Dialogue Editing

268 ADR
This is a good time to ask the engineer’s opinion. Even though you’re in a
hurry, spend these few moments to obtain as good a match as possible. If you
can’t get an almost perfect match between dialogue and ADR in the recording
session, you’ll never achieve a perfect match in the mix.
Pay special attention to the cadence, the “music,” of a line. It’s very common
for everyone in the studio—actor, director, engineer, and editor—to be convinced
that the actor is “nailing” the line when in fact he’s misinterpreting
its cadence. If the original line is “How now, BROWN cow” but the actor is
consistently reading “How NOW brown cow,” the mistake can easily go
unnoticed until you’re editing the ADR line, but by then it’s too late.
Recall the listening skills you had to force on yourself when watching the
Avid cut of the fi lm for the fi rst time, how you had to occasionally tear yourself
from the narrative so that you could assess the sound. Use that same
discipline to listen to the music of the line being read. If all else fails, try a
trick you used while editing alternate takes—making up nonsense phrases
to describe the cadence and essence of the line to the actor. The lack of content
reduces the line to pure rhythm and tone, and the silliness adds a bit of levity,
which can help you get your point across.
When you fi nish recording all the lines, review your notes. If you’re unsure
about a line or two—and you still have time—ask the actor to try those lines
again. Ask her if there are any lines she’d like to review. Now that the heat’s
off, you may get surprising results. When you return to a line, be sure to note
the new takes on the appropriate ADR recording log.
ADR File Names
Each studio has its own method of managing ADR recording sessions and
naming soundfi les. At the top of the heap are sophisticated ADR management
programs like ADR Studio that automatically assign line/take names
to recorded cues. Other software/hardware options afford complete control
over the ADR spotting and recording processes. Regardless the method, the
code names with which you christened each line on the ADR cue sheets will
become the names of the soundfi les created during the ADR session. Usually,
the code number becomes the “root” name of the new fi le, and the take
numbers are added automatically.
If your studio is on the budget end of the spectrum, you can assign soundfi le
names by temporarily renaming the record track with the root name of the
line, leaving it to the DAW to create take numbers (see Figure 15-6). Run a
few tests to make sure that your names won’t be obliterated or changed when
you create new regions from the recorded soundfi le.