We decided our target audience will be the age of 18-30 years with mostly male audience, and mainly working class with a multicultural ethnicity. We believe it will appeal to the age of 18-30 years because of its dark tone of the narrative, perhaps anyone younger than 18 years old would find the ending, swearing and some violent scenes too shocking, while it mainly interests the male audience as the most characters in the story are male and maybe they could relate to one of them. At first we thought it would interest the upper/middle class for its convoluted narrative but the characters are working class; mainly the thugs, and the working class could relate to the characters. While we decided it will interest a multicultural audience as we try not to be offensive to a certain cultural society, so we included characters like Jin Ling and the thugs.
Monthly Archives: December 2012
Genre – Psychological Thriller
Our group have chosen a genre and it will be psychological thriller. The stereotypical aspects of a psychological thriller usually includes a non-linear narrative or flashbacks, some twists and turns, and involves a back story for the main character, and consistent themes include identity, perception, death and mind with some realism. For example, Christopher Nolan’s Memento is loosely influenced for our radio drama for its main character’s state of having anterograde amnesia. Also, films like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable influences the twist endings of most psychological thrillers. I don’t believe it would create a problem when transferring these styles into radio as most of these doesn’t necessarily involve a visual element and psychological thrillers mainly focuses on the narrative. And these rules has to be there in order “supervise” filmmaker’s production and audience’s reading (Ryall).
It would be difficult to challenge these aspects and make it as entertaining and intriguing as possible as they were made this way to interest a certain target audience, so if I change the structures and styles; chronological narrative and one dimensional characters, it would seem boring to the audience.
FINAL RADIO TREATMENT – Exciderunt
This thriller drama revolves around a man with anterograde amnesia and seeks revenge for being charged of killing a security officer during a bank heist. It is influenced to films like Memento and The Lookout and film noirs like LA Confidential for its setting and narrative. This story would interest the target audience, which is an age group of 18-25 along with a mixed gender audience, because of its neo-noir style and its heavy focus on the unstable emotional states of characters as the story progresses, especially Scott. Although its structure will be in chronological order, it will have flashbacks that will relate to the film and twists will be revealed as the film progresses. It covers the themes of revenge, perception and memory.
Characters
- Scott Vaughan – 28 years old, has a short term memory loss due to a car accident
- Dan Vaughan – 32 years old, Scott’s brother
- Detective John Smith – Officer investigating and finishing Scott’s murder case
- Brock, Dion and Jerome – The thugs involved with the bank heist
- Lucy Vaughan – Scott’s sister
- Jin Ling – Security Guard who was killed during a bank heist
- Detective Peter Buswell – Officer 2
Plot
Set in Hackney, Scott, who has anterograde amnesia due to a car accident, was jailed for 25 years for the murder of Jin Ling, a security guard that he didn’t know he committed, after a bank heist that he didn’t know went wrong. After parole decided to release him early due to his mental state and his good behaviour, he seeks revenge for the people who, he believes, framed him.
While Officer John Smith, who worked with the murder case 10 years ago and disagreed with the verdict of Scott being guilty, decided to find more evidence and “finish” the case. A flashback 10 years ago is shown when Smith asked Scott if he did it, and Scott replied, “I don’t know if I did it or not, but somehow I deserve it”.
Scott visits her sister, Lucy, and gives her his notepad containing his rough times in prison, including his interaction with a man who took care of him, who was then executed. He then asks Lucy what happened to him and his brother Dan. She said she only knows that Dan was killed by a group who was involved in a bank heist. She then gives his keys to his old place.
He goes to his old place and finds a notepad which contains every memory he had ever since his recovery till the time he went to prison. He finds out that the last half of the notepad is ripped off but he finds an address in the notepad that could lead to the group who was involved.
Meanwhile, Smith arrives at Lucy’s place and asks her where Scott is now and where Dan used to live, hopefully find some more evidence about Scott, and she gives Dan’s address which is the same address that Scott found in the notepad. As Smith leaves, Lucy phones someone (unknown to the audience) and tells them to be careful as she thinks Smith might be onto him.
Scott goes to the address written on the notepad, which is Dan’s place, and finds Brock, one of the men involved. He tortures Brock for information. Brock revealed him that the other two men involved, Dion and Jerome, ran off with the money they stole from the bank heist and told them where they are now. He then shoots Brock point blank.
Smith arrives at Dan’s place and finds the Brock’s dead body. He investigates the place and finds a sent text message to Dion to be aware. He then searches Dion’s profile and finds an address.
Scott arrives at Dion and Jerome’s place and realising that Scott’s out for revenge, starts a shootout and ends up killing Jerome and injure Dion. Scott prepares to kill Dion, but he reveals to Scott that Dan is still alive, and where he lives now.
Smith arrives at the crime scene, he investigates the place and finds Jerome’s phone. He finds a very recent missed call from an unknown number, which happens to be Dan’s. He tries calling the number, and while waiting, continues to investigate the place. Dan answers and asks where Jerome is now, and Smith replies, “Who is this?”, and Dan hangs up. He sees a picture of Dion, Jerome, Brock and Dan together and realises Dan and the group planned the whole thing. Smith goes back to Dan’s place and asks the police for backup.
Scott goes back to Dan’s place and reunites with Dan. Scott, starts assuming that Dan is involved, points a gun at him and asks what really happened. Dan reveals that he planned the whole bank heist and that after Scott’s recovery from the car accident, Dan used him as an advantage and asks him to help as he thinks there’d be no flaws to the plan and they need the money for Scott’s “treatment”.
A flashback then occur in which during the bank heist, Scott accidently shot Ling as an act of self defence, and they all flee from the scene. Feeling guilty, Scott wrote what he did to his notepad but Dan ripped it off, protecting them from the police. Soon as the evidence are turning against them, Dan betrayed him and “confessed” that he wasn’t involved and that Scott planned the whole thing and killed the guard.
Filled with rage, Scott shoots Dan in the shoulder multiple times. Horrified about what he had just done, Scott helps him stop the bleeding. Dan apologizes to him and admitted he wanted Scott to know he was dead so he wouldn’t be a suspect to the bank heist. Dan then dies from blood loss. Scott burns the notepad to avoid being a suspect and suddenly looks horrified as he finds Dan’s body on the floor after not remembering what just happened. He then calls the police and holds Dan’s body. The police and Smith arrive and take Scott to the station for questions.
At the station, Smith asks who killed Dan, and Scott doesn’t respond. Smith is then asked to go back to Brock’s place for evidence and just as he leaves, he asks if he did it and Scott responds, “I don’t know if I did it or not, but somehow I deserve it”.
Here is an example of the script:
SCENE 1 – POLICE STATION
SCENE BEGINS WITH NOISES BEING HEARD IN THE BACKGROUND, INCLUDING TELEPHONE RINGS, PEOPLE CHATTING AND KEYBOARD BEING TYPED. A DOOR IS HEARD BEING OPENED THEN CLOSED. EVERYTHING GOES SILENT, THEN FOOTSTEPS ARE HEARD, STOPS AND A PILE OF PAPERWORK IS SLAMMED TO THE TABLE. PAGES ARE BEING TURNED WHILE OFFICER SMITH’S DIALOGUE IS HEARD.
OFFICER SMITH: So Scott Vaughan. 21 years old. It says here that you were charged for the murder of Jin Ling, on December 15th 2002, at 40 Islington High Street, London. What’s your defence?
BRIEF SILENCE INDICATING NO RESPONSE.
OFFICER SMITH: Look, I need you to work with me here, Scott. I’m here to help you.
Radio Treatment – The Feud
The Feud is a crime thriller drama for the target audience of 18-40 years along with a mixed gender audience. The story revolves around Jake Costello, who is the son of Mob boss of the Costello gang, who falls in love with Amber Stracci, who turns out to be the daughter of Costello’s arch nemesis, the Stracci Gang. As their love becomes stronger, the feud between the gang becomes stronger. This is strongly influenced by the famous play Romeo and Juliet while references crime thriller films like Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas and Casino. This will interest the target audience because it covers several themes like love, betrayal and father and son relationships. The female audience would relate to the female lead, Amber, as she is a strong character at first but is weakened by her love with Jake. while Jake represents weakness at first but becomes stronger when he’s with her so a theme of dominance is also represented here. It will be in non-chronological order with some flashbacks, involving Jake’s childhood and his bond with his father before he died.
We are introduced with some characters like Provenzano, a police officer who was also a good friend of Costello. He’s been the father figure of Jake ever since his father died. Costello, Jake’s father, the dominant figure who is very calm yet affirmative. and Stracci, a very aggressive leader. All of these characters represents the theme of father figures, which is one of the biggest themes of the story.
This is an example of a short scene, the first scene where they’re in a warehouse where Jake is about to get killed by one of Stracci’s men.
THE FEUD
SCENE 1 – WAREHOUSE
MUSIC INTRO
ANNOUNCER: The Feud, The Warehouse, written by Alvin Maduli, with (NAME) as AMBER, (NAME) as JAKE, (NAME) as PROVENZANO. We join them at the beginning where Jake is about to get shot by one of Stracci’s men.
A GUN CLICK IS HEARD AND HEAVY BREATHING IS HEARD.
A HEARTBEAT IS PLAYED .
AMBER: I love you Jake…
A GUN SHOT IS HEARD.
(SILENCE)
Radio Drama Treatment – Exciderunt
Exciderunt is a thriller drama for the target audience of 18-40 years along with a mixed gender audience. The story revolves around the main character, Scott, who has short term memory loss due to a car accident, where his brother also died, and is accused and jailed for 7 years for the murder of a security guard that he didn’t commit, after a bank heist that he didn’t know went wrong. After being released from prison, he seeks revenge for the people who killed his brother, Dan, and damaged him. This story would interest the target audience because of its neo-noir style and its heavy focus on the unstable emotional states of characters as the story progresses, especially Scott. Although its structure will be in chronological order, it will have flashbacks that will relate to the film and twists will be revealed as the film progresses. It covers the themes of revenge, perception and memory.
This is an example of a short scene, which is the first scene where he is released from prison.
EXCIDERUNT
SCENE 1 – PRISON
GATES ARE OPENING AND FOOTSTEPS ON A DIRTY GROUND
IS HEARD.
SCOTT: Some people don’t deserve to be punished. But I did. I just didn’t know at first.
GATES ARE CLOSING AND CONTINUES TO WALK.
MUSIC STARTS TO PLAY
SCOTT: I was accused of murdering a security guard after a bank heist went wrong. Hell, I didn’t even know this happened. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I had a car accident 3 months before I was in prison which gave me anterograde amnesia which means I have short term memory loss. Sucks, huh? My brother died at the crash. Some say I was lucky I survived. Some say I deserved to die at the crash…
(SILENCE)
Radio Drama Treatment – Storm Is Coming
Storm Is Coming is a drama for the target audience of 18-40 years along with a mixed gender audience. The story revolves around seven people who were brutally killed at a film premiere at Tennessee. It’s loosely based on the The Dark Knight Rises shooting at Colorado. It focuses on the seven people before the shooting one by one so flashbacks will be used during the broadcast. This could interest the target audience for its clever yet very dark twist. As the story progresses, we get a much darker path for the characters as each of them committed one of the seven deadly sins. Sarah, an actress, has the desire for fame and money. Michael, a director, has the excessive desire for food. Keane, an accountant, betrayed a fellow employee for money. Chino, is unemployed and has been for years. Sam, an architect , is a rageaholic. Brad, was an ex-convict for killing his friend and his perfect family. Taylor, a lawyer, always loses a case because of his pride. This leads to a brutal death for all of them.
I believe this would fit well with the target audience because it’s a different take for The Dark Knight Rises shooting as they would feel sympathy for the characters at first but as the story progresses, they would feel like they deserve it. This could create some controversies but this is an unusual way for a radio drama which I intended to do.
This is an example of a short scene, the first scene in the series. It starts off where the shooting begins.
FIRST SCRIPT – STORM IS COMING
SCENE 1
STORM IS COMING – CINEMA THEATER
DIALOGUE FROM THE FILM IS BEING PLAYED IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE POPCORN NOISES ARE HEARD. THEN A DOOR BEING OPENED AGGRESIVELY IS HEARD AND SMOKE BOMBS ARE THROWN. PEOPLE STARTS SCREAMING.
BRAD: GET DOWN! EVERYBODY GET DOWN! NOW! HE’S GOT A GUN!
MAN STARTS TO FIRE HIS WEAPON AND EVERYONE SCREAMS FOR HELP.
(SILENCE)
ANNOUNCER: Act 1: Sarah.
RADIO DRAMA – MINDMAPS
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