Progress so far…

Hello there!

It’s the producer of ‘Saving the World – One Fare at a Time’ here. Just though I’d let you know how the radio drama is progressing…..

Last week we recorded our taxi driver and the policeman in the radio studio. We did as much of the script as we could with them, however we still have a few more scenes to record which we’re doing tomorrow (Thursday 17th February).

Everything went pretty smoothly, we were all really impressed with how our actors (Tony and Jay) sounded and they took to their roles very well. Michael, our director, made sure they knew exactly how to deliver their lines and really helped get them into character. Rich, our BA and I ensured the levels were correct and we were recording the best sound possible with the equipment.

This week we have recorded all the sound effects we are going to need for the drama. This involved us driving around town with our stereo

microphone, recording the atmosphere of the town center both day and night and many other random, but important effects.

When we have our final recording with our actors tomorrow all that will be left to do is edit! Mike, Dom and I will be spending many hours in the edit suite over the weekend making sure that we do all our recordings justice by piecing them together in an effective way

That’s all for this blog entry, stick around for how our recording goes tomorrow and how the edit goes!

Audience/Station/Web/Multi Platform coverage for Blog

This drama will be written for the 11:30 slot on BBC Radio 4. The slot is designed for ‘wry and witty’ pieces, and this is what we intend the drama to be. The commissioning brief states that ‘small casts and simple plots’ are invited. Our piece is relatively simple and contains a maximum of 3 key voices over the course of the piece. The brief highlights that 11:30 is a ‘busy time of day’ so the fact that we will be having Jack and the Police investigator discussing his actions in the taxi should help those listeners who may have misheard something, or missed some of the piece. It’s important to keep the audience’s attention throughout the piece, so these explanations should be detailed enough for those who are busy, but not patronising to those who know what is going on. New information should be revealed in these sequences.

In terms of multi-platforming, we will be creating a production blog containing notes about the development of ideas, the process of finding actors and recording and editing the final piece. In addition to that, the blog will contain profiles of all the actors and link to websites that they wish people to see. Character biographies will also be on display on the website, much like those on the BBC’s Archers website. If there is any unused audio, that will be added to the website as a type of ‘deleted scene’ content. If Jack’s character was seen to be a success, there is great potential in a serial of this format, and possibly and online presence, and even a TV series if it was seen to be entertaining enough.

Treatment

Treatment (200 words) (how it will sound)

The piece starts as a parody of a dramatic scene where a character is discovering the truth. It will be over-the-top and Jack will exclaim various clichés as if he were a police investigator discovering something new.

Jack pays a visit to the local police station at lunch time to talk to Ben about his latest investigation, something very unimportant. As always, Ben tells Jack that they cannot follow up on this investigation as their resources are stretched and the alleged crime is not serious enough. Jack brings in some new evidence, in the form of more recorded conversations. Whenever the recorded conversations are introduced, they are initially heard from the ears of the characters, so they sound tinny and are combined with the background sounds of the police station. After a few seconds, the audio becomes clear, as if the listener is now inside the taxi listening to the conversation first-hand when it took place. We will hear various people talking about various crimes.

Discouraged, and yet not disheartened, Jack sets about investigating something bigger, and sees a TV report on a local murder. He knows what his next big project will be. Soon after, a regular customer gets into his taxi, and all his investigative phrases come out of the woodwork once again.

A large emphasis should be put upon the sounds of the taxi being driven, as it is part of the way Jack’s character changes over the course of the story. Different car-related actions may represent what Jack is thinking at that moment.

With our first Blog – Saving the World – One Fare at a Time

Thanks for passing by!

It’s Phil Krstic here, the Producer for Rich Forrest, Dominique Hodge and Michael Passingham’s Level Two Radio Drama. Here you will experience a very special ‘behind the scenes’ view on just how we can produce a radio drama.

Lets get to the point – what’s it all about?

Our radio drama is called ‘Saving the World – One Fare at a Time’ In this one-off, contemporary comedy-drama, a taxi driver-cum-detective makes repeated attempts to make the world a better place by interrogating his passengers. Playing off the chatty taxi driver stereotype, our hero, Jack, tries to solve crimes he’s read about in local papers and seen on local news. Using a hidden Dictaphone, he tries to weed out information from unsuspecting customers and gets a picture of the crime he is trying to solve. Today, his task is to solve a murder of a local, high-profile businessman. It is a tall order, but today may be his big chance, when a regular customer isn’t acting at all normal.

Meet the Characters:

Jack – A taxi driver in his mid-thirties, in a nondescript small town in the midlands. He feels that he could be doing a lot better than this, and yet he has not managed to progress any further than the local bypass. His town is quiet, but he still manages to find the things to investigate. He really believes that, one day, he will strike the bigtime. Until then, he’ll just have to keep investigating unruly neighbours clipping hedges, and other suburban dramas. He is able to interrogate his customers by using his ‘taxi’ driver voice, which is almost ‘mockney’ and very enthusiastic. In reality, he is quiet and reserved.

Ben ­– A fifty-nine year old desk police officer who always deals with Jack’s investigations. He realises that recording conversations with a hidden microphone is legally questionable, but it isn’t doing anyone any harm, so he brushes that issue aside. Ben is sympathetic to Jack, and is kind at heart. He often makes fun of Jack’s investigations, but still listens to all of the evidence that he has prepared. Nothing ever comes of Jack’s stories, but Ben likes a good laugh every now and then, plus it makes Jack feel recognised, if only for a moment.

Kelvin – A forty-something self-titled entrepreneur. He is a regular customer of the cab company, and Jack is his normal driver. Normally he isn’t particularly likeable, and today he seems very tense and doesn’t seem keen to answer any of Jack’s questions. However, the small amount of information he does give arouses Jack’s suspicions.