Post Mix Focus: Perfecting “The Roger Effect” for Nike

When it comes to a masterful audio post mix, there’s more than meets the eye – and ear.

For Jeff Payne, Founder/Mixer for the LA-based audio post facility Eleven, taking on Nike’s new campaign “The Roger Effect” would take all his talent. Not a typical TV spot, it’s more of a ninety second motion picture that stars tennis champion Roger Federer to intense effect.

The gripping storyline grabs hold of the viewer immediately, with clever onscreen action and surprising twists that optically entertain, so much so that it would be easy to miss the crucial role of the audio post mix in making it work: Sound design, space and a breakneck track by the Hives took subtle skill for Eleven to segue naturally together.

If storytelling through sound is your game, then maybe you can just do it like Jeff Payne – read on for his inside tips on how to execute a high-pressure mix.

The Spot’s Spin: “The Roger Effect” was really a :90 mini-movie in two parts: The tennis match, followed by the crowd spilling into the streets. The sound designer, Brian Emrich of Trinitite Studios in NYC, is one of my favorites. He did a great job creating tension.

I love doing something that’s a little bit longer, like this spot. Longer pieces give you the opportunity to create some dips, valleys, and peaks – dynamically you get a larger canvas. This spot inherently spoke to that, creating lots of opportunities for tension and drops.

Roger Federer’s 19 Grand Slam singles titles qualified him to star in Nike’s latest campaign.

The challenge in front of me in the first part, where the crowd is watching a Roger Federer tennis match, was to not get too big with it. It had a lot of ebb and flow. The action would slam to a halt, create additional tension, and then something else would happen.

In the second part, when the music started and all hell breaks loose, that was another challenge. The original music selection was actually a ‘50’s-style track, before it became the Hives track, “I’m a Wicked One,” that they went with. The music had to hit in particular places and be at the forefront, and then there were certain scenes when other things would punctuate the action. So it was about knowing when to drive the music, but also when to tell the story a little bit more by letting it breathe.

How to Make Space: The picture will often tell you where there’s place to create space. It’s like music – the song that’s most interesting is the one that takes you somewhere, that allows moments to breathe. It’s the same as sound design, you have to find the spots that feel real.

It’s a little more challenging when it’s a reality-based commercial like, “The Roger Effect.” When Roger throws the ball up to serve and the crowd appears quiet, it needs to actually be quiet. But when you get to where the music is happening, it needs to feel impactful so I ride the music a lot, so it hits properly with what’s happening in the picture.

I don’t just put the fader up and let it statically run through. I’m always prioritizing between the music and effects – what needs to be featured? Then you can emphasize what’s happening on the picture via that relationship that’s created.

Jeff Payne’s fully loaded suite at Eleven is an asset in pulling off the ideal mix.

The Eleven Setup: I work out of a great-sounding and great-looking room. This is an amazing listening environment, designed by Ron Lagerlof from Visioneering. It has Genelec mains and a Meyer Sound surround system. I’m using Pro Tools HDX 12.8, an Avid S6 console, and a wide variety of plugins.

When it comes to the Avid S6, I just love the touchscreen interface. The master module allows you to get through your workflow quickly, and the faders feel great. One thing I really like is the “Attention” fader, which means anything I select on Pro Tools goes right to that fader so I can get straight to it. The VCA’s are great as well.

Agency Collaboration: We communicated in advance with the Wieden + Kennedy creatives primarily about the music, and how we were going to edit the Hives track. Then it was just myself, the copywriter Jeff Salomonsson and Senior Integrated Producer Shelly Eisner in the room, and we tweaked and finessed it together. It went really smoothly and I believe we achieved what they were looking for. It was totally my pleasure to have been able to contribute to such a great spot.

— Jeff Payne, Founder/Mixer, Eleven

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