Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 11a - Index

Continued from page 16.
two sets of Surrounds, so I’m able to
hit a switch and the 5.1 mix comes to
the client, which is just another way
for clients to be comfortable.”
Most recently, Anderson says
Optimus has done music and sound
work for Amway through Chicagobased
Element 79, Hispanic-focused
work for GMC and McDonald’s,
promo work for ABC and ESPN
college football and a 5.1 mix on
a short animated film for Calabash
Animation (Chicago). Anderson also
played the role of executive producer
for this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival.
Additionally, he performs with a few
different bands and is connected to
the local and national music scenes
in many other ways - basically living
and breathing music.
//www.optimus.com
Wheeler Audio Discovers
The New Kansas City
Amongst a slew of exciting changes,
Kansas City-based Wheeler Audio has
promoted intern Andrew London to a
secon audio engineer. The company
has also upgraded to Soundminer
- a digital audio file management
system that allows the staff to keep
all 118,000-plus sound effects in one
search engine, as well as Wheeler’s
entire collection of music libraries.
What once had to be ripped off of a
CD is now already loaded onto a hard
drive and accessible to both studios,
which means less wait time for sound
effects and smoother sessions.
As far as interesting spots go, Jim
Wheeler worked on a recent spot for
KCCVA (The Kansas City Convention
& Visitors Association) for ad agency
VML, where he recreated a jazz
lounge with Angela Hagenbach as
the vocalist/voice-over, Tom Kane as
the voice-over and Walter Bryant on
the keys. VML’s Jason Calloway and
Joel Henning acted as producer and
creative, respectively.
The spot is a cool jazzy number with
rich vocals and random shout-outs
from the audience to announce
Kansas City’s new entertainment
district “with over 40 bars and
restaurants.” A voiceover closes the
spot by saying, “Kansas City. New
discoveries daily.”
//www.wheeleraudio.com
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Vagabond Audio Picks Up Two 2008 Telly Awards
In late May, Chicago-based Vagabond Audio received two
Bronze Tellys for Sound Design. Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards is the premier
award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and
programs, the finest film and video productions and groundbreaking web
commercials, videos and films.
Vagabond Audio received Bronze for Commercial Sound Design for “Two Kinds
of Cheese – Factory,” a 30-second commercial for Sargento Cheese from
advertising agency Jacobson Rost. Vagabond was also awarded Bronze for Film
& Video Sound Design for the feature film “Actually, Adieu My Love” from director
Minji Kang.
Vagabond Audio’s head engineer and sound designer Drew Weir says both
projects gave him ample opportunity for creativity. For the Sargento commercial,
Weir says the unique challenge was to create the audio environment of a cheese
factory. “We went to the set, which is something we do a lot, and gathered sound
from the mechanisms on set to create audio that contributed the realism of the
spot,” says Weir. This approach to sound design is a Vagabond Audio hallmark.
With “Actually, Adieu My Love,” Weir says the stylized aesthetic of the feature
gave him tremendous leeway to create. “The film is an abstract piece with
moments of intense sound design,” says Weir. “What really shines through is how
sound design can expand and enhance a narrative, even for a smaller-budget
feature. ‘Actually, Adieu My Love’ was really like candy for a sound designer, and
the result is delicious.”
“The work we do here at Vagabond
is reward enough in itself, but to be
honored in this way is really the
cherry on top,” says Vagabond
Audio’s Executive Producer Risé
Sanders. “It’s so great to have the
opportunity to work at different
lengths; one really crystallizes
sound design in a short burst, and
the other allows a large canvas for
experimentation.”
Vagabond is celebrating their win by digging in to more work. Recent projects
include voice-over recording of David Schwimmer for Hancock Tower with
Antenna/Discovery; JC Penney web work with Gante Films for Saatchi; A.D.R. for
the Sony Pictures feature “Zombie Strippers” starring Robert Englund and Jenna
Jameson; Planters Nuts “Manstincts”; radio spots for BroMenn Medical Centers
with SRK; sound design and mix for the independent short “Southern Cross” by
director Kameishia Wooten, which screened in the American Pavilion at the 2008
Cannes Film Festival.
About Vagabond Audio
Chicago-based sound design, music and mix company Vagabond Audio is coowned
by engineer/sound designer Drew Weir and producer Risé Sanders. Weir
has been recording, mixing, and creating world-class audio for more than 14 years
– first at Chiat/Day in New York, then at Nu World Editorial and Red Car Chicago.
Weir is the recipient of a New York Art Director’s Club Award for a networkwide
ABC branding campaign. Sanders has produced documentaries for A&E,
The History Channel, WTTW, The Learning Channel, and MSNBC. She has been
nominated for an Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. Recent Vagabond
clients include McDonald’s, State Farm, Bally Total Fitness, Disney and ESPN.
//www.vagabondaudio.com
//www.tellyawards.com
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