Year 9 begin by listening to the opening of Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds, noting how it tells the story through interrupted music and news bulletins, voices and sound alone. Over three lessons, groups write and record their own three-minute radio drama in that style, about a strange event in a seaside town, in a Soundtrap for Education project inside the school's own group. They record each voice on a separate track, add sound effects made in the room, such as crumpled foil for static and knuckles on a desk for footsteps, and retake lines until the timing works, using playback to judge whether a listener could follow the scene without pictures. The finished dramas are played to the class and stay inside the school's Soundtrap group, with no pupil names in the project titles. Groups end by writing a short evaluation of one vocal choice and one sound choice.
Tools: Soundtrap Nine ideas for your own version in Generate
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