Working with Actors and ADR

1. Working with Actors and ADR

2. Issues • It’s boring...tedious...time consuming • But very cool when you see a quality finished project. • In commercial ventures no one is expects ADR mixers to actually direct an actors' performance, but the fact is, they must be sensitive to their mood swings, make them as comfortable as they can and, above all, make sure that the recordings are as clean and present as possible. • Ultimately you’re both after the same result...a good session with clean and useable dialogue sound.

3. More Issues • I got it! I got it!” exclaims Eaton. • The scene is a comical and confusing combination of screaming, running and sheer chaos. Eaton, playing the role of Maudey, picks up a pistol in the midst of the action and accidentally pulls the trigger. She screams. The bullet hits no one, but the gunshot sends everyone on-screen running. • Since the footage was filmed months ago, Eaton must conjure up nearly identical emotions, diction and screaming that occurred on the set. It’s not an easy task. She’s having difficulty finding the “correct” scream which will work for the scene. Emotional matching is a common hurdle confronting actors when recording ADR. There is no other actor making eye contact, helping to build real excitement. Eaton’s fellow “actor” is a flat movie screen and a rough sound track coming through a headset. However, Eaton is an interesting case-in-point. Although this is her first movie, a film she stars in, she takes to looping like a duck takes to water. She’s a natural. And the performances she gives is extraordinary.

4. Process • Preferably a single actor session • You can do two but ideally you should have two mics. • Have the script ready and in large typeface format. • Make sure the audio from the video monitor is audible. • Rehearse the lines to shape the performance. • Mood and emotional context • Don’t try to get it in one and don’t try to push through the process without reasonable breaks. • Fatigue and stress can reduce effectiveness.

5. Post-Process • You can layer the sound clips so that you can squeeze “air” out of the dialogue if necessary. • Audacity is a common software platform that offers layering. • Doesn’t offer a video track. • Soundtracks Pro works well to help you sync the audio tracks with the video track. • The ultimate goal is to make the dialogue sound as realistic as possible. So that the audience won’t know that the dialogue has been replaced.

6. Odd Notes • The best place to learn about ADR is India. In southern India, as well as some countries in Europe, 35mm motion pictures are shot MOS (without sound). Then all the dialogue is added later using ADR. This means none of the dialogue is in sync. • Why do they do this? If you think about it, it's obvious India has over 30 languages. India is like a group of countries, each speaking their own language. Therefore, a motion picture for the Indian market must be dubbed into many different languages. In Madras 80% of lead actresses and 50% of lead actors do not speak the language in which the movie is made. So they are left with no other option but to do ADR. • By shooting MOS, you do not have to worry about noise on the set of the movie. That saves fifty percent of your time right there. You don't have to worry about getting actors who can say their lines clearly. You don't have to use movie cameras which have accurate motors. You don't need a clapper to keep the audio in sync. (In Madras, many of the profitable, low-budget comedies are filmed with an old Arri "C" camera. You can never get sync sound with that camera because of the noise and the less-than-perfect motor speed). • In case you think that this is limited to just one or two movies, remember that in Madras (Chennai), India, more motion pictures are filmed each year than in any other city in the world... including Hollywood. • "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”... almost all the dialogue shots were filmed MOS.

7. More Odd Notes • It’s more common than you might think to have a long-distance recording session. • On many films in which the directors and actors are situated thousands of miles apart, (usually due to schedules and difficult travel issues) even halfway around the world, looping dialogue via ISDN lines is the only way to go. • The audio/visuals in both stages are electronically interlocked, the actor in London and the director in L.A. view the same film footage at the same time. Voice communication is transferred through a second line. • This process is all done in real time, as the actor performs and the director directs, in two different time zones.