dcf.cymru stimulus sheet · Drama · Year 11
The play, the rescue team, the characters, the uploaders, the pupils and the clips are invented for this lesson. The file types, the licences and the WJEC sound design terms are real.
A naturalistic play. Volunteer mountain rescue teams in Wales go out in all weathers to find people who are lost or hurt on the hills. In this extract a walker is missing in a storm, and the base has lost radio contact with the team searching for her. In performance the extract runs for about 6 minutes 30 seconds, because of its long silences.
A mountain rescue base at the foot of Bannau Brycheiniog: a small hut with a corrugated metal roof. Winter, 23:40. Rain drums on the roof. On the table: a radio set with a handset, a kettle, two mugs. A map on the wall. MEGAN (45), the team leader, sits at the radio. DEWI (19), a new volunteer on his first call-out, stands at the window.
MEGAN: (into the handset) Team Two, this is Base. Radio check. Over.
Static. Nothing.
MEGAN: Team Two, Base. Over.
Static.
DEWI: Maybe the batteries…
MEGAN: They’re fine. It’s the valley. The signal bounces off the rock. They’ll come round the shoulder of the hill and we’ll have them.
DEWI: How long?
MEGAN: Put the kettle on, Dewi.
He does. The kettle begins to rumble. The wind rises. The door rattles on its latch.
DEWI: She’s sixty-two. Sixty-two, on her own, in this.
MEGAN: She’s got a map, a whistle and a good coat. Her son said so. That’s more than most.
The radio crackles. A broken voice, the words lost in static.
RADIO: Base… Team… (static) …the stream… (static)
MEGAN: (grabbing the handset) Team Two, say again. Over.
Silence. Not even static.
MEGAN: Team Two, Base. Say again. Over.
Nothing. The kettle clicks off. DEWI does not move.
DEWI: What does that mean? The stream?
MEGAN: It means they’ve reached the stream. That’s all it means.
Pause. The rain gets heavier.
MEGAN: My first call-out, I was younger than you. A lad from Cardiff, in trainers, in November. We found him at first light. (Beat.) He was fine. Cold, embarrassed, fine. I made him a cup of tea in this hut. In that mug. (She points.) I’ve made a lot of tea in this hut.
DEWI: (quietly) Did they all come back?
MEGAN does not answer. A long silence. Only the rain. Then, far off, the thud of helicopter blades. It grows.
DEWI: Is that…?
MEGAN: Coastguard. They’ll have the camera on. If she’s out on the open hill, they’ll see her heat.
The helicopter passes overhead. The hut shakes. The sound fades away up the valley. Silence again, but for the rain.
RADIO: (suddenly clear) Base, this is Team Two. We have her. She’s talking. She’s cold, but she’s talking. Over.
MEGAN closes her eyes. She lets out a breath.
MEGAN: (into the handset, steady) Team Two, Base. Received. Diolch. Bring her home. Over.
She puts down the handset. She picks up a mug and holds it out to DEWI.
MEGAN: Tea.
Lights fade.
A sound designer has gathered these 10 possible clips. Not all of them should be used.
| Clip | Sound | Where it came from | Licence or permission | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Rain on a metal roof, heavy | Freesound.org, uploaded by tinroof_cymru | CC0: public domain, no credit required | WAV, 48 kHz, 3 min 12 s | Recorded close up. The end joins smoothly to the start, so it loops cleanly. |
| B | Wind gusts, stormy moorland | BBC Sound Effects archive | RemArc licence: personal, educational or research use only | WAV, 44.1 kHz, 2 min 05 s | Recorded in the 1970s. Some tape hiss. One loud gust at 1 min 20 s. |
| C | “10 hours thunderstorm for sleep” | A video site, converted to MP3 with a free converter website | None given. Uploader unknown. | MP3, 128 kbps, 10 hours | Thunder every few minutes. A spoken advert at 45 minutes. |
| D | Radio static and squelch | Freesound.org, uploaded by gwyn_audio | CC BY 4.0: free to use, must credit the creator | WAV, 44.1 kHz, 48 s | Several bursts of static, with the click of a handset. |
| E | Radio voice lines | Recorded by two pupils in the drama studio on a phone, then filtered to sound like a radio | Your own work. Both pupils have agreed. | WAV, 3 short files | The exact words in the script. One version broken up with static, one clear. |
| F | Electric kettle: rumble, boil and click | Freesound.org, uploaded by cegin_sounds | CC BY-NC 4.0: must credit, non-commercial use only | WAV, 44.1 kHz, 55 s | Rumble builds to a boil; the click is at 52 s. |
| G | Helicopter: far off, overhead, away | BBC Sound Effects archive | RemArc licence: personal, educational or research use only | WAV, 44.1 kHz, 2 min 40 s | Recorded in the 1980s. Clear and powerful. The overhead pass is at 1 min 10 s. |
| H | A well-known chart ballad | Your streaming app | The app’s terms allow personal listening only. | Streamed only. Cannot be exported to playback software. | Has lyrics. Most of the audience will know it. |
| I | “Hiraeth”: slow solo cello | Composed and recorded by Llio Parry, a Year 12 Music pupil at your school | Written permission given. Llio asks to be credited. | WAV, 48 kHz, 1 min 30 s | Quiet, low and sad. Rises gently at the end. |
| J | “Stormy night ambience” | Made by an AI sound generator from a text prompt | The tool’s terms say outputs can be used for any purpose. | MP3, 22 kHz, 30 s | Audible warbling. The repeat is obvious after 30 s. |