ADR & Looping
No matter how old you get, you must always be open to the possibility that you don't know everything. And sometimes, what you do know isn't always as helpful as you thought it might be.
Since 2010 I've done the odd bit of ADR work on a number of TV shows (mainly BBC) through an independent company. I've always enjoyed this work but it hasn't been consistent, so earlier this year I emailed a lot of companies that specialise in this area to see if I could work for them.
Sadly I didn't get very far. In fact, only one organisation got back to me. That was Louis Elman Associates, who invited me to go on their one day ADR & Revoicing course.
I figured it was worth the investment as it would hopefully lead to getting some more ADR work, so on Saturday 26 October 2013 I went along to De Lane Lea Studios in Dean Street, Soho, to see what I could learn from the course leader, Dave John.
For those of you reading this who have no idea what ADR is, let me explain... ADR stands for 'Automated Dialogue Recording'. It's basically adding dialogue to programmes and films in post-production. However, it's a bit more complicated than that. When you film something, you record the sound as its happening. However, the background artists will be asked to keep the noise to a minimum as the sound recordists need to focus on getting the main dialogue nice and clear. Of course, this then means that the production sound (the stuff recorded 'on the day') seems really flat - especially if the scene is dramatic. So they then get a bunch of actors who specialise in ADR to come into the recording studio and fill up the sound space.
This can involve making background conversation, or screaming or crying or... anything really. Sometimes you record in groups (crowd ADR), sometimes you record individually. This might mean adding breath, or sighs or adding audible speech to a background artist who can be seen saying something, but not heard. This is known as revoicing and a good ADR Artist will match the line to the movement of the person on screen. They will also know the appropriate language to use to match the tone, period and class of the character. If the mouth of the person on screen is visible, its even more important to match what you say to what it looks like they're saying as even being slightly out of sync will seem odd when viewed back (playback). This is known as lip-syncing.
if you're fortunate enough to have been a main cast member, you might be called in to re-dub your own lines. This is sometimes necessary if there was a problem with sound on the day, e.g. if there was a lot of background noise (this often happens on outdoor shoots, especially in bad weather), or if the line recorded was mumbled. When this happens it is essential to match the speed of what you say to how you said it on the day and that is much harder than it sounds.
At the start of the day I was a little sceptical about how much I would learn from the course, due to my previous work in the area, but I was delighted to be proven wrong. The technical information and thorough explanations given made everything I'd done in the past suddenly make much more sense and I picked up much more knowledge on what is really required of a professional ADR Artist.
The course was well structured and balanced to meet the needs of the group. I would have liked to have spent some more time working on individual stuff, such as lip-synching, but this isn't possible in just one day and what was covered was certainly very valuable.
Overall, I felt that the course gave me a much better understanding of terms and their meanings as well as the technical aspects of matching breathing to mouth movements, which I feel will allow me to produce a much better standard of work in future. In addition, Abigail Barbier from Louis Elman Associates, made sure that all participants were well looked after during the day and were fully aware of the rates of pay actors should receive when working in this area.
Although there is no guarantee attending this course will lead to my getting additional work in this field, it is well worth going along as a means of building your skills and experience.
The course runs regularly and costs £225.00 (Equity Members receive a £25 discount). To find out more, or book, visit the Louis Elman website and go to the LEAcademy page.
