ReelShort is a huge player in the entertainment world with established media outlets like the New York Times reporting on its success and influence in modern media. This shortform entertainment app offers brief episodic series which can be viewed one-by-one or continually as a longform series. Droves of viewers are consuming the offerings of ReelShort with women and teens (a highly attractive demographic) leading the charge. This new medium is attracting major talent like actress Eve Wilson (of such Oscar award–winning films as Argo and The Social Network, as well as the CBS series Training Day) who stars in the popular ReelShort production The Lost Prima Ballerina. There’s matching talent behind the scenes as well like sound engineer Olivia Lige Wuri (known for her work on award–winning Indie films like Faye&Lexi). This series displays how female led storylines and productions are paving new avenues for Hollywood to reach an international fanbase which will likely endure for quite some time.
The Lost Prima Ballerina is captivating drama. Borrowing elements from both fairy tales and soap operas, the story’s foundation is that of a young heiress kidnapped under the premise of an assumed identity and raised to adulthood by her captor. The two girls who were “switched” at a young age find themselves now interacting in high school, not truly aware of their connection and circumstances. As the deception begins to unravel, the forces which placed them there fight against it. Equal to the hyperbole of the story is the satisfaction and delight it brings as Emily and Athena (the two girls who were switched) navigate this incredible set of circumstances. Approaching fifty-million views, Lost Prima Ballerina is a megahit for ReelShort.
It’s obvious that the tension and release we see in the performance of the actors is alluring but, though less overt, the influence of the sound approach of this series is deeply impactful. Sound engineer Olivia Lige Wuri notes, “In scenes where I want to show the isolation and sadness of betrayal, I often mix foley sound higher than usual. The first time the kidnapped heiress Athena actually sees her real mother is when she has been pushed to the floor and stares up at her. I maximized the sound of Emily (one of Athena’s classmates who bullies her) pushing Athena as well as the sounds of high heels to enhance the feeling of loss and fear. The sound design leads the audience to the nerve being struck at this moment. There’s a later scene at a bar where I took the same approach with the sound of squishing cake that Emily and others smash onto Athena. These things bring the viewer directly into what Athena is feeling, a heightened awareness of the humiliation.” Olivia points out that music is paramount for achieving emotion quickly in the short episodes of a ReelShort series like this. She comments, “For vertical dramas, audiences usually watch the shows on their phones, so it’s important to balance the level of the music and the dialogue. My favorite part of working on verticals is music mixing. Slow fades, abrupt drops, slow rising, and abrupt banging are all different techniques of storytelling. Music mixing should follow the emotions of the characters and in this show particularly, I always follow the emotional path of Athena, creating stronger empathy.”
As the vehicle and surroundings with which entertainment is viewed evolve, the focus and approach of creating said entertainment must also recalibrate. While movie theaters and living rooms have long been the traditional setting to consume entertainment, the use of mobile devices is quickly overtaking them. Screen size and differing lighting situations notably effect cinematographers in regard to this, but the sound is likely the most challenged. Olivia Lige Wuri confirms, “Because viewers of vertical shows mostly watch them on their phones, it creates a huge difference in mixing techniques and subtle sound designs are often neglected because of the platform compression. For instance, mixing music is very different for verticals than traditional narratives. For short films, music is often buried in the background, dialogue is often the most important content to listen to. But for verticals, music is equally important as it leads the emotions and lifts the atmosphere. Mixing music is often higher than usual in verticals, however, finding the right level for the music to do its job while also ensuring that the dialogue is not buried under is the sweet spot that a sound engineer should look for.” We are living in the age of entertainment reinvention and productions like The Lost Prima Ballerina are leading the way.