From IRCAM to the Venice Biennale: Pierre-Marie Blind’s inspiring journey in immersive sound
Over the course of a career spanning around ten years, Pierre-Marie Blind, founder of Blind Sounds, has gained experience in sound design for video games, contemporary art and audiovisual media. Today, he enjoys an international reputation for sound design for immersive experiences.
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International recognition: two VR works in Venice
No sooner had he settled in at La Plaine Images – or rather, no sooner had he set up his sound design studio on the Pictanovo premises – than Pierre-Marie Blind set off for Venice to take part in the 81st Venice International Film Festival. More specifically, this former Parisian—now a new resident of Lille—joined the professional community gathered for the Venice Immersive competition: 26 immersive works, both linear and interactive, from all over the world.
An unmissable event for this sound designer specialising in VR content, especially as he is credited in the credits of two of the 26 works in this competition!
Two works that are radically different in their artistic direction but which both tackle challenging subjects head-on.
*Mamie Lou*, directed by Isabelle Andreani and co-produced by Small Creative, Skill Lab and France tv StoryLab, invites the viewer to step into the shoes of a spirit accompanying a grandmother through her final moments.
*Battlefield*, directed by François Vautier and co-produced by Da Prod, Digital Voodooh, Kwassa Films and, once again, France Télévisions, is an immersive experience set in the trenches of Verdun in 1917, amidst the murderous madness of an assault.
In total, no fewer than 8 of the 26 films in the competition were produced or co-produced in France. This is a clear indication, once again, of the vitality of French immersive creation!*
It is probably this French vitality that has enabled Pierre-Marie Blind to develop a rather rare expertise in sound design for VR works. But it was originally his studies at Ircam (the Institute for Research and Co-ordination in Acoustics/Music – another source of French pride!) that taught him to approach sound from new perspectives.
“My studies in classical music at the Paris Conservatoire taught me the art of articulation and interpretation, whilst IRCAM gave me the mindset of a sound designer. In other words, for any creation, we take just as much account of the user and their environmental context as we do of the artistic dimension. Whether that applies to an immersive experience, the interface of an electric car or a video game,” explains the 2016 IRCAM graduate.
From classical music to sound design: an unconventional journey
These studies therefore led him to consider sound design (“my job is to create sounds”) rather than composition: “Sound is a very abstract language. Conveying emotions through sound is even more complicated than doing so through musical composition”. And after working on sound design for contemporary art installations (such as Ghina, at the Familistère de Guise) and creating sound for theatre productions, he turned his attention to gaming for a while. Off to Düsseldorf and the Ubisoft studio he went.
Although Pierre-Marie joined one of the world’s leading gaming companies and collaborated on productions such as Far Cry 5 and Settlers, those two years in Germany (2018–2020) were primarily devoted to working on projects focused on immersive entertainment within a ‘separate team, enjoying a great deal of creative freedom’: Ubisoft Escape Games. This is the business unit dedicated to creating immersive experiences based on Ubisoft’s most famous franchises; experiences offered to visitors at theme parks, arcades and escape rooms. Around twenty staff members work in a start-up-style environment, striving to offer franchises such as Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia new opportunities to engage with their audience… and generate revenue.
VR as a field for sound innovation
Overall, for a sound designer like Pierre-Marie, working on video games or immersive experiences is a blend of complexity and enjoyment:
‘Video game development is more complex and abstract, as all departments work in parallel and simultaneously. We build it brick by brick, whereas post-production for linear audiovisual content follows a more straightforward and defined path. Video games are a puzzle to be solved. But there’s also the satisfaction of spending more time on the project. And in France, we have lots of great indie game projects, with producers who recognise the importance of sound very early on in the game development process.”
This is evidenced by his collaborations on successful indie titles such as *Blanc* and *Dordogne*. Immersive media offers the pleasure of a “medium that is both intuitive and extreme in its possibilities”: “The headset is a much more natural interface than a computer: my grandmother used one of my experiences without a tutorial, even though she struggles with double-clicking!”
In his latest projects, Pierre-Marie Blind is quick to mention the 3D VR game *Puzzling Places*, whose commercial appeal centres on its immersive and unique soundscapes. It is rare to see the sound experience given such prominence: proof that, for a sound designer, the future likely lies in immersive media. Pierre-Marie Blind is probably in the right place at the right time!
*It’s also worth noting that the two immersive works mentioned were co-produced by Pictanovo, the Hauts-de-France region’s initiative to support audiovisual creation, through its New Media fund. Both works are expected to be on display at the next edition of PIX.
