MDes Sound for the Moving Image School of Innovation & Technology
Marie Währn
Marie Währn is a sound designer, dubbing mixer, sound engineer, music composer, and soundscape artist.
Specialising in audio design for film, games, and immersive sound experiences.
Before pursuing her master’s degree, Marie freelanced as a film sound designer and music producer. While at GSA, she sought to expand her skills and delve deeper into the art of sound. She explored working with visuals through in-game implementation, music composition for pictures, and Dolby Atmos surround sound mixing. Additionally, she gained a more profound understanding of how sound association can be used in sound design and storytelling, allowing her to craft intricate narratives through auditory elements alone.
Hearing The Story: The Forest Awakens
This is a Horror Soundscape. Please be cautious if you are sensitive to gore sounds and the horror genre. If you want to listen to the soundscape regardless, it is calm until you start hearing owls, that is your cue to stop if this is too uncomfortable.
Immerse yourself in “Hearing The Story: The Forest Awakens”, a soundscape narrative by Marie Währn. This auditory experience, created in Dolby Atmos (downmixed into 5.1 and Binaural) surround sound, departs from traditional storytelling by avoiding visuals, dialogue, and music. Instead, it employs sound design and sound recognition to convey a compelling story, challenging the listener to engage their imagination and interpret the narrative through sound alone.
Listeners are encouraged to experience the soundscape first before reading the plot, showcasing that the story is comprehensible without prior explanation.
The plot follows a protagonist who is at the phantom centre of the soundscape, allowing the listener to fully immerse themselves in the narrative and feel as though they are the protagonist. The journey begins in a forest during the day, setting a peaceful scene with a hint of warning of what is to come. However, as night falls, the horrors emerge. The forest comes alive with a heartbeat, signalling the creation of monsters.
The first encounter is with a tree monster that attempts to strangle and bury the protagonist underground. Armed with a knife, the protagonist manages to escape. Next, a siren mermaid drags the protagonist underwater, trying to drown them. As the siren swims around, pulling them down, they hit a cliff that begins to drop stones. One of the stones drags the siren down, allowing the protagonist to swim to safety.
Desperately, the protagonist runs towards the road, where the sound of passing cars offers a glimmer of hope. Suddenly, the forest’s heartbeat returns, accompanied by a circling wind that sucks out other sounds. This unrecognizable monster uses the wind to suffocate the protagonist. Then, everything stops, and silence falls. The final sound is a heartbeat – but is it the protagonist’s or the forest’s?
This project aims to demonstrate an innovative way of storytelling, inviting listeners to experience a narrative through sound and imagination.
