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ADR

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

Here's my ADR plan, for a couple scenes. Acceptable?

My resources: H4n. That's it; I don't have the mic anymore. Nor do I have access to a studio.

The actors in the scene are in two different locations, so I have to ADR in seperate places, thereby picking up two different room-tones. So, I was thinking I'd cram each actor into a closet, or maybe just the quitest room we can find, record the entire scene (one phrase at a time, of course). Actresses A and B are in Chicago, so I can record them in the same room. Actors C and D are in Richmond, so they'll be recorded in the same room. Then, I'll get "room-tone" from the location at which the scene takes place (outside, on a suburban street, for one scene, inside a moving car for the other scene. Finally, in editing, I mix all three room-tones on top of each other, so that we're not going back and forth between two different room-tones (Chicago room and Richmond room). With my scant resources, is that the best plan, or is there something different I should do?









Thanks, in advance, Alcove. With ROC gone, this is obviously primarily at you. I would've PM'd it, but I figure other people might also want to know the answer.
 
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You can always make an ADR box (a bigish cardboard box with foam or something to mute sound taped to all sides, with a hole for the mic).

Theoretically, if your actors were using the same mic and the same specs on the box, the room tone would be the same (correct me if I'm wrong). The only problem you're gonna run into with this is that the distance to the mic will probably remain the same throughout, regardless of whether or not your talent is moving around on screen. But that might be a problem with any ADRing....
 
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Id say dont worry so much about the room tone, record in a quiet place of course and just get the mic up close to the mouth and let her rip, add in the room tone of your choice when editing the final mix. More important to get a clean voice & match emotions , intensity and levels than room tone IMO
 
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If that's all you've got, that's all you've got.

Record nice long room tones in both places. (Yes, indoors room tones - add them to your collection.)

Don't worry about the closet, but make sure that the (indoors) space is relatively quiet. Your talent will be more comfortable.

Use only one side of the H4n - yes, it will record on both tracks, but focus on one side and delete the other in audio post.

Get 'em in as close as you can without distorting, popping or "essing".

What are you using for playback of the production sound? They have to get really close to the original performance so they have to hear it first; and how are you going you check to see if the perfomances are close enough?

If the scene is outdoors or in a car they will naturally speak louder than they would indoors, push them to raise their voices a bit.

Record really, really long ambiences. When I go out in the field I'll get 30 minutes of "street" tone. I actually have about a dozen versions of "empty street" and individually put in passing cars, pedestrians, etc. The car interior is more difficult; you need several long takes (2 - 4 minutes) of each speed you see in the scene(s) and at least half a dozen takes of each turn, stop, start, speed-up, slow-down, etc. - and all without any passing cars (you add those later). So if the car turns 3 times in the scene you need six for each of the three turns, or 18 total turns. Put together a very detailed cue sheet so you don't forget anything.

BTW, if you are ADRing an in-the-car scene park the car in a VERY quiet place and try doing the ADR in the car (not close miced, maybe 6 - 8 inches) in addition to doing ADR in a quiet room - if you use the same car then ADR matching should not be overly difficult. It may not work but it's worth a shot.
 
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Sweeet. Thanks guys. Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier, but my limitation to the H4n is not a reflection of not being willing to spend money to get a mic, but a reflection of the fact that my budget is stretched THIN right now. The travel costs to Chicago are all I can afford, at the moment, for this particular job.
 
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Oh, I never answered the question -- I haven't yet figured out what device I'll play back their production performances on. I'd say laptop, but I don't have one. I dunno, I'll contact my actors first, to see what they have available.













P.S. You wanna get IMDB feature credits, Dready?
 
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Cracker Funk said:
I haven't yet figured out what device I'll play back their production performances on. I'd say laptop, but I don't have one.
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You can get a portable DVD player, with a reasonably sized LCD screen, for less than $100.

Or if you have a media player (like Zune or i-whatever) that connects to a tv, you can plug into whatever is available at the location.

You'll find it helpful to add some visual cues, especially when their dialogue starts before their video (in a classic J-cut situation).

Have fun. :)
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Oh, I never answered the question -- I haven't yet figured out what device I'll play back their production performances on. I'd say laptop, but I don't have one. I dunno, I'll contact my actors first, to see what they have available

P.S. You wanna get IMDB feature credits, Dready?
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How about a CD player. Just record there old audio as cd tracks. Then use that as a play back. The DVD idea is good too. Another is just having it on your computer and playing the old footage. Then have them redo it after watching it.
 
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My wife and I have done ADR from a distance--the production uploaded the scene to Youtube (private video with password) and we recorded it at home (using as much of Alcoves advice as possible).

The actors will of course wear headphones as they listen and recreate the performance while watching the video. They can record on any free audio software out there, export it to the format you want or need, and email it to you (if space allows) or Dropbox it, or send a DVD in the mail.

Just make sure the distance of the actors to the mic is the same, and there is no 'sssss'ing in the mic...no 'p' or 's' sounds. Tell tale sound of ADR work.
 
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M1chea1, that's an interesting idea, but I'm too much of a megalomaniac to not be there, myself. Since you're the most experienced actor here, let me ask you this -- do you feel it's necessary to have visuals? Would RockerRockstar's idea work (CD player only)? Also, is it necessary to watch the video, while recording? Cuz that's actually not what I was planning on doing.

Nothing I need to record is any kind of monologue. These are all just quick one-liners, cutting between different people, in rapid succession. The longest line would be somewhere around the length of "Ow, not my neck, my back". My original plan was to have them watch the clip (just that one line) multiple times, then record it. Listen again, record again. Wash, rinse, repeat. Alcove, M1chea1, from the perspective of audio guy and actor, respectively, does that work, or is it better to have them watch, while recording?

Thanks.
 
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I have found that when the talent has little or no experience with ADR it is better to not have picture. It's a distraction because they get too involved with watching themselves.

They should listen a few times times to hear the delivery, then repeat (while you record) after they hear it.

The workflow in my studio is a 2-pop before the line, a blank space of the same length for the talent to repeat the line, and an additional two or three seconds before it loops around to the 2-pop again. It just keeps repeating until they get it right.

At first the talent needs a lot of coaching, but most get into the groove after four lines or so.
 
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Since I had to look it up..

save the next guy some trouble..

Used in television and film post-production, a 2-pop is a 1 kHz tone that is one frame long and placed 2 seconds before the start of program. It is a simple and effective method of ensuring synchronization between sound and picture in a film or video.
 
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wheatgrinder said:
Used in television and film post-production, a 2-pop is a 1 kHz tone that is one frame long and placed 2 seconds before the start of program. It is a simple and effective method of ensuring synchronization between sound and picture in a film or video.
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EVERY project you send out for audio post, color correction, CGI, etc. should have a 2-pop. I always request it and the response I get is "Huh?" It makes me wonder what they teach in film school these days...


http://www.archive.org/details/Countdow1960
 
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I find, and have always found, seeing my performance very helpful--although some people have great rhythm (musicians, etc), and can match the pace and tone perfectly pretty quickly without as long as the clip isn't too long of course.

It's all relative. I would say for longer bits, having a visual will always benefit--both for performance and time it's going to take to get the takes you can use.

In your case CF, your quick blips will be fine without, regardless of preference and experience.
 
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Heavy blankets are a good alternative to foam and are usually readily acceptable. Drape them over anything to get a makeshift sound booth. A refrigerator box would work, but some pvc pipes or mic stands would do just as well with no chance of an echo. Be aware of what in the room makes noise and block that direction with extra padding.

I've actually seen this done and was writing off the sound engineer as a hack until I heard the results. Rent or borrow a good mic and use good software and you'll get professional results out of what amounts to garbage.
 
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M1chae1 said:
I find, and have always found, seeing my performance very helpful--although some people have great rhythm (musicians, etc), and can match the pace and tone perfectly pretty quickly without as long as the clip isn't too long of course.
I agree completely. You want a monitor visible in the booth with both the performance and the waveform.

One of my actors started in musical theater and he could nail a line on the first take and match the scratch to the sylable. The wave forms even looked identical. It was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen in a performance.
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