Dialogue Editing

262 ADR
Automating ADR Paperwork
If you don’t have a typing maven for an assistant, it’s not hard to see the
advantages of computerizing your paperwork. Find out what commercial
ADR management programs are used in your fi lm community. Failing that,
Use Excel or create a custom database, with FileMaker or another database
program, that will spit out all the forms you need. 3
The ADR Data-Entry Page Figure 15-4 shows the data-entry page I use to
program ADR. After compiling an ADR wish list with the supervising
sound editor and director, I fi ll in pertinent information about each line.
Then I can report what’s there in any number of ways to provide lists for
the engineer, the actors, and the production company. I also use this information
to create the ADR recording logs. Much of what’s on the form is
automatically entered, so data entry isn’t as overwhelming as it appears.
Other important information you’ll want to keep track of:
Sync. I like to know if a shot is sync or not. Even before seeing the
picture during the recording session I can start planning whether to
record the shot wild or to picture. Knowing the balance between sync
and wild shots for a recording session can aid in scheduling, since the
off-camera lines inevitably take less time.
Location. If the ADR recording engineer knows in advance the
locations he’ll be matching into, the session is more effi cient. Many
ADR studios have wet (reverberation possible) and dry (no reverberation
possible) areas to match interior or exterior locations, so the
engineer may want you to sort the list by location to make for a slicker
session.
Microphone. The ADR engineer likes to know what microphone was
used during the shoot to be able to better match the texture of the
production dialogue. You can usually fi nd this information in the
sound reports. If not, ask the production mixer.
Whether by hand or on the computer, you’ll need to produce one set of ADR
call lists sorted in fi lm order and another sorted fi rst by actor and then by
fi lm order. (See Figure 15-5.)
3 To perform timecode calculations in FileMaker Pro, you’ll need the “Timecode for
FileMaker” plug-in. This shareware product is available from Belle Nuit Montage (www.
belle-nuit.com).