Thursday, 4 January 2007 | Levent OZLER
Echo Boys Creates Haunting Original Score & Sound Design
for Animated Spot for Mall of America
 The Boy From Bloomington.mov ( 2MB ) - Viewed 193 times
Echo Boys set a magical mood for "The Boy From Bloomington," a richly animated TV commercial for Mall of America's Park After Dark, providing a note of haunted enchantment for the Halloween seasonal campaign. Composers Alex Berglund and Tom Lecher created original music and sound design that skillfully bewitches audiences with an enigmatic allure, complementing the dulcet tones of the voiceover spoken in rhyme.
Given the subject matter and season, Kerker/Minneapolis needed a specific style of animation for their spot. Much to the delight of Alex Berglund, the agency sought out animation designer/director Todd Hemker of ReelWorks. Berglund has an established relationship with both the animation shop and with Hemker, having previously collaborated on a number of projects including a Blue Cross Blue Shield campaign and Hemker's animated short and film festival favorite, "Fool Throttle."
"The Boy From Bloomington" tells the story of a brother and sister who set out with their mother in the family van to the Mall of America's Park After Dark. Berglund composed the score and then teamed with Tom Lecher to generate the sound design that uses both literal and metaphorical elements - such as a cat squeal, a horse whinny and thumping hooves - to bring the spot to life.
"The spot had a great concept with really cool visuals, so I knew it would be fun to work on," Berglund recalls. "The organic and textured feel of Todd's animation was definitely an inspiration while working on the music for this piece."
Berglund scored the opening scene of "The Boy From Bloomington" with a haunting yet mesmerizing track, picking up the pace and the excitement during the rousing car ride scenes, and finally returning to the enchantment of the holiday as the brother and sister finally reach their destination decked out as a pirate and princess.
Berglund utilized a number of live instruments - including his own trumpet and a multi-layered violin arrangement - recorded into Digidesign Pro Tools HD. For percussion he used a triangle and then created the clear twinkling, high-pitched notes with a Celeste and his daughter's toy glockenspiel. Berglund also brought in a xylophone and jazz kit with tenor sax to lend a sense of tension and excitement to the amusement park segment of the commercial, while live singers resound the spooky yet soothing four-part harmony that bookends the spot.
The multi-level animation follows a mom and her kids as they drive to the Park After Dark. The siblings excitedly anticipate the evening's event, suddenly becoming startled as a black cat appears, scurrying across the top of a picket fence. The spiky posts rise up, changing perspective, to reveal the fence is actually the mane of an ominous stallion bearing a pumpkin-headed horseman. Bats are brought to life by Berglund's violin as they scatter at the sudden movement. The horseman sets off in pursuit of the vehicle.
The viewer's POV pushes through a cluster of hot-air balloons ascending in the distance to a silhouetted roller coaster, Ferris wheel and children parading with Jack-o-lanterns. The surroundings -- and a reprise of Berglund's arrangement of charming enticement -- herald the end of the chase and their arrival at the Mall of America's Park After Dark.
Berglund retooled the TV spot score for a 60-second radio version. "To be able to get the idea going for TV and then expand it to a longer format for radio was really fun," he says.
Echo Boys audio engineer Ross Nelson recorded the final voiceover with talent Stephen Pelinski and performed the final mix for the TV and radio campaign. Kathy Yanko produced the package for Echo Boys. Look for another reative collaboration between Kerker, Echo Boys, and Todd Hemker/Reelworks on their upcoming winter holiday campaign.
Client: Mall of America
Title: "The Boy From Bloomington," TV 1x :30 and Radio 1x :60
Agency: Kerker/Minn
Producer: Anne Swarts
Creative Director: Chris Preston
Art Director: Peter Tressel
Copywriter: Beth Kinney
Music House: Echo Boys/Minneapolis
Producer: Kathy Yanko
Composer: Alex Berglund
Sound Designer: Tom Lecher
Audio Engineer: Ross Nelson
VO Talent: Stephen Pelinski
Animation House: ReelWorks/Minneapolis
Executive Producer: Audrey Robinson Favorito
Producer: Neha Upadhyaya Lang
Animation Designer/Director: Todd Hemker
Lead Animators: Todd Hemker, Soyeon Kim
Production Assistants: Jessica Grimshaw, Jae Jung Ahn
Echo Boys: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/8525/
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