Treatment

Harry Cowley and Andy Raynes

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Synopsis .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Format ................................................................................................................................................. 2 Narrative Structure ............................................................................................................................. 2 Why This Idea? .................................................................................................................................... 3 Music And How It Fits Into Our Genre ................................................................................................ 3 Aural Signposting ................................................................................................................................ 3 Duration .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Character Profiles.................................................................................................................................... 4 Detailed Storyline / Script ....................................................................................................................... 5 Part 1 - Harry Cowleys Segment ........................................................................................................ 5 Part 2 - Andy Rayness Segment ....................................................................................................... 12 Budget ................................................................................................................................................... 18 Representation ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Gender .............................................................................................................................................. 19 Ethnicity ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Age .................................................................................................................................................... 19 Stereotyping ...................................................................................................................................... 19 Labelling ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Target Audience .................................................................................................................................... 20 Demographics ................................................................................................................................... 20 Expectations and Prejudice ............................................................................................................... 20 Knowledge and Prior Experiences .................................................................................................... 20 Actors .................................................................................................................................................... 21

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Introduction
Synopsis
The Last of Our Days takes place in the United Kingdom, London, when a fungal spore-based infection rapidly spread across the globe, wiping out a vast majority of the population by warping its hosts brains and turning them into deadly predators capable of killing with a single bite. The remnants of the worlds population has been reduced to either struggling survivors or ravenous infected mutants.

Format
We chose our radio drama to be in a series format, where one season will contain multiple episodes. Eventually, there will be a defined ending, unlike a traditional soap which usually lasts for a very long period. For this reason, the audience will stay even more interested in the radio drama for its variety in a shorter space of time.

Narrative Structure
The first episode will be set in 2014, then afterwards it will focus on the storyline 20 years later. So in this case, the radio drama will be in a linear structure, which means the storyline will be in a chronological order. This also makes it easier to understand for the audience as it is a serial. In addition, the majority of episodes (including the first) will contain open/cliff-hanger endings to attract the audience for the next episode/season. This will hopefully keep the audience interested as the radio drama continues as they will keep having to guess what is going to happen. To begin with, the radio drama will be single stranded, where the storyline only focuses on a small single group of characters (mainly Joel and his few companions). However, as the storyline develops in the serial, more and more characters may be acknowledged, which means the radio drama may turn multi-stranded. Our production will be in chronological order with no flashbacks at least at first. The radio drama will start off 20 years before the main events of the story. This will introduce the characters and their relationships with each other. At the beginning of the second episode the radio drama will fast forward 20 years to the present of 2034 this is where the main story will occur.

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Why This Idea?

Since we have seen and watched many different modern zombie-apocalypse horror plots on either TV, movie or video game formats, we feel there is a large gap in the market for this concept in a radio drama. Perhaps it may be broadcasted on radio in the evening/night which will suit the darkness of the storyline and appeal to more people, as everyone usually likes a bit of a thrill.

Music And How It Fits Into Our Genre

The music used in our radio drama fits the genre of our production because it was used in another production following the same genre. The music we used has multiple versions of the same song. 1 version being calm and relaxing, the other being a lot faster paced which builds up tension but also is relatable to the previous version. This makes our radio drama sound a lot more professional. The softer version of the song is used effectively at the beginning of our production during the calm parts and the faster paced version is used to round of the first half of the episode and split it from the second half.

Aural Signposting
We use a lot of aural signposting in our production as we are attempting to build a picture of the scene in the listeners mind using only sound. This means that we have a lot of background noise to set the scene. The pitch and volume of the sound effect change as the characters move through the scene making the listeners feel as though they are moving with the characters instead of everything being the same volume. Sound from a distance is quieter and sounds outside the buildings or car will be muffled as though there is an object blocking the sounds travel. This will help the listeners picture the scene that they are in.

Duration
Each episode of our radio drama will be 10 minutes long with a break every 5 minutes. As the radio drama gets more popular, these times can increase to appease to the audience. We feel that this length of time for each episode is suitable as we do not want to bore our audience with lengthy episodes. Our radio drama will be quite fast paced and therefore we felt it was necessary to include a break every 5 minutes in order to let the listeners catch their breath. There will be 30 episodes in a season and as many seasons as we deem fit. Each season will be available to download and can also be listened to in one big chunk without the breaks. We feel that this suits our target audience as we are a part of said target audience and this is what we feel is correct.

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Character Profiles
NAME: GENDER: AGE: OCCUPATION: COSTUME: HISTORY: Joel Male 30 in prologue, 50 in main story Unknown Red checked shirt, blue jeans, hiking boots Most of Joels history is unknown to us. We know that he has a daughter called Sarah and that he had her when he was quite young. He has a younger brother called Tommy who he is still in contact with. His job is quite well paid from the looks of his house but we dont know what he does. He knows how to handle weapons and is able to keep calm in tense situations, which suggests a military career. He lives on the outskirts of London with his daughter so is unaffected by the fugal disease when it breaks out. The story starts in the early hours of the day after his birthday. Short, brown hair (in the main story, hair is beginning to go grey), rough beard, 6 foot 5, muscular Sarah Female 12 None (Pupil) Childrens pyjamas Nothing is known of Sarahs history other than the fact that she is Joels daughter Shoulder length blonde/brown hair, general childrens height Tommy Male 27 in prologue, 47 in main story Unknown however it is clear that he works with Joel Grey cargo pants, blue, long sleeve shirt Similar to Joel, not much is known about Tommys history. We do know that he is Joels younger brother and that they work in the same industry although we have no idea what that industry is. He also knows how to handle a weapon, suggesting a military history, possible one served with Joel. Shortish blonde/brown hair, similar build to Joel although he is slightly smaller

APPEARANCE:

NAME: GENDER: AGE: OCCUPATION: COSTUME: HISTORY: APPEARANCE: NAME: GENDER: AGE: OCCUPATION: COSTUME: HISTORY:

APPEARANCE:

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Detailed Storyline / Script

Part 1 - Harry Cowleys Segment
The story starts in a peaceful house on the outskirts of London. A clock is ticking loudly. The front door opens and Joel enters. He is on the phone speaking to Tommy. Sarah is lying on the sofa in the lounge. JOEL Listen Tommy, I Tommy I cant lose this I cant lose this job Well get on the phone to the contractor Look, well talk about this in the morning okay? Well talk about it in the morning. SARAH (Yawns) JOEL Alright. Goodnight. Joel hangs up the phone. SARAH Hey. JOEL Scoot over. SARAH Fun day at work huh? JOEL (Sighs) What are you still doing up? Its late. SARAH Crud! What time is it? Sarah sits up to look at the clock behind them. JOEL (Tired) Its way past your bedtime. SARAH

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment But its still today. JOEL

Andy Raynes

(Exasperated) Honey, please not right now, I do not have the energy for this. SARAH Here. JOEL Whats this? SARAH Your birthday Joel unwraps the box and takes out his birthday present. SARAH You kept complaining about your broken watch So I, figured, yknow? You like it? JOEL Honey, this is, its nice but I I think its stuck I SARAH What? No no no (Sarcastically) Oh ha ha. JOEL Whered you get the money for this? SARAH Drugs, I sell hardcore drugs. JOEL Good, you can start helping out with the mortgage then. SARAH Tst Yeah, you wish. Skip forward 1 hour. Music starts. Sarah is asleep on the sofa. Joel picks her up and carries her upstairs. JOEL (Whispered to Sarah) Night honey.

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Skip forward another hour, Sarah is lying in her bed. The phone next to her rings loudly. Sarah groggily wakes up and answers the phone. SARAH (Tired) Hello? TOMMY Hey Sarah. SARAH Uncle Tommy? TOMMY Yeah, its me honey, can you put your dad on the phone? Theres something going on and I cant seem to reach Beep, Beep, Beep The phone cuts out. SARAH Hello? Uncle Tommy? Sarah put the phone back in its bedroom and opens the door. The further down the hall though it understand. Sarah heads towards cradle and sits up. She crosses her faint sound of a TV can be heard is muffled and impossible to the noise. SARAH Daddy? Footsteps on creaky wooden floor. SARAH (To herself) Maybe hes in here. Sarah pushes open the door to her fathers bedroom, the TV is on and showing the news. As the door opens the sound of the TV gets a lot louder. Sarah looks at the TV. SARAH (To herself and surprised) Thats near here. NEWS REPORTER information that this outbreak is not an isolated incident, similar reports are coming from all across the United Kingdom and even

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment Soldiers, run into the shot behind the reporter, they are shouting and waving people away. SOLDIER

Andy Raynes

(Shouting) Everybody, get out now! Clear the area; theres been a gas An explosion rips the soldiers to pieces and envelops the camera. The TV signal cuts out and becomes static. The same explosion is heard from outside. It is right in the heart of London so its a lot quieter than normal. 3 more explosions go off across the city. SARAH (Shocked and scared) My god! Sarah quickly leaves the bedroom and starts heading down stairs. She is really scared now. SARAH DAD?! (To herself) what is going on? Police cars and ambulances drive outside her house. The sound of sirens can be heard. Sarah walks down the stairs and into the lounge. A faint beeping sound can be heard from across the room. SARAH (To herself) Thats his phone. Sarah walks over to the phone and picks it up, she unlocks it and looks at the messages. SARAH 5 missed calls? Where are you? Call me? She puts the phone down and turns it off to stop the beeping. Sarah begins to head towards the conservatory. Outside a dog is barking loudly, suddenly the dog squeals and goes quiet. Sarah jumps. As Sarah enters the conservatory, Joel runs in from outside. He is out of breath and heads straight over to a chest of draws and starts rummaging around. SARAH (Relieved) Dad! JOEL (Out of breath) Sarah, honey, get your coat, we are leaving.

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment SARAH Why? Dad whats going on? JOEL

Andy Raynes

Its the Mitchells next door. Somethings wrong with them, I I think theyre sick. Suddenly a loud bang is heard from outside as one of the Mitchells throws himself at the conservatory window, screaming. Joel steps back from the drawers with a gun in hand. JOEL Sarah, get behind me! Jimmy, Im warning you! Dont come any Jimmy throws himself at the glass again but this time it breaks inwards and he falls on the floor, still screaming he stands up and runs towards Joel. JOEL Get back Jimmy, I dont want to Joel fires his gun and shoots Jimmy in the chest. Jimmy falls to the floor and starts writhing around on the carpet, still screaming but not as loudly. JOEL Sarah, baby, we have to go. We have to go now. SARAH (Shaken) You- you shot him! I- I saw him this morning. The faint sound of a car pulling up outside brings Sarah back to her senses. JOEL Tommy. Joel grabs Sarahs arm and drags her outside. Tommy is waiting for then with a car TOMMY What the hell has happened Joel?

Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment JOEL

Andy Raynes

I have no idea, be we need to get out of here. Get in the back Sarah. TOMMY Holy crap, Joel, your covered in blood! JOEL Its okay, its not mine. Joel, Sarah and Tommy all get into the car. Tommy starts it up and reverses out the drive. TOMMY Hey Sarah, how you doing? SARAH Im fine Can we listen to the radio? TOMMY Sure honey. Tommy turns on the radio, there is only static. TOMMY A minute ago, the news man wouldnt shut up. Talking about how people are getting sick. First they said it was just London, but now theyre saying that its in Scotland, Kent, Norfolk. They found this one family all mangled in side of their houseJOEL Tommy! TOMMY Right, sorry. SARAH Are we sick? JOEL Of course we arent Sarah!

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment TOMMY They say its just the people in the city. SARAH Didnt Jimmy work in the city? JOEL Yeah thats right, he did. TOMMY

Andy Raynes

Well, the way into London has been blocked off, with means we need to take the M3. JOEL Yeah, that sounds about right. TOMMY Lets see what these people want JOEL What the hell are you doing Tommy? Keep driving! TOMMY They got a kid Joel! JOEL So do we. Now keep driving. RANDOM MAN HEY! WAIT! HHHHEEEEYYYYYYY! SARAH We should have helped them... Sound of Helicopters as they fly overhead and ambulance sounds as they drive past. TOMMY Were almost there. The exit should be just round this-

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

The M3 is completely blocked with traffic. Car horns are beeping.

Part 2 - Andy Rayness Segment

JOEL Damn! TOMMY Looks like everyone and their mothers had the same god-damn idea! The driver of the car in front of Tommy gets out his car. And begins shouting at the drivers in front of him. RANDOM MAN 2 Cmon guys what the hell! Whats the hold up? A man wearing Hospital patient clothing runs onto the road and jumps at the man, knocking him to the ground screaming. He starts to bite the man, ripping into him. JOEL Tommy, reverse Reverse, Reverse RIGHT NOW! TOMMY IM DOING IT JOEL! Another patient runs onto the road and charges their car, smashing his head against the window as they drive away. TOMMY That was way too close! Were gonna need to find another way around. The car rounds a corner and gets stuck. There is a lorry covering the road with only enough space for 1 car. People are streaming out from this gap and into the street. Within moments the car is surrounded. JOEL Tommy, we cant sit here, find a way through.

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment SARAH What are they running from? JOEL DRIVE TOMMY! TOMMY I CANT JUST BLOODY PLOUGH THROUGH THEM JOEL! JOEL THEN BACK UP! TOMMY THEYRE BEHIND ME TOO! The people outside are screaming and shouting. JOEL There! Theres a gap! TOMMY Im taking it! They drive through the gap. SARAH LOOK OUT!

Andy Raynes

Another car smashes into the side of their car and flips them over. Silence. Sound slowly bleeds in from muffled to being really loud. People are screaming, infected people are making noises. Car alarms are going off. SARAH Dad! DAD! Wake up! JOEL Ugh SARAH! Are you okay?

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment SARAH Im right here, Dad.

Andy Raynes

Joel kicks the windscreen until it breaks and then crawls out. He stands just outside the car and takes a deep breath. Suddenly an infected person runs at him screeching. Joel hold it back and then Tommy smashes a brick into the infected persons face, destroying it. TOMMY Hurry up and get Sarah! Joel runs to the back seat. JOEL Cmon honey. Are you alright? SARAH I think my legs busted. JOEL Here, let me help you out. SARAH Ahh! It really hurts, bad! JOEL Itll be okay. Ill just carry you. Joel picks Sarah up in his arms. He reaches in his jacket pocket and pulls out the pistol which he gives to Tommy. JOEL Cover us! TOMMY Always. But we gotta run now, the streets full of em! Follow me. The trio run through the streets, cars are careering off the road and crashing into the buildings on the sides. People are screaming and running. The infected are screeching and running. A building explodes and people are thrown across the street.

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment SARAH (Shaked) Th- Those people are on f- fire! JOEL Dont look honey.

Andy Raynes

People are screaming and burning. A car drives across the road running into 2 people. JOEL Where are we going Tommy? TOMMY Out of the city! Hurry Joel, theyre just behind us! A car explosion blows the street apart ahead. TOMMY We cant go that way! Here cut through the ally! JOEL Tommy! We got to hurry. Theyre breaking down the fence! TOMMY HERE! They run inside a building. Tommy hold the door shut. Hands try to reach round the side. TOMMY RUN, JOEL! JOEL IM NOT LEAVING YOU! TOMMY I CAN OUT RUN EM. YOU GOT SARAH! ILL MEET YOU OUTSIDE THE CITY! NOW GO! JOEL I will find you!

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Joel turns and runs with Sarah. The infected are still chasing him. He runs up a hill and gunshots rip the air apart. The infected behind him fall down dead. Joel looks up to see a soldier with a rifle. JOEL Please. Help us, I think her leg is broken SOLDIER Stop right there! JOEL Look, were not Sick! SOLDIER (Into radio) Sir, we got some civilians on the outer perimeter Theres a little girl But Yes sir. JOEL Hey weve just been through hell- Oh crap. Joel jumps to the side as the soldier shoots. Sarah screams as she is thrown. She and Joel fall down the hill. The solider runs over and points his gun at Joels head. JOEL Please. Another gunshot, this time from a pistol is heard and the soldier falls over dead. JOEL Tommy, thank God! TOMMY Oh no JOEL Sarah! Sarah is lying on the floor with a bullet wound in her stomach. She is still alive. Joel runs over to her and cradles her in his arms. Sarah is squealing in pain every now and again.

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment JOEL

Andy Raynes

(Whilst crying) Oh God, honey. Its going to be okay. I promise you. Its gonna be okay. Listen to me baby. Youre gonna be fine. Were gonna be fine. I know it hurts baby, I know it does. Sarah? honey? No no no no no. Dont do this to me. Please dont do this to me baby. Please- please dont do this. Dont do this. Please. Baby. Please dont do this.

END

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Budget
The budget for an hour of radio drama is 20,000, therefore we will need to work out the total budget for 8 minutes. Working out: 20,000 / 60 = 333.33 333.33 x 8 = 2,666.66 -----------------------------------------8 minutes = 2,666.66

The budget now be shared into several sections to focus on the different elements that will be needed to put the radio drama together.

Writers: 51.72 per minute Total: 413.76

Actors x3: 70.00 per minute Total: 560.00

Equipment: Total: 200.00

Hiring Studio: Total: 315.00

Props/Licensed SFX: Total: 150.00

Studio Staff x4: Total: 120.00

Total spending: 1758.76

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Representation
Gender
Our radio drama will represent all genders and is not biased on any. For instance, in the first episode we see a father and daughter relationship, where many other families and people are trying to escape on the streets of London.

Ethnicity
Despite the epidemic being global, we only get to see the characters in London, therefore we would mainly see people of British nationality.

Age
All ages will be represented in the storyline, as it is based around random survivors in the UK and a family. In the first episode, Joel and Tommy are adults and Sarah is only a child.

Stereotyping
There will be no stereotyping in the radio drama to avoid any bias or disinterest of a particular social-group in the audience.

Labelling
Since we are not allowed to have any swearing in the radio drama, we aim to classify our audience of ages 15+ as it will contain violence and gore. Because of this, it may only be able to be broadcasted in late hours.

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Target Audience
Demographics
Based on the research of genre-related media products, generally we aim our radio drama towards male adults and teenagers, ages 15 to 50, as this seems to be the social-group that watches it the most. Of course, the rest of the audience is not excluded and can always be listened to by others. Our radio drama will be based in the UK firstly, and if it gets popular, it could potentially go global. However since this is only the beginning of the radio drama, British people will be most likely to listen to it as we are based in England. In terms of socio-economic groups, it is likely that below would be the range of people who would listen to our radio drama:

As anyone above that range may not have the time to listen to it, and may likely be more mature than the specified age range.

Expectations and Prejudice

No bad language No racism No stereotyping No sexism No ageism

Knowledge and Prior Experiences

Most of the audience would probably be aware of other media products with the same genre and what the typical zombie storyline follows. Also, as the radio drama will be displayed during late hours, the audience will expect to hear darker and more violent storylines.

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Harry Cowley The Last of Our Days - Treatment

Andy Raynes

Actors
Character Joel Sarah Tommy Random man 1, 2, Soldier Actor Harry Cowley Hannah OConnor Andy Raynes Zachary Mitchell

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