Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1524863
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 123 edited music to emphasize the unique moments, seamlessly interchanging. Repeated gameplay needs a repeated musical language within the interactive music, and cinematic music needs thematic material edited precisely to picture, dialogue, key moments. We leverage in-game sequences to sync frame accurate bespoke music, needing to consider flow from preceding cues within the variable timings of the player input and interactivity which is a real craft exercise between understanding of game flow, wider narrative, and musical options. A great trick we use during exploration is to vary the non- diegetic music mix by player location. Originally developed for Until Dawn, in its basic form for example, we can increase the volume of a riser as the player approaches a doorway, adding tension and forcing the player to walk into their own fear to progress the game. When working on VR titles like Rush of Blood and Switchback, how does your approach to audio change compared to traditional cinematic games? What unique challenges and opportunities does VR audio present? BP: The increased immersion of the VR experience offers many creative opportunities not available in cinematic third person. Way back on Rush of Blood VR, I tweaked all our attenuations to increase the sense of overwhelm from antagonists so that when they are super close to the player they would be unnaturally and thus, uncomfortably loud. Head tracking is a major win in VR. As a keen cyclist and conscious of the effect of directional wind turbulence on the ears traveling at speed, I created a head orientation dependant simulated ear turbulence system increasing with roller- coaster speed, side and front offering maximum varied buffeting, with less on the rear facing, emphasizing a sense of speed and claustrophobia. Ambiences blend smoothly by head orientation. also from mono source at a 90-degree and 270-degree angle, to full stereo width at 0-degree and 180-degree, and the blinking recognition of the PSVR2 was used to changing the environment and enemy positions for Switchback VR with synchronized jump-scare stings to great effect. Many of our learnings in 3D audio for VR have transferred directly into our cinematic games and working in mixed format horror has fed both sides immeasurably. Sound crew after Switchback VR. Back row L-R: Ollie Campbell, Simon Epstein, Luca Spadavecchia, Orion Zane, Fred Proud, Ryan Hall, Gianluca Romano, Marcus Bridge, Javier Zumer, Andrej Smoljan, Esad Rebihic, Barney Pratt, Angus McNaughton, Hugh Waller, Dario Tartagni. Front row: Leanne Moser, Max Fader, Richard Sauberlich.