The 2022 movie Top Gun: Maverick won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Sound. The film was noted for its use of real aircraft in filming aerial scenes and actors in flight, but the Mach 10 “Darkstar” in the opening sequence was totally fictional. How were the sound effects produced, and the music used to build tension during the scene? Sound producer Al Nelson explains, including the use of Shepard tones to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.