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BAFTA awarded to Leeds Beckett University alumni for their work on video game Returnal
Lewis Everest, Senior Sound Designer at Sony PlayStation Studios and Lewis Barn, Junior Sound Designer at Sony PlayStation Studios, both graduated from the MSc Sound and Music for Interactive Games at Leeds School of Arts in 2018 and 2020 respectively. They are now working on some of the most anticipated and popular video games from PlayStation.
Their multi-award winning work on Returnal has won the BAFTA award for Audio Achievement and the DICE Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design and Original Music Composition.
Lewis Everest said: “The course at Leeds Beckett University gave me a really solid fundamental understanding as to how to approach audio in games. It also acted as a springboard for my transition to a professional environment by teaching me how to present my work and analyse it effectively.”
Lewis Barn said: “The course helped me prepare for what to expect during a game development cycle and how to use the tools required for the job. I absolutely love designing sounds for Sci-Fi and Returnal was a dream come true in this regard.”
Dr Richard Stevens, Course Director for the postgraduate courses in Music and Sound at Leeds School of Arts, said: “I couldn’t be prouder of both Lewis and Lewis, and all our other students and graduates who are having a real impact within the video games industry.
“Getting to work at Sony is a great achievement in itself, but for their work to lead to both DICE and BAFTA awards is amazing. We’re also really grateful that they’ve kept in touch and are helping to inform our curriculum through guest talks, and for the work they’ve done along with the rest of the team at Sony Interactive Entertainment’s office in London in mentoring our current students.”
The Sound and Music students at Leeds Beckett’s Leeds School of Arts benefit from brand-new, industry-standard resources, to support their learning. The new LSA building, which opened last year, includes a reverb and an anechoic chamber, as well as a mastering and ambisonics room with multiple recording studios that students can use during their courses.