War of the Worlds + Notes

War of the Worlds

ORSON WELLES:                                                                                                                                                                       We know now that in the early years of the twentieth century this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own. We know now that as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns they were studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might analyse the small creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite Confidence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their control over this little spinning fragment of solar driftwood which by chance or design man has inherited out of the dark mystery of Time and Space. Yet across an immense gulf, minds that to our minds as ours are to the beasts in the jungle, intellects vast, cool and un-sympathetic, looked upon this earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. In the thirty-ninth year of the twentieth century came the great disillusionment. It was near the end of October. Business was better.   The war scare was over. More men were back at work and sales were picking up. On this particular evening, October 30, the Crosley service estimated that thirty-two million people were listening in on radios.

ANNOUNCER THREE:                                                                                                                                                              Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. From the Meridian Room in the Park Plaza in New York City, we bring you the music of Ramón Raquello and his orchestra. With a touch of the Spanish.                      Ramón Raquello leads off with "La Cumparsita."

(MUSIC: SPANISH THEME SONG [A TANGO] . . . FADES)

SFX 1 (LA CUMPARISTA)   PLAYS FOR 14 SECONDS 

ANNOUNCHER TWO: Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program of dance music to bring you a special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News.    At twenty minutes before eight, central time, Professor Farrell of the Mount Jennings Observatory, Chicago, Illinois, reports observing several explosions of incandescent gas, occurring at regular intervals on the planet Mars. The spectroscope indicates the gas to be hydrogen and moving towards the earth with enormous velocity. Professor Pierson of the Observatory at Princeton confirms Farrell's observation, and describes the phenomenon as (quote) like a jet of blue flame shot from a gun. We now return you to the music of Ramón Raquello, playing for you in the Meridian Room of the Park Plaza Hotel, situated in downtown New York. (Music)

SFX 1 (LA COMPARISTA)  PLAYS FOR 7 SECONDS 

ANNOUNCER THREE: Ladies and gentlemen, following on the news given in our bulletin a moment ago, the Government Meteorological Bureau has requested the large observatories of the country to keep an astronomical watch on any further disturbances occurring on the planet Mars. Due to the unusual nature of this occurrence, we have arranged an interview with noted astronomer. Professor Pierson, who will give us his views on the event. in a few moments we will take you to the Princeton Observatory at Princeton, New Jersey. We return you until then to the music of Ramón Raquello and his orchestra.

SFX 1 (LA CUMPARISTA)  PLAYS FOR A FEW 3 SECONDS THEN SLOWLY FADES 

ANNOUNCER TWO: We are now ready to take you to the Princeton Observatory at Princeton where Carl Phillips, or commentator, will interview Professor Richard Pierson, famous astronomer. We take you now to Princeton, New Jersey.

PHILLIPS: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is Carl Phillips, speaking to you from the observatory at Princeton. I am standing in a large semi-circular room, pitch black except for an oblong split in the ceiling. Through this opening I can see a sprinkling of stars that cast a kind of frosty glow over the intricate mechanism of the huge telescope. Professor Pierson stands directly above me on a small platform, peering through a giant lens. I ask you to be patient during any delay that may arise during our interview, Professor Pierson may be interrupted by telephone or other communications. During this period he is in constant touch with the astronomical centres of the world . . . Professor, may I begin our questions?

PIERSON: Of course At any time, Mr. Phillips.

PHILLIPS: Professor, would you please tell our audience exactly what you see as you observe the planet Mars through your telescope?

PIERSON: Nothing unusual at the moment, Mr. Phillips. A red disk swimming in a blue sea.  . Transverse stripes are across the disk. Quite distinct now because Mars happens to be the point nearest the earth, Approximately forty million miles away, in opposition, as we call it.

PHILLIPS: What do these transverse stripes signify, Professor Pierson?

PIERSON: Not canals, I can assure you, Mr. Phillips, although that's the popular conjecture of those who imagine Mars to be inhabited. From a scientific viewpoint the stripes are merely the result of atmospheric conditions peculiar to the planet.                  

 PHILLIPS: Then you're quite convinced that living intelligence as we know it does not exist on Mars?

PIERSON: As a scientist I believe there are no living creatures on mars, I'd say the chances against it are a thousand to one.

PHILLIPS: And yet how do you account for those gas eruptions occurring on the surface of the planet at regular intervals?      

PIERSON: Mr. Phillips, I cannot account for it. 

(slight pause)

(off mike) Thank you     

 PHILLIPS: Just a moment, ladies and gentlemen, someone has just handed Professor Pierson a message. Professor, may I read the message to the listening audience?  

PIERSON: Certainly, Mr. Phillips     

PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen, I shall read you a wire addressed to Professor Pierson from Dr. Gray of the National History Museum, New York. "9:15 P. M. eastern standard time. Seismograph registered shock of almost earthquake intensity occurring within a radius of twenty miles of Princeton. Please investigate. Signed, Lloyd Gray, Chief of Astronomical Division" . . . Professor, could this possibly have something to do with the disturbances on Mars?

PIERSON: Hardly, Mr. Phillips. This is probably a meteorite of unusual size and its arrival at this particular time is merely a coincidence. However, we shall conduct a search, as soon as daylight permits.        

 PHILLIPS: Thank you, Professor. Ladies and gentlemen, we've been speaking to you from the observatory at Princeton, bringing you a special interview with Professor Pierson, noted astronomer, We are returning you now to our New York studio.                             

ANNOUNCER THREE: Ladies and gentlemen, here is the latest bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News. Toronto, Canada: Professor Morse of McGill University reports observing a total of three explosions on the planet Mars, between the hours of 7:45 P. M. and 9:20 P. M. This confirms earlier reports received from American observatories. Now, nearer home, comes a special announcement from Trenton, New Jersey. It is reported that at 8:50 P. M. a huge, flaming object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm in the neighborhood of Grovers Mill, New Jersey, twenty-two miles from Trenton. The flash in the sky was visible within a radius of several hundred miles and the noise of the impact was heard as far north as Elizabeth. We have dispatched a special mobile unit to the scene, and will have our commentator, Carl Phillips, give you a word description as soon as he can reach there from Princeton. 

SFX 2 (CROWD NOISE AND POLICE SIRENS)   PLAYS FOR 15 SECONDS THEN FADES SLOWLY (CROWD NOISES . . . POLICE SIRENS)

PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Carl Phillips again, at the Wilmuth farm, Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Professor Pierson and myself made the eleven miles from Princeton in ten minutes. Well, I . . I hardly know where to begin. Well, I just got here. I haven't had a chance to look around yet. I guess that's it. Yes, I guess that's the . . . thing, directly in front of me, half buried in a vast pit. The ground is covered with splinters of a tree it must have struck on its way down. What I can see of the . . . object itself doesn't look very much like a meteor, at least not the meteors I've seen. It looks more like a huge cylinder. It has a diameter of . . . what would you say, Professor Pierson?

PIERSON (OFF-MIKE): What's that?

PHILLIPS: What would you say . . . what is the diameter?

PIERSON: About thirty yards, it must have struck with terrific force, but the metal on the sheath is ... well, I've never seen anything like it.

PHILLIPS: The color is sort of yellowish-white… Curious spectators now are pressing close to the object in spite of the efforts of the police to keep them back. They're getting in front of my line of vision. Would you mind standing to one side, please?                                                                                     / While the policemen are pushing the crowd back, here's Mr. Wilmuth, owner of the farm here. Mr. Wilmuth, would you please tell the radio audience as much as you remember of this rather unusual visitor that dropped in your backyard? Step closer, please. 

WILMUTH: Well, I was listenin' to the radio. 

PHILLIPS: Closer and louder please.

WILMUTH: Pardon me!

PHILLIPS: Louder, please, and closer.

WILMUTH: Yes, sir -- while I was listening to the radio and kinda drowsin', that Professor fellow was talkin' about Mars, so I was half dozin' and half . . .

PHILLIPS: Yes, yes, Mr. Wilmuth. Then what happened?

WILMUTH: As I was sayin', I was listenin' to the radio kinda halfways . . .

PHILLIPS: Yes, Mr. Wilmuth, and then you saw something?

WILMUTH: Not first off. I heard something.

PHILLIPS: And what did you hear?

WILMUTH: A hissing sound. Like this: sssssss . . . kinda like a fourt' of July rocket.

PHILLIPS: Then what?

WILMUTH: Turned my head out the window and would have swore I was to sleep and dreamin.'

PHILLIPS: Yes?

WILMUTH: I seen a kinda greenish streak and then zingo! Somethin' smacked the ground. Knocked me clear out of my chair!

PHILLIPS: Well, were you frightened, Mr. Wilmuth?

WILMUTH: Well, I -- I ain't quite sure. I reckon I -- I was kinda riled.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Mr. Wilmuth. Thank you.

WILMUTH: Want me to tell you some more?

PHILLIPS: No . . . That's quite all right, that's plenty.  /

PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I could convey the atmosphere of this . . . fantastic scene. Police are trying to rope off the roadway leading to the farm. But it's no use. They're breaking right through. Cars' headlights throw an enormous spot on the pit where the object's half buried. Some of the more daring souls are now venturing near the edge. 

(FAINT HUMMING SOUND ) 

One man wants to touch the thing! … Now, there's something I haven't mentioned in all this excitement, but now it's becoming more distinct. Perhaps you've caught it already on your radio, It's a curious humming sound that seems to come from inside the object. I'll move the microphone nearer. (PAUSE) 

SFX 3 (HUMMING/SCRAPING MACHINE NOISE) PLAY FOR 5 SECONDS THEN FADE

Now we're not more then twenty-five feet away. Can you hear it now? Oh, Professor Pierson!

PIERSON: Yes, Mr. Phillips?

PHILLIPS: Can you tell us the meaning of that scraping noise inside the thing?

PIERSON: Possibly the unequal cooling of its surface.

PHILLIPS: Do you still think it's a meteor, Professor?

PIERSON: I don't know what to think. The metal casing is definitely extraterrestrial . . . not found on this earth. Friction with the earth's atmosphere usually tears holes in a meteorite. This thing is smooth and, as you can see, of cylindrical shape.

PHILLIPS: Something's happening! This is terrific! This end of the thing is beginning to flake off! The top is beginning to rotate like a screw! The thing must be hollow!

SFX 4  (HEAVY OBJECT HITTING THE GROUND) (SUDDENLY THE CLANKING SOUND OF A HUGE PIECE OF FALLING METAL)

PHILLIPS: This is the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed . . . Wait a minute! Someone's crawling out of the hollow top. Someone or . . . something. I can see peering out of that black hole two luminous disks . . are they eyes? It might be a face. It might be . . .

SFX 5 (CROWD SOUND)                                                                                                                                         

(SHOUT OF AWE FROM THE CROWD)

PHILLIPS: Good heavens, something's wriggling out of the shadow like a gray snake. Now it's another one, and another. They look like tentacles to me. There, I can see the thing's body. It's large, large as a bear and it glistens like wet leather. But that face, it . . . Ladies and gentlemen, it's indescribable. I can hardly force myself to keep looking at it. The eyes are black and gleam like a serpent. The mouth is V-shaped with saliva dripping from its rimless lips that seem to quiver and pulsate. The monster or whatever it is can hardly move. It seems weighed down by . . . possibly gravity or something. The thing's raising up. The crowd falls back now. They've seen plenty. This is the most extraordinary experience. I can't find words . . . I'll pull this microphone with me as I talk. I'll have to stop the description until I can take a new position. Hold on, will you please, I'll be right back in a minute.

(pause)

PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen (Am I on?). Ladies and gentlemen, here I am, back of a stone wall that adjoins Mr. Wilmuth's garden. From here I see the whole scene. I'll give you every detail as long as I can talk. About thirty More state police have arrived They're drawing up a cordon in front of the pit, a. No need to push the crowd back they're keeping their distance. The captain is conferring with someone. I believe it's Professor Pierson. Yes, it is. The Professor moves around one side, studying the object, while the captain and two policemen advance with something in their hands. I can see it now. It's a white handkerchief tied to a pole . . . a flag of truce. If those creatures know what that means . . . Wait! Something's happening!

SFX 6 (HISSING SOUND) (HISSING SOUND FOLLOWED BY A HUMMING THAT INCREASES IN INTENSITY)

SFX 3 (HUMMING MACHINE NOISE) CUT SUDDENLY AFTER PHILLIPS SAYS “ TO MY RIGHT”       

PHILLIPS: A humped shape is rising out of the pit. I can make out a small beam of light against a mirror. What's that? There's a jet of flame springing from the mirror, and it leaps right at the advancing men. It strikes them head on! Good Lord, they're turning into flame!

SFX 7 (SCARED CROWD)  CUT SUDENLY AFTER PHILLIPS SAYS “TO MY RIGHT” SAME TIME AS SFX 3   (SCREAMS AND UNEARTHLY SHRIEKS)

PHILLIPS: Now the whole field's caught fire. (EXPLOSION) The woods . . . the barns . . . the gas tanks of automobiles . . . it's spreading everywhere. It's coming this way. About twenty yards to my right . . 

(CRASH OF MICROPHONE ... THEN DEAD SILENCE)

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, due to circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to continue the broadcast from Grovers Mill. Evidently there's some difficulty with our field transmission. However, we will return to that point at the earliest opportunity. In the meantime, we have a late bulletin from San Diego, California. Professor Indellkoffer, speaking at a dinner of the California Astronomical Society, expressed the opinion that the explosions on Mars are undoubtedly nothing more than severe volcanic disturbances on the surface of the planet. 

(slight pause)   

(of mike)  Thank you 

Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been handed a message that came in from Grovers Mill by telephone… At least forty people, including six state troopers lie dead in a field east of the village of Grovers Mill, their bodies burned and distorted beyond all possible recognition. Another brief statement has been released informing us that the charred body of Carl Phillips has been identified among them. 

 WAR OF THE WORLDS  SFX LOG

SFX1: La Cumparista (tango music)

SFX2: crowd noise and police siren

SFX3: humming, machine like sound

SFX4: a thud, heavy object hitting the ground

SFX5:  crowd sound; shouting/gasping in horror/awe

SFX6: hissing sound (like steam)

SFX7:  scared crowd /screams 

Notes:

Not just reading, acting !

More upper class vocal tone.

Use a Jazz type radio voice to get the tone of the piece set.

Character Study - Sonnet

CHARACTER PROFILE – In this character I am representing everyone, this is because all sonnets are universal and are applicable to everyone at least some point in their lives, I want to put this forward to be relatable.

WHO ARE THEY? (Avoid one work answers -expand below where possible)

AGE and NAME:N/A

FAMILY BACKGROUND/LIFE:N/A

JOB: Poet

KEY RELATIONSHIPS:N/A

INTERESTS: Love

LINKS TO KEY THEMES IN THE SONNET: The universal voice 

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION/PERSONALITY: The universal voice of everyone's feel of love

WHAT HAS HAPPENDED TO THEM and how are they affected by this?

BEFORE THE PLAY – Has previously experienced love and is trying to show that man can love.

DURING THE PLAY – CHARACTER JOURNEY AND THROUGHLINE - To go through the intro, crisis and resolve of the fact that love is real and that you need to believe that it is real and I will put my job on the line to prove that.

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

Character Objectives – Wants to prove that love is real, it is something that exists.

Characters obstacles - The haters

Character Super Objective -To prove love exists.

ACTOR CHOICES AND CHARACTER PORTRAYAL:

VOCAL CHOICES – I have made decisive vocal changes to the three different parts of the sonnet the Into, Crisis and Resolve, this allows people who may not understand the language to understand the feelings in the vocal tone and voice change.

Character Study - Radio Advert

CHARACTER PROFILE –  My character is a radio presenter who is trying to sell tickets to the theatre.

WHO ARE THEY? 

AGE: N/A

FAMILY BACKGROUND/LIFE: N/A

JOB: Radio Announcer

KEY RELATIONSHIPS: N/A

HEALTH: N/A

INTERESTS:N/A

LINKS TO KEY THEMES IN THE PLAY:N/A

LINKS TO KEY CHARATERS IN THE PLAY:N/A

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION/PERSONALITY:N/A

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

Character Objectives – Wants to engage the audience and make them want to come to the theatre and buy tickets.

Characters obstacles - The radio, it keeps the constraints to the voice.

Character Super Objective - To sell tickets to the public from the radio for the theatre.

ACTOR CHOICES AND CHARACTER PORTRAYAL:

VOCAL CHOICES – I chose to use a semi seductive voice to sound as if the tickets are what the public really need, but I didn't want it to sound monotone so I cheered it up to make it sound like a happy event.

Character Study - Audio Book

CHARACTER PROFILE –  My character in this book is the main protagonist and narrator of the story, her name is Tessa and she is a shadow hunter. This extract is from the third and final book in the Infernal Devices trilogy.

WHO ARE THEY? (Avoid one work answers -expand below where possible)

NAME: Tessa Grey

AGE: 18

FAMILY BACKGROUND/LIFE: 

JOB: Shadowhunter

KEY RELATIONSHIPS: Jem - Fiancee, Will - In Love With

HEALTH: Good

INTERESTS: Literature, Dickens, Travel

LINKS TO KEY THEMES IN THE BOOK: Love - Relationships with Jem and Will

LINKS TO KEY CHARATERS IN THE BOOK: Jem - love interest, Will- love interest

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION/PERSONALITY: Tessa is a young woman in the 1800's in London, she loves to read and because of this has a very active and romantic imagination, because of this she also finds going into the shadowhunter world a lot easier.

WHAT HAS HAPPENDED TO THEM and how are they affected by this?

BEFORE THE BOOK – She has accepted Jem's proposal and also defeated the Dark sisters, this caused her a lot of difficulty with the shadowhunters as she is not one and yet is.

DURING THE PLAY – CHARACTER JOURNEY AND THROUGHLINE -During the book she faces a lot of struggles with love and loss and victory and also failure, these themes are a huge part of the book detailing the struggles of a young shadowhunter, the journey of Tessa is that of every young person, to find their purpose in life and figure out what life is all about.

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

Character Objectives – Tessa in this scene wants to get her wedding dress just right to please Jem.
Characters obstacles - In this scene Tessa is finding the fact that she is so young and getting married difficult at the same time as seeing herself in her own wedding dress.

ACTOR CHOICES AND CHARACTER PORTRAYAL:

VOCAL CHOICES – In this speech I chose to do a very melancholy voice,  this was because I wanted to have the sadness that Tessa feels at having everything happen so fast because of Jem's illness and also the loss of her childhood.

Character Study - War of the Worlds

CHARACTER PROFILE – 

My character is a reporter from New York who is a radio broadcaster working on music for the city and further, she also helps to report to the people the goings on during the alien invasion. 

NAME: Imogen de Ste Croix

AGE: 24

FAMILY BACKGROUND/LIFE:

JOB: Radio Broadcaster

KEY RELATIONSHIPS: She holds a friendly relationship with the other reporters on the alien case

HEALTH: She is in good health

INTERESTS: Radio Broadcast, World news, Reading, Tennis and Cricket

LINKS TO KEY CHARATERS IN THE PLAY: The other reporters, she corresponds with them to bring information to the public 

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION/PERSONALITY: She is a very structured reporter who is very serious about her job and because of this tries to up-hold the perfect radio presenter even during the alien invasion and can come across as a bit stiff but is trying to be a good reporter.

WHAT HAS HAPPENDED TO THEM

BEFORE THE PLAY –Before the play my character was a woman who had worked her way into radio broadcasting and is very serious about her job because of the work she has put into her career, this has made her quite hard in personality as she won't let anything come between her and her radio, due to this she comes across as cold.
DURING THE PLAY – CHARACTER JOURNEY AND THROUGH LINE -The character is reporting on "Ramon Raquello and his Orchestra" just as the news of an alien attack from mars hits, she is then reporting on both the music and the attack, until she cannot do so.

AFTER THE PLAY – Due to the nature of the text and the ending, I would guess that things would not end well and that the lens would take over just as they harmed the other radio presenter and the other civillians.

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

Character Objectives – Has to have the audiences attention, has to deliver breaking news.

Characters obstacles -  Has to negotiate around the alien invasion to keep the radio show going.

Character Super Objective - To deliver a good radio show without interruption. 

ACTOR CHOICES AND CHARACTER PORTRAYAL:

VOCAL CHOICES – I chose to deliver this part in a partial monotone voice, to add the presenter effect, this I wanted to push so that when the alien invasion started to happen I could show the fear of the presenter and have that come across in her voice.

Radio - 2

Solo Project:
I began with my solo project knowing that at some point I wanted to work on an audiobook, this is because I think audiobooks have so much potential such as with portraying all of the emotions and internal thoughts that a character in a book would have an having to bring that across to your listening audience. Books themselves are also something I love as I am an avid reader, this made it quite hard to choose a book let alone a section of one to work on and use that piece without constantly changing my mind. I finally chose the first chapter from the book The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. I chose this piece because as an avid reader I seriously enjoyed the book, I also knew that no matter how many times I read the book or the part I chose for my vocal project I could never be bored with it.  I also chose the piece because having also listened to the audiobook and admiring the reader of the book I saw a lot of potential in the piece. I also began to look at how I would work on the extract myself making notes on the selected part and seeing how to engage in the emotions of the piece as it starts out with the traditional wedding folk rhyme, I saw this to be a nostalgic part of the piece and so wanted to make it somewhat down hearted and monotone at the same time showing the melancholy in the extract. Going into the actual scene we have  one of the maids who presents a cockney accent, I have found this to be a little more difficult as the accent was not my strong suit, so to work on this I looked at youtube videos to give me a better insight and of course had to go and watch My Fair Lady to give me the real Eliza Dolittle cockney tone. The book is set in the late 1800's and so the poem at the beginning has real meaning to the piece as it was an old rhyme always said around a wedding, just as the "something old something new" rhyme still told today. As a book it is written in a very descriptive way and  you need to convey the description and the emotions felt with that to show the character's feelings and what is going on around them. This can also be shown by the pace of the piece such as when a scene needs to pick up pace if a fight is going on or to slow down when they are trying to process a piece of vital information in the story. 

The second piece I chose was a sonnet, number 116. I chose this as my second vocal piece because I had performed the piece before and knew that there was still more that I could do to it. Such as expanding on the notes that I already had for the piece and since it had been a while since I had actually done the sonnet It was very beneficial to re learn it with the notes I already had. It was also interesting as I was able to take on a new view point having not done it for a while I was able to see it from an insiders perspective but also and outsiders perspective. I began by going back to basics looking at the time the piece was written and the themes it contains. I was looking at how during Shakespeare’s time love was not really seen, most marriages were arranged and not real, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t find love outside as most would find it elsewhere from their marriage. It was a time when the social aspect of love was considered a fantasy and not really something for the everyday life, most would marry for money or for stability as for women, not many jobs were available and for men they needed to create their down line. This piece relies on the listener understanding what it is saying, the sonnet is written in shakespearian and so is not as easily deciphered this is where the voice is heavily relied on, it is the one thing that will show the real emotion that is aching to be released from the poem to the listener. The pace of the piece changes with the different themes, showing the different stages of a sonnet, the intro, crisis and resolve. It needs to convey the question of the piece, then explain the crisis and how this is conflicting the person and finally the resolve the answer to the question and crisis. You could say that it is in a way a story, and every sonnet is the same, they all tell a universal story that everyone can relate to, different themes and problems but all have a resolve. Allowing the listener to understand that is crucial. 

The final piece I chose is a radio advert, the advert in question is for a ballet and saying that you can enjoy memories with the gift of tickets for your family to see the one night only production. This piece is modern and so the social, political and economic constraints are what we see today. These constraints are as follows, the economic situation is that there is not as much money going around and so the piece pushes the memories part of the the advert, aiming to persuade the listener into spending their money on tickets. The political situation right now is that the government are spending money we don't have, this is what is being encouraged in this advert. The social constraints of this time are that everyone wants to go to gatherings like this and take their families, it's a social venture that involves the family and is something that you can make memories with as the advert suggests.
The advert relies on the listener to understand what it is saying and also be coerced by what is happening in the advert to want to buy the tickets, this is also reliant on how persuasive the voice of the person who is talking on the radio. The pace of the piece needs to be quick enough to get everything across but also enough for the listener to understand what you are saying at the same time as being enticed into buying the tickets. I worked on all of this by listening to a lot of adverts on the radio or youtube and studying how they used their voice, vocal tone, pitch and pace to really make the advert as effective as they could, I have tried to add this into what I am doing to make the tickets more appealing for the families and others intended that are the target audience.

Radio - 1

To begin this blog entry I am going to tell you what I have and am doing in the radio section of my two year course. I will be explaining what why and how the script for group project was done. I hope to be able to give a good idea into how all of these choices came about and inform you on the way radio is produced and recorded.

Group Project:
We began the group project by being put into our groups, mine consists of Paige, Dan, Reece, Charlotte and myself. The group started to get into working as a group on the media of radio by reading together an old Flash script from the 1930's which was interesting because we were able to see how radio was performed and annotated in the 30's. Learning about radio for us began with the beginning where the shows performed were quite primitive and the sound effects weren't that good, it gave us a good indicator as to how we didn't want our piece to sound like and how we also wanted it to sound. The choosing process began with each person in the group bringing in a radio script of their choice mine was, The Importance Of Being Earnest. I chose this script because I had previously heard the play on the radio and very much enjoyed it and thought having a go and trying to do our own radio version would be a lot of fun. We all had a look at the different scripts everyone had brought in which presented us with a wide range of choice, in the end we chose Paige's piece which is, The War Of The Worlds. I felt that this was a good choice for our group as it gave us a lot to work with in terms of characters and plot line, The War Of The Worlds is a radio drama that is based on the book of the same name by H.G.Wells the play was originally narrated by Orson Welles and was performed as a special Halloween episode that was so believable that it cased chaos and Orson Welles was forced to come back on air and issue an apology for any problems this may have caused any of the public or anyone else. The drama is dramatic and holds a lot of potential and so it was chosen as our piece. We began by reading the chosen drama through a few times to get a feel for the piece and find our own pace to the play. Once the pace had been established and the play was far more familiar the part choosing began, this was done by finding out which characters we needed people for and then matching everyones strengths to their suitable character choice so as to have the best effect for the piece. We also wanted to get started and start to annotate and learn our roles so that we would find working on the play a lot easier in the long run when we do our final performance and need to be at our best. Once we had finalised all of the main details that we needed to begin such as casting and the play itself, everything started to work a lot faster. Now we are reading and re-reading our script in our roles to try to establish the correct vocal tone and pace that will suit our part, this includes accents, pitch and also annotating so that we are able to remember when these things come into the play and need to be used to create the best performance we can. We started to work on choosing the sound effects that would work well with the piece, this included searching through different ranges of Spanish music for the Ramon Raquello section. The Spanish music was interesting to sort through as we wanted it to retain it's Spanish influence and yet also reflect the atmosphere of the piece and set the scene. We then also chose where we felt sound effects would be appropriate, such as scenes where there is supposed to be an explosion or a crowd behind the reporter. During this process we also went through the script a few times as a group using the effects alongside our words to not only get a real feel as to how the end product would sound like but also to see where we might have missed something and needed to add in the sound effect to make it a better sound piece.

The British Broad Casting company (BBC) was formed in 1922 on the 18th of October, the first play that was written for audio was A Comedy Of Danger and was broadcast on the 15th of January in 1924 this piece was written by Richard Hughes and was revered by the critics, the play was a huge hit mostly because it was written for Radio and not originally as a play it was specifically for the format of Radio Broadcast. Before this monumental step the only type of play that had been shown on Radio was a version of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, this was broadcast on the 16th of February 1923, this was also well received by the public as it was a new form of entertainment that could be enjoyed from the home. This was a new form of entertainment for the country as it showed that the country was developing well, the 20's were a time of innovation and new trends, the world was changing and so was the aspect of broadcasting. This was the time when plays and dramas were written especially for Radio and it was a huge hit with the public and more were commissioned and so the art of Radio Drama was born.  This changed the way I engaged with my character because of all the things going on in the background of the era. The war happened a year later and even so political tensions were high, this meant that as a reporter I needed to add that level of caution to my voice. The Social and economic situation at the time of the original broadcast was dodgy, there was a recession and nothing was going smoothly especially with the threat of another world war. This changed my ideas of how the presenter would report the bad news of the alien attack, it made me think that a lot more caution is needed in the voice to show the delicate social, political and economic situation. This play uses sci-fi and realism to engage it's audience, creating the realistic approach to a real broadcast on a main channel allowing a lot of listeners to hear the show. The show relies on the way that it is written, with real reporters acting in and producing the effect of a real studio broadcast, this in turn created the mayhem that happened with the original show and made people believe that the alien invasion was real. The original show was done with one narrator, we changed this to a few instead to allow each member of the group to have a good part, we did keep the monologues in as we felt that they made the whole piece more dramatic but divided them up between group members. The pace of the piece is varied, it changes from reporter to reporter, with the main reporters it goes in a much slower and monotone voice, when the reporter is talking from the scene it goes a lot quicker as they are reporting a scene that is changing very quickly.