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Radio Drama Analysis

Radio 4 Drama

Home Front - 2 April 1918 - Oscar Hendrickx

This Drama called Home Front has several different episodes based in World War 1 1918 of personal stories of soldiers going off the war and also how others lived. This specific episode was about a young man Oscar and his soon to be wife Esme who were supposed to get married but then found out that he has to go off to training in Belgium. Esme is heartbroken as she really wanted to get married but now has to be postponed.
Her mother Alice then comes in saying she's in debt and has to pay it before someone she knows Jo gets hurt. Oscar then sells his watch which is expensive to help his future mother-in-law with her debts and gets £6 for it. It turns out the guy she was paying it for had gotten shot in both of his legs by British soldiers. Oscar comes by to meet Esme late at night and she's upset because she wanted to marry him, they exchange their vows to take each other as husband and wife and then it ends with someone playing the harmonica.

The target audience for this drama is aimed at 26 - 75 years old as the fictional stories are really interesting and focus on stories of young people back in 1918. I feel an older target audience would appeal to this drama as they may have lived their lives during the second world war or want to settle down with someone and could possibly relate to their stories. At 0:45 seconds of the drama, they reveal they can no longer get married, and this would interest the aimed audience.

The narrative devices used to portray a drama is they have begun it with a bit of the couples backstory where they are suppose to get married but then young Oscars life drastically has to change as he has to go back to training meaning he is a soldier who is off to fight for his country. You then realise they are quite poor and Alice, Esme's mother says 'I've sold everything I can possibly sell but i'm still £8 short' which denotes her being in a tough situation that she needs to get out of. Also, when Oscar goes to get his hair cut done, his barber says 'You won't be defending your country, you'll be defending the upper lot' which clearing states he is not of any wealth and despises them.

At the end of the drama there is a little plot twist where at the beginning they said they could not get married to each other, however, they end up both exchanging vows together which makes the ending perfect for those hopeless romantics who want to see a happily ever after.
Home Front use a frame story to have the main story hatching onto a series of shorter stories and this is to get a point of view across from a range of different characters all living in the same time period which gives it a sense of historical aspects and themes.

At the beginning of every episode, there is an song intro to introduce the drama and to also make the jingle represent this specific radio drama. This is known as the Home Fronts soundtrack which is significant to that very drama. The sound is very lighthearted but is only based on musical instruments such as the trumpet and violin. These instruments make the sound quite old fashioned and reminds me of a lovely day out on a farm which helps given the time period it is set in (1918).
Straight after the soundtrack, you hear a person speaking something in French at 0:12 seconds. This line of dialogue denotes where the main character originates from which is somewhere in France given his accent. The more the drama goes on, we find out that he is from Belgium where he is supposed to train when going to fight in the world war. Speaking two language, French and English connotes his intellect and determination to learn a language other than his own. Also, him wanting to fight in war portrays how brave he is to put his life on the line for his country.

When Oscar goes into the barbers, there is a sound effect denoted at 4:48 minutes conveying the sharp sound of a razor blade and scissors snapping. This connotes he is getting his hair cut short which represents him getting ready for war as all soldiers must keep their length short. It is quite upsetting to Esme at 7:11 minutes when she sees Oscars new look as it reminds her that he is leaving and symbolises the danger that he may endure when training in Belgium, therefore is wary. Normally when males get their haircuts, it is a happy occasion and is to make them look cleaned up where they choose when to get it cut, however in Oscars occasion it is crucial that he and the other soldiers going to training must have it done and have no choice in the matter.

All the sound that are used illustrate the events that are happened and can be heard, such as a knock on the door and then heard being opened. This sound is a good way of introducing characters into the drama which will be really useful when making my own. I could use this to allow the main characters family to be introduced as they come into her room and also if leaving the house or a location, we can hear the bang of the door shut and then followed by footsteps. Also, the soundtrack at the beginning of every Home Front episode is a good idea to introduce our Radio Drama and could make up our own theme song so it is copyright free.