Gate 11 (Binaural radio play)
A Creepypasta story adapted into a binaural audio drama.
Michael Deubele, Lukas Fritsch, Aren Hahn and Noah Karls, 6th semester, 2023
Project supervisors: Prof. Moritz Bergfeld, Prof. Felix Krückels, Prof. Carsten Kümmel
Introduction:
An experienced project manager, whose panic-inducing fear of flying presents an insurmountable hurdle, nevertheless plucks up the courage to board a plane. Over the course of this flight, a gripping plot unfolds, full of emotional depths, in which fear, despair and unexpected decisions shape the course of events. Demons, mysterious messages and blurred boundaries between dream and reality – everything a good story needs.
And it is precisely this story ( creepypasta.fandom.com/de/wiki/Gate_11) that we wanted to take to a new level and tell in the form of a binaural audio drama.
Script:
First, we adapted the original story into a script, transforming what was purely a first-person narrative from the protagonist’s perspective into an interplay between the various characters, making the story a much more immersive experience.
Here, alongside the various voice-over scripts, we’ve also already incorporated ideas for
soundscapes, sound design and the localisation of various elements.
Voice actors & recordings:
The protagonist and narrator is voiced here by Aren Hahn. The role of the flight attendant is brought to life by voice artist Annika Ruff, whilst voice artist Louis Proll lends his voice to the mysterious Professor Medley. Also making brief appearances are Michael Deubele as the pilot and Alina Rolheiser as the airport announcer at the gate.
In addition to the voice recordings and various Foley recordings, we also recorded Atmos sound inside and around Frankfurt Airport using ORTF-3D and the KU 100 artificial head from Neumann.
Music & Sound Design:
The music was not intended to be too prominent, but rather to subtly convey a mysterious, menacing or liberating atmosphere. To achieve this, we mainly used ambient sounds and reverb effects in combination with individual accents and rhythmic elements.
Alongside the rather conservative sound design for background events (passengers boarding, rummaging through bags, etc.), we opted for a much more emphasised / exaggerated approach for certain scenes (particularly those not set in the real world).
Arrangement & Binauralisation (IEM Plugin Suite):
For the overall arrangement of the project, the team members worked on their own Reaper sessions and had already implemented binaural localisation within these. The relevant tracks were then copied from these sessions and inserted into a master session, where the final mix was carried out. This session ultimately comprised 318 tracks.
