Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/681510
20 S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y Michael Miller CAS: ADR Mixer I also recently spoke with Michael Miller, who served as ADR mixer. I wondered if he was familiar with the story behind The Revenant. "I never saw or heard of this book or story before we start- ed working on [the movie]. We had so much ADR and it was funny because when we got Leo's cues, I was like 'What kind of film is this?'—because I hadn't seen it yet. It was tons and tons of cues of just breathing! But we cov- ered everything that we possibly could. And Leo was great. That whole bear-attack sequence we did maybe three times. But he did it perfectly, even the saliva coming out of the mouth. I mean, just take per take. It was great." I wanted to know some of the things that give Michael satis- faction in his job. "One of the things I strive for, which I love, is when either Alejandro or any director asks for a playback on the take—and if they ever look at me and go, 'Was that production or was that ADR?' If I've accomplished that, I've done my job." More of Michael's thoughts on working with Alejandro: "Well, he was great to work with. I mean, I would goof around with him all the time because my philosophy is, if you're not having fun doing it, there's no point in doing it. He was so busy at the time because, you know, the reshoots and everything would come up. He would leave. Lisa [Levine, the supervising dialogue and ADR editor] and I would do a bunch of passes with the actors and I would play them back for him. We have a couch on the stage and he would lie on the couch. But for some reason, he decided to lie on the ground. So I went and got him some pillows and some blankets and I actually tucked him in on the stage and he laughed. He's said, 'Thank you, Michael, thank you.' So it was that kind of environment through the whole thing." Michael Miller speaks fondly of Lisa J. Levine. "Lisa came in and we talked maybe a week before the movie and she said, 'Look, we have a ton of stuff.' I prioritize it in three different sections. So what I did is, when I made the ADR sessions, I made a streamer in B track for A, B, and C so I can easily mute or tab each one if we need to go to that one. So instead of just having tons of streamers across the thing, I can just make it way easier for the actors. Lisa did a great job chop- ping the stuff together." B eing a production mixer, I am always curious about the microphone choices for ADR. We then proceeded to have a microphone geek-out session. I wondered if it's important to specify the microphone make and model on the production sound report. "I totally find that it's important. I used the [Schoeps] CMIT 5U on this film as well as the [Sennheiser] MKH60. And maybe I can ask you this … I mean, do you use a CMIT 5U a lot on production? My first experience using that mic fully was on this film. Now, DiCaprio and Alejandro smoke electronic cigarettes. So in between takes, they would "light up" and take a hit and I would look at my system and think 'What the hell is that?' And it's weird because with the [MKH] 60 and the 50, it doesn't pick up. I swapped out the mic to the 60 until we actually did the bear stuff and I went back to the 5 [Schoeps CMIT 5U]." The Schoeps CMIT 5U was most likely picking up the subtle RF energy from the e-cigarettes as these mics are more sensitive to environmental anomalies like that. "But the matching of the 60 and the 5 [CMIT 5U] are pretty close, so you can't really tell. I mean, I love my 60! I first used the 50 and a 60 when we did the first Transformers and Mike Hopkins brought it in. It just wouldn't clip! And I'm like, 'I love this mic' because there's so much yelling in Bay's films. The other mic I use is a COS-11. That's what I use for a lav mic. I don't like the wired COS-11. [I use] the ones with the [wireless] transmitter which [sounds] closer to production. It has a better round sound to it than an actual wired one. It just sounds better." I wondered how Michael got his start. "I'm originally from San Diego and they had this school called Trebas Institute of Recording Arts. I went there primar- ily for music. But as time progressed through the three-year private school, I got more interested in film. One of the first things I did is I re-did the whole beginning of The Godfather. Re-doing the voices and all that kind of got my interest in it. Then I had an internship over at Sony Music in the Publishing Department. I met some people there and they helped me through and I just started sending resumes out and got my first gig at International Recording in Burbank in the machine room. Then I switched over to Cinesound, which is no longer in Hollywood. But slowly, I came in on the weekends and started learning Foley and ADR and they threw me in the fire—and Revenant ADR mixer Michael Miller CAS Michael Miller setting up for ADR.