What have you been up to since your graduated with your MSc in Sound Design?
I have been balancing my time between a freelance project and teaching. A month after returning to Ecuador, I got involved in a project that focuses on developing creative thinking through sound. My role there is to develop and lead sound-based workshops for teens from a historically relegated area. We do lots of live Foley, which is always fun! Halfway through this, I got a teaching position at the Film School (part of an important local university), where I'm in charge of the 'Music in Film' and 'Sound Postproduction' classes.
Is there anything you picked up at Edinburgh that’s been useful in your teaching at the film school?
Absolutely. I developed a more detailed perception between image-sound interactions during lectures, and I explored them as I worked on assignments. The collaborative projects where particularly relevant, since I fully understood the importance of having a sound script and a proper concept-based communication with the visual team when making a movie.
Congratulations on your New Talent award for Sound Design, in the Scottish BAFTAS (2015). How did the collaboration come about?
It started off with an assignment called 'Experimental Film Project', where I met director Veronika Koubová. I loved her aesthetic views right away for being challenging and rather uncommon. She gave me lots of space to try things out and I learned a lot from her influences. Our project turned out really well, so she asked me to be the Sound Designer on her graduation film. And that's how Lemuria happened.
What got you interested in sound, and in particular sound design, in the first place and how did this lead you to Edinburgh?
I got interested in sound from a musical perspective while growing up. That eventually led me into an undergrad degree in Music Production & Sound. My favourite class back then was 'Sound Post' and I also took some classes from the Film programme, but the turning point from music into visual media came after graduation. As I landed a job in sound design for video games, I found a new perspective and the term 'sound design' was brought into my vocabulary.
When I started looking for postgrad opportunities, there was one thing I was sure about: I wanted a programme that encouraged sound as an interdisciplinary creative tool, rather than just focusing on a specific application of it. So after months of research, Edinburgh was the best option and, luckily, my application was accepted.