Dialogue Editing

252 ADR
Preparing for ADR
One thing that all low-budget fi lms have in common is, well, low budgets.
There’s no money to waste, and everyone wants the precious funds to go into
the fi lm, or at least into the right pockets. If you’re responsible for supervising
ADR, remember—before, during, or after the recording sessions—that poorly
organized ADR is a good way to hemorrhage money and fry nerves.
When to Record
Momentarily forgetting the fi lm’s scheduling realities (actors’ schedules,
recording studio availability, temp dub requirements, impatient producers),
the ideal time to record ADR is near the end of the dialogue editing process.
Decisions about postsync start when you spot the fi lm with the director and
picture editor, and they continue as you carefully go through the fi lm looking
for technical ADR calls. However, unless you’re gifted or psychic, you won’t
be sure about the ADR call list until you’ve had a go at the dialogue. Lines
you were sure you had to loop will be easily fi xed with alternate takes, while
many an unforeseen problem will rear its head and require looping. The later
in the process the recordings are scheduled, the more accurate your list will
be. Too late, however, and you squander your margin of safety.
If I have a 6-week dialogue editing schedule, I try to plan ADR recording for
the end of week 4. This way I’ll have three weeks of real editing to learn the
tracks and a few days to prepare the paperwork. Recording ADR for, say,
three days leaves ample time to edit the loops and prepare tracks for the new
lines and still have time for a couple more dialogue passes.
This isn’t an ideal schedule because it steals more than a week from dialogue
editing. But remember, this is about saving money, and somebody has to pay.
In this case it’s me. Of course, the more help that’s available, the less you’ll
be distracted from editing. A good assistant can prepare ADR call sheets and
recording logs, so you’ll be in less of a panic. If the supervising sound editor
can cover the recording sessions, you’ll have more time for editing.
But ADR scheduling is rarely about your needs alone. Actors are often not
available when you want them, so special recording sessions are necessary.
The fi lm is being submitted to an important festival and certain loops have
to be recorded very early in the editing process. Or maybe studio or focus
group screenings mandate decent loops early on. You just have to be fl exible
and not resent the lost editing time.