Week 5: Contact Sound Designer

Tuesday 1st March 2022

WEEK 5 -

TO DO: CONTACT SOUND DESIGNER

PURPOSE

Now we have a clear idea for our gameplay experience we must get into contact with our Sound Designer Harry Williams to discuss our next steps for Sound Design! Sound is a massive part of our experience so I feel it's necessary to get in contact with him to ensure he is still up for the job. I plan to outline our plan for the project and keep him in the loop with design/development. By providing him with a brief description of the game idea he will have a better understanding of what is required from him and we can go from here!

WORKING WITH OUR SOUND DESIGNER

What is required from our Sound Designer? Now we have a finalised game idea in place, we know the experience relies heavily on the development of music overtime. It'll be necessary for Harry to composed a unique soundtrack, split into parts/'layers' which will develop gradually as players collect specific objects. This soundtrack should be composed using specific musical patterns to evoke calm and relaxation in players, as well as send them into a state of flow! (How Games Move Us - Katherine Ibister). To make our expectations and requirements clear to Harry, I have taken it upon myself to create a 'Sound Bible' to lead the production of sound for project Getaway. This document will include everything there is to know regarding how it should sound, the musical patterns used and how we'd like it to work in the space.

For today, I plan to get into contact with Harry Williams to briefly outline what is expected from him and to essentially check-up to make sure he is still dedicated to the job. Over the next few weeks, I am scheduled in to create the Sound Bible (around Week 7) which I will then forward onto him).

PLAN:

Outline basis of game idea - how the game will work and its influence on music in the space.
What is expected from Sound Design - piano soundtrack, ability to separate into layers (melody, chords, harmony etc) so as the game progresses, the music develops. Potentially ambient sound/atmospheric audio too such as chirping birds and gusts of wind.
Plan to have a detailed 'Sound Bible' sent to him in the next few weeks. (Week 7)

Email Sent:

Email response:

Happy to continue working on the project!
Understands purpose of soundtrack.
Have responded to confirm. Also informed we will not be using Unity for this project.

NEXT STEPS

Continue with testing and creating mock-ups.
This week test visuals and create Art Bible.
Create Sound Bible to send to Harry Williams in Week 7 to begin sound production.