One of my actors never got back to me about coming back to redub some of his lines. If he doesn't come back, should I try to find a person that imitate his voice or something like that? I basically need him to shout out one line and do some grunts and screams, during a fight scene. I hope I don't have to redub all his lines, and would like to find another solution. I hear that sometimes in movies you can manufacture words being said in certain cases. What should I do? Thanks.
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How should I handle this ADR problem?
- Thread starter harmonica44
- Start date
What Alcove has said is all true but I'd like to add:
You have to consider that virtually all the aids to a good performance which exist during filming are absent during ADR. Being in costume, being surrounded by the set or location, the interaction of their dialogue with the other characters and preparation time (in makeup and the night before), are all vital aids which actors rely on to "get in character" and not one of these aids exist in the ADR studio!
Think about it, are you going to make a more convincing gasp:
A. With a TV monitor in front of you and a mic pointed at your mouth or
B. With Freddie Kruger in front of you, with a 12 gauge pointed at your testicles?
Actors and Directors (without exception) hate ADR and none more so than method actors. Given the opportunity, no actor would ever turn up to do ADR, so they are never given this opportunity! Actors' participation in the ADR process is always a requirement of their contracts.
G
You have to consider that virtually all the aids to a good performance which exist during filming are absent during ADR. Being in costume, being surrounded by the set or location, the interaction of their dialogue with the other characters and preparation time (in makeup and the night before), are all vital aids which actors rely on to "get in character" and not one of these aids exist in the ADR studio!
Think about it, are you going to make a more convincing gasp:
A. With a TV monitor in front of you and a mic pointed at your mouth or
B. With Freddie Kruger in front of you, with a 12 gauge pointed at your testicles?
Actors and Directors (without exception) hate ADR and none more so than method actors. Given the opportunity, no actor would ever turn up to do ADR, so they are never given this opportunity! Actors' participation in the ADR process is always a requirement of their contracts.
G
Wow, I had no idea actors would hate it so much to completely back out of the project. Do they care that once they show their work to others, looking to possibly hire them, that their voice is different? The director who may consider hiring them will of course want to inquire why they didn't want to redub their own dialogue, and therefore all their audio had to be changed. Isn't that a bad impression?
Actors HATE doing ADR.
Directors HATE doing ADR.
Rerecording mixers HATE using ADR.
Hey, I'm good at ADR sessions and I make money doing them, but I HATE doing ADR sessions. No matter how well I coach the dialog is only - at best - 60% of the passion of the original performance and usually a lot worse.
Get the freaking dialog recorded properly on the set!!!
Directors HATE doing ADR.
Rerecording mixers HATE using ADR.
Hey, I'm good at ADR sessions and I make money doing them, but I HATE doing ADR sessions. No matter how well I coach the dialog is only - at best - 60% of the passion of the original performance and usually a lot worse.
Get the freaking dialog recorded properly on the set!!!
Okay thanks, so for next time how do I do the grunts and screams properly on set, since I can't boom an actor if they are being thrown and wrestled around a room, or do I boom as they move, and try my best to follow them, even though they don't know exactly which way their heads will move each take? Plus a lot of times in action scenes I will have to boom the screams and grunts of more than one person since at least two or more people are fighting, and I don't want to record both voices at the same time, since that will complicate things, right?
Dialog wilds. Record them on the set after the scene has been completed. Also, you will (should) have lots of fodder from the numerous takes that are not used in the final edit. Fight scenes especially are rich in fodder since they are so complicated that you have more bits and pieces with which to work. I've reconstructed entire scenes from the alternate dialog.
Dialog editing is an art form, just like any other aspect of filmmaking. With indie projects it is in many ways the art of compromise. Have you gotten the Purcell book yet?
You also have to consider the rest of the soundtrack - Foley, sound FX and score. Lots of these vocalizations are buried once you finally get to the final mix. I've mentioned this before. This is another reason why audio post is handled by people who do nothing else; they have the experience and the "ears" to imagine how the pieces of the puzzle will interact during the final mix.
Another problem with getting people to show up to ADR sessions is that they are so far removed from the sessions. It is sometimes weeks or even months before they are asked to come in to record the ADR, and they just don't want to be bothered anymore. This is why on budgeted productions the editor is already working on the film during production. S/he works with the supervising sound editor to put together the ADR list so the actors can come in and do the ADR sessions very soon after shooting has been completed. They are still into the project and still in character. I realize that this is difficult for most indie types, but is a very important consideration. This is why directors delegate so many aspects of the project to the key department heads, so that everything takes place in a timely fashion.
Dialog editing is an art form, just like any other aspect of filmmaking. With indie projects it is in many ways the art of compromise. Have you gotten the Purcell book yet?
You also have to consider the rest of the soundtrack - Foley, sound FX and score. Lots of these vocalizations are buried once you finally get to the final mix. I've mentioned this before. This is another reason why audio post is handled by people who do nothing else; they have the experience and the "ears" to imagine how the pieces of the puzzle will interact during the final mix.
Another problem with getting people to show up to ADR sessions is that they are so far removed from the sessions. It is sometimes weeks or even months before they are asked to come in to record the ADR, and they just don't want to be bothered anymore. This is why on budgeted productions the editor is already working on the film during production. S/he works with the supervising sound editor to put together the ADR list so the actors can come in and do the ADR sessions very soon after shooting has been completed. They are still into the project and still in character. I realize that this is difficult for most indie types, but is a very important consideration. This is why directors delegate so many aspects of the project to the key department heads, so that everything takes place in a timely fashion.
Okay thanks. I did record their voice work, the last day of shooting of the fight scene, after the fight. I thought it was all good, until now it's edited I see lots of parts where the acting of the fodder, just doesn't match the video performance, as well. Next time I hope I know what to look for more. And yes the Purcell book, just came a couple of days ago!
I've also watched a tutorial and read how to create punching and stabbing effects and stuff like that, pretty basic. But in the tutorials they did not record in in a studio or environment where the reverb was masked out. They just recorded it in plane rooms. Why? They say to add the room tone after, but the reverb would still be different.
I've also watched a tutorial and read how to create punching and stabbing effects and stuff like that, pretty basic. But in the tutorials they did not record in in a studio or environment where the reverb was masked out. They just recorded it in plane rooms. Why? They say to add the room tone after, but the reverb would still be different.
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