Production Log: Annotated Script - First Draft

This is the annotated version of our script of Under the Mushroom Cloud.

Location Details

The location for our radio drama is London. Because our the characters in our drama are seeking to get to a shelter we needed to research different places around the UK where there are fallout shelters. We discovered that there is a shelter in Essex, so we had our characters travel from central London to Essex.

Our Radio Drama: Character Development

Our radio drama features four characters trying to survive in the wasteland that is now England. The leader of the group is Ryan. He is strong and confident, and is a natural born leader. He cares for his group and will strive to get them to safety. He also hates to lose.

Jen is the only female of the group. She brings a bit of balance to an all male cast.  She is a bit fearful, a bit like a damsel in distress. She is intelligent, but also somewhat shy.

Nick is a very rowdy character, we tried to put this across by giving him a very strong Scottish accent. He is aggressive and outgoing.

Daniel is in stark contrast to Nick. He is very quiet and speaks in a low, almost monotone voice. He is the observer of the group, and doesn't really take part.

Our Radio Drama: Development

A lot of things were revised in our final script to make the radio drama work. We needed to get the main plot point across to the audience that our story is happening in a post-apocalyptic nuclear world without being to obvious about it. To do this we included the 'Radio News Broadcaster'. The News Broadcaster comes through on a small broken radio that a character has managed to fix amongst the devastation. We can give the impression of the announcer speaking through a radio by distorting the sound of his voice. He talks about the carnage as if it was insignificant and that the characters knew all along, which they would do. From the outset this establishes the scene and creates expectations of what is to come. Our drama appeals to the 'equilibrium theory' by Tzvetan Todorov, where there is an initial state of 'equilibrium' or 'status quo' which is challenged to create a new state of equilibrium.

Our Radio Drama: Story

Our radio drama is the last installment of a series, the conclusion where everything ends. It is the final chapter of a story where four people meet to survive the terrible devastation of several nuclear explosions. Our script starts after the four have met and gotten to know each other. A radio news broadcast tells them of a bunker close to their position where they can go for ensured survival which triggers them to set out to get to it. They face hardship on the way and it ends with one characters losing his mind amongst the chaos.

Our Radio Drama: Theme

The genre for our radio drama is post-apocalyptic adventure, the inspiration for which will be from other radio dramas of as similar genre like 'War of the Worlds', 'The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy' and a video game called 'Fallout'. We started out with the idea of a zombie horror story, but changed it as we thought it would be difficult to get across the concept of zombies to the audience. The subject of zombies is also somewhat cliché. The conventions of our drama are destruction, survival and facing a challenge. The main theme throughout is the absense of democracy, laws and society which will create a sort of 'de-evolution' to a time that predates our familiar civilization, and give literal meaning the phrase 'survival of the fittest'.