Sound Design Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for sound engineers, producers, editors, and enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I got a shooting on a couple of days. It's a bathroom scene with lot's of dialogue and a bedroom scene w lot's of sex ;)
The problem is that both locations have windows looking directly to a busy avenue with lot's noisy traffic.
Usually I bring blankets and cushions to cover them, but this needs something better.
It HAS to be in that location. And we are shooting in the least busiest time, but nevertheless, noisy as Fran Drescher.
Any advice? Ideas? Materials to sound proof?
Thanks
Blankets will help with room reflections/absorption, but they're not the best at preventing noise leakage. It sounds like you need some sort of isolation material.
The best isolation product I know of is mass loaded vinyl. Perhaps you could seal the window with it, building some sort of mass loaded vinyl curtain. The problem is that stuff is extremely heavy to lug around. Of course anything that stops the transmission of sound through a wall has to be heavy and dense.
Other thoughts...use a tight patterned boom mic like the Sanken CS-3, lavs, or just ADR :)
If you don't need daylight in the shot, maybe you could try buying a package of rockwool, put it into a plastic or cloth bag and stuff into the window; it won't cost you an arm and a leg and might block at least some of the sound from the street; although you won't be able to block any low rumble from the outside most likely.
Close all windows and doors in the appartment.
ADR is not an option?
Regards
Felix
You can probably kill some of the noise coming through the window using insulation batts (put them in a plastic bag so as not to get those nasty fibers all over your sex-scene), but it will mostly be mid to high freq. Heavy traffic will usually contain lots of low freq, which will travel through all but truly purposely sound proofed constructions.
Professional recording studios spend bazillions on floating floors, heavy walls, quiet hvac and general airtight-ness. You'll find it hard to get even close on a location like that, I think.
