New Territory
Hi everyone,
Apologies for the radio silence– there have been some exciting developments that have kept us very busy.
First, the most important piece of news… we’ve moved into a new space!! Our studio is now in a public setting, complete with a conference room, full kitchen, full time building security and more secure internet. We spent months designing and setting up the space, so we hope you’ll come by and let us know what you think! We’ll have studio pictures up on the website and social platforms soon.
We’ve also stepped up our equipment and plugin game. We’re now monitoring through Genelec 8030s, a significant sonic jump from our previous JBL stereo monitors. Some of our new plugins include Pitch n Time, Izotope RX6 Advanced, several new Waves additions and other goodies.
Also, I recently traveled to Rome and Florence for a little getaway. It wasn’t work-related, but I definitely found myself intrigued by all the unique sounds of the territory. In Rome there were lots of police sirens, which differ significantly from what I’d expected (very different from London, for instance). Florence was full of vespas and bikes, which gave the sounds there a flavor all their own. Also, the birds in the Tuscany region were audibly different than anything here in the US.
Since returning, we’ve mixed four videos that released this week at E3!! We’re also finishing up sound on our very first 360 video. Can’t wait to share that one with you.
We’re very excited to be in our new space and share more about some of the big projects we’re working on. We’ve been updating our social platforms pretty often, but going to jump back into this space a bit more as well!
– Eric
Year In Review
Hi there,
Our first year as a company is coming to a close, and we have a lot to be thankful for. Some amazing things happened that we never could have imagined twelve months ago, and they sure have us excited about where we go from here.
This past January, I made a quiet vow to myself – to create more than I consume. To work on so many things that it’s impossible to watch more films/shows/etc than I’m actually making. Well, I can safely say “mission accomplished” on this front.
We have been fortunate to have been a part of so many vastly different projects with some immensely talented people… it’s honestly been quite humbling. Lots of highly creative people we’d never worked with before trusted us with their precious projects. These new relationships have shown us just how diverse creativity really is, and how flexible we need to be in order to meet the needs of these different projects.
To meet these great demands, our team grew considerably this year!! In fact, in January 2016 there was no team at all – just me, sitting on a laptop trying to make clients happy. But there are significant limits to what can be done as a team of one.
Now, we have three mixers and five sound editors to take on the needs of any project that comes our way. This team has met every challenge, pushed every boundary and done it all on some crazy deadlines… all for one team on a singular mission. Richard, Kevin, Mitch, Alex, Felix, Katie and Jayvon – I’d be nothing without all of your endless creative energy. If you haven’t had a chance to meet or work with these fine people yet, we’ll try to introduce you to them on this blog soon. Mitch already blogged for us a couple months back, and you can also read about a few of us on our About Us page.
Lastly, we were so honored to have been recognized for some amazing accolades this year. Two MPSE Golden Reel Award nominations, a Charity Film award nomination, a Clio Art Award and two projects that got into the Sundance Film Festival?? Seriously?!?
This is just year one. We are very excited as we look forward. The future is bright.
Happy Holidays and see you in 2017!
– Eric
Sundance and Beyond
Hey everyone,
Things have been bustling at Transported Audio! We’ve worked on projects of all sorts these past couple months, and we’re proud to share that two long form projects will be premiering at Sundance!!
Playdates, a TV pilot starring Paul Scheer, is about competing parents from different classes vying for acceptance and the futures of their children. The show is biting, witty and smart. HONORA Productions is behind this show and they’re some of the best creative partners you could ask for. Our incredible sound team on this project included:
Eric Marks, Re-Recording Mixer
Richard Shapiro, Dialog Mixer
Mitchell Lestner, Sound Effects Editor
Felix Lau, Foley Editor
Gente-Fied, a web series about Hispanic culture in Los Angeles, is funny, edgy, heartfelt and brutally honest. The webisodes weave an intricate narrative following different characters whose lives intersect. Marvin Lemus and Ashim Ahuja are the creative gurus behind it, and they brought on Kevin Senzaki and Eric Marks to edit and mix the show.
In other exciting news, our biggest Lawbreakers trailer to date debuted for a giant crowd of gaming fans at the Microsoft Theater in LA! It played there live and was simulcast to millions around the globe for the 2016 Game Awards. Mitch did all the sound design work for this trailer.
That’s all the news we can share for now. We’ll be heading to Sundance next month to watch films and meet filmmakers – give us a holler if you’ll be there!
– Eric
Award Nominations
First, a news update. Last month, our very own Mitch Lestner was nominated for an Emmy for his sound editing on Roots! Mitch works on several broadcast TV shows, and we are thrilled that his work is being recognized by the greater TV community. Go Mitch!!
As for us, a couple of our own 2016 projects have recently been nominated for awards:
Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice – “Accelerating Design” is a finalist for a Key Art Clio Award
“Hello World” is nominated for a Charity Film Award
We’ve also been working with new clients on some exciting projects, including:
Classified Comedy (on TruTV)
Party On, Mom commercials (Walmart, P&G, NFL)
Many more project are finished but have yet to be released, so keep checking in here and on our Facebook page to see them as soon as they go live.
– Eric
Sound for Trailers
Hey all I’m Mitch, a sound editor here at Transported Audio. Much of my past work experience was on narrative projects before I joined this team. Working at Transported Audio has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about how to approach sound design for trailers.
Coming from the world of working in television and film, I have come to learn that sound effects editing for trailers has a slightly different approach. Trailers focus much more heavily on music as the driving factor – our sound work takes on a unique role in supporting that.
The most important thing is rhythm. 99% of the time sync takes first priority in film and television where as trailers focus on the music as the driving element. You will take notice if a rhythm doesn’t feel right more so then the sync of picture and sound. It’s in our blood.
For example; If you have a moment in a clip where a character is shooting off a multitude of bullets you must make sure that the rhythm of those gunshots compliment the tempo and rhythm of the music. If not, the music and your sound effects will clash.
Another thing to keep in mind is when including tonal sound effects that they be in the same key as the music or else you’ll end up with dissonance. That is, unless you want to create tension or clashing between the music and SFX, which can be helpful sometimes if you’re working on a horror trailer.
Crafting the sound for trailers has given me the chance to experiment and go out of the box a bit more than I usually would be able to. It’s an interesting medium, and I can’t wait for the next project!
– Mitch Lestner
Strength in Numbers
Hey all,
It’s been quite the busy summer here at Transported Audio! We mixed some Titanfall 2 Briefing videos that are now included in every downloadable Tech Test build of the game, we worked on 8 role trailers for the upcoming Lawbreakers game, and we also got to work on some goodies for the breathtaking underwater adventure of Abzu.
We mixed promotional videos for some high adrenaline films and shows, including Fast and Furious 7, X-Men Apocolypse, The Legend of Tarzan, Ben Hur, Orange is the New Black and Suicide Squad.
We also got to mix some NFL commercials that’ll be airing this fall on Fox, CBS, NBC and NFL Network.
But most importantly, our team is growing and we’ve got some incredibly talented sound people helping bring our projects to life. Rather than me blabbering on and on about their credit list and how awesome they are, how about I let them jump in here and be guest bloggers? Sound good?
Then stay tuned here to learn about the creative crew that makes our projects shine!
– Eric