Evaluation: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For our drama 'Under the Mushroom Cloud' we utilised the power of a strong narrative, incorporating tense sequences, along with a memorable and unique plot. A radio drama based around a nuclear war has never been done before, and as such, I believe we have a USP.

   One of the biggest influences for me, was the 'War of the worlds' radio broadcast, which cleverly captivated an entire nation, with the fear of an alien invasion. The clever facade that H.G.Welles utilised with attempting to make it as realistic as possible was an element I found very effective. As such, our drama uses radio broadcasts from an anonymous source, which adds to the mystery and fear of the unknown. In my opinion, there are not enough action or thriller drama's these days, and as such, I feel this may increase UTMC's appeal, and get young people listening to the radio once more. The ambience was a crucial element for making this drama successful. Several factors such as SFX had to be accounted for. Of course, as most of the human race has been wiped out, obviously we had to make sure that there was no 'hustle and bustle' in the background. All that can be heard is the wind, and maybe some falling debris here and there. There is also a faded drone which we added, when the survivors are traversing the harsh terrain. I feel this adds to the mysterious nature of the drama. Even though our drama has been placed after the 9pm watershed, there is no explicit language throughout the drama. Though there is violence; the ending of our piece, with Daniel's deranged monologue is culminated with his own suicide. This was a vital element of our piece though, and reflects a man driven to his limits.