Dialogue Editing

Looping, ADR, and Postsync 251
sor, and supervising sound editor an instant indication of whether or not
the recorded line is acceptable. The ADR engineer can immediately combine
selected pieces of chosen takes, giving everyone immediate feedback as to
what works and what doesn’t.
Slick as it is, ADR isn’t for everyone, nor is it for all occasions. Many actors
don’t like the pressure of having to perform live, in sync, all the while focusing
on a good, matching performance. For them, it’s best to use a modifi ed
looping technique, which I’ll describe later.
Postsync
Another term you’ll hear bandied about on recording stages is postsync.
Popular mostly in the United Kingdom and its former possessions, I like this
term as a general description of the whole after-the-shoot voice-recording
process. If “ADR” seems too sterile but you’re too much a stickler for accuracy
to use “looping” incorrectly, “postsync” may be just the description you’ve
been looking for.
The ADR Supervisor
Postsync (or looping or ADR) demands organization. Someone has to compile
the postsync requests from the director, picture editor, and dialogue editor
and fi nd the problems no one else noticed. Careful planning is necessary to
prepare for the recording sessions. Each line of dialogue is checked against
the guide track and precisely spotted for placement. Copies of the spotting
go to the recording studio for machine programming and to the production
offi ce for talent scheduling.
During the recording session, there has to be a “voice of reason” who soothes
impatient actors while keeping in mind the needs of the fi lm. And the hundreds,
easily thousands, of takes generated during the postsync sessions
have to be managed in a way that tells the ADR editor what to do with the
fruits of all this work. It’s no wonder that there’s a unique job description
for the person responsible for managing the ADR on a fi lm: the ADR
supervisor.
Any decent-size fi lm will have an ADR supervisor. It’s too big a job for just
another crewmember. If the fi lm you’re working on has one, you can skip the
rest of this section. However, many micro-budget fi lms don’t have an ADR
supervisor, nor do they have an ADR editor. Responsibility for ADR is divided
between the supervising sound editor and the dialogue editor. If that’s your
situation, read on.