Flights of Foundry 2021

A great audio drama doesn't just tell a story; it transports us into the world of the story, to a degree that not even film can match. Part of that responsibility falls on the writers, some on the actors, but most of it is on the shoulders of audio engineers building out episodes. James Heaney is the showrunner of the long-running Starship Excelsior fan audio drama, an amateur series with a global, volunteer cast. In this talk, he will talk about the challenges of bringing scenes to life, focusing on the fundamentals he had to learn when he started in 2007. Topics will include noise reduction, ambiance, "blocking," incidental sound effects, stereo panning, and other topics as time permits.