Sound During Phone Call Scene

[Metrostar]

Simple question. I have a scene where a girl is sitting in a bar talking on her phone with a guy in his office at work.

I want to put a song playing in the background at the bar, like it's on a jukebox. Do I cut this sound out every time the scene switches to the guy in the office, or do I leave it playing all the way through the entire scene?

It sounds odd cutting out and coming back in.

 

[cheeseandachallenge]

Maybe add the sound in the background of her phonecall? Because a distorted/quiet version of the phonecall sound (incl the sound) would be heard from his end.

 

[Beatlesfan1225]

Interesting question. I think it's entirely preference, and in the end, you should just try it both ways and see what works. You'll be cutting away from the song anyway, so the only decision is whether or not you want it to continue to play in each of it's separated cuts. Personally, I'd probably be inclined to have the song flow naturally in the backdrop of the bar.

 

[Metrostar]

Ok. second question. There are three shots of the guy in his office where he isn't talking to her, should I have the sound from the bar playing over these shots? It's really quite a lot to think about for me! Lol.

 

[Metrostar]

Actually, that works really well to me. It's just when he's talking it's odd. I will try the telephone effect for the sound on his end and see what that sounds like...

 

[Alcove Audio]

This is a situation where you create two distinct sub-mixes; a mix of the girl in the bar and a second of the guy in his office. Using your phone effect on these sub-mixes they are what the person in the shot would hear coming over their phone.

You, of course, don't have to leave that mix stagnant, you can mix to emphasize - or reduce - any sound you want.

As an example...

Bar sub-mix - People talking, laughing, etc. Glasses & bottles, bartenders making drinks. Music playing. The girl is talking on the phone. Remember that her mouth is only an inch or three from the mic in the phone, so all of the background noise is correspondingly lower. I don't know what the scene is about, but maybe you bring up a laugh or a toast so he feels more chagrin for not being there; or bring up the song during a lull in the conversation, especially if the lyric is appropriate. And a thousand other variations depending upon the scene and the sounds in relationship to the dialog. And you do the same for the guys sub-mix, although his office is probably fairly quiet.

Anyway, that's how I approach it.

 

[Cracker Funk]

Unless you've got an audio post pro at your disposal, I think you should worldize the audio. Meaning, you record it as it actually sounds in the actual world. Wanna know what music sounds like coming from a bar juke box, as heard through a cell phone speaker? Record an actual bar juke box, through a cell phone. When you replay the audio recorded on the cell phone, place the best mic you've got right up against the headset. Do the same for the dialog coming through the cell phone. Wanna know what the same music sounds like, when our hero has put the phone down on their desk, or whatever? Place the phone down on the desk, and record with the mic farther away.

This definitely isn't the BEST way to do things, but on a budget, it can be a nice work-around for people who lack the skills and equipment to play with the big boys.

 

[Metrostar]

Thanks guys. So, it's just four times when the guy in the office where there isn't any interesting sound, speaks. So, I decided on putting the bar sounds through Cool Edit(!) and making them, according to the software, sound like they were coming from a telephone.

The times where we see him in his office picking up the phone and dialing, waiting for an answer and eventually hanging up, I just went with the full quality of what was happening in the bar.

That's what I did...

However, I am going to have to seriously consider re-recording some sounds to take into account what Alcove and Cracker came up with. Thanks guys, for making me question what I have and making me think this could be better...