need some fill sound

[Steve Laramie]

I am not the most creative person when it comes to sound. But I am editing a scene with a man on a foot bridge and its almost an abstract scene. It feels very hollow with no sound and cant for the life of me think of what to put in there. Also I have a long take walking scene through a house normal pace but it would seem un natural for just foot steps. Any ideas?

 

[Alan H. Chang]

What kind of foot bridge is this? Probably add some wood creaks, metal chains rubbing, rope pulling or stretching sound. Man's footsteps on the each plank, shoe leather joints, pants/jeans movements, keys ratlling, breathing. River or water below? Running stream at varying speeds, some light and occasional water drips, fishes swimming around with water splashes. Add some wind whistling, trees and leaves rustle, maybe frogs, tree branches cracking and twisting, birds twirp. Lots of things you can add with this scene.

There could be lots of appliances on at the house or pure silence with some roomtone and distant traffic outside. Clock ticking, maybe water boiling, faucet dripping water, microwave and stove going if he's cooking something, music from portable radio or television. Floor creaks if it's a horror type of genre.

Sometimes, silence is golden with some very atmospheric soundscape (more like distant sounding noises). Go wild.

 

[SMuir]

It seems that foley's a good place to start, as Alan sugests: footsteps on the bridge, clothing movement, hands on the bridge, specific creaks, and so forth. If I'm stuck on a scene, I start by cutting on-screen specifics. Once I've built up the concrete action of the scene, I start working on the atmospherics. Consider the geography of the scene, and try to build up a bed of effects that bring context to the action. Bridges tend to be pretty windy, and any movement in the actors clothes or hair will tell you how intense that wind will be. A well-chosen track of wind can compliment the emotional subtext of a scene. If its a suspension bridge, you may even try cutting in the hum and twang of the cables.