Category Archives: technoirshowideas

Stuck in darkness

Extension of radio show idea this show will interview the various characters taking time to learn a bit about their daily lives and how the power outage affected them. Through these interviews you will discover what lies behind the scenes of this so-called accident. Enjoy, don’t enjoy really is up to you.

Characters for this piece Veronica Malone, Finn Calloway, and Max Matrix.

Vee is a nickname for Veronica Malone, a hard-boiled detective.

  • General Characteristics: Veronica is a no-nonsense, sharp-tongued detective with a strong moral compass and a witty sense of humor. She was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and wants to fight for justice and help others.
  • Physical Description: Veronica has dark eyes, tan skin, a lean build, and shoulder-length brown hair. She often wears an iconic wine-red coat and fedora when on a case.
  • Personal Details: Veronica is 32 years old and single
  • Likes and Possessions: Her favorite food is spaghetti, and her favorite drinks are Dr. Pepper or Espresso Martini. Her favorite color is red. She enjoys movies like Ocean’s 11 and Miss Congeniality and the book The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. Her favorite possessions are her journal and her revolver. She always carries a black leather bag containing items such as a notepad and pen, a flip phone, makeup products (in red), stylish sunglasses, and cinnamon-flavored gum.
  • Personal Motto: “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing”.
  • Backstory: Veronica starts working as a detective in the criminal justice system but becomes disillusioned by the corruption and decides to go rogue.

    Finn Calloway is a 35-year-old tech CEO who established his data empire from the ground up. He was born and raised in New York City. His company deals with AI and data analytics. He is known for being sharp and low-key, and for staying a step ahead in a world driven by data and power.

    Some additional details about Finn:

    • Physical Attributes: He is 6’2″ with short, dark brown hair, a light scruff, and dark brown eyes that often seem thoughtful. He has a lean but strong build, olive skin, and a small scar on his chin. He dresses simply in clean, tailored clothes.
    • Personal Life: He is single and has never been married. He enjoys simple things like grilled cheese sandwiches, driving by the water, and watching the John Wick series. His favorite book is The Da Vinci Code.
    • Possessions and Motto: His favorite possession is his late mother’s wedding ring, which holds sentimental value for him. His personal motto is, “No one else is going to make you happy”.

    Max Matrix, once a teen hacker now a half a$$ed young adult that refuses to leave her room unless dragged out. Smart but overconfident and believes everyone around her is dumber.

    General Characteristics of Max:

    • A high-class hacker and “lady of the Salt Blue clan.”
    • Has a crude attitude and often uses crude language.

    Physical Description:

    • 22 years old, 5’6”, with short brown hair and brown eyes.
    • Has pale skin due to lack of nutrition and sunlight.
    • Has dirty brown hair, deep dark circles, and unhealthy pale skin.

    Personal Details:

    • Born on August 20, 2060
    • Strives to be mature and womanly but is inspired by hackers.
    • Sees herself as a femme fatale and constantly seeks female role models.

    Likes and Possessions:

    • Favors red and blue colors.
    • Enjoys eating meat, blue martini, books, movies, and Cyber Screwdriver.
    • Wears baggy sweats and dark colored clothes.

    Personal Motto:

    • Believes in turning off and letting it burn.
    • Believes life ends when she stops fighting.

    🔍

    The blinds blocked the light from entering the office; blackout curtains had been added ages ago to prevent screen glare, something that was becoming a problem of the past the more smog that filled the sky. With a soft beep, a message tone sounds, the only type of alarm she relied on. Slowly from behind the desk a woman rose; her shirt was crumpled and her hair was a mess on her head, another day spent sleeping in the office; she didn’t even make it to the couch. Aside from a few crumbled blue gum wrappers on her desk, the office was relatively clean. As she stood, she pushed her hair out of her face, revealing a pair of dark, sharp eyes. On the screen flashed a message; soon, however, more began to pour in. With a low, mumbled curse, she grabbed a piece of gum and chewed it until the cinnamon taste woke her up. It seems like tonight was going to be another all-nighter.

    💵

    With a soft clink, the blinds opened automatically, revealing the hidden speakers, allowing the sounds of birds to enter the room gradually, hitting a plateau; as if on command, the man in the bed sat up. His eyes flew open as there was the soft beep and the bathroom door opened, a robotic voice playing, ‘Bathroom sanitation complete, floors warmed to optimal temperatures, today’s schedule…beep…error…lost…rebooting, rebooting.’ The man held no surprise in his eyes as he slowly moved the blanket off himself and stood, his large hands running through his short brown hair as he said a command. “Ignore the schedule for today; play morning sounds, B. There will be quite a few things to get done. For breakfast let’s do something quick; a BlueWake nutrition bar should do the trick.” The man chuckled and walked into the bathroom, stopping for a moment and quietly counting to 3; as if on cue, the robot gave up on finding a schedule and began to play soft forest sounds. The bathroom door closed to hide the man’s knowing smile that reflected in the mirror.

    🖥

    It was impossible to tell what time of day it was; only the light of the screens lighting the windowless cement block “NO NO NO NO NO Boss is gonna kill me!” There was the frantic sound of keyboards clacking as a scrawny woman surrounded by screens practically screeched, the concrete walls absorbing her anguished cries. Her bangs covered her face, but she couldn’t care less since she could see through the strands; her desk and floor were littered with cans that were partially crushed. Whenever her fingers fly to another keyboard, the cans hit the floor with a light ‘tink.’. “AGH, I AM GONNA DESTROY WHOEVER PULLED THIS!” She muttered, her chair spinning to point her at another screen, out of breath in her anger. With a click she grabbed another energy drink and chugged it, blue liquid wetting her throat. “WHEN I FIND YOU, I AM GONNA TELL EVERYONE WHAT COLOR UNDERWEAR YOU WEAR.” With renewed determination, she began her furious typing once again.

    Each character would have an introduction like this

    introducing their morning after the blackout!

    Synopsis

    2082, a world full of smog and pollution only for the poor, that is, while the wealthy live in luxury in their sky-high real estate above the clouds of smog. Everyone was satisfied with the status quo, just trying to make it to the weekend. Who would have guessed it would all end in a single blackout? It was a day like any other; the cabs soared overhead, and you could smell the sweet artificial smells that were being pumped out from the food stalls. Breakfast was coming to a close, and everything was about to hit its peak when the vendor switched to their lunch prices only for every screen to go black. Anything plugged in died, and the never-ending whirring in the city suddenly silenced. Then came the screams of panicked citizens, plunged into darkness with no sun to rely on. It took an hour for the lights and machines to slowly flicker to life once again. The darkness was momentary, but the true problem was just beginning. What or who had caused the largest city to come to a complete standstill?

    Act 1 Set up

    We will set up each character’s identity as presented earlier, adding in how they meet and decide to either work together or against each other; not every person is the hero after all.

    Act 2 conflict

    The main conflict will begin in when they finally found who caused them and then the confrontation of course.

    Act 3 resolutions

    Will they go separate ways or will they become better people together? Who goes to prison, who stumbles into wealth, and who becomes a better or worse person is decided here!

    Title image created by me through Canva

    Tech Noir Connections

    Tech Noir Connections logo

    Wouldn’t Want to Hear This on the Radio! is an excellently done PSA that hints at a larger story. How would other course characters react to the announcement? Would some of them be forces behind the issue? Or – maybe it is something other than what it seems at first.

    That points to a specific event. In Propaganda, we see a theme represented. It says something about society, and something about the individual character. We’ve seen other glimpses of Malone before, and every little piece helps us understand her better. Something to consider: If people were to tag their character posts with the character’s name, they could pull the posts together under blogURL/tag/charactername.

    Femme Fatale Propaganda likewise addresses a societal issue, this time in conflict with the character. That conflict, put together with the Missing Person Alert teases a story. Have the FF Haters done something to Sapphria, or has she gone into hiding, to deal with them behind the scenes?

    In response to some of the above, we can see Finn Reacting to Public Service Announcements. Here we have a character positioning himself among the propaganda and announcements. We should consider how this exercise form the seeds of stories. Characters could connect directly, or their stories could tangentially touch, generating a narrative mosaic.

    We had many ideas for tech-noir shows already – see how that tagging works? – but these assignments are generating more, creating a fertile environment for creative connections. Where does the class want to go with this?

    Radio Show Ideas

    M. Marshall 2.7

    When considering a potential radio show for my character’s world, I’ve thought about a news radio show, documenting what is happening in the world and basically observing my character. Another thing I’ve thought about is my character was someone’s pet, so there could be a podcast for the person who had them as a pet where they talk about what has been going on to document it… My character is a cat, so it would be difficult to have her talking, which adds complexity to how I should create a radio show around her. None of the ideas feel perfect but I feel like I’m at a good start!

    Mission: Probably Impossible

    Idea #1: Runa Starr is one of the greatest mercenaries in her rebellion called the Claws. Working solo is how she rolls without anyone holding her back. But this preference gets challenged when her boss assigns her with a random group of people she’s never met on a mission to steal top secret files from a high security government building in Celeste City. This ragtag group with clashing personalities must somehow get over their differences to get the job done.

    Idea #2: Runa Starr can take down almost any foe, steal the most guarded treasures, and spy on anyone without leaving a single trace behind, but when her boss sends her on her wildest mission yet she thinks she might’ve finally met her match. She must win a silly game show that requires answering the most bizarre questions. Not only that, but the show is team vs team and her boss unknowingly paired her up with the rebellion member that she absolutely hates working with. Hopefully she can overcome this obstacle and still complete the mission.

    Preference: Since Runa is a very headstrong and strategic character I think it would be funny to have her work with a more laidback and nonchalant guy character who intentionally makes mistakes as a way to tease her, but he secretly has everything under control because he cares about completing the mission too. For either idea I would prefer doing a more lighthearted and fun approach to their storytelling.

    Radio Show Ideas

    I had a tough time coming up with ideas for a radio show. I feel like I dont know my character well enough yet and I wasn’t sure how to include her into the project but after reading some other ideas I have a couple of fun thoughts

    I really like the idea of a “true crime” podcast but with the “clue” tropes and comedy. Thank you Liv it up with Liv for suggesting this!

    I also enjoy this podcast called Scared to Death and its two people just telling each other scary stories they see on reddit and other peoples paranormal experiences and try to scare each other. This, I think, would be really cool to do as well.

    I think that having a thriller aspect to the radio show will be interesting and I think that the true crime or the scary stories would allow for more exploration in the tech noir theme.

    Radio Show Ideas

    Couple show ideas I could think of:

    • Radio show where a group of college students start a radio show together. They start making millions of dollars and then they try to steal the show from each other or sabotage each other on the show. Maybe they start making comments like “Hmm.. We all know someone who is selfish” and it gets quiet or awkward and then the chill one out of the group is like “Hey you guys shut up, we have a new song to share with the people, hahaa” and then a 20-30 second snippet of a beat/song plays. And so on and so on.
    • A lifestyle radio show where the group will talk about random topics as if they were the actual archetype characters. Topics like dating, eating healthy, or we have people “call in” and tell us about their crappy roommate and we all give them a piece of unsolicited advice. I know this sounds simple, but I think it could actually turn out to be really funny. Example, someone calls into the radio show and is like, “I have a question for Ms. Femme Fatale” and they ask a question about dating advice haha or someone else calls in and asks the Mastermind Bank Heister how he makes an honest living. Mainly the show will be for entertainment purposes and will intend to be sarcastic, humorous, and things like that.

    Radio Show Ideas

    I have had a couple of ideas over the past week about a radio show. And I have still yet to think of which one is my favorite so I will list them all out.

    First, I thought a cool idea would to be a late night talk show interview with each of the characters. It would sort of be like a “Jimmy Fallon” or “Stephen Colbert” style show, with one of the characters hosting and the others appearing as guests. The interviews could be a bit comedic or chaotic, while also staying within the tropes of film noir. We could also have segments of listeners calling in, or maybe some of the characters playing quick mini-games. It would be fun to try to imagine our characters who come from a genre that is quite serious and brooding, be a bit silly.

    Another idea is to do a true-crime murder mystery. We could come up with the classic “Clue” tropes, and have it where one of the characters is murdered, and the others have to work together in order to figure out who is the murderer. This could be more serious, but have some humor sprinkled in here and there.

    I feel that these ideas would allow the group to step out of the box, and to think of their characters and how they would act in certain situations.

    Radio Show Ideas

    One of my ideas that best involves the use of the Tech Noir theme and also tying in our characters is to go into the making of our charters. To be a clearer, why did you make the character you did? Each one of us was given a list of different archetypes while also given the full freedom to create whoever we wanted. Are these characters based off of traits we have, based off of someone we aspire to be like, or even just because we thought the description was cool. Personally I look at my character as someone that embodies a lot of traits that I have while also being able to step into this world of Tech Noir where things are very different in compared to my average life.

    Tech-Noir Radio Show

    A radio show about a world where if you speak against the government, they replace you with a robotic clone and erase your original self. The story could follow a character, like Finn, discovering the truth behind the cloning program while interacting with people trying to escape it. Tech chips would play a big role, controlling memories and thoughts, similar to Limetown, and a secret group could be trying to hack them.

    For the radio show, we could create a thriller-style narrative, with intense scenes where Finn and others are on the run or trying to expose the truth. There could be a love like Evelyn (Lynn) Calico or Veronica Malone, who might be involved with the resistance or have a hidden connection to the cloning project. The show could blend suspense and mystery

    On the Air

    For the radio show, I think it would be cool to include a segment similar to that of True Crime, where one or multiple characters are involved in a scenario that would fit their archetype. It would be an interesting way to show off their personalities and also have interaction with other characters. Another idea I had for the show was just having conversation among the hosts regarding a topic, taking music or sports as an example. Music would be a great topic as it would be related to hosting a radio show and also connect music to the tech noir theme of the class as well.