Audio Director

Joining us from the threshing sprockets of an old Moviola editing apparatus comes Chris 'peaceful warrior' Sweetman. Robustly constructed from orecciette, fir mainmasts and a chocolate sistrum, Chris fulfills a variety of roles here at SD towers to perfection. Recumbent, applied to the base of doors, draughts, he excludes; Crouched, covered in a floral print tablecloth or chasuble, lenses he cleanses; Upright, leant against the mahogany and brass shelves of our wasp archive, ladder he is; Seated, plugged into USB port, sounds he makes. He's generally a One-Stop-Shop for All-In-One Solutions.

Bringing vastly more bang for our buck, Chris spends his days firing weapons, setting off what he insists are "controlled" explosions, and releasing large predators into the office such that he may record the ensuing uproar, sample it, loop it, eq the hell out of it, compress it, decompress it, recompress it, leave it, bury it in the garden and water it like Lee "Scratch" Perry, dig it up, turn it down, turn it additionally loose, tart it up in the mix and eventually release it as the "mouse click" sound. About a county wide, Chris is about a nation high. He floats. Sometimes he's caesium. But then, in a way, aren't we all?

Things You Were Too Afraid To Ask...

Every once in a while, we interrogate one of our own and put their answers up for all the world to see. Read on to find out more about what Chris does, how he ended up at Splash Damage, and more.

What do you do at Splash Damage?

I'm the Audio Director, so it's my responsibility to handle the Creative and Technical Audio Direction for our games. This encompasses Sound Design, Dialogue & Music. I handle a lot of the sound design myself while also working with the design team on how Audio can drive the gameplay, working on the script, casting and directing actors with our Senior Game Designer Ed Stern and the design team, and working with a composer on music.

Other tasks are things like doing pre-sonics on concept art, field recording, budgets, equipment, designing tools and audio pipelines. It’s the best job in the world! I get to play with lots of expensive toys as well - over the years I've worked with weapons, tanks, Ferraris and even helicopters.

Why did you want to work in the games industry and how did you get started? Do you have any tips for people wanting to break in?

My initial background was in the film industry and I started getting involved in games in about 1995. At the time there were not really any sound designers in the games industry as it was all handled by musicians and programmers. I figured that with the speed the technology was moving, eventually the industry would move to a similar model to films where you have specialists sound designers, dialogue editors, re-recording mixers and so on.

I found the challenges of working in a non-linear medium a lot more exciting and felt that there was a real opportunity to innovate in a industry which in terms of audio was still in its infancy. I got my first few jobs working freelance on titles like Aironauts and Crime Killer before being offered a full time position at Gremlin Interactive in Sheffield in '98 and from there I just kept a-rollin'.

Breaking into the industry can be tough; I was very lucky in that I already had a strong film background which was of great interest to games companies at the time. There was an increasing specialization of roles and I hit the wave at just the right time.

In regards to sound design, I'd look at graduate or junior sound designer positions at developers that pop up from time to time. The best advice I can give is be passionate about what you do and if you are going for a job as a sound designer don't send a CV that is weighted towards music and a showreel that contains music tracks. Tailor your show reel to the position you are trying to get. That's the first thing I look for.

What other games have you worked on?

There's a fair few so I'll give you some of the highlights! Black, Burnout Paradise, S.W.A.T, Malice, Harry Potter 1&2, Catwoman, Fur Fighters and Revolt for the Dreamcast. If we are venturing further into the hallowed mists of time, I was at Gremlin Interactive where some of the titles were Soulbringer, Hogs of War, Gekido, Blade, Actua Soccer 3, Actua Golf and Actua Ice Hockey.

Why did you join Splash Damage?

They kidnapped my tapir and are holding him hostage so I'm not allowed to say too much.

But what I can say is that from my very first interview, I realized I'd found a very rare thing: an independent developer full of creative people who actually cared about Audio and were passionate about it becoming an important part of the games that we create.

I can say from experience that this is a very unusual thing indeed. You still find that most developers don't really care about audio and are blind to its story-telling power. It was a breath of fresh air and I knew straight away I'd found the right place to be.

What's your approach for designing a soundscape for a particular area in a game?

Tough Question! I don't really have a defined process as such, I tend to read some back story, look at concept art and just go with it. I find that structuring the process removes a lot of the creativity.

Experimentation is key! Try anything - "If it sounds good it is good." If I'm doing the ambience for an area I'll close my eyes and imagine myself walking through it. What sound am I hearing? It's vitally important to hear it in your head first and then try to create it.

In addition to about half a million games, you worked on a few movie projects as well. Can you give us a brief history there?

I started my career in the film industry working with my father at his post-production facility in Soho called the Sound House. He started me off as tea boy/runner (right at the bottom!) in about 1988 and I kind of learnt the ropes from there, ending up as Works Director some 7 years later. This was in the days before Digital so all our work was on 16mm & 35mm film and it gave me a great start in sound design.

Sound designers of the time did not have the plug-ins or DAWs that exist these days and relied on manipulating sounds using 1/4" tape, pitch and eq. One of my mentors was a guy called Jim Shields who designed the sound for Ridley Scott's Alien. He taught me a huge amount about sound creation by blending sounds together at different speeds on 1/4" tape. I worked with him on Goldeneye and The Saint, and I was very lucky to learn from a guy with his talent and experience. It really shaped my style and even now I don't like using too many plug-ins as I find they give you a less organic feel to the sound design.

Other stuff I worked on during my tenure was Twelve Monkeys, Four Weddings and a Funeral and loads of Rowan Atkinson "Barclaycard" commercials!

How does audio design for movies differ from games?

If I'm honest, I approach games exactly the same way I approached film. The actual process of creating the sounds is exactly the same - it's just the implementation and involvement with the design which is different.

What was your first gaming experience?

Binatone Tennis I think was the first electronic game I ever played. The first computer game was Manic Miner on the C64.

I actually still play some of them on a C64 emulator; I love stuff like Beach Head, Alien, Exploding Fist, Ik+, Commando and Tapper. Games of this era didn't have amazing graphics to fall back on, so they concentrated on good old fashioned gameplay.

What types of games do you like, and what's your favourite game of all time?

I like games of most genres, to be honest, although FPS's have always held a special place in my heart. The only things I don't touch are RTS games as I don't really have the patience!

Favorite game of all time... hmmmmm. I'd say it's most probably the first Medal of Honor on the PlayStation. It was the first game that really drew me in and created this incredible feeling of immersion. I still remember the little metal ting as you shot the helmets off.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

I enjoy riding motorcycles, training in Shaolin, reading, field recording, watching movies, a good beer, traveling, listening to music and socializing down at the local British Legion!