Scripting - Soap & Radio Drama pieces
SOAP - working in 5-minute episodes
GETTING THE RIGHT SIZE FOR YOUR EPISODES.
This is one of the most difficult requirements in scripting. When a
student over-writes, and records too much in production, this creates a
much greater problem in post-production.
Best to sort this out as soon as possible, at the scripting stage.
You have to time your scenes, and the effects and the music bridges.
Listen to previous soap episodes with a watch.
subtext
Some advice
Some student soaps
'The Canterbury Vampires'
Script
of 'The Canterbury Vampires'
'Space Rocks'
Sci-Fi
plot suggestions
| Comedy scripting
One liners
http://www.bitoffun.com/Oneline.alfa.htm |
| Aviator slang
http://www.ottocubano.com/glossario%20navy%20aviator%20slang.htm |
| More aviator slang
http://www.tailhook.org/AVSLANG.htm |
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Funny - weird - expressions
| Bag ~ Flight suit or anti-exposure suit ("Put on a bag");
as a verb--to collect or acquire: as in, "bag some traps". |
| Beaded Up ~ Worried or excited. |
| Behind the Power Curve ~ Not keeping up with expectations. |
| Big Chicken Dinner ~ AKA Bad Conduct Discharge [thanx to Carl Smith
for submitting that one] |
| Bingo ~ Minimum fuel for a comfortable and safe return to base. Aircraft
can fly and fight past bingo fuel in combat situations, but at considerable
peril. |
| Boola-Boola ~ Radio call made when a pilot shoots down a drone. |
| Booming ~ Loud, raucous partying ("we were booming last night");
or, fast, exciting flying ("we went booming through the Grand Canyon"). |
| BOREX ~ A dull, repetitive exercise (a busy. tense one might be a
SWEATEX). |
| Bought the Farm ~ Died. Originated from the practice of the government
reimbursing farmers for crops destroyed due to aviation accidents on their
fields. The farmer's, knowing a good thing when they see it, would inflate
the value of lost crops to the point that, in effect, the mishap pilot
"bought the farm". Student pilots regularly practice emergency
landings to farmer's fields. (This one term must have a bazillion different
origins judging from the amount of "corrections" I've received.
I still like this one - ed.) Another definition for the term as submitted
by Bernard J. Wilson, Captain, Los Angeles Airport Police: If a pilot was
killed, either in combat or due to aircraft accident, the beneficiaries
of his insurance would be payed off. Since pilots tended to be young, the
beneficiaries would often be their parents. So, when the pilot died, he
"bought the farm" by the insurance money paying off the mortgage. |
| Brain Housing Group ~ Mock-technical term for the skull. |
| Bumping ~ ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering),also called "bumping
heads". |
| CAVU ~ Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited: the best possible flying
weather. |
| Check Six ~ Visual observation of the rear quadrant, from which most
air-to-air attacks can be expected. Refers to the clock system of scanning
the envelope around the aircraft; 12 o'clock is straight ahead, 6 o'clock
is directly astern. Also a common salutation and greeting among tactical
pilots. Keep an eye on your behind, be careful. |
| Charlie Foxtrot ~ Phonetics for "cluster-f*ck" |
| Checking for Light Leaks ~ Taking a nap, referring to the eyelids |
| Colorful Actions ~ Flathatting, showing off, or otherwise ignoring
safe procedures while flying. |
| Cones ~ Students, short for coneheads: also called nurkin heads, or studs. |
| Delta Sierra ~ Phonetics for "dumb shit": describes a stupid
action, and erases all previous Bravo Zulus and Sierra Hotels. |
| Dot ~ Refers to how a distant aircraft looks on the horizon, ("I'm
a dot" means "I'm out of here"). |
| Drift Factor ~ If you have a high one, you aren't reliable. |
| Fangs Out ~ When a pilot is really hot for a dogfight. |
| Flathatting ~ Unauthorized low-level flying and stunting--thrilling,
sometimes fatal, usually career- ending if caught. |
| Furball ~ A confused aerial engagement with many combatants. Several
aircraft in tight ACM. |
| Go Juice ~ Jet fuel. |
| Golden Leg Spreaders ~ Pilot wings...or rather what pilots can get
with their wings... [thanks again to Carl Smith for a truly interesting
term!] |
| Gomer ~ Slang for a dogfight adversary, the usage stemming from the
old Gomer Pyle TV show. |
| Goo ~ Bad weather that makes it impossible to see; in the clouds. |
| Gouge ~ The latest inside information. Also the poop, the skinny.
A summary of important information. |
| Greenie Board ~ Prominently displayed squadron scoreboard where the
landing signal officers rate the pilots' carrier landings (any color other
than green is bad ): also called the "weenie board." |
| Gripe ~ A mechanical problem on an aircraft. An "up" gripe
means you can still fly: a "down" gripe means you can't. |
| Hangar Queen ~ An aircraft that suffers chronic "downs";
hangar queens are often pirated for spares for the squadron's other aircraft,
so when the aircraft leave the carrier at the end of the cruise, the maintenance
officer normally flies the hangar queen because he knows which parts have
been taken (the "queen's" ejection seats are especially well
preflighted). |
| High PRF ~ Extremely excitable (PRF is a radar term: pulse repetition
frequency). |
| HOTAS ~ Hands On Throttle And Stick. Modern fighters have every imaginable
control function mounted on either the stick (right hand) or the throttle
quadrant (left hand), so that the pilot need not fumble around in the cockpit. |
| Hummer ~ Any ingenious machine--plane, car, or weapon--whose actual
name can't be recalled. Also "puppy," "bad boy." The
E-2 Hawkeye early-warning aircraft is also nicknamed "Hummer",
in reference to the sound of its turboprop engines. |
| Kick the Tires and Light the Fires ~ Formerly, to bypass or severely
shorten the required routine of physically inspecting the aircraft prior
to flight. Currently meaning "let's get this aircraft preflighted
and outta here, pronto" |
| LEAPEX ~ A jump-through-your-*ss project, exercise, or drill. Something
silly that needs to be done NOW! |
| Lost the Bubble ~ Got confused or forgot what was happening. |
| My Fun Meter is Pegged ~ Sarcastic comment for, "I am not enjoying
this." |
| No-Load ~ An underachiever. |
| Nice Vapes ~ Comment on an exciting fly-by when high speed at low
altitude or high G causes dramatic vapor trails. |
| Padlocked ~ To have a bogey firmly in your sights. |
| Rhino ~ Nickname for the F-4 Phantom. Also Double Ugly. |
| Sierra Hotel ~ Phonetic abbreviation for "shit hot," high
praise; the pilot's favorite and all-purpose expression of approval |
| Shoe ~ Short for "blackshoes," a derogatory term for nonflying
personnel; aviators wear brown shoes. |
| Spooled Up ~ Excited. |
| Spud Locker ~ The part of a carrier where you don't want to land;
it is well down on the fantail, so if you hit it, you are way too low (at
least one Navy pilot earned the nickname "Spud" for doing just
that). |
| Three Down and Locked ~ Landing gear down and ready for landing.
A required confirmation call prior to landing at Air Force bases. Pilots
who fly fixed-gear aircraft are known to modify this call as "three
down and welded". |
| Whiskey Charlie ~ Phonetics for "Who cares" |
Bohica
Bend over, here it comes again. |
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TO INDEX TO THE SOAP SITE
To WELCOME PAGE
Radio Soap (serial drama) - HOW TO MAKE IT
Five-minute episodes - or short episodes
Step by step instruction from Alan Beck.
Learn about radio drama on this site along with my book
- Beck, Alan, Radio Acting, London: A & C Black (1997) ISBN
0-7136-4631-4
This is how to make a short-form soap - entertaining (above
all) and you can include issues (issues that could influence the listeners'
behaviour).
Further: production, scripting, web site, marketing, focus
group meetings, drop-in script, copyright material logging, trails, soap
launch.
LINKS WITH OTHER SITE
Radio
Drama - directing, acting, technical, learning & teaching, researching,
styles, genres
This is a complete curriculum of scripts, techniques, advice, sound
files - effects and atmoses (with no copyright and so free to use), detailed
script commentaries, etc. -
Contact: [email protected]
This site's address: http://www.savoyhill.co.uk/soap/index.html