Need help editing with Room Tone for multiple rooms within a scene.

[illution1]

Hi There,

Today I am editing dialogue for a film and need some advice:

The scene I am currently editing takes place in an apartment. The camera cuts back and forth between the living room and the bathroom. A man is sitting in the living room reading while a serial killer hides silently in the bathroom. The camera cuts back and forth between these two rooms. The living room has a noisier room tone where as the bathroom has fairly silent room tone.

I am wondering if I should:

1) paste the noisier (living room) room tone across the entire scene as a lowest common denominator,

OR

2) should I cut tone on the shot changes so that each room of the apartment has it's own unique room tone?

It would be very helpful if anyone has some advice

[Craig F]

I'd normally go with 2
If there is anything highly noticeable in 1 (TV, Radio, loud traffic) maybe go for 2 with a little 1 mixed in

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

Yeah, I agree 2 is a good way to go. Also about blending the two to a degree. The cuts may play a part. If they are only a few frames then blending may be helpful. You can use fades to control how smooth they transition, depending on the needs of the scene. If it needs to feel more jarring or subtle. Don't be afraid to shorten or lengthen the fades to make it work. I've had similar situations where I will use a hot level/min level on a dominant room tone/ambience when going between it a quieter tone for continuity as well as to reduce the jarring nature of the cuts.