Right from the opening scene of the HBO Original series Dune: Prophecy on Max, it was clear that sound was going to play a huge role in the series. The show is a feast of prophetic visions, mystical abilities, futuristic sci-fi tech, and distant planets.

Since the series is set 10,000 years before the Dune films, the showrunners and sound team could venture beyond what’s been established. However, certain sounds are akin to those established in the films — e.g., the sound of Shai-Hulud (the sandworm), the smooth yet powerful sounding magnetic-driven “suspensor technology” engines for the ships, and the set of sounds related to truthsaying.

Here, Emmy and MPSE Award-winning supervising sound editor Tim Kimmel and MPSE Award-winning sound designer Ann Scibelli at Formosa Group talk about creating a fuller sound for ‘The Voice’ used by the Bene Gesserit since this technique was just being developed. They talk about designing novel sounds to fit the full scale of thinking machines, from Pruwet’s toy lizard to the massive war machines in Ep. 1 and for the Bene Gesserit’s secret AI system called Anirul. They also discuss developing sounds as the VFX developed, weaving sound design and music together, designing sounds for Desmond’s immolation ability, the agony ritual, Sister Theodosia (a Face Dancer) transforming into Griffin Harkonnen, and much more!

Dune: Prophecy | Official Series Trailer | Max

Sound Designer Ann Scibelli

Just from the opening scene of the Dune: Prophecy series, it was obvious there would be lots of interesting sound work in the show. What was your schedule like?

Ann Scibelli (AS): It was crazy. It was just a lot to do.

Tim Kimmel (TK): Ann started early but there was minimal VFX. Of course, it was a massive crunch…