SuperExploder Voyages into World of Vikings

New York-based audio house SuperExploder ventures into the primitive danger of Viking life in the pulse-quickening :60 “Story” for the History Channel’s first original scripted series, “Vikings.”  The series, which premiered on March 3, 2013, follows the adventures of semi-legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lodbrok and his crew and brood.  The promo entices viewers with a cinematic vision of ferocious battles, ominous roundtable gatherings and treacherous expeditions over land and water.  The series’ image campaign includes three broadcast spots as well as a cinema spot.

 

“Story” delivers a film trailer aesthetic, pulling in viewers for the series as a whole with an offering of compelling imagery from the season, overlaid with grim dialogue excerpts and music.

 

 

SuperExploder Mixer and Sound Designer Jody Nazzaro worked closely with JP Balas of Hussar Films to craft crisp and exciting audio for the promos.  To entice viewers with this new type of History Channel programming, the duo worked to design the promos in as cinematic a fashion as possible.  Unlike episodic promos, Nazzaro chose to steer away from overuse of standard library audio and create almost entirely original audio for the promos.  To achieve the appropriate cinematic scope, he chose to mix all of the spots in 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Pro Logic II for the stereo broadcast.  Notes Nazzaro, “From an audio perspective, I needed to approach each of the promos as if they were going to be for the cinema. I knew History Channel would eventually use a version of one of them for the theatrical release, so it was a nice treat to mix all 4 in surround. It was fun to be able to think outside the box and really blur the lines between sound design and music.”

 

Balas adds, “Knowing that I’ll be working with Jody, I can rough out the music, and pretty much sit back while he adds his own wizardry to make the piece come alive.”

 

Nazzaro and SuperExploder also recently collaborated with Hussar Films  and History Channel, crafting the audio environment to promote another new series, “The Bible.”

 

Credits

 

Client: History Channel

Title: “Story” :60

Creative Director: Pablo Pulido

Production Company: Hussar Films

Writer/Producer/Editor: JP Balas

Audio: SuperExploder

Mixer/Sound Designer: Jody Nazzaro

Audio Executive Producer: Beth Cummins