally grounded in reality, I am tasked with courting a new audience and to do that I have to expand the possibilities of genre and tone of the Radio 4 comedy.
The show is now called 'On Air!'
Episode Conceit: The episode title is now "You've got to have a featured guest!". The opening will focus on the state and continuity of the podcast as of now, what exactly the duo want to do with it and them stumbling upon a featured guest, who is of course, neither featured nor a guest - CRT.
For the original audio content I plan a Q&A segment, which will largely just be more jokes with a plug at the end of asking for questions from the audience. I plan for this to be the point of cross-media convergence as the website will have a form to submit questions as well as links to social media to submit questions as well.
Planning: Reflections Upon Generic Research
Based on the research I have conducted on other Radio 4 comedies, I have informed my production in the following ways:
The characters are young adults, which fits in with the 16-25 year old age range the brief requires as the prospective audience.
Humour is derived from a sense of fragility. The amateur nature of the young people's endeavours is what leads to the humour.
A sense of backstory and camaraderie between the cast that's organically delivered.
The house style for the intro sequence is followed.
There is a recurring joke that is made multiple references to, either explicitly in dialogue or through environmental storytelling.
Ultimately however I want to be sympathetic to the young people being portrayed. That could actually work in attracting that age range to the station as opposed to simply making them the punchline to a cruel joke.
The characters are young adults, which fits in with the 16-25 year old age range the brief requires as the prospective audience.
Humour is derived from a sense of fragility. The amateur nature of the young people's endeavours is what leads to the humour.
A sense of backstory and camaraderie between the cast that's organically delivered.
The house style for the intro sequence is followed.
There is a recurring joke that is made multiple references to, either explicitly in dialogue or through environmental storytelling.
Ultimately however I want to be sympathetic to the young people being portrayed. That could actually work in attracting that age range to the station as opposed to simply making them the punchline to a cruel joke.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Generic Research: Two Episodes of Mash
Two Episodes of Mash
Two Episodes of Mash is a sketch comedy series created and performed by Diane Morgan and Joe Wilkinson who are the members of the stage comedy duo of the same name. It began life on Radio 2 but was then moved to Radio 4 in its second series.
It is a self-aware, metafictional work as the ongoing narrative of the show, that being two characters who supposedly have their own radio show bumbling through BBC Studios, is interspersed with the sketches the duo are known for. Presenters of other shows on Radio 2 and Radio 4 often make cameo appearances as the characters move from set to set, as well as BBC technical staff who also make appearances in order to set up the show and make its conceit work.
I am less interested in the sketches and more interested in the larger metafictional and intertextual conceit the sketches are framed around. Jokes largely revolve around how dysfunctional the production is, such as a character's excitement of receiving a theme tune for the show - one week later than it was supposed to be received.
The audio design is also played around for laughs at times, as mic taps, test audio and other imperfections are left as is to create the sense of a dysfunctional production. Other traditional sound effects and voices are used in the sketches, such as dog barks at a veterinary clinic.
In terms of representation, Morgan and Wilkinson are of course of different genders but the other characters are usually white men. Of course, this has to do with the intertextual nature of the show with other BBC Radio 2 and 4 programmes, most of them having white male presenters. I am less limited by the auxiliary characters in my production due to emulating, and being, a production of a smaller scope than a studio-wide BBC crossover.
It is a self-aware, metafictional work as the ongoing narrative of the show, that being two characters who supposedly have their own radio show bumbling through BBC Studios, is interspersed with the sketches the duo are known for. Presenters of other shows on Radio 2 and Radio 4 often make cameo appearances as the characters move from set to set, as well as BBC technical staff who also make appearances in order to set up the show and make its conceit work.
I am less interested in the sketches and more interested in the larger metafictional and intertextual conceit the sketches are framed around. Jokes largely revolve around how dysfunctional the production is, such as a character's excitement of receiving a theme tune for the show - one week later than it was supposed to be received.
The audio design is also played around for laughs at times, as mic taps, test audio and other imperfections are left as is to create the sense of a dysfunctional production. Other traditional sound effects and voices are used in the sketches, such as dog barks at a veterinary clinic.
In terms of representation, Morgan and Wilkinson are of course of different genders but the other characters are usually white men. Of course, this has to do with the intertextual nature of the show with other BBC Radio 2 and 4 programmes, most of them having white male presenters. I am less limited by the auxiliary characters in my production due to emulating, and being, a production of a smaller scope than a studio-wide BBC crossover.
Generic Research: Hazel Tours
Hazel Tours: Episode 1
Hazel Tours is a sitcom based around an amateur tour guide in a Scottish border town. As a sitcom, it features the BBC house style of sitcom intro sequences: the show title, the names of the creators and then either applause or a jingle follows.
The show begins in media res as the audience is introduced to Hazel as she is promoting her tours. Her character's history is established quickly as a troublemaker through the first joke with the librarian who sees her as a nuisance. The audience is also introduced to her ex-boyfriend who is portrayed as being more pathetic than her. The portrayal of gender dynamics creates humour through emasculation. However, we also see a tragic side to her character as her rocky relationship with her father is alluded to. This may be later played for laughs as the subversion of dramatic expectations is frequently used in sitcoms to create humourous situations. Another point of humour is the general amateur nature of her endeavour. The BBC Sounds website has childish art as the thumbnail for the program, referenced in the show itself as having been created by her little sister.
There are no specific audio-based gags in the show but a laugh track is used as per sitcom convention. Most humour comes from the dialogue.
The representation of social groups within the show is interesting as a young woman being the singular title character is fairly uncommon. The setting of a rural town in the Scottish-English border is also representation of a frequently under-represented social group within British comedy as they either focus on a tightly knit group or function as critique of a bigger society. This setting meets somewhere in the middle. Radio 4 is also most popular in the south of England so the setting is unconventional and perhaps not relatable to the average Radio 4 listener, but it may also work in attracting more listeners from the north and Scotland to Radio 4.
It is therefore overall a very unconventional production for Radio 4 standards but perhaps a strategy in attracting a different audience to Radio 4. It thus holds a lot of value in understanding the type of new audience that Radio 4 may be interested in attracting
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Audience Research: Audience Profile
The brief requires for the product to have a 16-25-year-old fun-loving mass-market audience. Given the broadcast station being Radio 4, it is an unconventional audience as the target audience of Radio 4 is 35-54-year-olds in the ABC1 demographic. This target audience is reflected in the programming as evidenced by 75% of all Radio 4 listeners belongs to the ABC1 group. 16-25-year-olds are difficult to assign to a class-based demographic group such as the A - E scale as many will still be in education and will not have set into a social class of their own, and due to the need for my product to be "mass-market", it needs to appeal to a young adult regardless of their economic background. Considering this, young adults are moving away from traditional radio and moving into internet-based podcasting, and therefore my audience will be one familiar with the codes, conventions and culture of online podcasting which will make a traditional radio sitcom, sticking with the Radio 4 brand, about online podcasting culture appealing to this mass-market young adult demographic.
In terms of psychographics, it might be easy to assume that due to the "mass-market" nature of the audience, the largest proportion will be mainstreamers. However, it is important to consider that the internet has essentially made "the mainstream" non-existent among young people. Everyone now belongs to fragmented subcultures and what was once the mainstream, considered the most popular, is now simply another subculture. I believe it is therefore more important to capitalise on other psychographic groups such as the Aspirer or the Explorer, which most young people may fall into due to being in a stage of their life where they begin to set their sights on goals and explore their opportunities. My product's characters will have to reflect these values in order to successfully court these psychographic groups.
In terms of psychographics, it might be easy to assume that due to the "mass-market" nature of the audience, the largest proportion will be mainstreamers. However, it is important to consider that the internet has essentially made "the mainstream" non-existent among young people. Everyone now belongs to fragmented subcultures and what was once the mainstream, considered the most popular, is now simply another subculture. I believe it is therefore more important to capitalise on other psychographic groups such as the Aspirer or the Explorer, which most young people may fall into due to being in a stage of their life where they begin to set their sights on goals and explore their opportunities. My product's characters will have to reflect these values in order to successfully court these psychographic groups.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Audience Research: Focus Group
The result of the focus group survey can be found here. Based on this, it is possible to conclude that in terms of audio content that young people engage with, web-based podcasts are the most popular while sitcoms remain consistently popular across multiple age groups and across mediums. I must tune my product to fall in line with these findings.
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