For the past several weeks I’ve been spending one or two days at the newkrackle audiblefx recording studio, home of my sound designer, Jason Edwards (no relation). Jason and I have been coaching the cast through ADR sessions in order to improve the sound mix. That’s ADR as in Automated Dialogue Recording, or alternately, Additional Dialogue Recording, otherwise known as ‘dubbing.’ ADR is the preferred industry term, presumably because dubbing makes it sound as though the filmmaker was forced to record new dialogue to mask on-set mistakes.
While that does occur, the main purpose of ADR is to give the sound designer maximum flexibility in treating the various sound elements. In the usual course of production, bits of dialogue come across as distorted or unplayable. Sometimes it’s due to the noise accompanying an on-set action that can’t be pantomimed. Sometimes it’s because the actor moved in a way that resulted in an off-mic line delivery or generated an unwanted fabric swish. If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you’ve gathered that there’s a fair amount of car mayhem in the film. As you might expect, there are several in-car conversations. Given that we couldn’t afford a process trailer for more than a couple of days, we recorded most of these conversations with the car in motion, engine running. This amounted to recording guide tracks for the inevitable ADR work, as the engine noise nearly drowned out the dialogue. (As an amusing aside, I was typically curled up in the back of the El Camino just out of camera range, clutching the sound recording equipment. I often had to keep as low a profile as possible, so I usually couldn’t see anything; I just listened for solid performances.)
Joshua St. James gives a scream during his Nightscape ADR session
It’s been nearly five months since the end of principal photography and none of my leads have ever done ADR before. It can be a serious challenge to any actor—even recognized veterans—because you not only have to recreate your performance, but do so in sync with what’s on-screen. That’s the epitome of the old saw about putting the genie back in the bottle. Luckily for us, our leads have done amazingly well. Emily Galash was the first to enter the ADR booth. She faced the daunting task of re-recording about 80% of her dialogue, mostly because of environmental issues like wind and unavoidable noises tied to on-screen action. She was typically fearless and knocked out her dialogue like a seasoned voice actor in short order. She compared her experience to playing Guitar Hero, matching dialogue to action in a remembered rhythm. Joshua St. James and Jorge Madrid have been equally adept at ADR work, quickly getting back into character and in some cases, even improving on their original performances.
I’m indebted to Jason and his assistant, Lou, for their infallible attention to detail. They’ve done an exceptional job of identifying all of the necessary ADR elements, even going so far as to record single words because of slight distortion—discrepancies that would likely go unnoticed by the average filmgoer. For them, it’s a matter of professional pride. And that’s what makes for a winning film. It takes all of the little things done right to make for a satisfying whole.
While that does occur, the main purpose of ADR is to give the sound designer maximum flexibility in treating the various sound elements. In the usual course of production, bits of dialogue come across as distorted or unplayable. Sometimes it’s due to the noise accompanying an on-set action that can’t be pantomimed. Sometimes it’s because the actor moved in a way that resulted in an off-mic line delivery or generated an unwanted fabric swish. If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you’ve gathered that there’s a fair amount of car mayhem in the film. As you might expect, there are several in-car conversations. Given that we couldn’t afford a process trailer for more than a couple of days, we recorded most of these conversations with the car in motion, engine running. This amounted to recording guide tracks for the inevitable ADR work, as the engine noise nearly drowned out the dialogue. (As an amusing aside, I was typically curled up in the back of the El Camino just out of camera range, clutching the sound recording equipment. I often had to keep as low a profile as possible, so I usually couldn’t see anything; I just listened for solid performances.)
Joshua St. James gives a scream during his Nightscape ADR session
I’m indebted to Jason and his assistant, Lou, for their infallible attention to detail. They’ve done an exceptional job of identifying all of the necessary ADR elements, even going so far as to record single words because of slight distortion—discrepancies that would likely go unnoticed by the average filmgoer. For them, it’s a matter of professional pride. And that’s what makes for a winning film. It takes all of the little things done right to make for a satisfying whole.
