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Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 21 - Index

NoiseFloor Offers Quality Sound At A Low Cost
By Matt Fagerholm
Jamie Vanadia has always had an ear
for what makes sound artful. He grew up
watching his father perform in a Top 40
cover band, and later took up the drums
himself. Yet his schooling led to an interest
in post-production, and after a decade of
work as a sound designer and freelance
audio engineer, Vanadia opened his own
audio studio in Chicago on September 1.
The business, NoiseFloor, offers a wide array
of services from a true veteran of the arts.
“I definitely have a musical ear from playing
in bands for years,” Vanadia said. “It helped
me understand the layering of sounds. I love
getting in the booth and bringing sounds to
life onscreen. People seem to only work one way, either using a
sounds effects library or doing Foley work. I try to do both.”
At NoiseFloor, Vanadia assists clients in need of Foley work,
surround mixing, satellite patches or voice recording. He also
boasts an extensive sound design library featuring over 100,000
effects. Yet perhaps the biggest selling point is the price tag itself,
which is considerably lower than those offered at other studios.
“I don’t have the overhead that a lot of places have,” Vanadia
said. “I don’t have a huge staff. Everything is done on a computer
now. Creativity is time consuming, but the amount of time it takes
me to open a software program is considerably quicker than the
time it takes to physically search for sound effects in a book or on
CD. I don’t have to purchase a large mixing console.”
Another major expense Vanadia was able to cut from the budget
was the cost of building a recording space. He was fortunate
enough to lease space for NoiseFloor from longtime Chicago music
house Rhythm Café, and has struck up a lucrative collaboration
with the company.
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“I’m using Rhythm Cafe as my custom music
company,” Vanadia said, “and vice versa. If
they get a post-production job that needs
to be finished and sound designed, they call
on me. So we’re kind of working as a team
right now.”
NoiseFloor not only assists film and video
projects, but also radio, podcasts, new
media, music and video games. Though
Vanadia plans to grow his studio, he says
that a smaller business isn’t necessarily a
demerit.
“I would never want to get it too large that it
loses itself,” Vanadia said. “I feel that, in this whole large post-house
world that we have in Chicago, there [are] so many people and
there’s so much hustle and bustle that you don’t get that personal
touch. That’s one thing I love about being here. There’s a few
different companies in this space, but we’re all boutique, and for
our clients, it’s really comfortable and family-friendly.”
As film production continues in Chicago, Vanadia says he’s
enjoying watching the film community grow, and believes that the
city is as good a location to pursue an artistic career as anywhere
else.
“I think there was always a lot of people who started small here,
and the second they got anything, ended up leaving and going
to LA, and I think that’s slowed down,” Vanadia said. “People
understand that you’ve got some really great talent in this town.
You’ve just got to find it. Either you go out and try to conform, or
you can be who you are, push yourself and your community, do
good work, and eventually you get noticed.”
//www.noise-floor.com
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