Collectieve Actie: Fortnite

For the latest campaign by Stichting Massaschade & Consument, Fine Tune Audio was responsible for the complete audio production: voice-over casting and recording, custom music, sound design, mixing and mastering. Our goal was to create an audio production that would bring the animation to life and deliver a fully polished final result ready for release.

Building the animation around sound

We often receive finished or nearly finished animations that still need audio to add emotion, movement and impact. For this campaign, however, we chose a different approach.

Before the animation itself began to take shape, we sat down with the animator to discuss the story in detail. We talked about the desired style, tempo and overall atmosphere, as well as specific pauses and moments within the narrative. Most importantly, we looked at what the campaign needed to communicate and how sound could strengthen that message.

As a result, audio was not simply added to the animation afterwards. It became part of the foundation on which the animation was built.

Starting with the story

The voice-over and script were developed and produced early in the process. This meant that the timing and rhythm of the story were already largely established. With the spoken narrative as our starting point, we then began composing the music.

After developing an initial musical direction, we worked closely with the animator through several rounds of feedback and revisions. Tempo, transitions, dynamics and moments of silence were carefully shaped around both the voice-over and the intended visual storytelling.

Once the musical direction had been approved, we produced the final composition. With the voice-over and music in place, the animator could then build the visuals around their rhythm, using accents, transitions and musical elements to guide movement on screen.

Creating space for sound design

From the very beginning, we knew that sound design would play an important role in the final production. The music was therefore deliberately composed with enough space for additional sonic elements, rather than filling every moment musically.

Once the animation was picture-locked, we moved into the sound design stage.

Frame by frame, we created and selected sounds that reinforced movements, transitions and visual details throughout the animation. The sound design was not only intended to illustrate what was happening on screen, but also to give movements more weight, energy and character.

Because music, animation and sound design had been considered as parts of one complete production from the start, each element had enough space to contribute without competing with the others.

Bringing everything together

After the final round of sound design revisions, we mixed and mastered the complete production. We carefully balanced the voice-over, music and sound design into one cohesive soundtrack.

Throughout the entire project, the client remained closely involved in the process, from attending the voice-over recording live to reviewing music demos, animation previews and different versions of the sound design. This allowed us to advise and refine the production at every stage, rather than simply delivering individual audio elements.

The result was a campaign in which voice-over, music, sound design and animation were developed around the same story from the very beginning.

The campaign subsequently received national exposure through NOS and reached 150% of its campaign goal on the very first day.

A result that both the client and our audio team are proud of, and a great example of what can happen when sound is part of the creative process from the start, rather than simply being treated as the finishing touch.