mixing tips for a scene inside of a movie theater

Question

I'm mixing a scene that takes place inside of a movie theater - a heavily sound proofed one.

It's hard to describe the acoustic properties of an environment like that, but I am sure we've all been in one. Everything is much more audible due to the lack of noise pollution and there's a sense of "tightness" in the air around your head. Muffled, etc.

I was thinking of narrowing the stereo field a lot and possibly rolling off a lot of the lows since that tends to be absorbed by materials padding the walls of movie theaters.

Any other thoughts or ideas on how to make this sound good?

Answer 1

Sounds interesting!

I would definitely agree with narrowing the stereo field. When i'm mixing indoor scenes i usually have my atmos panned to 50 at the widest, with at least one of my layers close to centre. Not that there's any rule, i just like the way this contrasts with exterior scenes.

I wouldn't recommend rolling off any lows. The acoustic treatment absorbs reflections, not direct sound.

So it sounds like you'll have a really quiet environment. One way you can play up "silence" is through "synonyms of silence". That is, small details that you wouldn't hear in an area with a higher noise floor. Maybe add someone coughing out in the foyer, or pay extra attention to your characters' feet and moves in your foley.

I have a feeling that it may be difficult to walk the line between sounding acoustically dead and sounding fake or 2 dimensional (if you use absolutely no reverb). You may have to use a little reverb, or if there are any loud moments you could use some muffled slap.

Best of luck!