STIR’s sound design accents 5 situations for 5 Gum

STIR POST AUDIO crafted the signature sound for Energy BBDO’s new global 5 Gum campaign, Life Happens in 5,”  that targets Millennials and features them in each of five 15 and 20-second TV and web spots.

Directed by Norman Bates of StinkDigital,  the Millennials find themselves in situations that require crossing a line: taking a deep breath — a few chews on 5 Gum — and then, in five seconds, make a decision — getting a first tattoo (Tattoo), a first kiss (Kiss), skinny dipping (Skinny Dip), sneaking out a window to meet your teenage boyfriend (Sneak Out), a soloist ballerina making her first stage entrance (Stage).

“The agency team wanted us to create drama and tension to offset the stories and put the viewer inside the young person’s head,” says David Kaplan, STIR EP/partner.

To transmit that feeling, Amber Tisue, STIR senior sound designer/mixer, blended sounds from her library and other sources that she’s created and collected over her 10 year audio career. “It took a lot of experimentation to create the headspace.

“To blur the line between what you hear outside of your head and what it feels like in your body before making an intense decision was the key. I feel we really found that balance,” says Tisue, who joined STIR from LA a year ago when David Kaplan, Mindy Verson and Greg Allan started the company.  

Using ProTools, she mixed the spots of varying lengths, along with a composite :60 for corporate meetings. She mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound and stereo using Genelec 1030As and 5.1 Klipsch speakers.

“We went into the project with an open mind and lots of ideas, because we really wanted to get inside these human moments,” says agency music producer Daniel Kuypers.

“The sound design, environmental sounds and music go hand-in-hand, sometimes even blending into each other. I think it turned out really well.” 

Energy BBDO credits: CCO, Mark Taylor; ECD, Andres Ordonez

CDs, Jeff Cenna and Josh Gross; copywriter, Hope Nardini. EP, John Pratt; producer, Maria Xerogianes; EVP/integrated production; Rowley Samuel, music producer, Daniel Kuypers.

Sarofsky Graphics package: CD, Erin Sarofsky; EP, Steven Anderson; CD, John Filipkowski.

Editorial: Cut + Run, LA. Visual effects, The Mill, Chicago.