Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521562
C I N E M A A U D I O S O C I E T Y. O R G 23 stages, as the talent would come on different days at different times to either of the three studios. They began recording the first lines of dialogue for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse during the pandemic with Hailee Steinfeld, the actress who plays Gwen. At the time, Zoom calls with directors and producers were the norm, leaving out the possibility of in-person interaction in the room; something that fortunately happened later in the process for most of the recordings, which lasted until the early days of mixing. Besides original dialogue, it is common for this type of movie to include ADR to change a performance or a line after the animation process. Therefore, dialogue recording became ADR when done to picture. The character Spot, for instance, was mostly looped afterward to allow for changes in performance and script. That is not unusual for producers Phil and Chris, as well as directors Joaquim, Kemp, and Justin, who were very involved in the whole sound process. They are very open to improvisation and last-minute inspirations from the actors and "really know how to tease the gold moments and get the best performances out of the talent." This is exciting for the dialogue mixers as creativity flows in the recording environment and great acting is captured through the mic. The mixers shared, "That's a point of pride that we all work hard on, including our level of integrity and care, as the three of us really bring a complete presence, are in the moment, have high standards, a lot of caring, and a lot of heart." These qualities are difficult to measure but can be felt when people watch and listen to the movie. Because all three ADR stages had the same gear, the communication between mixers was crucial to make sure that recordings were consistent throughout, regardless of the stage or mixer. The standard recording setup that they used for this movie consisted of two large-diaphragm microphones recorded onto discrete tracks. A Neumann TLM 170 closer to the talent, with a U87 as the more distant microphone, aiming for a natural sound from both signals. The second microphone, which is usually set around 5 dBs or 10 dBs lower than the close mic, is there in case there's a spontaneous loud passage or to add depth and perspective to a line of dialogue. They mic differently for animation than they do for live action. Similarly, the sounds are recorded as clean as possible, mixing the signal on the fly instead of relying on compressors to tape, aiming for a more organic feel with as little interference or processing as possible. However, when playing back ADR, they might add some reverb or EQ to check the recorded lines in context, but just for playback, the actual recording is kept clean. Howard explains it: "My philosophy is much like the sweet spot on a tennis racket. If you hit the ball in the sweet spot, you get more control and power, but if you hit it on the rim, the ball can go anywhere. My attitude has always been that all this gear, from the microphone to the input on Pro Tools, every piece of gear has its sweet spot, and if you hit that sweet spot and you control for that, which is possible, you get a Original dialogue mixer Aaron Hasson One of the Foley stages at Sony Pictures Studios