Dialogue Editing

290 ADR
Editing Group Loop
Editing individual group loop lines, such as those of our friendly waitress,
is no different from ADR editing, except that you’ll rarely have a reference
track. Since extras on a shooting set usually don’t make any sounds—their
lips just fl ap—you can’t rely on the guide track for sync or for content. Also,
with group loop you’ll rarely encounter the detailed paperwork that accompanies
ADR.
Open all takes for the individual line you want to edit.
Line up all takes on ADR work tracks, one under the other.
Listen to all takes and pick the performances that best suit the shot.
There’s no point in syncing, editing, and processing a bad take.
Find your take, or takes, and look for landmarks in the picture—those
easy-to-spot, hard, short consonants. Match them to corresponding
sounds in the dialogue track and see where you stand. If the text
heard and seen is the same, use the ADR syncing tricks to force the
line into sync. Remember that you can combine takes to create a
better, more in-sync line.
If there are two or more versions of the line, both believable in terms
of sync, consider editing them both so that the director can choose.
Find out if the mixer wants these specifi c group lines to be on the
ADR tracks or to share space with more general group elements.
Getting the Most Out of Group Loop
To do justice to group walla, you need to keep a couple of things in mind.
First, just because the crowd recordings were taken in a certain order, you
don’t have to use them that way. Some sound events have to be in sync, such
as the cheer of the barroom crowd when the Cowboys (or Redskins) score,
but many of them can be used in any way you like. Listen to the dialogue
and fi nd appropriate moments for that small burst of laughter or the muffl ed
“Damn governor, he’s a crook!” in the background.
You can use these lines to enhance the rhythm of the dialogue or to motivate
an actor’s twitch or even to make an omniscient commentary. At the same
time, if an event in the group loop confl icts with the dialogue—one voice that
sticks out above the crowd or a shout that hits at just the wrong time—either
move or delete it. If you’re cutting the group loop, it’s yours to play with.
Keeping the tracks exactly as recorded is boring and wimpy.
You may have to repeat a group recording to make it last longer. As when
editing backgrounds, you can’t merely copy and repeat but have to open the