ONE TICKET PLEASE
This was my first time working with Wavy. I got connected through a mutual in my network, and the timing just clicked. He’d shot this beautiful cinematic short, but there was no dialogue, which meant the sound had to do ALL the talking. That challenge low-key lit me up. I treated it like a world-building exercise. I was outside all over Atlanta recording real environments, then back at home doing DIY foley with my mom, just chasing anything that felt honest. I wanted it to feel like you were there, hearing everything you normally would… just without voices. It ended up being one of his most-watched shorts, but more than that, it reminded me why I love sound. When it’s done right, it doesn’t explain the story — it IS the story.
Client
Valentino "WavyLord" Dors
Year
2023
Services
Film Sound Design, Foley, Film Mix
Category
Short Film
The Situation & The Goal
This project marked my first collaboration with director/cinematographer WavyLord, following a referral from my professional network.
The short film was shot without any usable dialogue, meaning sound design had to fully carry the narrative experience.
This was one of my earliest attempts at fully realistic, diegetic sound design for a narrative short film.
Primary Goal:
Create a hyper-realistic, immersive soundscape that made the environments feel lived-in and authentic, despite the absence of spoken dialogue.
Ensure the audience could “understand” the film emotionally and spatially through sound alone, with dialogue existing only as closed captions.
Process & Key Actions
Designed and executed full narrative sound design to replace dialogue as the primary storytelling tool.
Conducted extensive field recording across the city of Atlanta to capture authentic environmental sounds, building a custom sound effects library from scratch.
Recorded original foley elements in a home setup, collaborating with an assistant to recreate realistic movement and interaction sounds.
Engineered diegetic audio layers to reflect what would naturally be heard in each environment, intentionally omitting voices while preserving realism.
Synced sound design tightly to picture, enhancing pacing, tension, and realism in support of the cinematic visuals shot on a Sony FX3.
Mixed and balanced all audio elements to ensure clarity, spatial realism, and emotional cohesion throughout the film.
Results
The finished film was well received creatively, praised for its immersive sound design and unique viewing experience.
Became one of the most-viewed short films on WavyLord’s YouTube channel.
Successfully demonstrated that sound alone could carry narrative weight in a dialogue-free cinematic format.
Established trust and creative alignment that contributed to an ongoing professional relationship with the director.
Personal Takeaways & Skills Gained
Developed strong realistic and diegetic sound design instincts for narrative film.
Gained hands-on experience in field recording, foley performance, and custom sound library creation.
Strengthened ability to tell story through sound alone, without reliance on dialogue.
Learned how to creatively solve production limitations (no dialogue) and turn them into a stylistic strength.
Built confidence delivering end-to-end audio for cinematic short films early in my career.