Taking a Hit

Season 2, Episode 11

SOUND OF MULTIPLE PHONES RINGING

    JOSEPH

Well can he be flown in right away? There's no one with the kind of underwater experience he has on the West Coast at this point, and I'm telling you every minute counts. Alright, good.  The helicopter will be at the airport to meet him.

Mary, get me the helicopter pilot on the mobile phone, will you?  I want him to get to the airport.

    MARY

Right sir. (Looking up number)  Mobile operator..

Season 2, Episode 11

Season 1 left us with quite a cliffhanger. Lead character Zackery Calvin, a certified commercial diver, had been underwater inspecting a blowout preventer under a Calvin Oil offshore oil rig, when an explosion happened. Was Zackery alright?

We pick up where we left off, with the Calvin Oil office trying to manage a rescue operation and the press all at the same time. The fact that it’s Zackery’s own father who’s at the helm brings even more emotional tension to the story.

Writing and producing radio drama is like sound-painting, creating just the right amount of information—not too much, not too little—to trigger our audiences’ imaginations such that they create clear mental visuals.

For this scene, we have two locations: one is the offshore oil rig, where a helicopter will have to land to carry our injured Zackery to the nearest on-shore hospital; the other is the office of the CEO where Joseph Calvin and his trusted assistant Mary are fielding a series of calls through both land-lands and radio phones, in keeping with the technologies of the late 1990s.

To accomplish this, we had superb actors who understood and could portray the characters’ skills, tensions, and fears. We also had the mastery of Engineer Bill and his ability to “place” each sound, meaning some voices were near, others far, which greatly enhances the 3-D visualizations. And we had David L. Krebs’ marvelous talent at creating original sound effects (foley) to articulate each action being taken by each character, or piece of equipment.

There are several other storylines to follow in this episode as well. Samantha, head of the Environmental Planning Commission, continues to gather evidence that could indict builder-developer Jack Sawyer and his routine scofflaw behavior. And Susan Winslow continues to try to flirt with Kevin Ransom enough to do her some personal favors.

The most complicating storyline involves Zelda McIntyre—who always enjoys moving people around on her personal chess board—who calls Miranda, and also calls Cynthia—both of whom have lately been dating Zackery—to tell them he’s been hurt and will be taken to the hospital. With both of these beautiful young women jumping in their cars to rush to Zackery’s side, what kind of fireworks can we expect in the hospital corridors? To discover the answers . . . tune in!

By the way, if you missed Season 1, you can still download or subscribe by clicking here.


So now . . join us for Season 2 by downloading the episode or subscribing to Season 2, tune in to your favorite device, and join us in . . . Milford-Haven!