In the Depths of the Past – a binaural horror radio play

Based on an idea by Sophie Hiller and Emil Engehardt, Vincent Beck – a former student on the ‘Motion Pictures’ study programme – wrote a gripping script that tells the story of four friends who, in a cloak-and-dagger operation driven by curiosity, break into an old Nazi bunker; there, they receive an unexpected visitor.

The cast features Kathrin Hedrich (a former student on the ‘Sound, Music and Production BA’ study programme) as Bella, Victor Keilhack (a current student on the ‘Sound, Music and Production BA’ study programme) as Adam, Emil Engelhardt (poetry slammer) as Chris and Antina Albrecht (current student on the ‘Motion Pictures’ study programme) as Daria, a talented cast was assembled.

The whole experience is enhanced by the recording of the forest atmosphere, complemented by synthesisers and other sounds that create a richly detailed soundscape. An audio concept was developed with the aim of creating an immersive experience that fulfils the listener’s auditory expectations by deliberately exaggerating the size of spaces; for example, a cave rarely sounds as large as it does in this audio narrative (yet this is precisely how one imagines the sound to be).

Using plugins from the IEM Plugin Suite and reverb, mono and stereo tracks (with the exception of the aforementioned 3D forest atmosphere) were converted to binaural format and refined with a series of automations to simulate movement and enable a truly immersive experience within the soundscape.