The student has chosen to base their audio story project on the story "The Hitchhiker". They plan to use a narration format which will allow creative freedom and the use of sound effects and music to build tension. Their preliminary title and logline is "The West Woods", about a veteran encountering a psycho killer in the woods. They have initial ideas for incorporating sound effects and storytelling techniques at different stages of the plot. While excited, they also feel nervous about the editing aspect due to inexperience with the software and plan to do more research on sound recording and script writing.

1. Audio Story
Task 2: Initial Responses

2. Initial Responses and Idea Generation
Log your initial thoughts regarding the set brief in this document
What stories could you use? How do you feel about the different potential
formats? What are the positives about this project? What could be some difficult
aspects? Etc
Use the format on this document to guide this response – some are set as a
question on one slide, but you should look to add further slides as necessary

3. Which stories have you researched and looked
as potential starting points?
• My favourite story I've looked at so far has been The Hitchhiker. The
hitchhiker is set in the 1970s and is about the story of a man who is
travelling America on a business trip. On his travels, he encounters a
strange figure repetitively throughout the story which seems to be
haunting him every time he stops or slows down. The repetitive
theme builds tension and suspense which I feel is necessary for
producing a high quality audio drama.

4. Which research into existing products has been the
most useful? Includes examples and explanations
• The most useful research I've done is actually listening to/reading stories
and urban legends. By doing this you get a real feel of how to convey a
sense of fear and suspense throughout the story they tell. You also begin
the realise that certain themes are repeated throughout nearly all stories;
suspense through the use of repetition is a major part of the stories I've
listened to because it not only creates a clear image to the listener but it
creates a cliff hanger like effect that suggests to the reader that something
bad is going to happen. This technique is used a lot in the story “The
Hitchhiker”.

5. Which production format [drama, narration,
etc] do you feel fits your idea best and why?
• I think narration fits my idea best as it gives me a lot of creative freedom
and leverage to pick and chose the story I want given the fact most scary
stories I've looked at are in first person. This allows for use of sound effects
and music to create tension which will enhance the listeners experience.

6. Which story have you settled on and why?
• I've decided to base my story off of the story, “ A truck stop horror”. The
potential to use things like sound effects and music can enhance listeners
experience. The overall storyline helps me clearly picture the sounds
needed and it also is the best story I've listened to after my research.

7. If you had to sell your story quickly, what is the
title and the logline?
• The West Woods.
main character: James Young ( army vet )
Antagonist: The Timberman ( psycho killer who lives deep in the woods )
Log line: The moonlight watches the Mysteries unfold under the forest canopy of, The West
Woods.

8. What ideas have you had for sound effects,
narration and storytelling?
• The Exposition: Natural sounds, Animal Noises, Occasional car diving past, the radio of the car. ( main
character talking to himself )
• Rising Action: Car engine spluttering, Footsteps, Bonnet being opened, Door opening/closing, Lobby music,
Background people talking. Main character talking to receptionist. Eery music.
• Climax: Footsteps, orchestra stabs, leaves/branches crunching, whispering of Antagonist. Shouting of
background/Receptionist characters. Heavy Breathing, door locking, gun firing, smashing against door, loud
bangs, reloading of gun,
• Fall in action: ranger/police talking, calmer music, sirens, wheels moving across floor,
• Resolution: Wrench turning, bonnet closing, car door shutting, car ignition, car driving off, calming music,
music from car stereo, sigh of relief from main character,

9. Initial feelings…how do you feel about the
project currently?
• My initial feelings on this project are that I'm enjoying it quite a lot. I'm
exited to begin recording voice overs and editing it all together. While I am
exited, I'm nervous about editing because of the lack of experience using
the new software.

10. What other research do you think you need to
do?
• I need to research more about how certain sounds are created and what
equipment is used to record the sounds.
• I need to research how to properly construct a script