The chilling tale of Roderick Usher, a man living alone, seemingly descending into madness, comes to life in the upcoming horror/thriller film 3 Days Rising.
To properly capture all the terrorizing nuances of the story, 3 Days Rising sound designer Bob Pepek Bob turned to NUGEN Audio, most notably the ISL2 True Peak Meter and SEQ-S plug-ins, to ensure the audio supports the chilling vibe of the film.
Pepek, a singer-songwriter turned audio engineer who founded MelonCollie Productions, has been a fan of NUGEN Audio for years. He uses NUGEN for all his post-production audio needs.
This includes everything from the animated children’s series Astro Blast and LEGO product animations (for which he has won two Telly Awards), to commercial work and feature films.
He refers to NUGEN’s assortment of plug-ins as essential, and says they are always in his palette. “I consider myself the Bob Ross of audio engineering and NUGEN plug-ins are my ‘happy little trees,’ ” he says.
This was especially the case with the NUGEN SEQ-S and ISL2 plug-ins. Pepek says they were particularly helpful to ensuring Greene’s dialogue was seamless between the lavalier and boom recordings.
The production crew often needed to switch between both microphone styles, depending on the shot, which can cause inconsistent audio capture at times.
“It becomes difficult in those situations, because sometimes the lavalier is the better microphone option in a scenario, such as a wide angle shot,” Pepek explains.
“Not every lavalier mic has the same EQ pattern or timbre as a boom mic. NUGEN SEQ-S has been vital to matching the EQ from the lavalier and boom, making them as seamless as possible.”
Pepek also often turns to NUGEN’s ISL2 True Peak limiter to hit certain loudness specifications. He used this on 3 Days Rising, but also with commercial ad campaigns for brands like Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, to ensure loudness specs are consistently met for the campaign.
3 Days Rising was written by Derek Cukrowski and directed by Craig Cukrowski. The film also stars Mickey Rourke and Ice-T and does not yet have a release date.
MelonCollie Productions is an award-winning, boutique, full-service sound design and post-production studio, based in Enfield, CT.
Founded by Bob Pepek in 2016, the studio creates and maintains relationships with filmmakers and digital media creators through design-focused audio post-production.