Progress Report - Radio Advert Pre-Production

Now that most of the work for the trailer has been done our group has had time to start looking at the radio advertisement we need to make for our campaign. None of us had any previous experience in creating pieces for the radio. As my role on the trailer was screen writer I assumed the role of ‘sound’ writer in the radio task. Due to this I had to carry out a detailed textual analysis on a current professionally produced media product so that I knew how to compose our advert. I listened to the ‘Tell No One’ (Guillaume Canet, 2007) radio advert and used a textual analysis of this to inform how I designed the radio ad. ‘Tell No One’ is a thriller film and so it works with the same codes and conventions as our film which made this an appropriate case study to look at.

Though I don’t have any real knowledge of the radio industry apart from as a consumer I went back to basic semiotics to deconstruct the technical codes of the ‘Tell No One’ trailer. Such things as the tone of the narrator’s voice, the dialogue for the voice over and the diegetic sound from the film which was used as an undertone were all important areas in which sign systems were prominent and noticeable.

Once this textual analysis had been carried out the initial ideas blast was carried out. There were some key areas placed on the ideas blast which were how it would use thriller codes and conventions, how it would be linked to our campaign and how it would meet the general requirements of a film’s radio advert. Once this was done we also carried out research into the legal requirements for radio advertising by looking at the BCAP radio advertising codes in order to make sure we complied with the rules and regulations governing our production.

Once this had been done I looked to create the script and I began this process by first noting down the key information that should be put in a radio ad. This includes the age classification of the film for legal reasons, the medium of release (in our case cinema) so the listeners know where they can go to see the film, the date also to inform the audience and the name. All these aspects are fairly common for radio adverts to include. My first script was done with the intention that a narrator would say the main dialogue like in ‘Tell No One’ but my lecturer advised that trying to re-create the typical deep movie announcer’s voice would possibly sound a bit put on.

Due to this I went away and completely re-drafted the script, this time trying to make it a little more original. I devised a short riddle for the main male protagonist in the film to say which hinted to parts of the film’s plot and its release date. As we set our film to be released on June 21^st (i.e. summer solstice/midsummer’s day) I put in the trailer ‘when the night is shortest’. This indirectly hints to the release date without giving it directly. Riddles are probably the best ways to create enigmas which at the end of the day are essential for capturing the audience’s interest and getting them to go and watch the film to see how it was resolved. I indirectly put the title, date of release and some plot information into the riddle and so the audience has the essential information in there even if it’s not given to them on a plate. Viral campaigns are all about the ‘buzz’ as Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008) showed spectacularly in theirs. They showed that the best way to create a buzz was by not giving the audience a great deal of information. This means they have to try and work things out and start talking to other people about it. This is possibly a risky strategy and if not done correctly could just lead the audience to lose interest but done right it almost assures a big fan base.

After the riddle was created I then added a section of dialogue for a narrator to say which revealed where it was going to be released (in the cinemas) and when (this midsummer’s day). This was followed by the age classification of the film ‘rated 15’ to satisfy legal regulations. This second attempt at the script was far more original and will hopefully capture the audience’s attention more than the first script which was quite generic.