Being based near Hobart, we had perfect access to the locations, but two hundred years of progress had changed the soundscape quite a bit! Hobart in the 1820s sounded very different to Hobart in the 2020s, so the first step was to map out what sort of sounds we were going to need to be hearing to create an authentic experience. The team behind the app were able to give us a lot of great information from their own research, and VSM added to that with our own.

We read a lot more about native Tasmanian birds than we ever expected to!

Bringing everything together and creating seamless loops for delivery to the VR producers was the final step. A whole bunch of time with headphones on debating the relative merits of horse-hoof volume.

This is the life’s work we’ve chosen, and we have no regrets 😉

The first thing we had to figure out was how we were going to record and edit dialogue in a language that we didn’t speak!

The solution was a dual-language script, with each line numbered, and written in both English and Palawa Kani. This gave us a roadmap which we would be able to follow throughout the dialogue editorial process.

Back in the edit room we assembled the Palawa Kani takes into the episodes using the original English tracks as a timing-guide. We had to work with the existing edit and animation, so we had to select our voice takes based not just on the best performance, but also on timing and lip-sync. REAPER’s fantastic Elastique time-stretching algorithm proved invaluable here, allowing us to massage the Palawa Kani performances to fit the original dialogue timing while still sounding natural.

The final step was to combine the Palawa Kani dialogue back together with the supplied Music, SFX, Atmos and Foley stems to create a new mix, and supply it back to the production to create the final master.

First job is to get the scripts recorded – all fifty-two of them!

In a series of recording sessions spread out across several weeks, we recorded a talented cast of actors and edited “radio play” versions of each episode so the animatic team at Blue Rocket could get to work on building the episodes.

With all but one of the actors being based locally, we were able to get them into the studio to record together. This presents some audio complications, but we’ve found it generally makes for better performances, so it’s worth the extra effort!

We also created a full original musical score for the series, as well as the mandatory super-catchy 30-second theme tune.

One of our favourite parts of working on a Blue Rocket series is how stylistically diverse they are, and Dumbotz was no exception. With episodes playing on various tropes, including musicals, westerns, horror, and action, we were able to really dig into some creative composition.

The agency had created an absolutely stunning thirty-second video for a website landing page, but the client had requested that it be embellished with an original soundscape by a Tasmanian composer. As luck would have it, we have one of those! 

Finally we mixed the sound design and music, married it back together with the video, and sent it back to the client, who were thrilled with the results.

“The creative team here have given it the big tick/thumbs up – Everyone loved it!”

Vanessa Lee – Producer