Making someone sound like they're outside a home. at DVinfo.net

Travis Johnson · July 3rd, 2008, 02:40 PM

Alright I'm editing this short film where they forgot to record someone playing a cop screaming outside a door before he enters. Is there anyway that I can take a regular voice recording I just did here in my office and make it seem like the person is outside the home?

Steve House · July 3rd, 2008, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Johnson

Alright I'm editing this short film where they forgot to record someone playing a cop screaming outside a door before he enters. Is there anyway that I can take a regular voice recording I just did here in my office and make it seem like the person is outside the home?

Put it on a boombox, put the boombox outside the door, and rerecord it from behind the closed door. Really, I'm not making fun of you - it's called "worldizing" the sound and is a common technique for things like music that sounds like it's coming from a radio, voices from a walky-talky, bands in a highschool prom scene, people in other rooms, etc.

Travis Johnson · July 3rd, 2008, 06:13 PM

I got ya, I actually had thought of doing just that, sitting the mic inside my living room and me standing outside yelling. I didn't want the neighbors looking at me funny so thats why I thought I'd see if there was an alternate way :P

Josh Bass · July 3rd, 2008, 06:17 PM

You're saying it's supposed to sound like someone's yelling from behind a door? Couldn't you just do that with EQ? Take some of the higher freqs down, to make a little "muffle-y"?

Jon Fairhurst · July 4th, 2008, 12:38 AM

Yep EQ, and maybe a little short-tail reverb with a very short pre-delay to emulate the slapback from the porch.

You want it to sound notionally as if it were coming from outside the door (especially when compared to other voices and sounds), but not necessarily like it would really sound. The real sound might be too muffled and hard to understand.

One key is to make sure that the original recording is as dry as possible. If the original sounds like it was recorded in an untreated bedroom, it will always have that signature. You might want to record it with a dynamic stage mic, like a Shure SM58. First, you can get right on top of it, so room sounds are minimized, and second, a good stage mic can handle the high SPLs of screaming. Just make sure to position the mic so you don't get P-pops. That would be a dead giveaway of close mic'ing.

Seth Bloombaum · July 4th, 2008, 10:16 AM

Sorry if this is too simple and obvious a suggestion:

Make sure they're yelling.
Many people don't realize that
normal tones
talking to the back of the room tones
yelling through a door tones
are substantially different in ways other than volume and EQ. We talk very differently in these situations, and no volume/compression/eq work will turn one into another.

July 3rd, 2008, 02:40 PM	#1
Travis Johnson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Roxboro NC Posts: 166	Making someone sound like they're outside a home. Alright I'm editing this short film where they forgot to record someone playing a cop screaming outside a door before he enters. Is there anyway that I can take a regular voice recording I just did here in my office and make it seem like the person is outside the home?

July 3rd, 2008, 06:17 PM	#4
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	You're saying it's supposed to sound like someone's yelling from behind a door? Couldn't you just do that with EQ? Take some of the higher freqs down, to make a little "muffle-y"? __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

July 4th, 2008, 12:38 AM	#5
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Yep EQ, and maybe a little short-tail reverb with a very short pre-delay to emulate the slapback from the porch. You want it to sound notionally as if it were coming from outside the door (especially when compared to other voices and sounds), but not necessarily like it would really sound. The real sound might be too muffled and hard to understand. One key is to make sure that the original recording is as dry as possible. If the original sounds like it was recorded in an untreated bedroom, it will always have that signature. You might want to record it with a dynamic stage mic, like a Shure SM58. First, you can get right on top of it, so room sounds are minimized, and second, a good stage mic can handle the high SPLs of screaming. Just make sure to position the mic so you don't get P-pops. That would be a dead giveaway of close mic'ing. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

July 3rd, 2008, 06:13 PM	#3
Travis Johnson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Roxboro NC Posts: 166	I got ya, I actually had thought of doing just that, sitting the mic inside my living room and me standing outside yelling. I didn't want the neighbors looking at me funny so thats why I thought I'd see if there was an alternate way :P

July 4th, 2008, 10:16 AM	#6
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Sorry if this is too simple and obvious a suggestion: Make sure they're yelling. Many people don't realize that normal tones talking to the back of the room tones yelling through a door tones are substantially different in ways other than volume and EQ. We talk very differently in these situations, and no volume/compression/eq work will turn one into another.