Grade by Grade
Media Studies · Media Studies: Interpreting, Evaluating and Producing Complex Media

Planning Conventions and Techniques: Segment Plans, Scripts and Sound

3.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can identify conventions of the form I plan to use (for example, the audio documentary) and techniques that suit my purpose and audience.
  • I can plan a media text with a segment plan, a two-column script, a sound or shot list and an interview plan.
  • I can write technique rationales that explain how each choice will help communicate my message.

Words to know

cold open
A vivid moment before any introduction, used to hook the audience.
actuality
A recorded clip of a real voice, such as an interview.
natural sound
Real sounds recorded on location ("nat sound").
music bed / sting
Quiet music under narration / a short musical burst marking a transition.
signposting
Telling the audience where the text is going.
technique rationale
A statement explaining why a technique suits the purpose and audience.

Remember from Grade 10

In Grade 10 you planned conventions and techniques for a web page with a wireframe, used storyboards for video, and wrote purpose links explaining why each choice suited your audience.

In Grade 11 you'll plan a more complex text. For the running example, The Last Rink on Elm Street (an invented four-minute audio documentary), that means a segment plan, a script with sound cues, a sound list and a technique rationale.

Hook: the first 20 seconds

Podcast hosts and radio producers know that many listeners decide in the first moments whether to keep listening. So most audio documentaries don't start with "Hi, today we're going to talk about...". They start in the middle of something: a sound, a voice, a moment.

That opening is a convention (audiences expect it), and how you build it is a set of techniques (choices you make). This lesson is about choosing both on purpose.

Conventions of the audio documentary

  • Cold open: a short, vivid moment before any introduction.
  • Host introduction and signposting: who's talking, what the episode is, and where it's going ("First, we'll meet... then...").
  • Actuality (clips): recorded interviews and real voices.
  • Narration tracks: the host's scripted lines that link clips and give context.
  • Natural sound ("nat sound") and ambience: the real sounds of places, recorded on location.
  • Music beds and stings: quiet music under narration; a short musical burst to mark a transition.
  • Segments: clear sections, each with one job.
  • Outro: a summary, a call to action, and credits (who made it, music sources and licences).

Techniques: the choices inside the conventions

  • Scene-setting with sound instead of description.
  • Pacing: pauses, silence, short and long segments.
  • Vocal delivery: a conversational, not "announcer", voice usually builds trust.
  • Layering: voice over a low ambience bed so listeners feel where they are.
  • Structure: for example, problem, people, perspectives, possibility.
  • Writing for the ear: short sentences, one idea each, repeating key names and numbers, avoiding words that sound alike.
Episode plan: "The Last Rink on Elm Street" (4:00 total, drawn to scale)COLD OPENINTRO1. THE 5 A.M. FLOOD2. THE BUDGET3. WHAT IT TAKESOUTRO0:000:200:401:502:503:354:00Segments: 0:20 + 0:20 + 1:10 + 1:00 + 0:45 + 0:25 = 4:00
A segment plan for a four-minute audio documentary, drawn to scale (2.5 units per second). Each block is a conventional part of the form: cold open, intro, three segments and an outro with a call to action.

Planning tools

  1. Segment plan: each section with a time and a job.
  2. Script: the words and sound cues, in two columns. Write for the ear: read every line aloud.
  3. Sound list: every sound you need, where you'll record it, and a backup.
  4. Interview plan: questions for each interviewee; open questions ("Tell me about the first time...") give better clips than yes/no ones.
  5. Technique rationale: for each key choice, technique → why it suits my purpose and audience.
  6. Promo plan: for the 30-second captioned audiogram, a short two-column plan: what's seen (still image, captions) and heard.
SCRIPT p. 1, COLD OPEN (draft 2)SFXSkate blades carving ice. Hold 3 s.SFXShovel scrape. Wind. (recorded on site)RUTH"Thirty winters. I've never missed a flood."SFXHose hissing on ice. Fade under.HOSTThis is the Elm Street rink, at 5 a.m.HOSTThis might be its last winter.MUSICPiano sting, 2 s. Then silence.HOSTI'm Sam, and this is "Block by Block."cues in caps, left column
An audio script puts the speaker or cue (SFX = sound effect, MUSIC, a voice) in the left column and the words or sound description on the right. Ruth, Sam and the show "Block by Block" are invented.
Worked example

Let's plan and justify the cold open

Plan the cold open of The Last Rink on Elm Street and explain how each convention and technique suits the purpose (persuade neighbours aged 14 to 40 to volunteer) and the persona (Maya, 16, listens on the bus).

  1. Convention, cold open: begin with the rink, not with the host. Rationale: Maya decides in the first few seconds; a vivid sound hooks her before she can skip.
  2. Technique, sound before words (3 s of skate blades): Rationale: Maya has skated there; the sound triggers her own memories, which builds personal connection (identity need).
  3. Technique, a single strong actuality line: Ruth says "Thirty winters. I've never missed a flood." Rationale: a real voice gives ethos and pathos in six words; the number 30 shows dedication.
  4. Technique, the turn: the host's line "This might be its last winter" introduces the problem right away. Rationale: stakes make listeners want to know what happens.
  5. Technique, sting then silence: two seconds of piano, then a beat of silence. Rationale: marks the end of the cold open and gives the stakes a moment to land.
  6. Convention, host introduction: "I'm Sam, and this is Block by Block." Rationale: tells listeners who's speaking and sets a friendly, local tone.

The cold open uses the conventions of the form (cold open, actuality, host intro) and techniques chosen for the persona: sound first to trigger memory, a short powerful clip for ethos and pathos, an early statement of stakes, and a sting and silence to mark the turn. All of it fits 20 seconds.

Write for the ear

Read every narration line aloud before recording. If you run out of breath or stumble, the sentence is too long for the ear.

Just for fun

Riddle: Why did the podcaster bring a heavy wool blanket to the rink interview?

Soft fabric really does soak up echoes. Also, it was −20°C.

Hands-on activity

Plan your own media text

You need: your production proposal from the previous lesson (or the rink example), paper or a document, and a timer.

  1. Draw a segment plan to scale for your text (for audio or video, use 1 cm per 15 seconds; for a web page or print text, a wireframe as in Grade 10). Check that the times add up.
  2. List the conventions of your form that you'll use, and one you'll break on purpose (with a reason).
  3. Write the first 20 to 30 seconds (or the top section of the page) as a two-column script.
  4. Make a sound list or shot list with locations and backups.
  5. Write five technique rationales (technique → purpose/audience).
  6. Read your script aloud with a timer and revise any line that's hard to say.

What to look for: times that add up correctly, real conventions of the chosen form, an opening that hooks in the first seconds, and rationales that name the purpose or persona.

Your turn

1

What is a cold open in an audio documentary?

2

What is an actuality?

3

What is a music sting, and what is it used for?

4

Why do audio scripts use short sentences?

5

Why does the cold open start with skate sounds instead of the host?

6

Check the segment plan: do 20 + 20 + 70 + 60 + 45 + 25 seconds equal 4 minutes?

More practice: warm-up

1

What does SFX mean in a script?

2

What is a music bed?

3

Name one thing an outro usually includes.

4

Is "Tell me about your first winter at the rink" an open or closed question?

5

What planning tool from Grade 10 fits a web page?

More practice: on your own

1

Rewrite this narration line for the ear: "The rink, which was established in 1994 by a group of residents who were concerned about the lack of recreational facilities, is maintained by volunteers."

2

Write a technique rationale for using natural sound of the 5 a.m. flood under narration.

3

Why should the outro credit music sources and licences?

4

Choose one convention of the audio documentary that the creator could break on purpose, and explain the effect.

5

Segment 2 (the budget) is 60 seconds. Why is it important to give it real time?

Challenge

1

Plan the 30-second promo audiogram as a two-column plan (SEEN | HEARD) with at least three rows.

2

Explain how the structure problem, people, perspectives, possibility suits a persuasive audio documentary.

3

A classmate's plan for a video about a food bank has 12 segments in 3 minutes. Evaluate the plan and suggest a change.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is a convention of the audio documentary?

2.

In an audio script, SFX: shovel scrape is a:

3.

Why write narration for the ear?

4.

Which interview question is most likely to produce a strong clip?

5.

A technique rationale explains:

6.

The segment plan's times add to:

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: expectation 3.3: identifying conventions and techniques appropriate to a chosen form and planning how to use them to communicate a message. The running example is an invented audio documentary, The Last Rink on Elm Street, from an invented podcast, Block by Block.

How to help at home:

  • Listen to the first 30 seconds of a few podcast episodes together and compare how they open.
  • Be a test listener for your teen's script read aloud; tell them where you got lost.

Common difficulties:

  • Writing for the eye, not the ear. Long sentences need cutting.
  • Times that don't add up. Check the arithmetic.
  • Rationales that describe but don't justify. Ask "Why does that suit your audience?"