Archers Notes-

00:00 Upbeat country music.

Girl and Boy voice

British voices

Posh sounding voices

Birds and grass crunching sounds- shows they are outside and walking near the farm

It shows they own a farm as he says what is right for the farm

Door unlocking sound- change of location

Hammer sounds- shows they have changed scene. New voices 1 boy and 2 girls informal womans voice and
posh mans voice.

Posh womans voice from other informal woman, unique accent.

Talk of a wedding

Going to show rehearsal. Pause shows the change of scene.

Whistling sound shows attraction as well as cheering.

Clapping and background chatter add to atmosphere.

Rushed sound of voice when asking for drinks.

Dialogue help to add to characters, shows backstory and how they have been.

Pause shows change of scene into talking about his legs.

Talking about relationship,

Sound of being annoyed through sigh.

Drunk sounding woman talking, slurring and loud voice.

Outro with happy countryside sounding music.

Blind mans confession notes-

gloomy music

voiceover foreshadowing later plot points

loud car sounds and fast music

good description of speeding through the night on a joyride.

Choking noises mixed with water bubble sounds shows drowning

Walking sounds- crunchy sand noises.

Water still having quiet background sounds.

Breaks the forth wall speaks to audience. Saying what they are thinking?

Rainy and lightening sounds- shows gloomy sounds.

Older man sounding male voice.

Sad voice- crying (sadness)

Slow sad voice getting quieter.

Hospital setting- beeping and background talking and ambulances.

Voiceover explaining his current thoughts.

Gives voiceover of final thoughts.

For this analysis I will be critically evaluating two radio dramas
that are of the postmodern type and the traditional type. I will
be evaluating the effects and various sounds that you hear
throughout the 2 dramas that are story orientated and
comparing and contrasting them on how they work and how
they help to set the scene and impact the plot. One of witch
being a hauntingly scary radio drama called The Blind Mans
Confession which is about a late-night joyride gone horribly
wrong and is a postmodern radio drama, postmodern means
it is of an era after a modern one and the other radio drama
called Archers this drama is of the traditional type meaning it
has episodes constantly and is not an abstract or strange piece
of fiction, it could be compared to EastEnders and the plot
revolves around various characters on a farm.
Firstly starting off both use effects and sounds to set the scene
this can be seen straight away in the Archer series where the
drama starts straight away with a country music sounding song
helping to set the countryside atmosphere and the set up for
the story. This is effective because you immediately get an idea
of what the plot will be about and the atmosphere of the drama
while the blind mans confession starts with daunting and
subtle horror music with an ominous voice over of what is going
through the mans head this helps to set up the horror
atmosphere and the spookiness straight off the bat. Next in the
Archers it starts with a middle-aged woman talking to an older
sounding man, they are discussing farming and things about
farms this gives a clear indication of their conversation however
it is amplified through the use of crunching grass and the man
sounding slightly out of breath. This shows the fact that they
are currently in the farm at the moment also some of the
animal noises help to make this clear, so it shows when you put
them together in a production they work well together. The
next scene in the blind mans confession is of a flashback type
sequence where he explains what happened to him, this scene
involves him in a fast car scene, this can be found out by him
telling us he is in a car however, the most effect comes from
the screeching car tyres and engine sounds, the lightening
sounds add atmosphere to the scene and give a clear indication
that it is raining during this scene also the music blaring from
the radio helps to increase the tension of the scene. The scene
is cut by the dialogue of the narrator saying The only thing I
didnt account for was the other car this is done to stop the
tension and reveal that something bad is about to happen as if
it was stopping his good time, this is then lead onto with a
sound effect of a crashing car, the car noise indicates that he
has just crashed and gives a clear idea of what just happened.
The narrator comments a lot about what the main character is
thinking and feeling constantly throughout the scenes, this
helps to get a deeper idea of the character and how he can
become likable due to the good writing; this then changes to a
heartbeat type noise which helps to set the scene showing he is
still alive. The Archers doesnt tend to do a voiceover really at
any point as the point can be found just from the dialogue and
the sounds alone making it a linear narrative type plot and
linear in the way that they gives exposition to the story. In the
archers the scene changes to a man talking banging a hammer
and directly talking to someone else and having posh music
over the top helping to set the scene to where they are next.
There are loud type of echoing shouting noises one of which
says Robert this helps to give us the name of the character
talking without giving it too directly. This switches to lots of
dialogue between two characters transpiring future events like
the party that will be taking place later that night this is
different from the blind mans confession as in that, there is
hardly any dialogue, just voiceover this is done due to the story
being a flashback sequence. The archers has many scenes that
seem to fade out and into the next one, this is done by making
the noise quieter and starting on the next scene with someone
beginning to talk or a noise introducing the scene, while in blind
mans confession it normally just cuts instantly with ominous
voiceover to help end the scene. Throughout both of the
productions there is a high reliance on voices, this done for the
reason that unlike television and film both of the productions
are entirely sounds and cannot use visual like other types of
media, the productions use exposition to help deliver the plot
through voices such as what is happening in the production and
the current story going on developed through the use of
characters simply talking to each other. This can be shown in
the opening of Blind Mans confession when the narrator briefly
explains some backstory and exposition this links into speech
as the voice is told directly to the viewer and this helps to give
the viewer help with the story and is told entirely with speech.
However in the productions silence is a key thing as well this is
especially shown during the blind mans confession as it fits
with the horror theme this is done when a character says
something ominous such as at (time) the narrator says the
only thing I didnt account for was the other car this pause
followed by the sound effect works as it helps to drama size the
thing he just said and helps to create a scary tension while the
Archers does not use this as much as it is just a EastEnders
style production and is heavy on just major dialogue this is
done to make more of a narrative then to have any tension to
it, the only time the drama will use silence is when the scene
changes where it will go silent then it will go back to the sound
effects that introduce the next scene. Aural Signposting is a
convention used in both dramas but specifically more in The
Blind Mans Confession this can be seen when the car goes
skidding and crashes helps to directly tell the viewer that the
car has crashed without being too obvious. However the
Archers does not normally use Aural signposting and instead
uses dialogue to directly tell the viewer what is happening
making this production lacking on sound effects in comparison
other than to introduce a scene. Cliff-hanger endings are used
in the archer episode aired on 01/02/2017 when the episode
ends with the man telling the boy not to ruin the secret for
mummy, this lets the viewer be intrigued and interested about
the surprise and what will happen when she finds out, while it
does not fully end on a cliff-hanger to much it is clear that the
story still has somewhere to go. While the blind mans
confession ends on a much stronger cliff-hanger where the man
character ends up being blind and confused on why he wasnt
killed his stressed voice really helps this scene and makes the
scene scary and end on a dark twist where you are not fully
sure about what will happen to the man. Both the productions
have a chronological development in the story as they both go
in a straight forward narrative and in both productions there is
no switching between time and the plot this is effective as it
makes the stories straightforward and simple to work out and
do not try to confuse the viewer. Direct speech is used in the
blind mans confession as the narrator uses it to directly tell the
viewer the plot and saying about how fast his car is and how he
didnt see the other car while the other production does not at
all contain any direct speech and is a straightforward narrative
just between the character dialogues I prefer the Blind mans
confession as it helps the plot and gives a creeper feeling
throughout the production because of it. Titles in the blind
mans confession are said in a spooky and slow way, the
narrator says the name of the production and says who is
presenting it. This is done to help emphasise the creepiness
and help to establish the tone of the production for the rest of
the production. The Archers uses no title introduction at all I
assume this is done as it is a series it assumes that people
already know the name of the production and dont need a
name every time while the intro is such upbeat country music
again to help establish the mood. The credits for the blind
mans confession are quite simple and are done at the end of
the production where is says the name of the actor and what
role they play in a normal voice, I assume this was done as the
production is over so the voice of the actor has gone back to
normal and Is not trying to be creepy anymore. The other one
does again not use any at all this again shows that the viewer is
likely aware of the production and does not need a credit
sequence and an intro every time they watch the production
and can read it below the production as it has it in text. Music is
used constantly throughout both productions specifically the
blind mans confession which uses creepy atmospheric music
and helps to add to the ambience of the production and the
overall feeling of the production while the Archers uses little
amount of music in comparison and only really uses it to
introduce scenes and the intro and the outro of the production.
I feel the music in the blind mans confession works a lot better
in comparison. Blind mans confession fits the audience well as
it has enough in it to make it an effective horror production for
people who enjoy that genre while I feel like the archers fits to
the older audience well as it has enough dialogue to make it
interesting and good throughout as well. The dramatic
reconstruction is the recreation of a scene with the intent to
correctly remake it, this is seen in the blind mans confession
when the car crash happens this is a use of it, as it is done with
real actors and voiceover to recreate a scene that is happening.
The blind mans confession is a post-modern radio drama as it
takes place in our time period and is using current and up to
date technology in its story while the Archers is a traditional
drama as it takes place in a more EastEnders style story and
setting. The creation of mood in the blind mans confession is
done through the music and through the sounds it uses
intensifying the fact that it is a horror production, this helps to
define the production and helps the viewer easily identify. While
the archers is an upbeat humorous production that uses fun
music and noises to help set the scene and also helps us to get
into the upbeat mood that the production is trying to display to
the viewer. The duration of the production is different with the
Archers being around 13 minutes in length and is a daily show
so this makes up for the short episode length and gives the
viewer a good daily dose of the drama while the blind mans
confession is 12 minutes in length this gives enough to display
the plot and the full story in this short period of time as it is a
short radio drama and does not need to be much longer. The
narrative structure in the Archers is seen as linear as there is no
skipping between different times and is a generally basic story
for the viewer and normally ends on a cliff-hanger to help get
the viewer to watch the show the next day. The Blind Mans
Confession has a straightforward plot that develops over time
in a short condensed amount of time needed and this plot is
also slightly linear as it does no real major plot jumps in time or
anything. The development of the plot in the archers is done
weekly, what this means is the plot is small condensed pieces
of plot that are split up into a larger story that slowly develops
over time, the plot is done slowly as they need to take the story
across years while the Blind Mans Confession has a generally
fast development of plot as it needs to tell a full story in only a
12 minute period. The voices are a huge help to the two
productions, this is shown through how easily Identifiable they
are. This is shown in the archers during the first minute where
the two characters are talking to each other (boy and girl) you
can tell this from the fact she has a girly voice that stands out
from the more manly boys voice. The voices in the Blind mans
confession work well as you can listen to the mans voice and
hear his very confident voice as he speeds through the road in
the first minute or so. The voices tells the viewer things like
age, gender and class and other things about the character.
The voices of the production are used in a way to make the
characters be unique and varied and also identifiable. The
archers social structure is defined by the way characters
speak. This can be seen 20 seconds in when the two characters
are speaking to each other and you can tell the posh woman
from the older man as she talking in a posher and most straight
way while the man talks in an older sounding voice, he is also
breathing slightly heavier this shows the view his old age of
falling behind from the girl a bit. In the Blind mans Confession,
5 seconds in when the main character is speaking in a very
cool and fast way when talking about the car and his driving
shows he is quite brave and gives the impression he is also
younger from the sound of his voice. Comparing these two they
both use voice to an effective degree, but the Archers is a lot
better through the use of using small things to help identify the
characters which works better in it. This can also help you to
identify who is saying it, seeing as radio dramas are not visual
they need voices to carry the performance, this is done to
differentiate the characters from each other and give them
distinguishable voices. This can be seen in the archers 10
seconds in when the two people are talking to each other you
can differentiate the two actors through gender and through
their accents. Words used in the radio drama are what people
say. What this does is help to develop the plot but it also helps
to develop the personalities, this can be seen through the first
10 seconds of the archers when the two people are talking and
you are learning about their life and they are telling the viewer
the story without directly talking to the viewer. And can also be
seen in The Blind Mans Confession when the main character
does VO about 5 seconds in, when the narrator explains the
situation hes in and where he currently is. I think it works
better in this as it helps to define the plot and characters
confidence with only a few lines of VO. Speech is how the lines
are said for example in the Blind Mans confession the opening
VO again has him say it in a loud and cocky way this helps to
show his confidence and his Coolness in the character and
shows what type of person he is. This is also done in the
Archers in episode
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08k505d) at 9:20 when
the woman askes the mans how his lunch was and he responds
in an upbeat and happy way It was very nice! Excellent
quiche this shows he was very pleased with his meal and was
extremely happy to have ate it. I think both of these types of
speech are good yet I think that the Archers is much better at
doing it as it has this type of speech in every line of dialogue
and clearly shows the characters feelings while I think the blind
mans confession is lacking in as much good speech. Aural
signposting is constant throughout the two productions, the can
be seen in the blind mans confession at 1 minute 29 seconds
in when the car skids out of control then you hear the loud
crashing sound. This effect helps us to know how the car
crashed and helps it to smoothly flow together instead of just a
crash sound with no sound before helping the viewer to work
out how it crashed. Aural signposting also occurs in the archers
at 9 mins 24 seconds when you hear the rustling of coins in her
hands then hear them hit the desk, this shows they grabbed
the coins out then placed them on the desk this helps the
viewer to have a better idea of where the coin comes from. I
think the blind mans confession is better in this aspect as it is
used in crucial moments during the production that are made
to help the plot while the archers uses it just some viewers
dont get as confused. Cliffhanger endings take place in the
archers, at the end of the archers it has a Cliffhanger that is
used for a special reason which is to get people to watch the
next episode, so when they finish it they are left wanting more,
it is a way of getting people to watch the next episode of the
show in an easy way. The blind mans confession does not
really have a cliffhanger as the whole plot in contained in one
drama and does not need any extra story. I think the archers Is
good at cliffhangers as whenever you watch an episode you will
always want to watch the next one. Characterisation is how the
audience understands what somebodys character is, this is
shown in the archers around 4 minutes in when you can tell she
is a woman and is of an older age and her voice is posh and is
of a high social class. In the blind mans confession, about 1
minute 15 in you can hear the VO character is a male and of a
younger age just through his voice he is of more of a middle
class type seen through his dialogue and his voice. I like the
archers better in this aspect as it is a lot better at
differentiating the characters through little changes in voice
and of character attitudes than the blind mans confession is.
With chronological development, the archers is always in a
straight forward story arc that follows day to day life of the
actors, this actually attaches to real time as when it is
Christmas in real life it is Christmas in the radio drama. This
gives the people who watch the show an attachment to the
show as they feel they are watching these characters in real
time. The show also is presented this way so it does not spoil
the storyline or give away too much to the viewer. The blind
mans confession on the other hand uses the plot in a general
flashback, this can be done to show him recalling his
experiences of that fateful day and gives a way of giving lots of
information to the viewer about him talking about his
experience. I think the Archers is better in this aspect due to
the viewer follows along with the viewer and lets them feel like
they are a part of the daily life of the show. Direct speech is
when a character says something themselves, at 13 minutes
and 37 seconds into the archers the man says I was working
he says this to the woman hes next this helps tell her exactly
what he was doing. While the Blind Mans Confession at 45
seconds in the main character says All I have is pain this
directly talks about him and what is affecting him. I think that
the archers did this better as it helps to inform the viewers
about their personalities and give the viewer plot detail about
what they were directly doing. Titles are used in both
productions and are said by the continuity announcer, these are
done at the start and end of productions sort of two intro and
outro the productions such as in the first few seconds of the
archers the announcer says Final Rune production presents the
blind mans confession this helps to give an intro to the people
watching, and the outro has sort of a reminder of the name of
the production and gives a link to their PayPal to donate money
and to tell who acted in the production. However only the blind
mans confession has a small credits segment. The archers
contains intro and outro credits as well, such as the theme song
called Barwick Green this helps to tell the viewer whether the
show is just about to start or just about to end due to the song
is in a different part whether its about to start or end. This
show does not contain any credits either. I feel the blind mans
confession does titles better as he does it in a scary voice to
intro the show with Turn out the light, close your eyes, helping
the viewer to get into the show. While the archers is introduced
then just starts. Target audience is a major part of shows, in the
archers you can clearly tell the target audience for the show is
older people this can be seen through the themes of the show
which revolve around things such as family and relationships
that younger audiences may find uninteresting. It is also about
everyday life that would be interesting for the older audiences
due to the subject matter. On the other hand the archers is
focused more to younger audiences due to the themes of the
show and the general story that younger people may find fun
and scary. It also is a lot more immature due to it has swearing
in it this can be seen at 11:58 when he swears to add impact to
the line yet older audiences may find this a lot more immature
and may put them off. I think the blind mans confession is
better for this, this can be seen as it fits my target audience
and it also gave me more of a fun time listening to it over the
archers. The mood is different between the two dramas, this is
seen in the Archers as the show is more focused around family
and being a more family friendly show this can be seen through
the drama as there is no real bad dialogue used that would turn
people off and is regularly fun and funny the upbeat music of
the intro also adds to this as it is a nice friendly tune and the
sound effects are quiet and innocent pieces to help add
atmosphere to some scenes but in an upbeat and nice way
such as at 7minutes and 9 seconds there are sweet bird
cheeping sounds that add to the comfy atmosphere. However
the mood of the blind mans confession is quite different as it
has a darker horror vibe to it and is meant to scare the viewer
when they watch it this can be seen through the music which is
pretty much non-existent throughout adds a lot of tension to
the lines of dialogue. The sound effects work well as the are
things to add tension to such as at 2 minutes 40 seconds in
there are rain and thunder effects. I feel that the blind mans
confession is better in this aspect due to its sound effects really
add an impact to the lines of dialogue that are spoke
throughout the prodcution that without them the production
would sound quite bare. While the archers is quite bear with its
atmosphere and is more of a fun feel good type thing with no
real effect on me. The development and plot is the main part of
a radio drama, it is contained in both of the dramas I have
looked at, and it is the most important thing because it helps to
tell the viewer what is happening and the reason of why they
are watching it. The unfolding of the story throughout the
drama. Helps to keep the audience interested. The plot in the
archers follows the daily life of farm folk, this plot has no twists
in reality and is fully grounded in reality the plot unfolds daily in
a linear narrative to help keep the show simple. The Blind
mans confession is about someone who crashes his car and
comes close to death, the story follows the main character and
is mostly done around VO by the character instead of actual
dialogue. I feel the blind mans confession is better in terms of
a story aspect due to its flashback style and its overall quality
of storytelling throughout the drama.