Written by industry expert, R.J. Kizer, this is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of post-sync dialogue replacement, popularly known as ADR.
It explores how this seldom recognised, but essential, technology is used in motion pictures and in fictional narrative television programs, with many examples from past and recent movies to explain approaches and techniques. It is intended primarily as an intuitive book, allowing readers to develop their own interpretation of ADR application, with both historical and procedural background provided throughout. It identifies the many different procedures and mechanical systems invented and used to accomplish the task of ADR, some from as long ago as the early 1920s. The text also details the many different steps, tasks, and routines that must be followed to identify (spot), program, record, edit, and mix the ADR lines into the final sound track of a show.
Intended for the sound professional, it is also suitable for students and entry-level editors wishing to master audio dialogue replacement. Film historians and theorists will also find it both informative and enlightening by illustrating the many avenues used to affect and manipulate the recorded spoken word in motion pictures.
0. PREFACE
00. INTRODUCTION: KEY TERMS
Dialogue Replacement • ADR • Dub, Dubbing, Dubbed • Looping • Post-synchronization • Rhythmo-Band • Principal and Group ADR• Rerecording.
1. BEGINNING
The ADR Editor • Basic Equipment Needed (Besides a Digital Audio Workstation) • ADR Programming Software • Sound Crew • Lined Script, Final Cast List, Code Book, Sound Reports, Continuity, Contacts, LFOA • Final Cast List • Contacts • LFOA Lists • Research and Reference • Security • Other Supplies • Personal Responsibility • Workflow.
2. SPOTTING
With the Director • Spotting with the Rerecording (Dubbing) Mixer • Spotting By Yourself • The Rules of What to ADR • 1) Too Much Undesired Noise • 2) Dialogue Hard to Hear or Nonexistent • 3) To Change the Words • Censorship, Classification • Censorship – China • Censorship – Other markets • Pronunciation • 4) To add new material or fill in missing material • 5) To affect the voice • 6) To change the voice (revoicing) • Stunt Vocals • 7) Spotting for Foreign Versions • 8) To fix the lip synchronization of a given line of dialogue • 9a) Special Situations – Actors’ Strike • 9b) Special Situations – Children, Pre-Teen Boys • 10) Animation • If Told Not To – Don’t • Group ADR or Walla Group • Spotting For Telephone Calls • Documentaries • Spotting Process Can Last the Length of the Show.
3. CUING, PROGRAMMING, AND LINE COUNTS
Principal or Group • Programming Software - Getting Started • Cuing • Programming • Entering the Dialogue Text • CAPITALS or lower case • Stammers or Hesitations • Narration • Cue Numbers • Picture Changes – Backstop • Cuing Within ProTools • Re-Do and Do-Overs • Breaths and Efforts • TV/Airline Coverage • Cuing Circumstances • Other Challenges • Added Lines or TBW • Internal Pauses • Sound Design Cues • Pick-Up Cuing • Breaths At the Start • Cutting Information • Things To Watch Out For In The AAF • Revoicing • Principal Lines in Group • Printing and Distribution of Programming • Line Counts.
4. CUING GROUP ADR
Union Regulations • The Art of Group ADR • Programming and Analyzing • Programming – Foreign Languages • Programming – Mono or Stereo? • Loose Programming • The Types of Group ADR • Group Cue Numbering • Group Line Counts.
5. CONFORMING, PART 1
Preview Codes • LFOA’s and Sync Pops • Conforming By Software • Conforming in ProTools • Conforming By Eye • Check and Double-check • A Neat Trick for Conforming • Lag And The Mix - A Brief Introduction • Proceeding • Special Situations – programming before formal turnover.
6. SCHEDULING
Estimating Length of Sessions in Time • Booking Stages • Meal Breaks and Penalties • Sessions Back-to-Back • “Free” Days of ADR • Truly “Free” ADR • Sound-Alikes • Union Rules – SAG/AFTRA and IATSE • Sides for the Actor • Technical Specifications for the Session • Clarity in Communication • Printing for Recording • Principal Actors’ Considerations • Special Considerations – Dental Prosthetics, Masks, Face Coverings.
7. ADR STAGE
Delivering Materials to the Stage • Actors’ Timecards • Supplementary Items • Schedule and Line Count for the Session • ADR Stage’s Floor Plan • ADR Stage’s Control Booth • Mechanics of the ADR Recording Session • Microphones • Two Microphones • Voice-over / Narration Microphones.
8. THE PRINCIPAL ADR SESSION
Check the Recording’s Voice Quality • Remember to Take a Break • The Actor’s Zone • Stage Etiquette • Keeping Track • Editor’s Place-keeping Notations • Omits • Sync Plus Wild • Cuing “On the Fly” • The “Big Session” Recording • Moving Things Along • Accents and Dialect/Dialogue Coaches • You Are Not the Director • Calling Sync • Voice-overs & Narration • Screams and Shouts • First Time Loopers • Children • Changing Performance • TV & Airline Coverage • Time Cards.
9. REMOTE RECORDING
Nearby Recording - The Editing Room • Nearby Recording - The Dressing Room • Nearby Recording - The Actor’s Home • Actors Recording Themselves • Off-the-Lot Recording Facilities • NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) • Remote Recording – Distant Stages – Unlinked • Remote Recording – Expeditions • Remote Recording – Distant Stages – Linked • Remote Recording – Distant Stages – Linked • ISDN • Codecs • Source-Connect • Multiple Stage Recording • Transmission Routines • Preparing and Organizing • Video of the Actor • Scheduling Remote Sessions • Security and Format • Operational Differences Between Source-Connect and ISDN • Shipping for Remote Sessions • Wrapping up remote sessions.
10. AFTER RECORDING
Complete Your Hand Notes • Update Your Programming • Deliver Requested Cues to Picture Editorial • Deliver Special Sample Rate Material to Sound Design Crew • Deliver Any Actor’s Timecard Paperwork to Production Office • Session Log • Media Organization • Unify the Sessions • Re-organizing • Transcribing • Narration transcriptions • Session Long-play.
11. Group ADR a/k/a Walla
Picking the Group • The Group Leader • Research: Benefits and Dangers • How Many in the Group? • How Many People Per Cue? • Political Hires • Children • Prior to the Session • Delivery to the Recording Stage • Group ADR and the ADR Stage.
12. The Group ADR Recording Session
Recording Walla • Call-Outs or Free and Clears • Voices On the Move • Recording Group Outside • Radio, Telephone, Bullhorn, etc. • Screams • Masks, Helmets, Face Coverings • Broadcast News • Sporting Events Announcers • Specifics and Breaths and Efforts • Good Manners • Wrapping Up the Stage.
13. CUTTING / EDITING / FITTING / BUILDING
Setting Up Your Workspace • Field Recorder in ProTools • Two-Microphone Audio • Cutting and Fitting • ProTools Elastic Audio • Synchronization Utilities • Cleaning Up ADR • Breaths and Efforts • Sound Manipulation – Futz, Flanging, Echo, Pre-verb • Cliché or Convention • Slow Motion Speech • High Sample Rate Sessions • Animation • Narration, as Opposed to Voice-over • Up-cutting / Down-cutting • Building and Organizing Dubbing Units • Track Layout • Forensic Cutting • Telephone and Radio, etc. • TV And Airline Substitutions.
14. GROUP ADR – CUTTING AND ORGANIZING
General Layout • Pick-up Group • Foreign Languages - Editing • Sounds, But Not Words • Mixing Cue Sheets – Group ADR.
15. CONFORMING, FIXING, UPDATING
Change notes • Conforms for ADR • Conforming Your Edited ADR Session • Conform your ADR programming • Giant Reels • Moving Material Between Reels – ADR Programming • Conforming Automation • Conforming Predubs • Lag • Be Careful of Reverb • Re-balancing • Conform List for Mixer.
16. TEMP DUBS – PREDUB – RERECORDING – UPDATING
Screen Credits • Rerecording • Rerecording Room – Layout • Mix track layouts - Definitions • Temp Mix layouts – Stems • Setting up channels for mixing • Cue Sheets - Mixing • Temp Dubs • Upon Completion of Temp Dub • Changing Sync During the Mix • Predubs • Mixing, Rerecording, Dubbing • The Final Mix Routine • Sonic Hierarchy • ADR Advocacy • A Note About Group ADR • ADR or Production • Updates • The Final Mix and the Time Conundrum • Printmaster.
17. FINISHING
The M & E • Preparing the M & E • The China Version • TV/Airline ADR • Cutting For The TV/Airline Dub • Versions / Deliverables • Backup And Archive the ADR • Pack Up Your Room.
18. THE ADR CONTROVERSY: THEN, NOW, AND THE FUTURE
Actors Dislike of ADR • Directors and ADR • The ADR Editor in the Middle
Biography
R.J. Kizer is an ADR editor with over 30 years' experience. He worked for directors such as Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and Peter Weir. Notable movie titles in his résumé include Catch Me If You Can (2002), War of the Worlds (2005), Inception (2010), and Interstellar (2014). He won the Motion Picture Sound Editors ‘Golden Reel’ award twice: for dialogue editing on The Lion King (1994) and dialogue/ADR editing on War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2008, he served for 11 years on its Sound Branch Executive Committee.
