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www.postmagazine.com 8 POST FEBRUARY 2015 REALITY TV: INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY'S MY DIRTY LITTLE SECRET NEW YORK — Now in its third season airing on In- vestigation Discovery, My Dirty Little Secret follows a simple-yet-eff ective formula — combine dramatic reenactments, interviews with real participants, ar- chival footage and voiceovers — to tell the real-life stories of people with secret lives they're willing to kill for to keep that way. My Dirty Little Secret, which airs Wednesdays at 9pm on Investigation Discovery, delves into the true crime stories of peo- ple who go to extraordinary lengths to protect the skeletons in their proverbial closets. One element that is key to the show's story- telling is the audio. For audio post house HoBo (www.hoboaudio.com) and engineer Chris Stan- groom that means eff ectively mixing the show's many audio elements, including recording the voiceover narration, on-set dialogue, stock music and sound design. "HoBo fi rst came onto our radar two years ago when we were starting production on the fi rst season of My Dirty Little Secret," says Kevin Fitz- patrick, executive producer of Red Marble Media, which produces the show. "We needed an audio house that could help us fi nd the right balance for a complex show. If the series was going to succeed we needed to ensure the audience could hear the episodes in the right way." For Fitzpatrick, that means combining cutting edge audio technology with artistic instinct. "In the end, Chris and HoBo give us a mix that truly elevates the quality of the program." For Stangroom, whose audio post toolkit in- cludes Pro Tools 11, Waves plug-ins, Avid's ReVibe reverb software (which he uses to make things more dense and exciting), and the DMG Audio plug-in Equilibrium (a fl exible 32-band EQ he uses for dialogue that requires intense fi xes), his role ultimately is to analyze each audio component and ask, "How can I make this better?" Stangroom notes, "Dialogue and story are always important, but for this show we consciously use the music more for dramatic eff ect, and try to keep the sound eff ects minimal until that perfect moment in the story when it really makes an im- pact on the viewer." Listening to the show can be a masterclass in how to use sound to build dramatic tension: Dia- logue will echo as ominous strings and drums blend with sonic drones that build uncomfortably toward a jolting sound design element, like a sharpened knife screech or a shattered glass, very often fol- lowed by jarring silences. "What is most eff ective about this show's audio is how it will often hit these high dramatic mo- ments, and rather than cut right to the next scene, they will let what just happened sink in with audi- ences for an extra beat or two longer than most shows. It creates a great sense of tension and a feeling that the dramatic stakes have been raised completely." For Howard Bowler, HoBo's president, it's import- ant when mixing to never follow a preset template, but rather let the story and the audio elements guide the mix — never the opposite. "People sometimes ask, 'How do I make some- thing sound scary?' And the truth is, there are some things technically you can do, but it's better to rely on what the production gives you," Bowler explains. "Audio post is not static," he continues. "It's a con- stantly-evolving process, and the key is to listen and ask yourself if you're capturing what you want the audience to feel, and what tools are at your disposal to make it happen. If you're only leaning heavily on eff ects or reverbs, they lose their eff ectiveness." BITS & PIECES www.ShopFSI.com USA • Europe +1 678 835 4934 Sales@FlandersScientific.com Professional Capable Affordable OLED and LCD Solutions Starting from just $1,995 FOR MORE REALITY TV COVERAGE, CHECK OUT OUR "PRIMETIME" COLUMN ON PAGE 16 AND OUR FEATURE ON PAGE 26. HoBo (L-R) president Bowler and engineer Stangroom fi nd a balance for the sound of My Dirty Little Secret.