Trafic à Bacall's Bay

Trafic à Bacall's Bay is an audio drama created for a sound-editing course, inspired by American film noir of the 1940s and 50s. It follows a disillusioned detective investigating the rainy streets of an imaginary city, amid smoky bars, jazz and criminal intrigue — a format that let us show how sound alone can immerse listeners in a rich atmosphere. As director, lead actor and editor, Paul Marchiset shaped the creative direction, voiced the central detective and assembled the final cut. To build that world we leaned on classic noir ingredients: interior monologue, sharp dialogue, mysterious women and a jazz soundtrack. The soundscape combined effects from the BBC, Pixabay and Freesound with original recordings and MIDI music, where every detail — the clink of a glass, the tone of a voice, the reverberation of a bar — adds to the realism and dramatic tension. The project was a structured team effort. We organized tasks in Trello and worked with Pro Tools, DaVinci Resolve and a Sennheiser cardioid microphone. Everyone contributed across acting, art direction, stereo mixing, sound-effect research and editing. The final result showcases our ability to combine creativity with technical rigour to bring an audio fiction to life. © Images from Pexels and Unsplash