Secondary Research / Primary Research

Hello.

I decided to choose the thriller idea for my radio play (A diary entry like story in which the entries start out somewhat innocent about her crush but then get increasingly disturbing. She starts off by admiring him from a far and it progresses as far as breaking into his house.)

I had to do some research into the actual process of stalking as i've never personally been stalked, neither have i stalked anybody else.

I found a few good references that highlight the act of stalking..

I wanted to research types of stalkers in order to be able to create and develop a character that is realistic and one that the audience may be able to relate to.

I also wanted to research victims as the person who is being victimized in my story needs to be either conventional or very unconventional (depending if i want to make the story a hybrid-genre comedy-thriller etc.) Would the person being stalked have a past with the stalker? Would they work at the same place or attend the same educational facility? These questions are all relatively important.

I decided to make up a list of sources that inspired me to think up the idea.

1- The Crush (1993) by Alan Shapiro staring Cary Elwes and Alicia Silverstone.

The story is about a fourteen year old girl called Darien Forrester who has a crush on the new tenant in her home, Nick (who is in his thirties.) She sneaks into his room and rewrites one of his stories, and sends it to his magazine company without his knowledge which earns him praise from his new boss. At a party thrown at the forresters, the lonely girl Darien requests that Nick follows her to a romantic spot and he, as her friend, follows her there. She then kisses him.

This kiss allowed her crush to intensify and now she obsesses over him, but he quickly pulls away from the situation as she is underage and he is seeing a woman from his workplace, Amy.

Darien's logic slowly becomes "if i can't have him, no-one can." She ends up nearly killing Nick's love interest Amy and accusing Nick of sexually assaulting her, defacing his car, erasing all of his work, etc.

In the end, she ends up in a mental hospital, and starts crushing on her doctor.

This story partly inspired me because of the intense thrill you get from watching it. Watching something seemingly innocent progress into sheer horror sends adrenaline rushing through you, bit by bit. I imagined a similar plot line and as a radio play, the viewers senses will be even more alert by the thrilling storyline that will unfold.

2 - Pacify Her - Melanie Martinez

Pacify her is a song about a girl who likes things that are forbidden and not hers. In this story, she sees a boy walking with a girl, and decides that the boy should be with her. She doesn't care about what happens to the girl (whether she gets physically or mentally hurt) and just focuses on getting the guy in the end.

I like this song as a source because it shows the nature behind stalking. Doing whatever it will take to get closer to the person you love, no matter if it will hurt the people around them or you in the long run.

I also like that the music track is slightly childlike as the song is a play on the word "pacifier." I'd like the sound effects in my radio play to correlate with my dialogue in that way (i.e if the title was accident, there would be sirens, or shouting/screaming in the background.)

3- Zitten - Sunflower (짙은 - 해바라기)

I decided to use one of my favorite songs as a source as it is about being hopelessly in love with somebody still knowing that they could never return your love. A sunflower turns towards the sun to receive nourishment and to stay alive. But when the moon comes out, sunflowers do not know what direction to lean to. They are lost. They do not receive nourishment or warmth, until they see the sun again. The metaphor in this story is told through a girl who is alone and her teacher is the only one who sees that and helps her out. He is the sun in this story.

I took inspiration from this song as my radio play will be in parts, just like the song is. At first the girl is alone (chapter one), then she gets helped by him (chapter two), she begins to be infatuated with him (chapter 3) and finally, she gets found out and falls down into a spiral of depression again (chapter 4).

I will use a diary like format as my character is an eighteen year old girl. She will be lost in the beginning, and the crush will help her out, leading to her infatuation.

4- Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson (Novel)

Before I Go To Sleep is a psychological thriller that explores the concept of the 'unknown.' Christine wakes up everyday in a house with her husband ben, not knowing who she is and where she is. He explains to her that she had got into an accident and suffers from permanent brain damage. She secretly keeps a diary of logs about the information she gains throughout the day and things she does. Her memory progressively gets better and she eventually finds out the things behind her past.

This story inspired my stalker story as it's very psychological and one of the main characters is an example of a twisted, psychotic person who can act very normal to the public eye. This source is helpful for my radio play as there is no past or backstory to any of the characters and it just talks about them in the present. This automatically brings an element of mystery into the play/book and allows the reader/listener to use their imagination This brings me on to my next source.

5- American Psycho

The reason why American Psycho plays a very important part in planning my radio play is because the main character 'Patrick Bateman' is a serial killer, but has remained un-convicted for many years. He is a psychopath and doesn't show any emotions such as happiness or remorse (probably why he is a successful business man). He fakes his reactions so the people around him think he is a nice guy, and then at night he murders girls in his apartment and disposes of the bodies.

My stalker character will be exactly like Patrick Bateman in the way that he has no remorse for hurting others. The stalker will talk about the most obscene things like they are normal such as breaking into somebody's home, kidnapping somebody, etc. They don't know what they are doing are wrong, or they just don't feel anything about the situations at hand. I also love the music in the background (below) as it is pleasant but also mysterious and lingering, which falls hand in hand with the storyline.

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Primary Research

I gathered three people that differed in age (59, 52 and 16) and gender (M/F) and recorded them answering questions i had prepared about radio plays, and their variables. I think it's important to have a stark difference between interviewees as you'll just receive the same answers.

Some of the feedback I received was SLIGHTLY unhelpful, but for the most part, I gained some insight into what the viewers of my radio play would like to see and I can use this in my endeavors.

The things that stood out as prominent assets were:

- To play subtle interludes of piano/orchestra-esque music which will help set the atmosphere

- To include a girl that shows signs of a split, disorderly personality

- To not use lots of sound effects at risk of sounding to childlike and cliched

These comments were well appreciated and very helpful to a beginner like myself. Focus Groups allow you to focus, (as said in the title...) and have motivated me to try my hardest to make a radio play that will impress my audience.

MOOD BOARD:

Let me set the scene of my radio play.

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- Faela's monologues will be hypothetically written from her bedroom. She will read them as if she is talking to her admirer. I picture the room to be empty, still almost, which just her presence lingering there like a solemn shadow. She will be sitting on her bed, crouching over her diary. The room is lit by a single lamp that resides beside her bedside.

- The therapy sessions which take place a total amount of '2' times will be taken place in a very brightly lit room. There are multiple sofas in the room (vibrantly coloured) and many paintings are hung off of the off-white walls. A clock on the wall ticks impatiently.

- The Court room is filled to the brim with old men, it looks more like a funeral home. Women in high-topped hats turn their noses up at the criminal, Faela Winters. The floors are marble and gleaming as if they haven't been stepped on before.

- The street that fail lures in her kidnapper is dark, desolate. A streetlamp is flickering as if it was stuttering for help. Cars are parked on only the left side of the road and Faela lays still on the right side of the road, waiting for Emmett to show up and fall into her trap.

Character Evaluation

Faela Winters. A nineteen year old troubled stalker who is in denial of her affliction for the authoritative.

Hedwig Frantz. A judge at Kings Court House. Is very stern with her judging. Looks like she is a pensioner but is actually in her 50's. Her voice is youthful, but her opinions are conservative and harsh, like old age.

Emmett Amalese. An assistant teacher in Faela's university. He is rather attractive, and many students like him. He is polite, honest and kind. Too kind it seems, as he seems to help the vulnerable a lot.

Dr Maharani. A young therapist who is having a hard time with her newest patient, Faela Winters. She hasn't been able to diagnose her for three years, and is having a tough time because of it.

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I will upload my script separately to this blog post as it is quite long (6 pages.) I will write the script on Celtx.com just for the mere fact that it is easy to configure and it has a set template which allows you to have all of the correct stage directions, actions, etc.

It was my first time ever writing a radio play, so I found Celtx.com quite helpful due to the fact that it's formats are set up for novices like myself. I found it easy to use the controls and I think it will quite helpful in the future. Also, it remembers the different scene headings and locations you use in case you use the same scene more than once.

My script wasn't complex, but it was the first time that I wrote a script with more than three characters in it and more than two locations. I put a script up on my blog with the same character (see lost boy screenplay) and it was basic in format and structure. I think this experience definitely helped me in the way of developing my writing and storyline skills. I haven't made a radio play (or any sort of audio book) before so using a detailed script will give me a good guide when recording so I don't make any mistakes.