For the third summer in a row, faculty from Ringling College of Art and Design are leading sound design workshops for students from nearby Booker High School’s Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) program. The students learn the basics of Foley design, diegetic sound, scoring, and soundtrack construction, taught by award-winning sound designer Nick Palladino and sound designer and alum Troy Logan ’22, Film. Additionally, the workshops give the students hands-on experience with the College’s state-of-the-art Studio Labs post-production Film facilities.
As Sarasota’s first magnet program, Booker VPA allows its students to spend half of their school day studying in their chosen artistic field. Programs include Film and Animation, as well as Production and Design. The Ringling College summer sound workshops, which began in the summer of 2022, further boost these students’ industry knowledge while training them on professional-grade software and technology.
During the workshops, Palladino and Logan walk the high school students through the basic principles of ADR/Foley creation and sound design. Together, they reenact, record, and compare sound samples. The students have the chance to utilize various props and tools to recreate common sound effects that might be needed for a professional film project—for instance, footsteps on various surfaces like tile or pebbles.
During these lessons, the Ringling faculty also familiarized workshop attendees with the College’s Studio Labs, which was the first commercial and academic film and post-production facility of its kind in the state. The 36,000-square-foot complex houses five professional, acoustically isolated soundstages, as well as post-production space complete with editing suites, recording studio, Foley stage, color grading suite, mix room, and an 18-seat Dolby ATMOS Dub Stage.
Eventually, the Booker students are assigned a short video and tasked with creating and mixing the sound to accompany it. Both Palladino and Logan have noted how the teenagers have been invigorated by the eye-opening opportunity. Said Logan after last year’s workshops, “I am blown away at how the students embraced this chance to experiment, take risks, and let their imaginations soar!”
