Summary:
This week on Media Mothership, we dive into the fascinating history of bone music, the illegal practice of recording banned Western songs on discarded X-ray films in the Soviet Union. We also dissect the opening scene of a classic radio drama, Sorry, Wrong Number (1943), and learn how to hook your listeners with suspense and mystery. Finally, we review our own AI-generated radio plays based on Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter, and unveil our newest creation: a 'sci-fi thriller' critique of the Tasmanian Stadium in the style of 'War of the Worlds'. Tune in for an hour of media analysis, pop culture and absurdity with Dr Craig and Lord Taylor!
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Complete Transcript:
Speaker 1
There is nothing wrong with Urania.
Speaker
Do not attempt to adjust the volume. We are controlling the broadcaster. For the next hour, we will control all that you hear.
Speaker 1
You are about to experience the knowledge and insights of the media mothership.
Dr Craig
Right. Welcome here to Edge radio. 99.3 FM in Hobart. As always, this is. And we're broadcasting out of secret base in Edge Radio Studios in Nepal, Luna, Hobart TAS. I mean, it's secret because it is a bit. Difficult to to. To find us. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe not through intention. Secrecy. I'm your host Doctor Craig joined. As always by. Yeah, Full disclosure here, little Taylor. Has brought along a wonderful bag full of noise.
Speaker 5
In his laptop.
Lord Taylor
And we'll be playing around with that throughout the whole.
Dr Craig
Day. Yeah. And what we're aiming for. Here is award worthy.
Lord Taylor
Swipe that away.
Dr Craig
So we'll we'll. We'll experiment with that, committing wholeheartedly to explore as we do each week the media landscape and how it shapes our understanding of the world around us. We're streaming, as always, on asradio.org dot AU as well as YouTube and Twitch. You can get to us by just searching media, mother. And I think that pause, you can also contact us if you'd like to do audience participation on 04888117. 07 That's the SM line directly into the studio, which I'll try to keep an eye on or. You will. Yeah, I will. Yeah. Or you can send a message on our chat. On YouTube and Twitch. So today in media mothership, we're going to explore writing and radio dramas and I want to take us back a little bit to that premise of setting up ideas of understanding how radio can be done well by looking at some classic golden age of radio star. Of and then unpacking that in terms of storytelling structure and interrogating our own efforts.
Lord Taylor
Not a good idea.
Speaker 1
I think it's.
Dr Craig
A great idea. I think you know through a a Crucible of fire, we are reborn as a phoenix through critique and self flagellation of Bing AI induced. How could we do this better? To server a master race. OK possible anyway, so that would be an example of. How they could rewrite? That slightly better, but. Yeah, this morning and there'll be a quick news thing I've only. Found one interesting news article.
Lord Taylor
This week only one interesting news article.
Dr Craig
There are some others, but they are not interesting. Yeah, yeah. Not interesting enough to get on my list and more. On Edge Radio 99.3 media mothership. Still got some control. Oh, this. Welcome back meeting another ship.
Speaker 6
The script is the first sentence officer and examine everywhere.
Dr Craig
All right. Yeah, sorry. And I need to. Remember to stop. It I actually did learn how to stop it on this programme, but not. When I obviously did it then.
Lord Taylor
See, that's why I wanted to have that sting so I could be in control and. Not do it and then I.
Dr Craig
Guess we're going to. Just get gestures and they'll point to you.
Lord Taylor
Yeah, gestures. No, not that. Gesture. What are you doing, Craig?
Dr Craig
Theodore the Mind's first article is an only article is from ABC News talking about how forbidden songs inspired underground bone music. Bootleggers in the USSR during the cold.
Lord Taylor
War. OK. What the hell are you talking about, Craig?
Dr Craig
Have that phrase, bone music bootleggers. So bone music. Bootleggers refers to the fact that during the Cold War in the USSR, American rock music popular culture was banned. Very difficult to get and. They developed as a way around that was to create records by using X rays. So it was referred to as burn music because the X rays would have, you know, you'd see the skeleton, of course. Because it would.
Lord Taylor
That's crazy, yeah.
Dr Craig
Be hands and I. Ohh well look at abcnews.net dot AU. Find out more. Really, there's a documentary that's coming out about it. And I just love the visual. It's worth checking. Out in terms of this kind of history of smuggling audio in in a way that won't be detected as well as taking advantage of, you know, kind of surplus product would have X rays that hospitals were getting rid of in the 50s, sixties because they were flammable.
Lord Taylor
So was it just like a really thin record?
Dr Craig
From what I can gather, looking a bit at the documentary in the article, the density of the X rays was sufficient enough to be able to carve in freckle grooves. On to and because it still looked like an X ray, it could kind of be gotten away with I'm.
Lord Taylor
Assuming that's crazy and I still don't believe that records exist.
Dr Craig
That are actually X rays that were one stage X rays. They've got this wonderful one of these two hands which were X rayed for some medical reason. And there's ripple groups around it with a little record hole in the. Middle to play. It yeah. Fascinating. So I'd like to think you know. Career. You know, the next show we do the K Pop unlimited could equally be smuggled in. On X rays.
Lord Taylor
Bring back an enemy of.
Dr Craig
The state. Well, yeah, there's, I mean, there's all these fascinating stories in. There from of. Of South Koreans smuggling in their pop culture into the north or North Koreans. You know, getting pop culture through various, you know, under the counter means. So yeah, it's it's still part of today's landscape. And there are fascinating ways people get around the probations. In this case, it was, yeah, X rays. And the reason why there. Were X rays was. Yeah, because it was a surplus supply of them. It was easy to, well, not easy, but it was possible to create grooves that could be listened to like a record, and they were. Not they didn't look like records enough. So fascinating. Fascinating. Yeah. You can play the sting. Good evening. You're listening to media mothership. It's very jazzy. I, yeah, I I enjoyed that one. What inspired you to bring that song into the mix?
Lord Taylor
Because it sort of fit in with your other one.
Dr Craig
It yeah, the Blues vibe. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's got that kind of. Lounge crooner 5 kind of lounge.
Lord Taylor
Core. Yeah. Which is just, yeah, personified through your voice.
Dr Craig
Not the content. Phone records and and our next topic because what I want to get around to is this idea of classic radio dramas.
Lord Taylor
OK.
Dr Craig
So many people praise that golden age of radio. You know, the 1930s and 40s. Just before TV started to dominate the media landscape. And within that period were some absolutely spectacular examples of good. Storytelling for radio, sadly, Harry Potter. Our version of Harry Potter has been done. I wouldn't say it at all draws any inspiration from the Golden Age of. Radio. But I'm thinking we can interrogate our work by looking at the best and then comparing it to our work. So this first piece I want to do over the next few weeks is take what many key people consider. One of the best radio dramas. It's sorry, wrong number and it was first broadcast on May 25th, 1943. Awesome wells, the famous, you know, movie maker, Radio Maker best, well known in radio for doing the notorious war of the world's broadcast, which people thought actually occurred or some people did. He praised it in 1948 as the greatest single radio script ever written, and this piece has become quite influential and seen as like the. Example of radio dramas which have then gone on to be adapted into every medium that's come after that. So television stage plays films and so. Both. So yeah. Yeah, I'm keen to.
Lord Taylor
Give it a whirl. Yeah, I've never heard.
Dr Craig
Of right. So what we're going to look at is just the opening sequence for it. And in particular, why I'm keen to play the opening part in particular because I want to look at this idea of of how the narrative hook works. If you're doing a good story, allegedly one of the ways to do a good story. Is to start it with a good hook. You know something which is really going to grab the audience's attention. And and it's going to introduce the vibe and hook them in literally. Well, not literally. That would be weird. If it reached out and somehow got, let's not imagine that. But anyway metaphorically like. A fish on a. Hook hooked you in real you in so then the. You would be. Eaten. I don't know what happens with the rest of that metaphor. But you'd be hooked anyway, you'd. Be hooked like a fish on a hook. Just to set everyone up so they. Understand what the? Hook is. There's some classic examples I wanted to throw at you as to what good hooks are. It could be an action hook, so if we think of The Dark Knight film right, do you remember how The Dark Knight movie starts?
Lord Taylor
No, I've only seen it once.
Dr Craig
There's. That's OK, right. The group, the Masked robbers who are gonna rob the bank, right? We we start with the the bank robbery about to go down. So the bank robbers are all setting up. Yeah, no dialogue either. Yeah, not much. So it's a great hook. It draws you and you jump straight into the middle of the action.
Lord Taylor
Ohh, right. OK, yeah.
Dr Craig
And the other one could be like the closest one from Breaking Bad. Do you remember how episode one of Breaking Bad? Starts where in an RV with who the main character turns out to be the main character, Walter White, the chemistry teacher who's driving it, just wearing his underwear and and racing away. Right. So again, this this in. The middle of the. The action stark. Again, the hook is, you know, we see that great silhouette of indie and they're they're in the middle of or they're they're just at the end of their archaeological discovery of that golden idol thing. Some other good books, you know, Georgia was 1984. That has as its first line. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking 13. That's that doesn't work. That's unexpected. Yeah. Exciting. So, again, all these kind of classic examples of a hook. So the question is, what will be the hook in? Allegedly the best radio drama.
Lord Taylor
It it might be 1300 hours.
Dr Craig
Well, it certainly was in 1980. Four, the book. The funny thing also that that also justifies this sorry, wrong number as being considered a classic is that the YouTube, there's a couple of YouTube versions of it, but all of them are dominated by comments of people saying, hey, I'm in Mr Whites year nine class. Doing English. Anyone else here from there and all these school students responding right. What are your eights, your nines? Just commenting in there saying, you know, does anyone know what the authors intent of this piece?
Speaker
Right.
Lord Taylor
Trying to get answers.
Dr Craig
So you know it's a classic when it's swamped by school students. So let's listen now. To the opening 5 minutes from the classic radio drama. Sorry. Wrong, no? It's from the suspense series. The suspense was one of the archive shows, which each week would play a 30 minute. Radio drama piece this is is for those that are playing on at home. Episode 43 of suspense.
Lord Taylor
So it's so it's like, yeah, it's like a cereal.
Dr Craig
Yeah. Yeah. So we'll start with the opening chord. So we'll start with the the, the suspense intro. They'll, you know, they'll be the MC, that'll host it, and then we'll go straight in to the plate. And then I'll arbitrarily cut it off. At the point it gets interesting.
Speaker 5
This is the man in black here again, to introduce Columbia's programme suspense. Our star. Tonight is one of the most compelling actresses in America today, Miss Agnes Moore. Miss Moorehead returns to our stage to appear in a new study in Terra by Lucille Fletcher called Sorry, Wrong number. This story of a woman who accidentally overheard a conversation with death and who strove frantically to prevent murder from claiming an innocent victim. Is tonight's tale of suspense. If you have been with us on these Tuesday nights, you will know that suspense is compounded of mystery and suspicion and dangerous adventure. In this series, our Tales calculated to intrigue, you stir your nerves to offer you a precarious situation, and then withhold the. Solution until the last possible moment, and so it is with sorry, wrong number and the performance of Agnes Moorehead. We again hope to keep you in suspense.
Speaker 4
Your call please.
Speaker 7
Operator Ivan darling Murray Hill, 709 three now for the last 3/4 of an. Hour and the line. Is always busy. I don't see how it could be busy that long. Will you try? That for me, please.
Speaker 4
I will be glad to try that number for. You one moment please.
Speaker 7
And I don't see how it could be busy all this time. It's my husband's office. He's working late tonight and I'm all alone. Here in the house, my health is very poor and I'm feeling so nervous all day.
Speaker 4
Ringing Murray Hill 70093.
Speaker 7
Hello. Hello. Hello. Is Mr Stevenson there?
Speaker 8
Hello. Hello. Oh, hello George.
Speaker 9
Yes, Sir. This is George speaking.
Speaker 7
Hello. Who's this? What number am I calling please?
Speaker 8
I'm here with our client now. He says the coast is clear for.
Speaker 9
Tonight. Yes, Sir.
Speaker 8
Where are you?
Speaker 9
Now, in a phone booth, they don't worry. Everything's OK.
Speaker 8
Very well. Now you know the address. At 11:00 o'clock, the private patrolman goes around to the bar on 2nd Ave for a beer. Be sure that all the lights downstairs are there should be only one light visible from the. At 11:15, A train crosses the bridge. It makes a noise in case her window is open and she should scream.
Speaker 7
Ohh hello. What number is this please?
Speaker 9
OK, I understand.
Speaker 8
I'll make it quick as little blood as possible or client does not wish to make us suffer.
Speaker 9
Long. Well, a knife be OK.
Speaker 8
Prayer a knife will be OK. And do you remember the auto?
Speaker 9
Detail. Yeah, yeah, I know. Remove the rings and bracelets and the jewellery and the Bureau drawer.
Speaker 8
That's right, all client, which is it to look like simple.
Speaker 9
Robbery. Don't worry. Everything is gonna be OK. Alright then.
Speaker 8
Be sure to.
Speaker 4
Your call please.
Speaker 7
I I I've just been cut off.
Speaker 4
I'm sorry. What number were you calling?
Speaker 7
My idiot was supposed to be Murray Hill 70093. But it wasn't. Some wires must have got crossed. I was cut. Into a wrong number. And I I've I've just heard the most dreadful. Thing something about. A murder and. Operator, you will simply have to. Retrace that call at once.
Speaker 4
I beg your pardon. May I help you?
Speaker 7
Oh I I. Know it was the wrong number and I had no business listening, but these two men, they were cold blooded teams and they were going to murder somebody. Some poor innocent woman who? Was all alone in a house near a. Bridge and we've got to.
Speaker 4
Stop them. We've got one number. Where you calling please?
Speaker 7
That doesn't matter. This was a wrong number and you've dialled it for me. And we've got to find out what.
Speaker 4
It was immediately what number? Did you call?
Speaker 7
Ohh, why are you so stupid? What time is it? Give me to tell me. You can't find out. What that. Number was just now.
Speaker 4
I'll connect you with the chief operator.
Speaker 7
Ohh, I think it's perfectly shameful. And now, look, look, it was obviously a case of some. Little slip of. The finger I told you to try Murray Hill. 09/3 for me. You dialled it, but your finger must have slipped. And I was connected with some other number and I could hear them, but they couldn't hear me now. Now I simply fail to see why you couldn't make that same mistake again on on purpose. Why you couldn't try to. Dial Murray hill. 70093 in the same. Sort of careless way.
Speaker 4
Murray Hill 70093 I will try to get it for you.
Speaker 1
OK.
Speaker 4
I'm sorry. Murray Hill 70093 is busy. I will call you with 20.
Speaker
That was so. Smooth. Yes, that's the.
Speaker 6
So hook of the script was the first sentence. I've searched and examined everywhere.
Dr Craig
Smooths. Sorry I forgot. Yeah, I just gotta go.
Lord Taylor
This is dumb.
Dr Craig
Classic media mothership here on Edge right here. 99.3. This is Doctor Craig, joined by Lord Taylor. And.
Lord Taylor
What's the best comedy show?
Dr Craig
And the laptop. That I've plugged into the system. Which obviously has a mind of its own. So what we're listening to was the opening 5 minutes of suspense, the 1943 classic drama, and what I want to unpack is a couple of things. One thing that I'm listening to it again, I was really struck by and if you listen further into it, you'll hear more of it that the kind of unflappability of the telephone operators that she speaks to as. It becomes more and more kind of hysterical and anxious and. All of those responses. Are are really. You know your classic almost the supervisor standing behind them service industry responses where they're very calm, polite, unemotive.
Speaker
A lot like.
Dr Craig
The instructions I'm asking being a I or chat. GBT to do. Like it just replies back and if I had a voice it would have that similar kind of. Yeah, yeah. Really. Yeah. Managed drone sound. But as I. Mentioned what I'm looking for here is the hook. Would you keep listening to this series from? The 1st 5 minutes you've heard. Is there something that you've found has hooked you in to the drama and a a mystery? A an action? A question.
Lord Taylor
Were you asking me? Yes, I wasn't listening. What was happening? No, no, no. It I. It does. Yeah, it definitely hooks you in. However, it does it. It says on here that it's the the the sort of like the best episode, so I wouldn't listen to the other ones if that's the best.
Dr Craig
Well, you you think that that's not too.
Lord Taylor
Good. No, I don't think it was. But if there's the other ones which aren't as good as that, they're not.
Dr Craig
Gonna be as good. Well, the entirety of the where, where classic radio spaces is is is a lot of fun worth worth listening to. But as a start, I guess yeah, I've chosen this. Sorry, wrong number one as maybe it's a formative kind of. Mystery that it's setting up that you know the the whole premise is she's made a phone call and the wives have become crossed and she's eavesdrop. In on 2 nefarious villains who are plotting a murder. They can. She can hear them, but they can't hear. Her and that sets up. I mean, that's the hook. I guess that that kind of combination of of sounds and dialogue, you know you have all those sounds throughout those opening 5 minutes. Of the dial tone, the clicks and clacks of the telephone operator. Connecting and reconnecting calls and then the the dialogue. The fact that she is kind of worried. The conversation she's overheard and panicked, and we also have, you know, on second or third listening. You realise in that opening 5 minutes we also have a. A deadline, right? The the two villains say at 11:15 the murder will happen.
Lord Taylor
So you know that something's probably going to happen by. Yeah. So the the rest.
Dr Craig
Of the play almost happens in real time. Right, because it's. You know, it's it's about half 2/11/15 at that point like quarter to 10:45. MMM, so the the the. The next half hour is. That build up towards 11/15. Is well here that that kind of level of panic increases? It's quite nicely characterised in terms of that old fashioned sound effects and dialogue, but to give us a bit closer view of what a hook is, I've found the this website called the Author Learning Centre. Ohh yeah yeah. And a short interview with a professor there. Who gets introduced in the clip?
Lord Taylor
I was going to stop playing sound effects.
Dr Craig
But I rescued that. So what I do is just play again the the the definition of the hook and and its significance. Then we'll come back. Cool.
Lord Taylor
I mean, are you? Gonna play? Yeah.
Speaker 10
When I first came across the term, have a hook, the story needs to have a hook. I don't know how crass that's so mechanical, but I learned eventually that you talked about it in in terms of inciting action and. That is very. Key how do we get this thing launched and is it launched in such a? Way that people. Will want to keep reading that they that there's something about what? What happens in that initial line, that initial paragraph that asks them gets them. And ask, OK, what next? What next? Where's this going? At least it simultaneously suggests possibilities and leaves questions open. And I think that that's sort of the key thing to look at in terms of getting into the book. And you may have to go back and rework it eventually, of course, but it will launch you. And you'll begin to be able to. Bring the reader along on the journey and. That's absolutely key.
Dr Craig
All right. So again, the idea is you want to hook the audience. You want to do something. That's that's really kind of capturing and going to set up an interest in listening further. Into what we've created, so I'll just read the first line for the radio drums we've created, right? So the AI's drama that we did for Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes and subsiding, scuffle starts with Watson saying. You're so excited to hear this again, we're. Revisiting these forever, Watson says. I've searched and examined everywhere, but I still can't. I still haven't found Santa Claus, and Holmes says. What about his hat, Watson? And then the rest of the story unfolds. Do you remember how the Harry Potter one starts?
Lord Taylor
That was something about pump smashing pumpkins. No. What was it? Something pumpkin? What was it? I've I've wrote it here again and I can't remember.
Dr Craig
Now I want to go. Yeah, I've got it right. So the Harry Potter screeching pumpkin script that starts with Harry, who was in a place looked rather pale. The girls behind him shrieked as the Dementor was burnt. A circle of pumpkins. That's right. All right, so I've asked specifically because I'm interested in terms of. Crafting a hook, right? So I got. Yeah. So I started to interrogate our pieces through chat. GT. Of course. The best, you know, informal, senseless, you know, kind of non emotive critique I could find to hear how it would size up those two pieces. So I'll play firstly how it sized up the effectiveness. Of the hook. We created for the silicones piece right the. I know it's exciting. Your computer says yes, that so the hook was. Yeah, Santa Claus in the hat. Right. Was that effective? So let's listen now to how Chachi beauty felt that went down.
Speaker 6
I still haven't found Santa Claus.
Dr Craig
Alright, hold on. That was. Because I've been playing it.
Speaker 6
The hook of the script is the first sentence I've searched and examined everywhere, but I still haven't found Santa Claus.
Dr Craig
So that's what it's identified as the hook that Sherlock is, or Watson, they're looking for tentacles.
Speaker 6
The strength of the hook is that it creates a sense of intrigue and surprise for the audience. The audience wonders why Watson is looking for Santa Claus.
Dr Craig
Do you think so? At that point, cause has Santa ever crossed over into the welcome universe and be treated as a real figure? I. Mean. It's preposterous. That a they think Santa exists. Still not, and told them hey. Santa's made up, so I would say. That's that's a little bit of a shortcoming already for sure. Homes piece thing you've got. Fictional character than anyone over the age of 5. Knows it's fake. Let's listen.
Lord Taylor
Because like Sherlock Holmes isn't a fictional character. Yeah, well, yeah, yeah.
Dr Craig
Yeah, but you'd imagine in that universe, yeah. You know, Santa is not real. He could be. He could be. Yeah, you know, like. But he does break a lot of, like, Santa's magical. Basically. Yeah. Right. So I don't think there's any magical. Let's continue that.
Lord Taylor
OK.
Speaker 6
Where he is searching and what this has to do with Sherlock Holmes. The hook also establishes the genre, the setting, and the characters of the script in a concise way.
Speaker 10
So it sounds good, yeah.
Speaker 6
The hook suggests that the script is a comedy or a parody of the original Sherlock Holmes stories set.
Dr Craig
Which we have kind of established that yeah, one of the strengths of that piece that we got the AI to create through training it on was it 11 Sherlock Holmes dramas from the 1930s. What is was that? It did have a redeeming quality in terms of being a, a kind of parody of the very narrative of of rationality sure comes.
Speaker 6
During Christmas time and featuring Watson and Holmes as the main characters. The weakness of the hook is that it does not provide any clear conflict or goal for the characters or the story. The hook does not reveal what is at stake for Watson and Holmes, why they need to find Santa Claus or what obstacles they face.
Dr Craig
Yeah. So at. That point up until that point I'd be thinking ohh these comments are good. Maybe I've got a high distinction now, you know, always as the teacher says, always start with good points. Like this and this and. This and then you go however, and then the student starts recalculating. Oh, I know where my grade is now. At this point I'm thinking maybe maybe it's a solid. Credit you know mid. Grade 60%.
Lord Taylor
Ohh no. We're going Lola.
Dr Craig
Ohh yeah, we're only halfway through the critique so.
Speaker 6
The hook could be improved by adding a phrase or a clause that gives more information or hints about the plot.
Speaker 11
I've searched and examined everywhere, but I still haven't found Santa Claus. He's our only witness to the murder of Mr Scrooge.
Dr Craig
Yeah. So at this point what Chet GPT is done is it, yeah, that was angry Davis got like. Yeah, so angry. That was angry Davis. So what he's now doing is offering stronger hooks. So for some reason he's put Scrooge in there from A Christmas Carol. Carol. Chris. Carol. Which? It makes sense if we're talking Christmas stories. Santa. Yeah. So, yeah, I'll give it then. It's here. It has two more suggestions. I've searched and examined everywhere, but I still haven't found Santa Claus. That was sad, Neil. Not strong. I think just that kind of sense of like they've found Santa. Claus and he's the only one who can deliver the antidote to homes. Before midnight. But it turns out Holmes is sick and sand is the only one that can deliver the end of it. White Santa Santa's chemical background maybe? I don't know. It seems pretty random. It doesn't really legitimate Santa. No, Scrooge does. Here's the last.
Speaker 6
One I've searched and examined everywhere, but I still haven't found Santa Claus. He's the mastermind behind the theft of the crown.
Dr Craig
Jewels. Yes. He's sorry. Next one.
Speaker 11
Hello this is Bing.
Dr Craig
Hello. Anyway, Yep. So just a classic crime, right? Sand has stolen.
Lord Taylor
This is Bing.
Dr Craig
The crown jewels. So yeah, I I wouldn't think any. Of those, except maybe the Scrooge one is worth effort. But yeah, interestingly, you know. Overall pretty positive. So then I got it to do the Harry Potter one, and yeah, it just.
Lord Taylor
Ripped it. Ohh it came.
Dr Craig
To get ripped it. Yeah. Just totally hates it. So we'll play that one, cause it is fun in terms of how much it hates it, right? So this is. Again, asking if you're interested in going back to our fan fictions. They are available on media mothership. To you, the website I've got the transcripts up as well as. Yeah, I'll post episode links to the original because they're. Yeah, radio classics. Yeah. Here's the Harry Potter. This does you redefine the hook at the start.
Speaker 11
OK. And play hello, this is Bing. I'm here to help you with your writing. Smiling face with smiling eyes.
Dr Craig
Alright, sorry, I just thought I'd legitimise the fact that we're using Bing, but I getting. Text to voice. Text to voice doesn't do emojis well.
Speaker 11
Smiling eyes, the hook is the first sentence or paragraph of a story that grabs the reader's attention and makes them want to read more.
Dr Craig
Which is a classic like, yeah. We've all figured out. That with prompts for chats you BT or anything if you're not careful, it'll just do a really lean definition at the start, regardless of your interest in getting straight to the heart of it. Anyway, so I've put that in there.
Speaker 11
A good hook should introduce the main character, the setting the conflict, and the tone of the story. The hook in this writing is not very effective for several reasons. It is vague.
Dr Craig
Yes, I love that. It doesn't even say anything good about it. It just says it's. Not effective like this point. But you get that as a comment on. An essay and. Like you know, well, I didn't turn. Up to class. And I did no effort and the teachers just, you know, not putting any effort into sugarcoat this comment.
Speaker
He's just like.
Dr Craig
You know your assignment was. Right hook. This has not been effective for the following reasons.
Speaker 11
So let's continue and confusing. The phrase who was in a place does not tell us anything about where Harry he is or why he is.
Dr Craig
There I do like it though. Yeah. So in the fan fiction. It says Harry, who was in a place. I think that's kind of funny in a postmodern sense. Yeah, it's literally defying. The need to know, yeah.
Lord Taylor
It's like, well, you don't.
Dr Craig
Need to know the police? It's the police. Everyone needs the police. It's a police. So to continue.
Speaker 11
The reader might wonder if this is a mistake or deliberate choice by the author.
Dr Craig
Yeah. So I do like that, right. Is it a mistake the author put it in as? A placeholder, yeah. Placeholder and was later going to put a place in like, you know, they'd had a budget to travel the world to find location shots for this Harry. Potter's group. But the budget ran out. So they. Never updated what the places so they just. Lifted it a place. Or is it deliberate? Which is my feeling that. Yeah. Ohh am I reading a clever post? Modern analysis.
Speaker 11
It is inconsistent and illogical. The events that follow do not make sense in the context of the Harry Potter universe.
Dr Craig
Yeah. So it's yeah, so it it basically just comes straight out and says. Yeah, as any good fan fiction artists would know, you're extending the existing narrative and you're not simply forgetting the existing narrative and doing a story which simply has the names. Of those characters doing. Things they don't.
Speaker 11
For example, why are Dementors burning pumpkins?
Lord Taylor
Well, dementors could burn pumpkins.
Dr Craig
I don't think that's a defence though. I mean that yes, they could do many things unless you're doing a kind of like 90s grunge parody like smashing Pumpkins kind of vibe, and you've got even that saying it aloud is so.
Lord Taylor
I don't know.
Dr Craig
What smashing pumpkins, really? They never came to Korea. Maybe one of the big 90s grunge bands, alternative music, not really grunge alternative. Alright. Anyway, going on.
Speaker 11
Why does haggard have bones full of Puss?
Dr Craig
Yeah. Why does Hagrid have bones full of past? That was the news that nearly got me banned from doing any more. Mid journey image searches cause. Plus, is Flagg wood, right? So yeah, and it's such I. Mean did we figure? Out why the Plus is there. Is it? Is this something that's in the Harry Potter universe? Are the references to Puss in Harry Potter?
Lord Taylor
Yes, because there's some Bubba Chuba pass, which is a.
Dr Craig
Particularly the candy. Ah, OK.
Speaker
Right.
Lord Taylor
No, it's a particular.
Dr Craig
You know the candy, OK. Wasn't it the candy that's meant to taste horrible that they get on the?
Lord Taylor
Train at the start, Bertie Botts every flavour bean.
Dr Craig
There is there a plus one.
Lord Taylor
I think there is, but I don't think it's mentioned.
Speaker
OK.
Dr Craig
But pass is narratively mentioned elsewhere.
Lord Taylor
Yeah, baby chupa.
Dr Craig
What is baby chupas?
Lord Taylor
It's like from a particular plant and they squeeze it out of the plant, I believe. And when Harry in the film with the character played by Imelda Staunton. Yes, where no. All of the Phoenix, where he has to.
Dr Craig
The Goblet of fire.
Lord Taylor
What is it? Yeah. Yeah, it is. Where he has to write the. UM, I must not tell lies in his own blood with the pen. Babaja Pass is used to relax it.
Dr Craig
The pass the bus, his hand. His hand. Yeah.
Lord Taylor
Which is yeah.
Dr Craig
Yeah. So, OK. Yeah. So there is a connexion obviously ended up with who is it that gets it it's like. Hagrids boons a pasta.
Lord Taylor
Or something. Yeah. Hagrid was full of scandalous bones, were full of scandalised puffs.
Dr Craig
Do you recognise A connexion with the past? Yeah. Yeah. So you could do a really interesting fan fiction there. Yeah. So maybe maybe that was a hook.
Speaker 11
Why does Harry fly to the dormitory? Without a broomstick.
Dr Craig
OK. Yeah. Is there any evidence in Harry Potter methods of Harry flying without it? Does anyone fly without broomsticks?
Lord Taylor
Voldemort does, however, I kind of disagree with chat JPT there because it was like I flew to the car. So I'm literally flying. I'm just going really fast.
Dr Craig
Could be a. Metaphor. Yeah, yeah. You know, literally flying. Yeah. Good point. Nice rebuttal. Teacher might thinks, you know, maybe the students work isn't that bad.
Speaker 11
Why does Dumbledore fall from the curtains and attack Snape?
Dr Craig
OK, OK. Why why does Jacks like? Why do you think's? Going on there. Because he does like, maybe it's like the whole thing about that Harry Potter build up is we think Snipes, the bad guy, and he turns into a good guy and and part of that is continuing that.
Lord Taylor
And yeah, just in everything that I've ever done with Harry Potter and these not ChatGPT, but R&N's it's Dumbledore is just always so violent. Ohh. He starts cursing everyone, he stabs someone in, someone that in another one.
Dr Craig
I wonder what the. False flags is it's picking up to recode. Dumbledore is violent, like there must be some. You know, relationship between the words Dumbledore and violent actions, which then creates confusion with the RNN. The real neural network for.
Lord Taylor
And scientists say, retiring you.
Dr Craig
You're now. Yeah. That that then Recode stumbled, or as a violent psychopath? Yeah.
Speaker 11
These details do not match the established rules and characters of the series. It is not engaging or intriguing. The hook does not create any suspense or curiosity for the reader. Instead, it might make them feel confused, annoyed, or bored.
Lord Taylor
Ohh come yeah, he's just put.
Dr Craig
The food in. Bored. You're listening to media mothership?
Speaker 1
OK.
Dr Craig
Your yeah. Workshop that.
Speaker 11
The reader might lose interest in the story or question the authors credibility.
Lord Taylor
Well, I hope so.
Dr Craig
That kind of. How credible is? This fan fiction. Which is why we've we've, we've. Carefully titled everything as AI generated, yeah. Because yeah, we don't want it to rub off. On us? No, definitely.
Speaker 6
Not to improve the hook, you could try to be more specific and descriptive. Use sensory details and vivid language to create a clear picture of the scene and the characters. For example, instead of who is in a place, you could write who was in a dark and damp.
Dr Craig
Cellar. Yeah. Hmm, I like.
Speaker 6
That be more consistent and logical. Follow the established Canon and logic of the Harry Potter universe. OK? For example, instead of Dementors burning pumpkins, you could write dementors hovering over the quidditch pitch.
Speaker
If you insist.
Dr Craig
That's a bit hackneyed, isn't it? Dementias flying over, hovering over the the the Quidditch pitch.
Speaker 6
Be more engaging and intriguing. Start with the question a problem, a surprise or a conflict that draws the reader in and makes them want to know more. For example, instead of hi Harry, you could write. Harry, you're in great danger.
Lord Taylor
Yeah. Yeah, well, that's.
Dr Craig
The second paragraph here. So the same paragraph is hi Harry, said Hagrid, his bones full of scandalous pass. What's up? Harry dug his wand out of the bag. He was wearing and flew to the dormitory in an explosion of. I mean, maybe the banality of saying hi, Harry Counterposes the extraordinary absurdity of the descriptions we're getting. Yeah, that Hagrid is, is a bone full of scandalous pass and that Harry is, you know, suddenly flying in an explosion of colour. I think that's quite interesting. Do we have a?
Lord Taylor
Sound effect? For that, let's go for.
Dr Craig
It's like an announcement. Could people please stand back from the platform? The next train is arriving? Well, one last thing I. Want to do because you did bring with you and since you are real treats. An experiment you've done and I want to listen to it again. Don't mind doing it. What do you think? The ohh yeah, it's great. So what I liked about this was, you know, again with that idea. Of a hook. Right. So maybe we'll play it without the context first.
Lord Taylor
And see if you can guess at home what it's talking about and where it's drawn from, yeah.
Dr Craig
The broad brush strokes are that the that it it is, it is meant to invoke that kind of classic radio drama. Report. OK basically.
Lord Taylor
Here we go.
Speaker 1
As I look upon the construction of the Tasmanian stadium, I cannot help but feel the sense of foreboding. The stadium looms over the landscape like a giant metal beast ready to devour all who dare enter its gate, its towering walls and gleaming facade are a testament to the power and might of human ambition. And yet they also betray a dangerous. Hubris. For who are we to create such a monstrosity? To play God with the very earth beneath?
Speaker 5
On our feet.
Speaker 1
We have no right to meddle with the forces of nature to build structures that defy the very laws of physics. And yet here we are, creating a colossus that will undoubtedly lead to our own downfall. So beware all who gaze upon this stadium, for it is a symbol of our own destruction. We have sown the seeds of our own demise and the Tasmanian stadium is but one of many harbingers of the apocalypse to come.
Dr Craig
I I love the binaries there right? So so like there's so much dichotomy between having this amazing engineering marvel on one hand and this, you know, foreboding full of hubris, doom, apocalypse. Sign that he sees within it. Tell us a bit more about it. So what were the sources you drew upon to create this as the text that because this? Was created through ChatGPT.
Lord Taylor
Yes, it was created through ChatGPT and I'm not going to give away all. Of my prompts because they're artists secrets. It takes a lot to get to that point, but it was basically just saying write a monologue about the new Tasmanian stadium. Make it negative. Make it scary. UM and write it in the style of war of. The worlds, yes.
Dr Craig
So the classic Orson Welles or even the original book. Maybe it was drawing upon the. HG Wells original or the?
Lord Taylor
Wells. Yeah. And so, yeah, when it sort of output that I was thinking, well, yeah, it kind of sounds like with the. Radio broadcast. So I tried to find a voice that sort of suitably had, like an old timey radio broadcaster voice and I think. I found it.
Dr Craig
The the voices you're finding are. Particularly good, yes. I'm I'm finding, yeah. I mean, I enjoy the hokiness of the. Clip champ voices that we're using. But they're very much. I can already hear a a generation behind where some of the you know pay as you go services, yeah. Are the more expensive subscription based service? I mean this is an ascription one. I know in terms of you're just. Using the free.
Lord Taylor
Version yeah, and creating more and more accounts just to keep. Having it as free.
Dr Craig
But yeah, I love like there are dashes of of that same period. Like you got that HG wells 1920s. 1910s writing and you you've also got a bit of almost HP Lovecraft vibe of the exaggerated doom that's befalling mankind through through these these abominations that have. Been built so. Yeah, it has. It has quite gorgeous. What? What would you say there's like you said. There were a number of. Iterations and you got to this one. It was part of the struggle finding a good hook right that you're waiting for the ChatGPT to to create particular pros that would hook the reader in that that was set up with the strong.
Lord Taylor
No, they weren't. They weren't multiple iterations.
Dr Craig
Right, right. So you just carefully honed.
Lord Taylor
Yes, I've got like a little special prompt that I use for these things.
Dr Craig
And then we're. Happy with it. It's interesting because I'm finding more and more people have special prompts in terms of on Reddit, the ChatGPT, Reddit server. There was a post there asking for people's special prompts and I copied and pasted as many of them. Some of them were marvellous, the one that I like the most and I'll post a link to it on the show notes was one that wasn't even about. Getting content, it was about getting a good prompt, so it was a prompt to get. A prompt so. It was purely breaking down. You know, I I think the opening sentence was you are a. Prompt engineer, which I love the sound of a prompt engineer. I build and construct enormous huge prompts anyway. So yeah, prompt engineer and then yeah. It it does. All these various iteration commands. Yeah. Fascinating.
Lord Taylor
But yeah, if if you're at home and you want to create a good prompt. Be as specific as you can to always be as specific as you can is all I can.
Dr Craig
Say well, one of the things we're investigating here in media mothership is that ability to craft language and through applying it to radio dramas and hopefully engaging audio work. Yes, we will reveal those secrets. And sound like a BuzzFeed article top 10. Prompts or top 10 cigarettes for persuasive audio communication. Yeah, yes, yes, all that and more. Well, that's pretty much brought us to. The show as always. Thank you for listening. And and I've been Doctor Craig joined by Lord Taylor for media mothership ******* radio. Main points I think for today. Did you have any takeaways that you had from today's show?
Lord Taylor
Well, I I did quite like the. What was it? It was the suspense.
Dr Craig
Ah, the opening 5 minutes of sorry. Wrong number. Yeah, I'm thinking we could do something similar. I mean, sorry, wrong number is all about stumbling across miscommunication and then trying to communicate increasingly frantically with robotic operators. And I think there's possibly something with. That GPT where you're. You've stumbled across something online. That's a murder you don't realise at the time that you're probably gonna be the. Victim of that murder? But then you're trying to get that GPT to assist you in some way, but it's unresponsive.
Lord Taylor
Yeah, sounds good.
Dr Craig
So I'll plug that in and. Ask you to criticise. It I'm sure I'll say this nonsense. Yeah, it's worth listening to the rest of it over the next few shows, we'll play a couple more clips of. Sorry, wrong number. So if you're. You're not going to go around to it yourself. We will be unpacking that here. Interestingly, sorry, wrong number if there are any bewitched fans out there, the classic 1960s American sitcom. Bewitched, the voice that we heard, Agnes Moorehead was the mother of Samantha. Oh, right. Yeah. Samantha's mother from bewitched. She's a enormously popular actor as well as voice actor during the 40s and 50s and 60s. And yeah, one of the roles that I. Did see her. Was was as the the mother of Samantha from Bewitched. So yes, we'll post all that up on our show notes, which you can access on the current YouTube episode or by looking at the podcast notes, which will be probably posted up slightly afterwards. Sometime in the weekend. But yes, that doesn't matter. And if you've been listening to this discussion, keep listening to it. Radio coming up next, we have Kpop Unlimited at Taylor. He told me a huge. Bit of news. You want to tell the listeners.
Lord Taylor
Yeah, I'm playing some new music, mind-blowing music.
Dr Craig
How did you get money? Did you get some money? Because I, the one thing I love about you is that you, you you've only up until this point had an archive that extends until what?
Lord Taylor
2016 2018 19 something like that, yeah.
Dr Craig
Yep, cause a that's when your money ran out. That's B. That's when a particular band you love broke up. Yes, which lovely story. Good hook now. Yeah. Hook to get people to listen to the next.
Lord Taylor
Noise. I heard some. I heard some good music and I was like, OK, I have to buy this and put it.
Dr Craig
There's a new strength. You can sleep.
Lord Taylor
On the radio. So this.
Dr Craig
Was a song that came out. In the last year.
Lord Taylor
This is these are songs that came out in, well, some of them this year, some of them just came out. Like last week? Ohh, so it's more.
Dr Craig
Than one song.
Lord Taylor
Yeah, like most of them. Wow, most.
Dr Craig
Is it the? That's excellent. Well, look, do keep listening then to K pop and Edge radio as K pop liver comes next. This has been media mothership. Thank you everyone for listening. And yeah, do cheque out some golden age of radio, including what happens in sorry, wrong number to. Increasingly stressed invalid. The main character? Yeah. Do we have a sound effect for that? For what? For invalid characters in popular culture.
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah, that's.
Dr Craig
That's spot on.
Speaker 6
Keep up to date on our socials at Edge Radio 993 FM.
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