Ambiance or Room Tone
Although last in this list, capturing the Room Tone is one of the most important tasks to be performed. Room Tone differs from Background Effects and is used very differently during editing.
Whereas Background Effects are clean recordings intended to suggest environment and continuity to a scene, the Room
Tone is a “dirty” slug of audio used to patch the holes in the dialogue.
During a dialogue scene, noise may occur that needs to be lifted out of the track. Examples may be a cue from the Director, or a distracting noise. If these problems fall in between words, then the editor cuts them out of the track and just leaves blank fill.
But the blank fill will stand out like white spackling on a gray wall! Instead of pure silence, the editor really wants to replace the noise with the exact same background audio that would have been recorded during a pause in the middle of a sentence. We want the “silence” to have been recorded with the same mic as the ongoing dialogue, from the same angle, and at the same recording level. Whatever slight sounds are on the set during the dialogue should also be present during the Room Tone. That includes actors, crew, lights, and everything else that would be present during the filming of the scene.
In other words, we want to apply dirty gray spackle to a dirty gray wall. Otherwise, our filler may be too perfect for what we need it to do.
Unfortunately, too many sound mixers wait until the scene is wrapped before they attempt to record room tone. After everyone has left the set, and the lights are struck – all that remains to be captured is an empty tomb of a stage.
My approach is to go for the Room Tone just before the first take of each major location or scene. Do it just before the clapstick, while everyone is poised for a take. As the Assistant Director calls out to “Roll Sound” – that is when I announce that we are recording 30 seconds of room tone.
Doing it on (before) the first take is important, because after that the actors and Director may establish a rhythm. Directors hate to break that rhythm and may resent waiting for Room Tone when they really want to shoot another take as quickly as possible.
Of course, the crew will never stand around silently for 30 whole seconds. After just several seconds, the room will buzz with dozens of whispered conversations. But if you can get just a little bit of good ambiance, then the editors will be grateful. When the noise becomes audible, just move ahead and tell them to shoot the scene.
One other way that I record some extra Room Tone is to take a deep breath and enjoy a zen moment after voice slating the take and before I shout “Speed”. That will give the editor and extra second or two of Room Tone for every shot. Similarly, after the Director calls to “Cut” – I always let the recorder continue for a few moments. If anyone complains, I tell them that we need the extra footage for when we digitize into the Avid, as the system tends to cut off the first few and last few frames. (Not completely true, but everyone accepts the explanation.)
A Brief Review of Priorities
- Dialogue - Crisp, clean, usable.
- Perspective - Does what we hear match what we see?
- Sync sound effects - Never overlap the dialogue. Fake it when possible.
- Wild Lines - If you cannot see the lips, then cheat it!
- Wild Sound Effects - Clean, background tracks to enhance the illusion.
- Ambiance or Room Tone - The sound of a dialogue scene without anyone talking.
