CHARACTERISATION in radio drama
ALAN BECK'S FORMULA FOR THE MAIN CHARACTERS (in a fixed-end soap)
| BACK STORY |
| TRANSFORMATION - the main character goes through a significant change - then resumes core qualities |
| INCITING INCIDENT - The Point of Attack - gets the plot into action |
| Creating a character who exists in time and space, who acts, and who has ideas and emotions. |
| Character conception - from stereotype to psychological complexity |
| Plot function - how the characters serve the plot |
| Formal function - characters or aspects of them specific to plot and events: narrators, confidantes, foils, etc. |
| (ABOVE ENDEBTED TO - Wallis, Mick, and Shepherd, Simon, Studying Plays, 1998, London: Arnold) |
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| Character in terms of dynamic relationship |
| Character revealed by the INCITING INCIDENT and the TRANSFORMATION |
| Individualising the type |
| Social context of character |
| Secondary characters |
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Dramatic conflict - various types of conflict - subversive conflict of humour |
| Surprise and deception |
| What do appearance, gestures, facial expressions, voice signify - in the Lifeworld? |
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How do creative radio actors embody these gestures, looks and glances in their radio acting? |
| How do radio characters interact with each other - beyond the words? Note the 'umms'. |
| Grouping of characters in the scene - what is the radio blocking in studio production? |
| How do characters create suspense, ambiguity, wrong clues, complexity, and certainties? |
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See - William Ash, The Way to Write Radio Drama, 1985, London: Elm Tree Books. |
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| Information that helps flesh out the skeleton story of the radio play. For example, an accident in a character's past that informs the person's actions in the present. |
| TRANSFORMATION - the main character goes through a significant change - then resumes core qualities |
| Gives energy and plot events to the narrative arc |
| Protagonist-dominated |
| INCITING INCIDENT - The Point of Attack - gets the plot into action |
| INCITING INCIDENT: an action or situation that causes conflict for main character. This conflict must be resolved by taking action. See http://writingforstagescreen.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_an_inciting_incident_in_a_screenplay |
| After the SET UP (where the listeners first get to know the main character) , the INCITING INCIDENT gets the plot into action. |
| In film scripting, the INCITING INCIDENT is also called The Point of Attack. |
| Example of the INCITING INCIDENT - 'SPACE DETECTIVES' - Episodes 1, Scene 5 |
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To Radio Drama Theory Lesson
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