By definition, cues are ‘short pieces of written material that the presenter reads between items.’ Cues act as a kind of guideline for the presenter and introduce the next spoken item on the programme. In this way, they act similarly to stage directions in drama productions, giving instruction to the presenter or performer.
In order to represent a real radio drama, we used cues in a similar way. At the end of each scene, we faded out and at the beginning of the next we faded in. This both indicated the passing of time and also clearly showed the break in between scenes.
The following extract from our script is an example of how we used cues in our radio drama. It is the introduction to the ‘bar’ scene.
‘Fade In.
Bar door swings open.
Loud background bar noise - glasses clinking, drinks being poured, people talking and laughing loudly.’
When writing our scripts, in addition to considering cues as described above, we also had to select the right style for the genre of the radio drama. Should we use a melodramatic style of writing? Or perhaps slightly pantomime and over-the-top? As our drama included every-day incidents and decisions, we chose to use very realistic language. As it was based around the decisions of teenagers, we used the style of language that is commonplace in teenage society:
‘Hiya, you alright babes? How’re you feeling?’
The above extract shows how teenagers were represented in our radio drama. The use of ‘babes’ is a key element in this as the stereotypical teenager uses such language on a regular basis.
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