Stir Post Sound Designer Nick Bozzone Creates Pleasure and Pain for Bayer

Stir Post Audio sound designer/mixer Nick Bozzone recently conjured a sonic amusement park environment for a Bayer Aleve spot that grinds to a halt – along with grandpa’s fun day out with his granddaughter – when Gramps pulls his back out of whack. Part of a package of spots done for Aleve through EnergyBBDO, Chicago, Amusement Park challenged Bozzone, who comes out of the legendary P.O.P Studio in LA and relocated to Chicago last fall to join Stir, to entirely build out an atmospheric audio track from the ground up in 5.1 surround sound. Imaginative in his approach and detailed in his execution, Bozzone’s sonic palette includes metal wheels on tracks for the roller coaster, crowd sounds layered in with ambient background noise and all fade away dramatically when the Gramps is in pain, leaving only the desolate sounds of wind and sirens in the distance.

“There was no pre-existing audio for any of the shots in this commercial, says Bozzone, who also recently created sound design for spots for Pepsi’s rebrand of Mist Twst, Friendly’s and 5 Gum. “It was shot MOS (without sound) and as a result of this, everything that you hear and then  don’t hear needed to be re-created including the various rides and attractions in order for me to create a believable environment for this man and his grand daughter.”

Bozzone built his sonic amusement park by first creating a signature ‘metal wheels on tracks’ sound for the rollercoaster and then adding a bit of low-end for a “heavy and fast feel” as the coaster cars roll into the foreground. Then he overlaid a scrim of sounds of people on the coasters.  He continued creating distinct sounds for all the background attractions and rides and devised a dynamic range of crowd sounds and atmospheric sounds including the sounds of a city park.

Creating the absence of sound when grandpa’s fun comes to a grinding halt was handled as artfully as inventing the sound palette. To maximum the on screen slo-mo affect, Bozzone choreographed the coasters slowing down in time to the visuals. As the entire park grinds to a halt – the sound of the rides, the strolling crowds, the coaster riders and even the small band off in the distance wind fade away until finally, there is just the sound of winds and sirens.

“To accomplish this I manipulated the speed and pitch of all sounds happening at the time, “says Bozzone, “even switching out ambiences from a nice city park to the sounds that would represent what it would sound like outside of the park… distant sirens and lonely sounding wind gusts to name just a few.”

Then after the actor takes Aleve and begins to feel better, the park quickly starts up its excitement again and gets up to a normal speed. The crowds become excited that the day is underway again, and the music becomes inspiring and envelops the audience. To add that light-hearted feeling returning, Bozzone pitched up the coasters slightly in the end sequence to give a sense relief that things have finally got back to normal.

“Nick’s sound design capabilities are evident on this project. He was handed a blank audio slate to work with,” says Stir Post Executive Producer David Kaplan, “and while many of the sound elements are obvious, what truly sets his craft apart is the nuanced layering of sound effects and musical stingers to create a track that is fun to hear and most importantly, conveying the message of the spot.”