SONIC PRESENCE BRAND STORY: Podcast BRAND: Sennheiser PRODUCTION COMPANY: 1.618 Digital OUR ROLE: Podcast Production
This episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast is brought to you in partnership with our friends at Sennheiser who are revolutionising tools and philosophies behind the end-to-end immersive experience.
Augmented reality, or AR for short, is an industry that’s been silently booming over the last couple of years. Unlike virtual reality which totally immerses the user, AR offers a blend of the physical and the virtual worlds.
With the huge success of Pokemon Go, which allows people all across the world to see Pokemon floating around in real life via their mobile devices, augmented reality developers want to take the next step in revolutionising how we hear the world too, making augmented reality experiences for tourism, education, music – and even reinventing hearing aids.
In this episode of Immersive Audio Podcast with the help of insightful guest speakers we will look at Audio for Augmented Reality, and how it’s changing peoples’ lives today.
WANDA SUPERSTAR VR EXPERIENCE: Location-Based VR Experience BRAND: Wanda PRODUCTION COMPANY: Happy Finish OUR ROLE: Sound Design and Music Production
Happy Finish, an award-winning global production studio, created a virtual reality immersion for FIFA World Cup sponsor Wanda. Implemented in designated areas around Moscow, its inspiration stemmed from the idea of finding a way that allowed 2018 Men’s World Cup fans to experience a realistic football story.
Using CGI to simulate Wanda’s Dangzhai Village in China and Epic Games’ engineering software to bring it to life, fans can put on a VR headset and transform into a professional football player. From shooting at practice targets to taking penalty kicks in the biggest moments at the highest stage, HTC VIVE trackers are able to watch a person’s kicking motions to accurately depict where the ball will travel based off of their foot placement. With these abilities, fans believe that their skills are being put to the test in a life-like scenario similar to what their favorite players are used to experiencing.
With awards being given to the top players, competition and popularity skyrocketed. Accumulating over 3,000 participants over the course of only a few weeks, Happy Finish and partner Prisma VR decided to bring the experience to this year’s Women’s World Cup in France. Adding in women’s characters and uniforms, success was duplicated. Everyone loved being able to live out their dreams of playing professional football!
1.618 Digital was brought onto the project to cover the sound design and bespoke music production for the VR gaming experience.
TOP GEAR JUMPS: 360º DISASTROUS Car Park Race BRAND: Top Gear PRODUCTION COMPANY: BBC / Rewind OUR ROLE: Location Sound Recording, Sound Design, 3D Audio Postproduction, Dubbing
The BBC’s flagship driving and engineering talk show Top Gear is celebrating its 42nd year since the first episode aired in April 1977, though it’s only been using the studio format since its revamping in 2002. As time goes on, technology has been growing and excelling, enabling the show to not only offer more exciting cars and vehicles to cover but to change and shape the show itself. Now, the availability of virtual reality and 360º video has led the BBC to commission a set of three 360º stunt videos to promote their 27th series.
Each video puts you in the point of view of a stunt driver, as you are given a tour of each individual stunt by Chris, the assistant director. Once you know what’s about to happen, you’re thrown behind the wheel to experience the stunt as the driver. Each video shows off spectacularly exciting (and very dangerous) stunts: from flying through the air at 80mph over a petrol station in a tanker, to jumping a mini music festival in a caravan, to driving a classic Top Gear car over a supermarket car park to land in the last space.
Not to mention, the Stig is up to no good and each film is paired with a StigCam video to watch his masterpiece unfold. And as an added bonus, the end of the series will also feature a behind-the-scenes video, where you may even catch a glimpse of us working on-location!
1.618 Digital was brought onto the project to cover the location sound recording, spatial audio design and to perform 3D Audio postproduction and dubbing.
TOP GEAR JUMPS: 360º Festival Camper Stage Dive BRAND: Top Gear PRODUCTION COMPANY: BBC / Rewind OUR ROLE: Location Sound Recording, Sound Design, 3D Audio Postproduction, Dubbing
The BBC’s flagship driving and engineering talk show Top Gear is celebrating its 42nd year since the first episode aired in April 1977, though it’s only been using the studio format since its revamping in 2002. As time goes on, technology has been growing and excelling, enabling the show to not only offer more exciting cars and vehicles to cover but to change and shape the show itself. Now, the availability of virtual reality and 360º video has led the BBC to commission a set of three 360º stunt videos to promote their 27th series.
Each video puts you in the point of view of a stunt driver, as you are given a tour of each individual stunt by Chris, the assistant director. Once you know what’s about to happen, you’re thrown behind the wheel to experience the stunt as the driver. Each video shows off spectacularly exciting (and very dangerous) stunts: from flying through the air at 80mph over a petrol station in a tanker, to jumping a mini music festival in a caravan, to driving a classic Top Gear car over a supermarket car park to land in the last space.
Not to mention, the Stig is up to no good and each film is paired with a StigCam video to watch his masterpiece unfold. And as an added bonus, the end of the series will also feature a behind-the-scenes video, where you may even catch a glimpse of us working on location!
1.618 Digital was brought onto the project to cover the location sound recording, spatial audio design and to perform 3D Audio postproduction and dubbing.
TOP GEAR JUMPS: 360º Explosive Petrol Station Stunt BRAND: Top Gear PRODUCTION COMPANY: BBC / Rewind OUR ROLE: Location Sound Recording, Sound Design, 3D Audio Postproduction, Dubbing
The BBC’s flagship driving and engineering talk show Top Gear is celebrating its 42nd year since the first episode aired in April 1977, though it’s only been using the studio format since its revamping in 2002. As time goes on, technology has been growing and excelling, enabling the show to not only offer more exciting cars and vehicles to cover but to change and shape the show itself. Now, the availability of virtual reality and 360º video has led the BBC to commission a set of three 360º stunt videos to promote their 27th series.
Each video puts you in the point of view of a stunt driver, as you are given a tour of each individual stunt by Chris, the assistant director. Once you know what’s about to happen, you’re thrown behind the wheel to experience the stunt as the driver. Each video shows off spectacularly exciting (and very dangerous) stunts: from flying through the air at 80mph over a petrol station in a tanker, to jumping a mini music festival in a caravan, to driving a classic Top Gear car over a supermarket car park to land in the last space.
Not to mention, the Stig is up to no good and each film is paired with a StigCam video to watch his masterpiece unfold. And as an added bonus, the end of the series will also feature a behind-the-scenes video, where you may even catch a glimpse of us working on-location!
1.618 Digital was brought onto the project to cover the location sound recording, spatial audio design and to perform 3D Audio postproduction and dubbing.
MAKING INNOVATION HAPPEN: Podcast Series BRAND: The Bakery PRODUCTION COPARTNER: VIDA MEDIA OUR ROLE: Podcast production
Dedicated to the support and growth of companies all around the world, The Bakery thrives on the success of businesses both experienced and up-and-coming. Primarily offering a variety of programmes for every stage of running a business, the Bakery also provides materials from blogs and newsletters, to networking opportunities between clients with worldwide events and social media channels.
The latest addition to their resources is the Making Innovation Happen podcast, where they talk to industry professionals about encouraging new and interesting ideas to boost their companies up to the best they can be. Some of the six episodes centre around one of the Bakery’s mantras: Start with the Problem, Fast vs Slow, Software is Eating the World, and Making Lots of Small Bets all initiate conversation about some of the company’s core beliefs and why they should matter to you as an entrepreneur. There is even an episode which brings in numerous former clients to talk about their personal journeys with The Bakery.
VIDA and 1.618 Digital were brought onto the project to produce the series and assist with the podcast launch.
THE VILLAGES THAT DIED FOR FRANCE: A 360º Documentary COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT: Royal Holloway University of London, Durham University, Foxep Productions, Google Arts & Culture OUR ROLE: Location Sound Recording, 3D Audio Postproduction, Music Supervision
The Portraits of No Man’s Land project is a collection of videos, photographs, Google Maps tours and exhibits that explore the life and stories of infamous areas throughout history, depicted as “no man’s land” due to their past as battlefields. A joint project between Durham University and Royal Holloway, University of London, all of the individual pieces of media can be found on Google Arts & Culture, and spreads the word and culture surrounding these parts of the world that have been affected by wargrounds. More recently, the project has released three immersive films on three separate locations to add to their library of informative pieces.
The Villages that Died for France follows Maurice Michellet, the mayor of the French farming village Bezonvaux, one of nine communities destroyed during World War I. In 1916, an area designated by the government as Zone Rouge was the centre of battle between the French and German forces, and the last line of defence before the Germans would reach Paris. As a result, the ground was pounded with bombs and footfall, littered with 300,000+ bodies and poisoned with various chemicals that rendered the area uninhabitable. Even with the planting of a forest to cover up the scarred earth and the slow shrinking of the danger zone, the nine villages destroyed have never been rebuilt.
Our approach on audio was relatively simple; we simply wanted to deliver an authentic sound and preserve originality of its sonic fingerprint of all of the locations we’ve visited, as each place offered something unique and interesting on its own merit, be it unusual and eerie soundscapes of former WWI battlefields in France or fauna rich rainforest in Colombia. We didn’t need to search hard — but rather simply follow the story of people.
The audio for No Mans Land VR films was captured in a few different ways. We’ve used an ambisonics VR microphone Ambeo to record diegetic audio along with the camera as well as individual interviews recorded on boom and lapel radio mics.
Our method proved to be efficient and effective; travelling light and constantly being on the move meant that the recording kit had to be portable and ready to roll at any point, whilst at the same time being able to record spatial audio which was instrumental for delivering an immersive experience to our audiences.
The audio post-production process was somewhat a continuation of our ethos embraced during the filming process — keeping the story raw and authentic.
With exception of several scenes where we felt the image alone wasn’t able to reveal all the complex layers of the story or particular twists in a plot, we resorted to more stylistic sound design to disambiguate the message — for example, adding archival footage audio, news reports or tonal textures to create tension and suspense.
Music played an absolutely critical role, often carrying an emotional undertone that really helped to shape the narrative in the right way. We’ve used a variety of sounds from Colombian communist-era ballads to cinematic, orchestral, rich-sounding scores.
For the final product, we’ve delivered mix in high spatial audio resolution in 3rd order ambisonics across 16 channels. For comparison, traditional TV or streaming services typically deliver in stereo. We are hoping that immersive audio will enable our audience to appreciate the finer details within the rich sonic experience and better connect to the stories of people from the no man’s land.
A VIOLATED DREAM: A 360º Documentary COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT: Royal Holloway University of London, Durham University, Foxep Productions, Google Arts & Culture OUR ROLE: Location Sound Recording, 3D Audio Postproduction, Music Supervision
The Portraits of No Man’s Land project is a collection of videos, photographs, Google Maps tours and exhibits that explore the life and stories of infamous areas throughout history, depicted as “no man’s land” due to their past as battlefields. A joint project between Durham University and Royal Holloway, University of London, all of the individual pieces of media can be found on Google Arts & Culture, and spreads the word and culture surrounding these parts of the world that have been affected by wargrounds. More recently, the project has released three immersive films on three separate locations to add to their library of informative pieces.
In 1998, the Colombian government abandoned a large thriving region of the country to the control of FARC rebels. It was called the Zona de Distensión. An entire community was left behind, caught between armed guerrilla and the government. This is their story of life, survival and the story of the Colombian No Man’s Land.
Our approach on audio was relatively simple; we simply wanted to deliver an authentic sound and preserve originality of its sonic fingerprint of all of the locations we’ve visited, as each place offered something unique and interesting on its own merit, be it unusual and eerie soundscapes of former WWI battlefields in France or fauna rich rainforest in Colombia. We didn’t need to search hard — but rather simply follow the story of people.
The audio for No Mans Land VR films was captured in a few different ways. We’ve used an ambisonics VR microphone Ambeo to record diegetic audio along with the camera as well as individual interviews recorded on boom and lapel radio mics.
Our method proved to be efficient and effective; travelling light and constantly being on the move meant that the recording kit had to be portable and ready to roll at any point, whilst at the same time be able to record spatial audio which was instrumental for delivering an immersive experience to our audiences.
The audio post-production process was somewhat a continuation of our ethos embraced during the filming process — keeping the story raw and authentic.
With exception of several scenes where we felt the image alone wasn’t able to reveal all the complex layers of the story or particular twists in a plot, we resorted to more stylistic sound design to disambiguate and the message clearer — for example, adding archival footage audio, news reports or tonal textures to create tension and suspense.
Music played an absolutely critical role, often carrying an emotional undertone that really helped to shape the narrative in the right way. We’ve used a variety of sounds from Colombian communist-era ballads to cinematic, orchestral, rich-sounding scores.
For the final product, we’ve delivered mix in high spatial audio resolution in 3rd order ambisonics across 16 channels. For comparison, traditional TV or streaming services typically deliver in stereo. We are hoping that immersive audio will enable our audience to appreciate the finer details within the rich sonic experience and better connect to the stories of people from the no man’s land.
CYCLING ACROSS BARRIERS: A 360º Documentary COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT: Royal Holloway University of London, Durham University, Foxep Productions, Google Arts & Culture OUR ROLE: Location Sound Recording, 3D Audio Postproduction, Music Supervision
The Portraits of No Man’s Land project is a collection of videos, photographs, Google Maps tours and exhibits that explore the life and stories of infamous areas throughout history, depicted as “no man’s land” due to their past as battlefields. A joint project between Durham University and Royal Holloway, University of London, all of the individual pieces of media can be found on Google Arts & Culture, and spreads the word and culture surrounding these parts of the world that have been affected by wargrounds. More recently, the project has released three immersive films on three separate locations to add to their library of informative pieces.
Cycling Across Barriers is a 360º film following Aydin Mehmet Ali, one of the founders of the Cycling Across Barriers bike touring company. Riding since she was 8, Aydin was born before the division of Nicosia in Cyprus but now lives on the “Greek side.” Travelling across the UN designated Buffer Zone was illegal for over two decades, but even when the border checkpoints were opened in 2003, residents and neighbours were still hesitant to cross despite their family, friends and neighbours that lived in the buffer zone or on the other side. Aydin, determined to show the entire city of Nicosia to both tourists and locals, set up her bike tour company to create a sense of community and to try and lower the sense of uneasiness about crossing over to the other side of the city.
Our approach on audio was relatively simple; we simply wanted to deliver an authentic sound and preserve originality of its sonic fingerprint of all of the locations we’ve visited, as each place offered something unique and interesting on its own merit, be it unusual and eerie soundscapes of former WWI battlefields in France or fauna rich rainforest in Colombia. We didn’t need to search hard — but rather simply follow the story of people.
The audio for No Mans Land VR films was captured in a few different ways. We’ve used an ambisonics VR microphone Ambeo to record diegetic audio along with the camera as well as individual interviews recorded on boom and lapel radio mics.
Our method proved to be efficient and effective; travelling light and constantly being on the move meant that the recording kit had to be portable and ready to roll at any point, whilst at the same time being able to record spatial audio which was instrumental for delivering an immersive experience to our audiences.
The audio post-production process was somewhat a continuation of our ethos embraced during the filming process — keeping the story raw and authentic.
With exception of several scenes where we felt the image alone wasn’t able to reveal all the complex layers of the story or particular twists in a plot, we resorted to more stylistic sound design to disambiguate the message — for example, adding archival footage audio, news reports or tonal textures to create tension and suspense.
Music played an absolutely critical role, often carrying an emotional undertone that really helped to shape the narrative in the right way. We’ve used a variety of sounds from Colombian communist-era ballads to cinematic, orchestral, rich-sounding scores.
For the final product, we’ve delivered mix in high spatial audio resolution in 3rd order ambisonics across 16 channels. For comparison, traditional TV or streaming services typically deliver in stereo. We are hoping that immersive audio will enable our audience to appreciate the finer details within the rich sonic experience and better connect to the stories of people from the no man’s land.
COMMON GROUND: Interactive VR Documentary DIRECTOR: Darren Emerson PRODUCTION COMPANY: East City Films OUR ROLE: Location Sound Recording, Sound Design, Music Production and 3D Audio Postproduction
Taking 4 years to develop, Common Ground uses the power of immersive filmmaking to document the experience of those living in the infamous Aylesbury Estate, one of the most well-known social housing blocks in England, and the impact of the planned redesign and repurposing of the area as housing to sell outside of the social housing scheme.
The Aylesbury Estate Regeneration Project is a government-funded plan to create 3,500 new homes on the estate by 2036, of which “50% will be affordable” and 75% of that will be social housing. Naturally, this will leave just over 1,300 of 3,500 homes for social housing, greatly diminishing the number of homes available for the working class, and leaving even less living space for those that are unable to make enough for renting a property.
This documentary addresses numerous topics of interest, including the gentrification of London, the demonisation of the working class, the meaning of community and if we should be questioning the amount of power the council has to overhaul the lives of an entire neighbourhood in the name of growth and profit.
A 30-minute long film features interviews with residents and clips from archive footage to tell the history of Aylesbury back from its creation in the 1960s to present day. The documentary aims to tell the raw story of Aylesbury and achieves this using techniques such as cinematic 360 video capture, photogrammetry and 3D modelling to fully immerse viewers and allow them to truly empathise with the residents through the power of virtual reality. 1.618 Digital was brought to the project by East City Films to record location sound in 3D and later to perfect sound design, music production and 3D audio postproduction.
Common Ground launched its debut screening in April 2019 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, as part of the Virtual Arcade exhibition and will have its UK premiere at the Sheffield Doc Festival later in June this year.
