In Desperate Need of ADR Help :,(

Consider this a valuable lesson of taking production sound for narrative projects seriously, for when you enter the "real world". Not only will ADR cost you more in the long run, but your actors may not be able to recreate the original raw performances.

ADR sessions consist of two components:

  • A method for actors to review (watch and listen) to the raw scene/take multiple times before they try to mimic the original performance.

  • A method of recording the lines in a neutral area that mimics the mic choice, mic position, and location of the original scene.

Your recording space doesn't need to be "soundproof", but controlled enough to isolate your actor's dialogue from surrounding ambient noise and reflective surfaces. Closets or other small spaces work well for this reason. If your scene took place outdoors, you could try revisiting the same or similar location and record wild lines there.

In your editing software, loop the playback of the line you want to replace so the actor can watch and listen to get into the groove. Or watch individual clips on a tablet etc. Record their lines on a separate device, and then in your edit, manually replace the original line with the ADR line. Don't forget to apply a bed of room tone or ambience tracks underneath the dialogue, so that you don't hear gaps of silence between every line.

If there's a silver lining: because all of your original production dialogue is unusable, at least all of your ADR may be consistent throughout your thesis. It won't be perfect, it will be a huge undertaking depending on your final cut length, but ultimately, this is a student project and will be worth the experience.

/r/Filmmakers Thread