Radio Drama Codes and Conventions

Archer Mayer- Open Season

This drama starts with a narration by a character. He introduces himself as Joe
Gunther from Vermont and explains that he has been a lieutenant since the
1900s, this suggests he is a well-respected lieutenant as he has been in the job
for so long. He then gives an aural signpost that the drama is about to cut to a
scene of him and a new patrol officer from Florida in a snow storm, because
there has been a killing.
Joe Gunther has a distinctive Vermont accent, he has a low voice and appears to
be an adult between the ages of 40 and 60.
Music is playing in the background of his narration, it is quite happy music so no
suspense is being built about the fact he is talking about a murder. This makes
the character seem as if he is talking to us as our friend.
There is a silence between the narration and the start of the next scene. The first
voice is recognisably, Joe Gunthers and he is talking to the new patrol officer,
who he refers to as Ron. We can tell they are in a car because there are sound
effects of the car engine, and they are talking about it being slippery and snowy
on the roads. Ron has a slightly different American accent to Joe which we can
infer is because he has just moved from his home of Florida. He then talks about
how him and his wife had spent Christmas at home in Florida. This indicates not
only the time of year, possibly January or late December, and also tells us a bit
about the age of character Ron, because he has a wife meaning he is old enough
to have been married.
There is no music but the sound effects tell us that the car is moving. It then
stops and Joe Gunther gets out the car. (We know this from the sound effects of
car doors, footsteps and the fact he thanks Ron for giving him a lift, so we know
that Ron is not going to be in the next scene).
Joe begins narrating again what he sees when he gets out the car. He tells us
directly that the time is 2:48am, he was at a house, which was the scene of the
crime.
The background noise then changes to a busy location and Joe is greeted by
different people telling him about what theyve seen and different pieces of
evidence theyve found. This certifies that he is seen as an important figure in
the business. In the background we can hear sirens, inaudible voices and
footsteps, indicating that there are a lot of people at the scene.
The audio then changes and we know that Joe Gunther has stepped inside, we
can hear his footsteps and the outside noise gets muted, everything also
becomes a bit more echoed. Someone explains to Joe what has happened.