RYAN ESTON PAUL
Sound Designer, Composer for Video Games
Dark Darkness: "Ganamazol's Gambit"
by
Wilson Large
Music/ Sound Design
Dark Darkness is an Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy series. It's "Revenge of the Nerds" meets "Army of Darkness". In this episode, Ganamazol is desperate for adventure, but her duties as Queen of the ninja army in the hidden fortress of Girillion keep her grounded. Will she be able to fulfill her duties and get the adventure she craves?
- Official selection for the prestigious Raindance Film Festival in the UK
- Nominated for "Best Fantasy Web Series" at Vancouver Web Fest
- Employed a mix of foley-recording and sample-editing to create a bombastic and combat-heavy soundscape
- Created the illusion of traditional Asian musical ambiance through the combination of live-recorded performance, synthesized environments through captured impulse responses and convolution reverb, and software virtual instruments
- Recorded actors, stunt workers and performers in a sound stage to create an ambiance fitting for a castle full of training ninjas.
Dark Darkness is an ambitious project. Created by a team of talented people in Bellingham, WA (including Gavin Eddy - set designer for Rosanne and That '70's Show), show-runner Wilson Large is aiming for nothing short of perfection. Wilson approached me about this project, which was in need of someone to flesh-out the intricacies of the soundscape. He absolutely understood the importance of sound design, which was a great relief.
Though the episode was short, there were still many facets to the sound design that posed unique challenges. The setting of the episode - a large fortress, hidden in a cave, surrounded by water and full of training ninjas - was a rich combination of elements, to say the least. The scenes themselves were full of combat, both on and off camera. The tone of the episode was a balance of comedy, fantasy, action and drama - otherwise known as just about everything - which lends to a "anything-is-possible" foundation to the entire audio spectrum.
In the end, "Ganamazol's Gambit" was a fulfilling combination of foley work, a tremendous amount of audio editing, software synthesis, traditional Eastern music composition, over-the-top electronica and comedy musical scoring. Though it can be a challenge to pull yourself into multiple new directions, in the end it was a great experience and the end product was well-received.
Though the episode was short, there were still many facets to the sound design that posed unique challenges. The setting of the episode - a large fortress, hidden in a cave, surrounded by water and full of training ninjas - was a rich combination of elements, to say the least. The scenes themselves were full of combat, both on and off camera. The tone of the episode was a balance of comedy, fantasy, action and drama - otherwise known as just about everything - which lends to a "anything-is-possible" foundation to the entire audio spectrum.
In the end, "Ganamazol's Gambit" was a fulfilling combination of foley work, a tremendous amount of audio editing, software synthesis, traditional Eastern music composition, over-the-top electronica and comedy musical scoring. Though it can be a challenge to pull yourself into multiple new directions, in the end it was a great experience and the end product was well-received.
