My Overall Experience

My time spent at WHAG was very enjoyable for someone in the field of communications. I now have a better understanding of how a live broadcast works. My hours there were very flexible and I was able to get the hours I needed for the course.  There were days that I wasn't able to come to work because of the snow storms. I was able to make up for those days without any problem. The staff was very friendly and they enjoyed having me work there.  I had my picture taken with some of them.  The picture up above shows me with the talented and lovely evening news anchor, Amy Hudak.  I will miss working there and the people I got to know.  I feel like my time there will lead to a possible career in broadcasting. If I could recommend a good place for someone who is interested in broadcasting, WHAG would be the place to start working.

Directing

The most important job in production is the director.  The director is the ring leader of the whole operation.  It's their job to tell the camera people when to cue the anchors, when to push/pull cameras, and what kind of shot they need to set up.  They also tell the audio person when to cue each sound.  If each news section is heavy on time, the director needs to know what story to cut in order to make up for the lost time.

The director has to know how to do everything production job. They have to train workers how to run the cameras, audio, teleprompter, and graphics. Directors have been through a lot of training themselves in order to take on the responsibilities of their position. I got to watch how the directors were able to run the program. It was interesting to see how they ran the show. Everything had to be perfect on their part. If some goes wrong, they get the blame for it. Directors have the toughest jobs in the business.

Graphics

The graphics is another essential part for a live news broadcast.  This is when images and captions appear on the screen.  Some of the images they commonly use would be the DotBiz Events, Kidscaster Pictures, Maps, Mugshots,and anything in the OTS Box.  Captions would introduce the news cast and the people being interviewed in front of the camera.  For the person that controls the graphics, they need to be ready to make that graphic appear on screen at the proper moment.  They also make sure that they take the graphic down in time for the next one to appear.  Graphics could be edited using another computer if it's needed. They don't have the director telling them what to do, so it's their job to handle their work well on their own. I didn't get to use the graphics at all during my internship.  Like the audio board, I just watched how it was done and kept track of the show through the rundown sheet.  I felt like that I was able to get a good understanding of how the graphics work during a live broadcast.

Reporting

During my internship, I wanted to know how the reporters do their work.  I talked to Nate Stewart, about how he does reports on a story.  According to Nate, one story is assigned to a reporter per day.  If the reporter has an idea for a story, they have to pitch the story to the station manager.  They travel to the site of their story and record all the shots themselves.  He interviews at least two people per story.  Once he gets back to the station, he arranges the shots together in a way that he sees fit and does the voice over in between the interviews.  The story that Nate covered had to be ready in time for the 11:00 news.  When I was break from my job at WHAG, I spent time with Nate learning how to put together a news package.  It wasn't part of my internship, but I wanted to learn about reporting and to make the most of my time there.  I felt like I have learned a lot about reporting from Nate and we became good friends through our conversations together.

Audio Board

One of the toughest parts of working in production at WHAG is working the audio board.  The person working the audio makes sure that the broadcasts sounds right.  One of their jobs is to turn on the microphones for the anchors when it's their turn to speak.  If they accidentally turn them on when they are saying something offensive, the whole crew could get into some serious trouble for that.  Luckily, that didn't happen when I was working there. During the mic checks, they tell people if the mic is working or not.  The audio person also starts the packages and cues the music at the end of each segment.  Like the camera people, they have to listen to what the director is telling them to do through the headsets.  I wasn't able to work the board at all.  Sometimes it was hard to stay awake when I was watching the board. I mostly kept track of the show by looking at the run down sheet and answered questions that the audio person asked me regarding the audio board. I felt like I got a good understanding of how the board works, but I wish I could have been more hands on with that part of my internship.

Telepromter

Another piece of equipment that the production crew uses during live broadcasts is the teleprompter.  This shows the script that the anchors and sportscasters need to look at during the show.  The weather meteorologists use it sometimes, but most of what they say on the air is improvised.  Anchors can control the teleprompter by stepping on a pedal at the bottom of the desk.  During packages, the people in the control need to run in while the story is going.  If they get lost, they can find their place on the computer next to them. The computer is used to getting the scripts together for each broadcast.  I would set it up on the right show for whoever is running the equipment. For whoever is behind the teleprompter, it's important for them to get things ready for the anchors.  I have learned that the teleprompter is a very delicate piece of equipment.  It takes some getting used to before you can keep up with the packages and the people in front of the camera.

When Cats Attack

https://youtu.be/xhDtaPE9yeM
I thought of one of the most unusual things I witnessed behind the camera at WHAG was having a black cat named Midnight on during Pet of the Week,  That black cat got a little too crazy when he was being held by news anchor, Taniya Wright.  He had scratched Taniya in the cheek.  It was shocking at the time when it happened, but it was funny when we looked back on it.  Taniya wasn't hurt too bad.  According to Kirk Livers of the Animal Shelter in Hagerstown, Midnight was quarantined for ten days before he got adopted.  As a result of that incident, the news anchors are not allowed to hold the pets anymore.  The link in this blog post has the whole footage

Camera

During my internship at WHAG, I was taught how to set up camera shots.  At the beginning, I was in the studio watching how everyone was setting up the necessary shots.  I had the trainer headset on so I could listen to the director giving everyone directions. I had to cue the anchors to let them know when to start speaking and how much time they have left before the break.  The Green Xs on the floor of the studio showed the camera people where to go for a specific shot.  The main shots I learned at the station was the opening shot of the anchors at the desk, Straight up shots, OTS, Three person, Weather Desk, Weather Wall, and Orange Wall.  Learning when to push and pull was important too.  For opening shots I pushed and pulled at the end of the segment.  Learning how to do camera is easier said than done. I made sure that I set up shots according to what I saw everyone was doing.   As long as the camera person listens to the director and moves to the right spot in the studio in time, they should be alright..

Studio

One of the first things that I learned how to do at my internship was setting up the studio.  Everything in a television is on a strict schedule.  I made sure that the cameras were in the right places. Microphones are checked before each broadcast.  I made sure each of them were working before I gave them to the anchors and meteorologists.   On Mondays when the station would have Pet of the Week, I would bring out the large mat and chairs to the live shot screen.  The important things about setting up the studio was to make sure everything is in place and looks neat.  Setting up the studio was the easy part in working at WHAG.

Presentations and Porfolio

On April 13th, the big day came for all the seniors in the communication department.  We had our presentations in the Rams Den at Shepherd University

My radio drama was played from my personal Ipad.  For multiple people, I had three different headsets that I borrowed from the radio station hooked up.  I gave out business cards to everyone that came to listen to work.  The cards had links to the radio drama on YouTube and Soundcloud.  This would allow people to listen to my work at anytime of their choosing.  I made a hard copy of my radio drams for my director. I had also made copies with personalized thank you notes for some of my friends who were unable to attend the presentations.


I felt like my presentation went very well.  Like most final projects, I was very nervous about presenting my work. That gives you the feeling that your heart is beating faster than it should. Once I began talking about my work, my nerves disappeared. I was able to answer the questions that my listeners asked me.  Many of the comments I received from my professors and friends were very positive.  My own mother came to listen my work too.  She had helped me put the poster board together and edited my slides.  I believe that I was able to present my work nicely and I enjoyed the fruit and brownies at the event.




This is a link to my porfolio:
http://edouardcarbonneau.wix.com/comm-porfolio

Culture Event #5

For my final culture event of the semester, I went to the Primal Wrestling Match at the KOA Arena in Harpers Ferry, WV.  This was the first time I attended a live pro-wrestling match.  I had seats in the third row from the ring.  Seeing a live wrestling match was more exciting than watching it on television.  These are the results of each fight:

Doug Delicious and Fenix Fury defeated Punk Rock All-Stars
Logan LaRoux defeated Jack Cicero
The tag-team of The Forgiven defeated Country Strong.  Female wrestler, Mandy Leon was there to support them.
Drolix defeated T.K Stark
Dirty Money defeated G-Fed
PCW Champion,
Bobby Shields defeated Chuck Lennox

As proof of attending the event, I had my picture taken with the wrestlers at half-time.  One of those wrestling stars I had my picture with was The Sandman.  He was there to fill in for Maria Kannellis, who was unable to attend the event due to personal reasons.  I also had each wrestler sign a free poster that was given to everyone who showed up early for the meet and greet.  It was exciting to see a live wrestling match and I would see the next Primal Wrestling event coming up.

My Game Plan for Presentations

After working on my radio drama all semester long, I am glad to say that my work is ready for presentation.  My instructor, Monica Larson, helped me design the cover poster.  I had the poster printed twice at Staples. One copy is for the presentation and one is for home.  For the slides on the poster, I decided to add an extra two slides to the six I already made out.  Along with the story, main character, other characters, production, influences, and why I did the project; I added a short biography of myself and credits to thank everyone that helped me put everything together.  The cover page and all eight slides were taped to a black poster board.

Everyone will be able to listen to my work on my Ipad.  My original idea was to borrow a tablet from the Comm Department and play my work from Soundcloud.  The Radio Drama will be playing from my Ipad in case the internet doesn't work on the day of presentations.  I already have more than one pair of headphones for multiple listeners. The radio station manager at Shepherd let me borrow the headphones for the day.   If anyone likes my radio drama, I have business cards saying that my work can be found on Soundcloud and YouTube.  I am very nervous about how my presentation will turn out.  It always happens when I present my work to my peers and teachers.  I'm hoping that my presentation will be a success.

Culture Event #4

On March 14th, I attended the Wayne Brady concert at Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, WV.  Wayne Brady is one of the cast members of Whose Line Is It Anyway and the host of Let's Make a Deal.  His act specializes in improvisation, which is where the performers make everything up in the moment with the help of the audience.  Jonathan Mangum joins Brady on the show.  He is Brady's sidekick on Let's Make a Deal and a recurring cast member of Whose Line Is It Anyway.

Mangum opens up the show by explaining how improvisation works and has the audience give him long words. The words are for a rap song that Wayne makes up.  Wayne uses the words to rap about unicorn sex.  The audience were laughing hard during each game. The other games that they played were Sound Effects, One-Word Story, First Date, Questions From The Audience, and Song Styles. All of the games were from Whose Line Is It Anyway. It was a great show and I would see him again.  I got to see the other cast members of Whose Line like Collin Mochrie, Brad Sherwood, Ryan Stiles,  Greg Proops, Chip Esten, and Jeff Davis at other venues. The show was everything I thought it was going to be.

As proof of me attending the event, I had my picture taken with Wayne Brady himself. My friend Drew, who works as a manager at the casino, helped me get into the Meet and Greet.  It was great meeting Wayne Brady before the show. He was very nice to everyone. I shook his hand and a photographer took the picture,  which I later downloaded off the casino's website. It was great meeting and seeing one of my favorite comedians in person.  I would see him again if he came back to the casino.

Culture Event #3

On February 27th, I went to the Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, WV to see the Eli Young Band. They are currently one of the most popular bands in country music. The lead singer of the group is Mike Eli. Other of the group were James Young on the guitar, Jon Jones on bass guitar, and Chris Thompson on the drums.  The concert was a sold out show and I was lucky to purchase my ticket when I was able to.

During the show, they performed some of their best known songs like Drunk Last Night, Crazy Girl, and Even If It Breaks Your Heart. They also performed their own covers of other well-known country songs like Dust On The Bottle by David Lee Murphy and Sweet Home Alabama by Lynard Skynard. The Eli Young Band  was able to introduce one of their newest songs called Turn It On. Sometimes the audience got close to the stage and danced to some of their most popular songs like drunk Last Night.  I personally got close to the stage to dance and get some good pictures.  The venue doesn't allow flash photography during shows.  As long as I had the flash off, I figured that I wouldn't get in trouble.  They received huge applause after each song.  It was a great show all together.

I enjoyed the show at the casino. This was my second trip to the new Event Center. I was there last October to see Travis Tritt, another country singer.  As proof that I have attended the concert, I took several pictures of the band performing their songs. I wasn't able to get into the Meet and Greet, but I had my picture taken with a girl I met in the crowd of people around the stage. In order to get ready for the show, I got dressed up in my western shirt and hat.  My saying is that "if you go to a country show, you should look the part". I also bought one their album of 10,000 Towns at the souvenir stand.  The Eli Young Band put on a great show and I would see them again if they came back to Charles Town.

Presentations.

For April 13th 2015, The Comm Department will put on a presentation for all of the capstone projects in the Rams Den at Shepherd University.  My poster board project is coming along alright.  I already have the Powerpoint slides finished.  The slides are the story, biography of myself, list of cast/characters, influences, production, and why I chose the subject.  The one thing that I am having some trouble with is designing the cover page for the poster.  Capstone students are required to use Illustrator to design the poster.  I have never used that particular program before. In order to learn how to use the program,I plan to ask my instructor for a one on one session for how to use the program.  I already have the picture ready for use.  It will be of a picture of a woman standing in an alley pointing a gun.  I need to know how to make that picture part of a creative poster board idea.

Culture Event #2

My second culture event this semester was a girls basketball game at Shepherd University.  The girls of Shepherd played against Urbana on February 12th.  This was the first basketball that I have attended during my entire time as a student on Shepherd.

It was a close game all to the end. Both teams were evenly matched and they played a strong defense in order to maintain the lead. The end of the first half of the game was a tie of 36 to 36.  The cheerleaders were off to side during their routines to get the crowd excited.  Shepherd was able to win the game with a score of 78 to 72.

I also stayed to watch the first half of the men's basketball game.  The crowd for that game got bigger for that game.  The team from Urbana played a very aggressive game against Shepherd.  Once Urbana got the lead, they kept it throughout the rest of the game.  I left the game early because I made plans to meet a friend for dinner.  The score then was 41 to 59 with Urbana winning.  The next day, I learned that Urbana won the game 79 to 55.  The men's game for Shepherd was very brutal to them.

As proof for attending the event, I had my picture taken with my friend,  Mrs. Lueck, from Jefferson High School. I also kept the program for the game. It was an exciting game and I would go see another one if I find time in my schedule.

Culture Event #1

My first culture event was a junior recital performance at the Frank Center on campus.  A mezzo-soprano singer named Hannah Wardell was the featured act during the show. Junior Recitals are required for students that are pursuing a degree in Performance or Piano Pedagogy.  The event was held on February 11th at 1:00pm

Hannah performed seven songs for the entire music department.Those songs were La Regata Veneziana, Che faro senza Euridice, Va! Laisse couler mes larmes, Apres un reve, Verborgenheit, Ich atmet' einen linden Duft, and by Strauss.  I enjoyed her performance of Euridice the most because that was the one piece that I was most familiar with.  The music is a Greek Mythology story about a man named Orpheus who goes to the underworld to reclaim his Euridice.  I enjoyed hearing her sing that song.  She did a great job with her performances on each of her songs.

The event did not allow flash photography because teachers were recording the event.  I was able to get some pictures without the flash, but the screen on my camera cracked.  That caused my camera to break. All the pictures I had taken at the event including one of me there is all gone due to my camera breaking.   I only have a signed program to show that I was at the event.

Poster Board Ideas

In order to get ready for the poster board project, I made a power point presentation of all the work that I put into my radio drama. I took some time last Friday to look over some of last year's posters to get an idea of how to approach this part of the project.  The PowerPoint consists of 6 sections that will go on the poster board.

The first section is the story itself.  I will tell the audience what the story is all about without giving away any of the major details.  The next section will be a short biography of myself, The third section will be my cast of actors.  I will give short descriptions of the characters in my story and have pictures of the cast next to them.  The fourth section will be influences.  I will list the sources I used to make my radio drama.  The fifth section will talk about the production.  This is where I will talk about what programs and steps I used to make the project.  The last section will talk about why I chose to do the project.  I am planning on a career in broadcasting and I enjoy watching old movies.  Those are two of the reasons why I chose to do this project and they will be listed in that section.

Comments on Presentation and Changes

For my presentation, I played the second scene of my radio drama for the Comm Department.  I received some good comments on my story, but I also received some ideas of what I can do to make my story better.  My director, Kevin Williams, suggested that I should try adding some room sounds or music as a way to give the listeners an idea of where the meeting of each character takes place.  I already have the transition music for the moments that get interesting.  I was also told to try adding more silence in between certain lines.  The Comm department took notice that there was always something to say after each line.  Examples would be Carter asking Ralph if he could come in or when Carter tells him about his suspicions of June.

Between room noise and background music, I would pick background music.  However, finding the right music would  be difficult.  From the websites I went to for free sounds and music, I did not like any of the music they offered.  The strange transitions from Free Sounds was the only suspenseful music I liked enough to put into my project..  The pauses for certain lines might work for some parts of my story, but I still unsure if I will go with that idea. I know that I am going with the music and I'm hoping things will all come together.

Scene 4 and Final Touches

After a lot of thought, I was able to write the last scene of My Sister June. In Scene 4, my character goes to June's apartment building to confront her about the murders. Her ex boyfriend, Richard Marx, tells Ralph that she made a full confession to him. When Ralph goes to see her,  the landlord tells him she moved away to parts unknown. The landlord is played by my friend, Wayne Snow. He gives Ralph a letter from June confessing everything and also warning him not to pursue the case any further or else. Without a second thought, Ralph decides to give the letter to the police.  On the way to his car, Richard confronts him with a gun. He declared that he will protect June even if it means losing his life. The story will end with a gunshot showing either Ralph's death or Richard's.

I have all the parts recorded on a flash drive. I also have the sound effects too.  All I need to do at this point is too put them all together.  I am also going to put the best lines together as a trailer for my presentation with the communications department. Movies use trailers for getting the attention from the audience. I plan to use the same technique with my radio drama. It will be on YouTube. I am very nervous about presentations and I hope that everything will go smoothly.

A Different Scene 3

For my radio drama of My Sister June, I decided to redo my third scene.  My character still goes to one of June's friends for answers regarding the murders, and I decided to create a new male character instead of using another female part.  He will be played by my friend, Angus Russell

My new character is named Richard Marx.  He is the ex-boyfriend of June Wexford.  Even though they are no longer dating, they are still close.  Ralph tells him about the recent murders and that June is the prime suspect.  He goes to Richard because June confides in him about everything.  Richard does have some critical information regarding June and what he tells Ralph can break the case.  After Ralph leaves him, Richard calls June to tell her that he is on to her and that he will be taken care  of.

Richard Marx is an example of a chump. Most femme fatales in suspense stories have at least one man in their lives that can rely on for help.  That man is infatuated with her and she can manipulate him into doing anything.  This becomes a wicked attraction.  The man wants love from the woman and the woman wants a man she can control.  The man loses his sense of right and wrong due to the spell of the woman.  I am creating that mood between Richard and June.  Richard carries a torch for June and will do anything to help the woman he loves.  The next scene will show how far he will go to protect June.

Recording Plan

I have just begun the recording process of my radio drama. So far, I had my friends Angus Russell and Jim Morris read their parts by themselves. I used audacity to record their voices with some space in between. Angus was kind enough to let me borrow a microphone from him, which helps pick up the voices of the cast. The space between lines is for my part that I record later on. I will also put the necessary sound effects to make the story sound real to the audience. Radio dramas heavily rely on sound effects to give the audience a visual picture of the story in their minds.  I believe that progress is coming along nicely.

Scene 4 Crossroads

For my final scene of my radio drama, I can say that I am at a crossroads. The last scene depends on getting a female part.  A friend of mine recommended someone to me that could read the part of June, but I am still unsure if I could make her available for recording.

If I find a good replacement for the role of June,  this last scene will have my character confront June about her involvement in the recent murders.  She will at first deny her involvement until my character tells he has evidence proving her guilt.  After seeing the evidence, June will confess to everything, but show no remorse for her actions.  If a get another actress to do the part of June, I will have to redo the first scene to make her voice the same.

If I can't find someone to read the part,  I will make her flee the scene. My character will find her gone when he goes to confront her.  She is smart enough to know when people are on to her. June leaves a confession letter for her brother to find and tells him not to find her because it would be a waste of time.  After reading it, Ralph decides to search for her.  If I take this route, I dont have to redo my original scene 1 with Ana.

The story will end with an epilogue.  Epilogue are used to explain what happens to each of the characters.  June will likely be sentenced to a lengthy prison term for her crimes and Ralph will have to struggle with the reality of the situation while trying to move on with his life.

Scene 3

Scene 3 of My Sister June builds the climax, which will take place in the next scene.  My character has learned that June was engaged to the deceased lawyer, Aiden Fisher.  He also learned that she is a suspect in another unsolved case.  Ralph feels like he doesn't have enough evidence to confront his sister and have her arrested.  In order to get the evidence he needs, Ralph goes to visit someone that June trusts.

During Scene 3, my character goes to his sister's friend, Connie Marx, for further investigation.  Detectives often talk to friends and family of the suspect in order to see if they can help break the case open.  Ralph knows that June tells Connie everything that happens in her life and Connie does the same.  He tells her about the dirt that Detective Carter dug up on June.  Connie does know the truth behind June's involement in the muders, but she is afraid to tell authorities. Ralph has to convince her to share what she knows by promising to protect her.  I won't reveal what Connie says in this blog, but her story will shock my character to the core.

My first choice to play Connie is my friend, Sydney Clark.  She and I were in a play together back in high school.  I also know that she has been in a number of plays at Shepherd University.  Her latest role is one of the women in Little Women.  If she is unable to read the parts, I can easily have a backup plan ready.

WHAG Internship

For my college internship, I was hired to intern at the WHAG news station in Hagerstown, Maryland.  I met with Greg Suchanek, one of the directors at WHAG, for an interview on Tuesday January 20th.  He gave me a tour of the studio and introduced me to the staff.  I told Greg that I am going through my senior year at Shepherd, my major was in communications, and that I do my radio show at the Shepherd radio station.  After the interview, Greg gave me a key to the building and my first shift started two days later on Thursday January 22nd.  For that day, I watched one of the cameramen do all the required shots for the 5:00pm, 6:00pm, 7:00pm, and 11:00pm broadcasts.  I had to learn how give the cues to the people in front of the camera.  It's to let them know when to start speaking, which camera to turn to, and how much time they have before going into a commercial break.  Memorizing the cues is not too hard, it's knowing when to cue them is the tricky part. You have to always pay attention to what the production crew is telling you through the headphones So far, I enjoy my internship at WHAG and if they are looking to hire full time, I would be happy to accept the job.

Scene 2

For my radio drama of My Sister June, I have just completed writing the second scene.  My drama will be in four parts.  The third scene will the breaking point in the story and the last scene will be the climax that will bring the story to an end.  For Scene 2, I am picking up from the cliffhanger of the first scene.

Scene 2 of my radio drama is about my character meeting with the leading investigator of the Aiden Fisher homicide.  The leading investigator is Detective Henry Carter, a veteran in the New Mexico Police Force.  He tells my character, Ralph, that June was engaged to the deceased and is the prime suspect in his murder as well as the girlfriend that was found alongside him. I named the deceased girlfriend Sarah Locklin.  Carter also digs up some other dirt on June Wexford.   He reveals that June is a suspect in a different unsolved case, but she wasn't arrested due to lack of evidence. Learning this information makes my character more suspicious of her.

My first choice as someone to play Detective Carter would be my friend, Jim Morris.  I picked him because he has had experience in radio broadcasting and acted in several independent films.  His latest acting role was the deputy sheriff in The Evil Twins episode "Honor Roll Killers" on the Investigation Discovery Channel. I know Mr. Morris from karaoke nights at the Turf Restaurant in Charles Town, WV.  He has agreed to help men with my project. In case if he is unavailable, I have a backup person ready to read the part.

Starting Over

After listening to my original recording of My Sister June, I decided that I need to redo my first scene again with a new actress to play June. My director has pointed out to me that there were some sounds that were not supposed to be there in the first place.  There was a strange clicking noise at the beginning before the music plays. That could easily be taken out of the recording.  My director also advised me to have the narration done in a different voice style than my character.  I could try talking in a deeper voice for the narrations.  The main reason why I should redo the scene is the music. I used the copyrighted music of Dark Shadows in the original recording.  I heard that using the music would be illegal so I need new music that fits in the suspense genre. My director recommended using Garageband for the music I need for this project.  That program is full of music that is not copyrighted.  The main idea is a remake of my project with new music. 

I have had a difficult time making contact with my original leading lady, Ana Lopez.  She played the part of June when I did project for my Radio Practicum class.  I have talked to another friend of mine, Melissa, to read her part.  She agreed to help me with the recordings.  I cannot keep waiting to hear from Ana and I need to keep production going.  The show must go on with or without my original leading lady.

Developing The Title Character

My production of My Sister June is a repeat of one of my projects from the Radio Production I took at Shepherd University.

The creation of the title character is based on femme fatales of the suspense genre and a scorned woman.  The scorned woman I am basing this character on is Jodi Arias.  Femme fatales are women that lure men to their ruin.  Femme fatales is the definition of fatal woman.  During the 1940s and 1950s, the concept of the femme fatales was popular in suspense films. These women were narcissistic wives that manipulated men into killing their husbands.  Barbera Stanwyck's role of Phyllis Diedrichson in Double Indemnity and Lizabeth Scott's Role of Jane Palmer in Too Late For Tears are two of the most noted femme fatales in film. Both characters had men and women killed for their own selfish purposes.  My character of Ralph Wexford knows that June cannot be trusted.  I am making June so mysterious that people can't help but suspect her of a horrible crime.

There is an old saying that says "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". Some women would take revenge against the man that wronged them. Jodi Arias is a real life woman who is currently awaiting sentencing in a murder trial.  She was found guilty of the first-degree mouder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in 2008.  Jodi became obsessed with Travis during their time together as a couple. Arias was extremely jealous of anyone that could steal Travis from her.  Jodi never took rejection very well and her past relationships before Travis ended because of infidelity.  When Travis broke up with Jodi, his fate was sealed.  She had stalked Travis for many months before killing him.  She is a good example of a woman scorned, which is the trait I am putting into this character. June Wexford is likely to have killed her fiance for cheating on her with another woman, but I won't reveal the ending.

My Statement of Intent for Capstone

Statement of Intent: Capstone Radio Drama

For my Capstone project I will be writing a radio drama. Kevin Williams has agreed to be my Director. I plan on getting into radio broadcasting after I graduate from Shepherd University.

This radio drama will be a mystery and suspense story. The story is about a detective who suspects that his estranged sister is involved in a double homicide.  I plan to integrate mystery elements into the story line, and have the lessons learned by the main character focus on environmental awareness. I will use classic radio dramas, suspense films, true crime cases, Dark Shadows (The TV Series), and the Investigation Discovery Channel for inspiration. I need to research those sources to get the material I need to make this a good mystery story.  These sources will also give an idea of how murder cases are solved.

I plan on producing the story using Garageband or any other programs that specializes in sounds.  I can produce this story myself as wells as reading the part of the detective. I have already cast one of my friends as the detective’s sister. I plan on having her help me again when I write another scene with her character in it. If I decide to write and create another character, I will cast another one of my friends to read the part. My story could be written for any teenage or young adult audience. I will try to keep my story as old fashioned as possible.

My first ideas about writing the story came when I was in Todd Cotgreave’s Radio Practicum Class. One of the assignments that we did was to create a radio drama.  I still have the material I made from two years ago.  I’m planning adding more to the story.  I would like to see if I could find any more radio dramas to read that deal with children yet still read well for adults.