New projects, room highlight advertising, documentary capabilities
05/21/2007
Chicago-based Vagabond Audio is celebrating its third year with a plethora of new projects displaying the talent of audio engineer Drew Weir and executive producer Risé Sanders. This spring also brings the opening of Vagabond Audio’s second audio suite.
Allstate Insurance, “Friday Night” for Burrell Advertising
Weir completed “Friday Night” for Burrell Advertising’s client Allstate. A young man gathers his belongings at the end of a workday as a hip music soundtrack plays. He gets into his car and leaves the parking lot on his way to a fun Friday night adventure. As he drives through an intersection, he is hit by another driver. The impact is startling, and the audio track created by Weir, including the sound of impacting autos and the shatter and tinkle of glass lend an additional realism to the scene. Weir incorporates the sound of squad cars and police radios into the music soundtrack, furthering the realism of the piece.
“The first part of the spot is very music driven, and the car crash thrusts the audience into reality," says Weir. “The sound design was needed to enhance the drama of the car crash and its aftermath.”
“Drew did a terrific job of bringing reality to this spot," says Debra Amsden, Director of Broadcast Production for Burrell Advertising. "His sound design choices and the layering of those choices took this spot to the next level. I especially, like the police radio traffic; it’s something we didn’t think about, but we fell in love with when we heard it.”
“Standing Silent Nation” dir. Suree Towfighnia
Prairie Dust Films director Suree Towfighnia began work on her documentary “Standing Silent Nation” in 2002. The documentary follows the story of a Lakota Indian family raising industrial hemp on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. In a crucial moment of the film, a raid of the family’s farm by the U.S. Marshals, FBI and DEA, Weir creates a dramatic aural backdrop for the story unfolding on screen.
“We used the sound design help fill the story because it is visually portrayed through abstract images and some archival footage,” says Weir. “We used sound design to build the energy of this moment. We laid in the sounds of the helicopters and the sounds of the machinery tearing out the crops. As the raid ends, the sound drifts back to a more natural, realistic sound, a more peaceful feeling now that the authorities are gone and the farmer is looking at his crops which are now destroyed. It’s a very dramatic moment of the film.”
Towfighnia says that Vagabond’s understanding and appreciation for documentary work allowed her to be more creative in the process. “I really connected with Drew and Rise. I really liked their attitude and their connection with documentary work,” says Towfighnia. “They’re not people who just say ‘oh, sure, we do documentaries,’ they really understand what a documentary is. I really appreciated that. We wanted high values for our documentary and we were always really conscious of sound. It was important we collaborated with a sound company in a way that was both technical and creative, and I think it turned out great. It was everything that I wanted in terms of sound.”
“Standing Silent Nation” debuts on PBS’s documentary series “POV” on July 3.
McDonald’s Snack Wraps “Golf,” “Home Makeover” for Burrell Advertising
Vagabond teamed with Burrell Advertising on six spots for McDonald’s new Snack Wraps. Each spot features a young fellow munching on the tasty treat while watching people whose hunger leads them to make some strange decisions, leading him to pronounce, “Somebody missed snack time.”
Two sports-themed spots in particular show the range of Vagabond’s skill. In “Golf,” the hero is watching a quiet golf tournament. The lead golfer, frustrated by his putting situation, drops to the ground and billiards-style taps the ball into the hole. In “Home Makeover,” a man rehabs the inside of his house into a boisterous sports bar complete with big-screen TVs broadcasting games, video games and cheerleaders.
“’Golf’ was a very subtle spot,” says Weir. “The challenge was to make the crowd reaction match the action on screen, while maintaining the quiet ambience of a golf tournament. In addition to the subtlety of the crowd, Weir employed Foley techniques to create additional effects.
For “Home Makeover,” the key was to build sound that was larger than life. “We had to create different sounds for each of the games on the TV screens,” says Weir. “There are lots of different things going on around the characters, so it was interesting to create this big sports bar sound in this environment.”
Studio B
Vagabond Audio also pleased to announce the opening of its second sound suite. Studio B is a mirror of Studio A, allowing for fluid movement of projects back and forth between suites. “As we enter our third year, we’re excited to have this new suite available for projects," says Executive Producer Risé Sanders. “Studio B will allow us an easier workflow, making us more flexible and able to respond even faster to our clients’ needs.”