I've rarely used panning because I always figure in a theater, somebody's sitting way over on the side and the mix will sound imbalanced for them. Or someone has their computer speakers wired backwards and the pan's going to go the wrong way. OK, I'm paranoid.
But I wanna try some panning on the project I'm working on, and my question is this: Is there a rule of thumb for how heavy to go with panning -- if a sound source enters from the side, crosses the frame, and exits the other side, do you pan 100/0 > 0/100 or 75/25 > 25/75?
An example. A scene at a track and field event. We see a race from the spectators' perspective in the bleachers. Because it's a far-away perspective, I have the sound panned Center. Feels right. Cut to:
Reverse shot of the fans watching from the track perspective. We hear the footsteps and panting of a runner approaching from the Right -- whoosh, he crosses the frame -- he exits and fades away Left.
In that second shot, I'm panning 100% Right to Left. To me, it sounds a bit weird, to hear some some mixed Center in the first shot, and then cut to the same sounds panned fully Right. Although it conceptually makes sense.
So I just wanted to hear what the conventional wisdom is in regards to panning.
Thanks, mixing mavens.
Mitchell Rose
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www.mitchellrose.com]