SHORT CUTS: RUBY BABY - Rebecca contrubutes to BBC Radio Play
By Rebecca / Spinebreakers Crew
LISTEN HERE
SHORT CUTS: RUBY BABY STARTS ON MONDAY 22 FEBRUARY AT 13.30, 20.30 and 01.30 AND CONTINUES DAILY UNTIL MONDAY 1 MARCH. The episodes will also be available on BBC iPlayer Listen Again for 7 days after this.
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RUBY BABY FEATURE - by Rebecca
On the 14th November 2009, I was one of fourteen teenagers to visit the BBC Radio offices in Aldwich. We were there as part of a project called Short Cuts involving the popular author Louisa Young (one half of the izou Corder duo who wrote Lion Boy). She had written a radio play called Ruby Baby (to be broadcast this week) and by the end of the day, all fourteen of us were going to go away with an idea for a two minute episode - a plot development, red herring or conspiracy theory – that could be broadcast in the week between the first and second parts of Ruby Baby. To prepare us for this task, the day ahead was a workshop in which we would not only read Louisa’s play, but get advice on how to write for radio; advice that would prepare us for our work as well as giving us some ideas and tips for our futures.
I was surprised by how little I knew or had thought about the complexities of writing for radio. I have written stage plays before but radio plays are a whole different ball game; it’s shocking how much of a scene needs to be visual for it to work and as a writer it is your job to get around this obvious barrier. We were alerted to some common mistakes that we had to be careful not to make, for example, not letting our characters tell each other something they already knew for the sake of the listener – we had to find a more sophisticated way of divulging information, or to really think about where the listener would be in the episode - in the theatre they are often sitting, looking through one of the walls of a room but in this case were they listening in on a conversation, walking about a room, or observing an entire scene? We did not have the luxury of visual gags or stories and so each line had to be gripping and necessary so as not to lose the attention of the audience. To do this we were given a basic six-point plan of how to write a radio play:
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6 POINT PLAN
HOW TO WRITE A RADIO PLAY
1. Establish a status quo (set the scene).
2. Introduce a dilemma – something to build suspense.
3. Surprise the audience by producing a big hook, a twist or by revealing a secret.
4. Create a crisis or a point of uncertainty.
5. Allow the events to reach a climax.
6. Bring the plot to a resolution and tie up the loose ends.
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Possibly the most specified advice we received was about sound effects which, apart from words, were the only tools at our disposal and are radio’s alternative to stage directions. We learnt about the two different types of sound effects: spot (those created in studio) and grams (those put on during the editing) and we learned to identify them in actually recordings. We were advised not to have our characters in repetitive motion for a whole scene (for example, walking or horse riding) because the sound effects would have to be continuous and it would be harder for the actors as they had to capture the breathing and speech rhythms for that type of movement for a sustained period of time.
Actors Joseph Cohen-Cole (George) & Melissa Advani (Jossie) during the recording.
Once we had the foundations for writing a script we read the first part of Louisa’s play. She wove into that half an hour so many possibly leads and ideas that our minds were buzzing with questions. In groups we explored what we had just read and tried to come up with a plausible conclusion to the play. As the entire group reformed we tossed ideas around; some genuinely inspired and insightful and we each chose a few characters whose stories we wanted to develop further. For the rest of the day we worked on our scripts, experimenting with storylines and utilising our newfound knowledge of radio writing. Though we ended by reading the second half of the play, we were encouraged to forget it and go home with our original perceptions fresh in our minds in order to write our episodes. Out of fourteen, only six scripts would be chosen, both due to merit and the way in which they fit together.
Danny Shaw (another young writer)
I am proud to say that I was one of the lucky few who was chosen to have their piece recorded and have since received the official dramatisation of the entire project. As tempting as it was, I have restrained myself from listening to the whole thing, preferring to hear it live with my family. However, my self control was not strong enough to stop me listening to all the mini-episodes and it was such a fantastic experience to hear my words come alive like that – it was performed exactly as I’d imagined. I did find myself slightly perturbed by the standard of the other five scenes and my sense of pride was replaced by the feeling that mine did not belong with the fantastic entries it was accompanied by. Despite this, I was so glad that I was able to be part of such a project that in the end it did not matter.
Bridget Minamore (another young writer)
Short Cuts was such a unique experience that I hope it will leave a legacy for similar projects, in order to engage more teenagers in a form of media that is maybe not so popular with the younger generation. We learned that the BBC’s afternoon play receives more of an audience than all three theatres at the National put together over an entire season; it is definitely a lucrative and promising career path that I am now interested in exploring further. I met some really lovely people who I expect to see great things from in the future. I now can’t wait to hear Ruby Baby live on the radio and I would encourage everyone to tune in to what is sure to be a gripping and entertaining piece of radio.
By Rebecca
MORE TIPS ON WRITING RADIO DRAMA CAN BE FOUND IN THE BBC WRITERS ROOM