Sound designer Johnnie Burn uses Dolby Atmos to simulate hyperacusis in 'Tuner'
Sound designer Johnnie Burn utilized his personal experience with temporary deafness to create the unique Dolby Atmos sound mix for the film "Tuner." The film employs four distinct sound levels, including the use of in-ear microphones for research, to portray a character's hyperacusis and deliver an immersive soundscape. Burn highlighted that mixing in Dolby Atmos allowed for a more adventurous and accurate representation of the intricate sound design.
Key Takeaways
- Sound design features four distinct layers to transition between standard hearing, unprotected hyperacusis, and two levels of ear protection.
- Burn conducted clinical research using microphones placed inside his own ear canal to record environmental sounds from a first-person perspective.
- The mix leverages Dolby Atmos's object-based architecture to deliver high-pitched and low-frequency sounds with precision across all speakers.
- Production involved distinct collaboration between non-diegetic score by Will Bates and diegetic piano orchestrations by Marius de Vries.
Why It Matters
The transition from channel-based to object-based mixing in Dolby Atmos allows creators to move beyond mere immersion toward precise, clinical simulations of sensory disabilities. For the streaming ecosystem, this trend toward 'point-of-hearing' storytelling increases the demand for high-fidelity spatial audio metadata that can survive various hardware down-mixes. It highlights a shift where audio accessibility becomes a central narrative device rather than a post-production checkbox. Watch for whether more prestige streaming titles adopt subjective audio mixing as a primary narrative tool to differentiate premium 4K/Atmos tiers from standard ad-supported offerings.
Additional Context
The emphasis on high-fidelity spatial audio in 'Tuner' aligns with a broader industry push to standardize Dolby Atmos across both theatrical and home environments. Per Porter’s Five Forces (March 2026), Dolby has established partnerships with silicon vendors like MediaTek and Qualcomm to make Atmos a baseline feature in mid-range mobile and home devices by late 2026. This democratization of hardware is supported by strategic content moves; for instance, Dolby and NBCUniversal announced at CES 2026 that Peacock would become the first streamer to use the full Dolby suite, including the AC-4 codec, to deliver live sports like the NBA and MLB with enhanced dialogue clarity and immersive soundscapes.
Johnnie Burn’s technical approach follows a period of significant critical acclaim for his innovative soundscapes. For his work on the 2023 film 'The Zone of Interest,' Burn won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Sound, where he similarly used a library of researched, historically accurate sounds to create a 'sonic hellscape' that existed entirely off-camera. According to Wikipedia (April 2026), Burn’s recent portfolio also includes high-profile projects like 'Nope' and 'Poor Things,' reflecting a growing trend among top-tier directors like Jordan Peele and Yorgos Lanthimos to prioritize sound design as '50% of the cinematic experience.'
Meanwhile, streaming platforms are increasingly leveraging these premium audio features to justify higher-priced subscription tiers. Per Audio Advice (March 2026), Amazon rebranded its premium add-on as 'Prime Video Ultra' and increased the price to $4.99 per month to lock 4K and Dolby Atmos behind a specific paywall. This shift suggests that while sound designers like Burn are pushing the technical limits of Atmos for storytelling, distributors are simultaneously treating these advanced audio tracks as a key lever for Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth in a saturated market.
Read full article at indiewire.com
Enjoy our coverage?
Add StreamingMeme as a preferred source on Google to see more of our streaming news at the top of your Search results.
Add as preferred source