The document contains planning and production notes for an audio story called "The Ghost Pirate" aimed at children ages 5-9, including a script, considerations for sound effects and voices, and daily reflections on writing, recording, and editing the story.

1. Audio
Holly 

2. Idea Generation/Initial Reaction
Audience-
Kids?
Teens?
Adults?
ideas
horror
thriller
Documentary style
Fact?
Fiction?
Voice actors
narrator
Talk show
interveiw
drama
Childrens story
Conspiracy?
structure Start, dilema, comclusion
account
One chapter
at a time?
First person?
Second person?
Third
person?
length
1-2 minutes
3-4
mins
5+
mins

3. Story
One day Tim and his parents went to the seaside. The sun was shining and the sea was a sparkling blue. Tim ran straight onto the golden sand and began to play. Tim decided he wanted to build
a giant sandcastle with a moat. This was Tim's favourite activity the beach, he enjoyed pilling sand into large buckets and decorating his creations with shells and seaweed. As Tim searched for
more shells, he wondered slightly too far from his parents, before he knew it he found himself next to a dark spooky cave on the other side of the beach! Tim felt scared, the sun had gone
behind the thick clouds and it began to rain. Thunder echoed from the sky
Tim ran into the cave for shelter but as he did so, he saw a glinting shell out of the corner of his eye deeper into the cave. It could be perfect for his sandcastle! Intrigued, Tim tip toed cautiously
towards it through the damp sand to get a closer look. To his surprise the shiny object was not a shell, it was a gold coin!
Tim excitedly reached into the sand to grab the treasure when all of a sudden a cold pale hand covered in chunky bronze rings grabbed his arm from beneath the sand.
Tim tripped over himself as he tried to pull away in fright. Looking up, he rubbed his eyes but to his astonishment, towering over him, was a floating man with a long scraggly beard and a hook
for a hand. Sprouting from where his left leg should be, was a chunky wooden stump replacing it. He was white as a sheet and balanced upon his bony head, was a marvellous pointed hat like
one worn by a pirate! Tim gasped, he knew this was a pirate, but not any old pirate a GHOST PIRATE.
“ arrrrr,” bellowed the ghost ‘what’re ye’doing stealin’ my treasure!”
Tim stuttered and stumbled over his words as the pirate crept closer
“ I-..I’m s-..s-sorry s-sir’ he spluttered. The pirate was close enough now for Tim to see the mans face clearly, his rotten teeth hanging from his gums and his tattered eye patch hardly covering
the hole from where his eye once was. The foul stench of the pirates breath reached Tim's nostrils and he felt sick. As the ghostly hand stretched towards him, Tim noticed that the pirate had a
distinct mark on his hand, it looked almost like mould. The black splodge reminded him of a story his mother once told him about captain and his crew, and how one day the black spot
appeared on the captains hand. The spot was a curse sent from an evil spirit who possessed the sea but no matter how hard Tim tried he couldn’t remember what the curse was!
"what's that on your hand?" asked Tim wearily
His scowl became sad, he turned away and said solemnly " its a curse.." Tim felt sorry for the pirate
"what is the curse?"
Then suddenly out of know where, a deafening sound erupted from the ghost pirates bottom!!
"blimey," shouted Tim "that's he loudest fart I've ever heard! .. ehgr! or smelt! "
"oh dear! I'm so sorry, this is my curse, I cant stop farting! My crew abandoned me here with my treasure here hundreds of years ago because of it."
"But why its only a fart? It won't do them any harm its just a bit smelly!"
" Well you see, my farts were so powerful they would blow away the sails! We would end up completely of course! Even worse I had no friends because of it, my crew would all laugh at me ”
“that’s terrible” said Tim, just as he thought he had perhaps befriended the ghost, he yelled
“ but my dear boy, you tried to steal my treasure and no one is allowed to steal my treasure!”
Shocked Tim ran towards the mouth of the cave, he missed his parents, he wished he was back building sandcastles on the sunny beach.
The ghost was surprisingly quick, Tim was sprinting as fast as he could, the only thing scarier than getting chased by an angry pirate is being chased by a angry ghost pirate!
Tim darted out the cave as quick as his little legs could carry him. The sky was still dark and gloomy and the rain was still still pouring in buckets. Swerving round the corner, Tim hid behind a
large rock watching the entrance of the cave, surely the pirate wouldn't’t follow him in the rain? But before he had chance to reassure himself, he felt the cold grip of long bony fingers on his
shoulder, he whipped round and there stood the pirate, Tim gulped, he couldn't figure out how the pirate had got there? Then something bazar happened, more pirates began to emerge from
the side of the cave, they seem to just walk through effortlessly through the thick cave walls, they all surround him hooks and swords in the air. Petrified Tim began to cry, the ghostly figures
edged closer and closer and closer…
‘Tim, wake up! We are here!” whispered the soft familiar voice of his mum
Startled, he slowly opened his eyes to realise he was still in the back of the car, he had fallen asleep on the way to the beach, and it was all just a dream.
Peering out the window, Tim watches splashing waves lap over the soft sand as children play in the sea. Eagerly he reaches for his bucket and spade but as he does this, he noticed something
unusual on the back of his hand… it was a black spot……..
Written by myself

4. Lore (documentary/factual)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3RGz7Q_qlI
Lore is an American online podcast series presented and
created by Aaron Mahnke. It fits into the horror genre as it
focuses on mainly dark historical tales based on facts. This
makes the podcast educational and interesting.
The podcast has quiet music in the background to fill in any
silences to make the podcast slightly creepier but also more
pleasant to listen too. As well as this it means the program
flows more smoothly and creates some gentle contrast
between the narrator/presenter and the music.
Personally I wasn't a fan of this podcast as it was just his voice
and a quiet backing track therefore I found it boring and
struggled to engage with what he was saying.

5. Doctor Who (audio drama)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA50biqUB-8
Doctor who is a audio drama that is ‘performed’ by
lots of different voice actors with no narrator. Its
short and intense, very engaging.
The voice actors often have very distinguishable
voices so its clear who is speaking and which
character is which is important as we cant see the
actors, so we need to be able to visualize the
characters through their voice.
They use lots of sound effects to create images for
us through sound so we know what is ging on in the
scene, the only description the listeners have is
what they interpret through the sounds.
This is very difficult but when done well is very
clever and effective.

6. Soundscapes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIUTO4gx5Eg
This beach soundscape is lots of sounds layered on top of each other to
create an immersive audio track that sounds like the seaside.
It uses natural sounds like the waves and the birds but then also the less
natural like people talking, cars, etc. to give the the impression you are
actually there.
This one is quite short but still is a good realistic representative of what the
beach sound like.
- This was a good soundscape for me to look at as my story is set at the beach

7. Planning

8. Proposal
Working Title: The ghost pirate
Audience:
My audience is children between the age or 4/5-9, both boys and girls although it may
Slightly more popular in boys as it has mostly male characters and pirates is a theme often more popular in
boys too.
It would probably be chosen/ purchased by the parents as it is fun, child friendly and appeals as its good
form of entertainment for children that doesn’t need their parents but also doesn’t involve a screen. Story's
are important for children to help their development so I think audiobooks are becoming increasingly
popular.
It would appeal to children as it involves exciting characters and the story is upbeat but also something that
they could relate to, eg. Going to the beach with their family. Fiction is very appealing to young children,
especially fantasy stories because they are exciting. This story delivers that but also the opportunity to use
their imagination to picture the scenes in their head.
Project Concept:
I am going to write and produce an audio book aimed at young children(5-9,mostly boys). When you look
into children's books and best sellers, you see that often the most creative and wacky stories are most
popular so I tried to create something similar using clear characters and a spooky storyline about a ghost
pirate (clearly fictional but with a plot twist at the end).
My line of appeal was slightly more complicated because not only am I appealing to the listener (children), I
have to appeal to the buyer (parent/carer) and how that it will benefit the child, but also have some personal
gain for the parent but also fun and enjoyable

9. [introduction music]
Todays story is called ‘the ghost pirate’ and will be narrated by…….
[continue music]
One day Tim and his parents went to the seaside. The sun was shining and the sea was a sparkling blue.
[begin seaside soundscape]
Tim ran straight onto the golden sand and began to play.
[footsteps in sand-running/building/digging]
Tim’s favourite activity the beach is building sandcastles and decorating his creations with shells and slimy seaweed.
As Tim searched for more shells, he wondered slightly too far from his parents, before he knew it he found himself next to a dark spooky cave on the other
side of the beach!
[Monotone/deep music, spooky and slow]
Tim felt scared, the sun had gone behind the thick grey clouds and it began to rain.
[rain sounds]
Thunder echoed from the sky.
[loud thunder]
Tim ran into the cave for shelter but as he did so, he saw a glinting shell out of the corner of his eye.
[footsteps in the sand]
It would be perfect for his sandcastle!
Intrigued, Tim tip toed cautiously towards it through the damp sand to get a closer look.
[light piano, tip-toe music]
To his surprise the shiny object was not a shell, it was a gold coin!
Tim excitedly reached into the sand to grab the treasure when all of a sudden a cold pale hand covered in chunky bronze rings grabbed his arm from beneath
the sand.
[heart beat]
Tim tripped over himself as he tried to pull away in fright.
[scuff in the sand]
Looking up, he rubbed his eyes, but to his astonishment, towering over him, was a floating man with a long scraggly beard and a hook for a hand. Sprouting
from where his left leg should be, was a chunky wooden stump replacing it. He was white as a sheet and balanced upon his bony head, was a marvellous
pointed hat like one worn by a pirate!
Tim gasped, [gasp]
‘could it be? a ghost pirate?’ he thought puzzled by the strange character
“ arrrrr,” bellowed the ghost ‘what’re ye’doing stealin’ my treasure!”
Tim stuttered and stumbled over his words as the pirate crept closer.
“ I-..I’m s-..s-sorry s-sir’ he spluttered.

10. The pirate was close enough now for Tim to see the mans face clearly, his rotten teeth hanging from his gums and his tattered eye patch hardly
covering the hole from where his eye once was. The sickening smell of the pirates breath was enough to scare anyone. As the ghostly hand
stretched towards him, Tim noticed that the pirate had a distinct mark on his hand, it looked almost like mould. The black splodge reminded him
of a story his mother once told him about captain and his crew, and how one day the black spot appeared on the captains hand. The spot was a
curse sent from an evil spirit who possessed the sea.
"what's that on your hand?" asked Tim wearily
The pirates scowled, " its a curse , my boy" he announced
"what curse?”
The pirate grinned deviously.. Tim regretted asking what the curse entailed , was pretty sure he didn’t want to stick around to find out!
‘well” said Tim as he began to edge closer to the cave entrance, “this has been lovely and-”
“ but my dear boy,” he interrupted ”you tried to steal my treasure and no one is allowed to steal my treasure!” the ghoul lunged towards Tim , his
sharp hook missing him by milliseconds.
Shocked Tim ran towards the mouth of the cave, he missed his parents, he wished he was back building sandcastles on the sunny beach.
But the ghost was surprisingly quick, Tim was sprinting as fast as he could, desperately trying to escape the terrifying ghost pirate.
Tim darted out the cave as quick as his little legs could carry him. The sky was still dark and gloomy and the heavy rain continued to fall.
[rain,thunder,crashing waves]
Swerving round the corner, Tim hid behind a large rock, surely the pirate wouldn’t find him here? But before he had chance to reassure himself,
he felt the cold grip of long bony fingers on his shoulder.
he whipped round and there stood the pirate, Tim gulped,
[gulp]
he couldn't figure out how the pirate had got there? Then something bazar happened, more pirates began to emerge from the side of the rocky
cliff face, they seem to just walk effortlessly through the thick cave walls!
“you cant out run a ghost pirate, boy!” he sneered
The captains crew surround him, hooks and swords in the air. Petrified Tim began to cry, the ghostly figures edged closer and closer and closer…
‘Tim, wake up! We are here!” whispered the soft familiar voice of his mum
Startled, he slowly opened his eyes to realise he was still in the back of the car, he had fallen asleep on the way to the beach, and it was all just a
dream.
[beach soundscape]
Peering out the window, Tim watches splashing waves lap over the soft sand as children play in the sea.
[waves]
Eagerly he reaches for his bucket and spade but as he does so, he noticed something unusual on the back of his hand… it was a black spot……..
[dramatic music]

11. Sound Effects
Sound Effect Needed How I Will Create the
Sound
thunder Thunder maker thing
rain rainmaker
heart beat Hitting chest
Fart sound mouth
Digging in the sand
sound How I will make it
waves
birds Online maybe
Steps in the sand Pile of sand
wind voice
Voices? People talking
soundscape

12. Resource List
Resource Owned/Cost What sound effect will it be
used for?
sand park Any involving sand
Thunder maker borrowed thunder
rainmaker owned

13. Production

14. Sound Effects
Sound Effect Needed Link
crying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjmc
aDXx_uk
Footsteps in sand https://youtu.be/0xH7CqBhx-M
gulp https://youtu.be/zYx3NC9KyVQ
music https://youtu.be/AjVYWl-jKCw
Swords https://youtu.be/EgRvVq8mStE
thunder https://youtu.be/T-BOPr7NXME
Beach sounds https://youtu.be/dpndP-cBE60

15. Daily Reflection Day 1
• Planning/Script writing-
On day one, I finished my remaining planning and began to put my story into
a script format with my sound effect prompts added. I did’t find writing the
script particularly challenging as my story was simply narrated, but I found it
helpful knowing where to pause for music and sound effects when reading it
out. I found that when putting my story into the script, I had to shorten it
quite a lot as it was just too long so I spent a long time editing it so it as
appropriate length but still made sense.

16. Daily Reflection Day 2
• Recording-
On Day 2 I was recording my story, I actually ended up recording it twice, the
first time I couldn’t get my files onto the computer which was frustrating as I
spent a long time with my friend trying to record it perfectly. so I had to re-do
it myself as several videos which I think led too poorer quality audio,
especially as it was a little rushed. This was disappointing as I wanted a male
voice to read my story. My videos transferred much easier which meant I
could get them onto premier and begin editing by the end of the day

17. Daily Reflection Day 3
• Editing-
On day 3 I was editing, finding my sound effect and putting
everything together. We used premier and I found all my sound
effects on youtube as I didn’t have the time or recourses to
create my own which was a shame because I would of enjoyed
trying to make the myself. I think my editing went well and I
didn’t have any issues with that.

18. Daily Reflection Day 4
• Final touches-
On day 4 I did my final touches, got some friend to listen to it
and give me any feedback then uploaded it on youtube with a
drawing of a character as the thumbnail to make it look
professional.
I uploaded it to my
blogger as well.
https://youtu.be/A40zMRj9JYQ

19. Evaluation

20. Research
• When researching different types of audio shows/plays, I listened to lots
of different styles of story telling . Some present a story completely
through sounds scapes and voice actors with no narration, others were
more factual and some were a mixture. It was really interesting to look
into all the genres and techniques used by different shows.
• I didn’t find the research overly helpful in my final piece, although it did
encourage me to use more immersive sounds to make my piece sound
more atmospheric.
• I struggled with the research and found it hard to analyse

21. Planning
• i think I could of made more effort to do more detailed planning but I
think from the start I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do for this
project and rushed into it without proper planning first. This didn’t
become much of problem in this project but inn later projects I will make
sure I plan thoroughly beforehand. My time management I think would
have been better if I had planned better and I could of created some of my
own sound effects instead of taking them from youtube. Other than this I
think I mostly stuck to my plan and original idea apart from my sound
effects and music.

22. Time Management
• Time management is really important, especially with such a short
projects with a deadline. We had 2 weeks to complete our final piece, and
all the course work along side. I think I definitely could have been more
organised, I wasn’t very productive in the first week which meant some
parts were rushed. I feel like overall I pulled it back in the second week
and got my audio piece complete an uploaded.
• I chose to write my own story which is where I think the downfall was.
• The story was much longer than most peoples stories, and took more time
to write then convert into a script. Everything then took longer, the
recording, editing, simply because there was more audio to work with.
Because of this I think it meant I was more restricted because my time was
limited more than others who also did the project.

23. Technical Qualities
My editing I feel was good overall. I think with more time it could of been
tighter and I could of made some of the sound effects myself so they maybe
sounded more natural and fitting with the story. Otherwise I think the sound
effects were placed well for dramatic effect. Some some of my additional
sound effects were sped up eg. The footsteps in the sand and the gasp,
Others slowed down. I think one of the key things that made mine successful
was the volume of each section of sound weather that was my voice, music
or a sound effect, it was really important that the story could be heard
clearly without being drowned out by additional background music like the
waves, I made sure they were quite low volume so it which I think was better
as well as it made it more immersive and ‘realistic’ but at the same time if I
had longer I would of liked to of added some key frames so I could change
the volume at certain points where I wanted to emphasize tat he was
outside again or away from the ocean.

24. Aural Qualities
So I had to record my story twice, and I feel the first time it was better quality
because it was in a quieter smaller space and on a voice recorder, we were able to
take our time which was good. But my story was quite long so it took lots of takes to
get a clear paragraph, this meant in the end I had to re-record it myself in long
chunks on video which I think reduced the quality but also meant there is some
background noise which is disappointing. I feel like overall, my voice was clear and
audible with no obvious mistakes. I think it flows nicely with the beach sound and
music I added. My recording didn’t actually need further editing other than
trimming down individual recordings to fit them together.

25. Audience Appeal
I created my ‘audio book’ with the intention of it appealing to children,
being a bed time story perhaps and I think my end product definitely fits
this target. I think its appropriate for the age group I aimed for (4-8)
As its playful and engaging which is important with children as they have
a shorter attention span.