Today is opening day at Netflix House: Dallas. I had the pleasure of sound designing two live walkthrough immersive experiences there, one for Stranger Things and one for Army of the Dead. Both of these immersive games use sound as an integral part of the experience, not as set dressing but as a core storytelling and gameplay mechanic.
Designing sound for a physical space is a different discipline than mixing for the screen. In film post, the audience sits still and the mix comes to them. In a walkthrough experience, the audience is in motion. Sound has to guide them through the space, pull their attention toward the next beat, and warn them about what might be waiting around the corner.
There is also the challenge of working inside two established sonic worlds. Stranger Things and Army of the Dead each have a sound identity that fans know intimately, from the tone of the Upside Down to the chaos of crowd of zombies. The job was to honor what had been established previously, while building something new that only works in a physical room, where guests are surrounded by the story instead of watching it.
Netflix House Dallas is now open at Galleria Dallas, and it is free to walk in.