Because dome shows are mostly 3D animation, making planetarium shows is closer to creating cartoons or video games than live action films. Therefore, most of the sound effects have to be added in after the visuals are created. The arrangement and layering of these sounds is called sound design.
I was looking to get a little more education on doing sound design for film, whether it be from a class, books or some old sound guru who lives on a mountain top somewhere. It’s not easy to find info out there. And I work on a University campus, so you’d think there’d be some resource available. Nada. Nothing. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, lay it on me. I’m not talking the basics of audio editing, I’m talking full-on film sound design.
One book I did find that was interesting, however, is “Sound design & Science Fiction” by William Whittington. It basically talks about the evolution of sound design and how the 70s sci-fi movies such as THX-1138, Star Wars, Alien and Blade Runner revolutionized the business. And pretty much the leader in the revolution was Lucasfilm’s Ben Burtt. Thirty years later, he continues to be the leader in the biz – he did the sound for Wall•E. If you’re interested more in the sound design and foley work that was done for that film, check out this talk he gave about it as well as this website – Ben Burtt Interviews.