Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529989
order to dial back their accents, but personally, I find this a bit depressing. "Sometimes all it takes is an added consonant. I can't tell you how many times I've snuck a consonant from a completely different word in, to solve the problem in a quick-and-easy fashion. "Another reason to trust your friendly neighborhood ADR supervisor is that since we are some of the last hires in post-production sound, we hear the dialogue with fresh ears. I don't even like to read the script before my first playback of the movie, so I am coming in with the closest-to-audience ears that there can be. Everyone else on the project to that point has been listening and getting used to what the actors are saying and can no longer mimic or predict the audience experience. "Sometimes it seems like ADR is hated by all, but it's unavoidable. In the case where the performance in a specific take is gold, but the sound was too compromised: ADR. When a line is ad-libbed by an actor one time, but the sound was compromised: ADR. Although, noise-reduction tools have become far more sophisticated in recent years, but the double edge to that sword that has arisen is the those tools are now available to people in the post process who are not necessarily audio professionals, and they sometimes apply these plug-ins to the entire movie in a heavy-handed way, thinking it sounds like an improvement on their edit bay speakers, and then expect the same sort of noise reduction on the mix stage. Turning these plug-ins up to 11 causes the audio to become distorted and garbled, which may not be obvious to less trained ears, or in the stage of post where that's not the focus. We need to use these plug-ins in a layered and light-handed way as to keep the dialogue as pristine as possible, without introducing these unwanted qualities." Joel Erickson: "I find most of the time that the filmmakers have a much higher tolerance for noise and a certain rawness to the tracks than I do, so I overshoot on what needs to be fixed. Ninety percent of the time, I'll present them with my desired ADR cues and they'll scratch a lot of things off because they're okay with the quality of it. There's definitely a range in how people perceive clarity. Directors, producers, and clients all have different thresholds for unintelligibility. Sometimes someone in a playback will mention not being able to understand a specific line, and it will be something I've never had an issue with, not even on the first pass. Those are honestly the biggest challenges because it's something you didn't cue for ADR and didn't research alternate takes on, but most of the time, I'm able to come up with a fix that they like. "Temp love is also a huge hurdle—people get attached to a take because they've heard it a thousand times. When I encounter this, I make a point to at least show the filmmakers the attempted fix— after that, it's obviously their call. The worst though is when you have that perfect performance marred by technical issues—great delivery, but with unavoidable noise or mic problems. In those situations, I push the cleanup as far as possible, but I'm always up-front about the limitations. But the tools to fix this kind of thing are getting better and better, which is crucial given the increasing time pressures we face." Regarding what technology offers in terms of solutions, Joel Shryack observes: "If there was one thing I could point out to actors and filmmakers about soft, mumbly dialogue, it's that technology doesn't overcome this type of performance. I would say intelligibility is not a technical issue any longer, but an artistic one." Jessie: "Our best tool is to find alternate reads of the same word/ line/syllable in other takes from that scene. When noise is a factor on a specific take only, you can fade it in verrrrry slowly, so the noise is introduced gradually and not as noticeable. You can also accentuate consonants with detailed volume control. Speaking of consonants, adding consonants where they are under-pronounced can help sell specific words that are getting lost. When clarity is compromised off camera, you have a bit more freedom with alternate takes, word spacing, and ADR. Honestly, ADR is our last resort, but a very good one." o, what's the conclusion? As I said, I personally think this is a little bit of an overblown problem, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to be vigilant about dialogue clarity and intelligibility. The current state of average home listening is far from ideal, but as technology advances and cost decreases, soundbars and smart speakers are gaining popularity and that is positive. Aside from our ears and experience, we have more additional tools than ever at our disposal to help us evaluate our mixes for intelligibility, and used wisely, we can stay ahead of potential issues. Get in touch, let me know what you think. S M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 45