Combat Mission

Commissioned by the Austrian Army, this video tries to very closely convey the intensity of a combat mission of an armored infantry battalion.

This project was as challenging as it was interesting on many levels: on one hand, shooting required a massive amount of coordination between all parties involved - within a very tight schedule. On the other hand, recording of location audio posed a variety of obstacles like extreme amplitude peaks (gunshots, explosions, tank interiors, helicopter overpasses) mixed with essential dialog in between.

Despite all of these challenges the recorded footage turned out very well and served as a base for sounddesign to create a feeling of tension and rising pressure as the protagonists are caught in the midst of hostile fire. Therefore a larger-than-life approach was used to design sound for this experience, after thoughtful consideration. This also goes hand in hand with the target audience, which is already familiar with sound aesthetics used in modern first person shooter games. Since the enemy isn't visible in the video but only manifests through pyrotechnical effects, the threat had to be narrated acoustically. Some of the scenes were therefore rebuilt from scratch in order to convey the peril and to drastically enhance immersion.