On May 3, 2022, Spotify released the ten-part audio series BATMAN UNBURIED as part of its collaboration with Warner Bros. The podcast was launched simultaneously with local adaptations in nine markets, including Germany, making it the biggest global launch of a Spotify podcast to date. We were able to realize the audio production of the German adaptation for and with our partner Pool Artists.
It was directed by author and podcast host Nilz Bokelberg, who also produced the German-language adaptation of the Spotify Original Podcast “SUSI”. The leading roles are played by top-class actors: Murathan Muslu (Batman), Justus von Dohnányi (Dr. Hunter), Lorna Ishema (Barbara Gordon), Tim Oliver Schultz (The Riddler), Maryam Zaree (Kell), Alexander Scheer (The Harvester), Nilam Farooq (Renee Montoya), Christoph Maria Herbst (Alfred), Lavinia Wilson (Vicki Vale) and Frederick Lau (Arnold Flass).
Just in time for the release, the Batman Among the Dead mural was unveiled at Wedding S-Bahn station in Berlin.
Such a complex project naturally poses a number of challenges for audio production. Below we give you a few insights into the production of this dark story from Gotham City.
A gigantic puzzle
Murathan Muslu (Bruce Wayne)
This is how you could describe a radio play with a running time of just under five hours. The dialog of the cast of over 60 actors, consisting of thousands of individual replicas, is fused into a whole. Timing, dramaturgy, music, Foley, effects. Everything comes together in the end to create the images in your head.
Show, don’t tell
Locations in radio plays have to work completely acoustically due to the lack of a visual level. Outdoor scenes, rooms, large halls, cars – everything has to be immediately self-explanatory for the listener. There is no narrative voice in BATMAN UNBURIED. The plot is revealed solely through dialog and sounds. This makes it all the more important for listeners to be able to orient themselves immediately and immerse themselves properly. The sound of the dialog must match the sound design.
Integration into the sound design
Michael Viol (Recording/Postproduction)
In the case of BATMAN UNBURIED, there was a standardized international sound design for all language versions, which was created by the production companies Phantom Four, Blue Ribbon Content and Wolf at the Door in the USA. The music was created by Jonathan Snipes. What does it sound like in the morgue, the Batcave or the police car? Many virtual echo chambers were created to embed the dialog in the scenes and locations in the best possible way.
The adaptation of a radio play works differently to classic dubbing work for films. Or rather: it can and may work differently.
Since the visual level is missing, you can act more freely in the realization. However, this freedom also means that the running time of the individual scenes can deviate from the original due to the respective language and interpretation. When the timing of the dialog is set, Foley sounds and music beds must be placed at certain cue points in the action so that the original dramaturgy is preserved.
Localization down to the last row
Lorna Ishema (Barbara Gordon)
Atmospheres are not always created by sounds alone, but often also by voices, crowds or loudspeaker announcements. So, in principle, other speaking roles. Even with basically incomprehensible mumbling, the listener often realizes that it is not their own native language. At least that’s what we think.
So, in addition to the more than 60 speaking roles mentioned above, we added various background voices on top, for which we wrote small scripts with the same love and care as for the big roles. Whether radio messages in the patrol car, loudspeaker announcements, the hustle and bustle in the TV studio or shouts from workers at the plane crash site. These small scenes were integrated into the German version with great attention to detail.
BATMAN UNDER THE DEAD is available to listen for free on Spotify.
