Automated Dialogue Replacement in Films

Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) is the process of re-recording dialogue, during post-production, in synchronization with the picture. This technique is widely used in the film industry, and it is recognized as an industry standard. The actors, recording engineer, and the sound editor are the important people in re-recording the dialogue. The actors will recreate their performance to match it to the film, and the recording engineer will recreate acoustic spaces so that the dialogue will sound like it was recorded in the proper environment, and not in a recording studio. The sound editor will choose the best parts of multiple takes and combine them together to create the finished clip. The development of ADR was created during the 1930s when film studios were converting from silent to sound films. The two techniques that are used for recording dialogue are audio and visual looping. Looping is the process of watching a scene on repeat, while the actors re-do the audio in the scene. Both techniques are used to record different types of dialogue including human background audio.

At the beginning of the sound era during the 1930s, there was no technology for recording sound separately from the film. This greatly restricted the camera placement and angles, ruining the stylistic approach of silent films from the 1920s. When dialogue replacement was first being used, each line had to be rerecorded using film that would play in a loop. This was called looping. By the late 1930s, most of the audio in films was done post-production, freeing up the directors from the audio restrictions. Today, computers loop the sections of the film, hence the name automated dialogue replacement. James G. Stewart was a pioneer in the field of sound recording and re-recording. From 1933 to 1945, he worked in post-production as Chief Re-recording mixer at RKO Pictures. During this period, Stewart collaborated with Director Orsen Welles, "Both Welles and Stewart had tremendous insight into the creative use of narrative sound, and these films demonstrated the spectacular heights to which the cinematic arts can be taken." Throughout their time together, Stewart worked closely with Welles on Citizen Kane, ranked as one of the greatest films ever made, and The Magnificent Ambersons, which is also highly regarded. James G. Stewart spoke about working on the post-production of The Magnificent Ambersons with Welles:

It is all right technically, but it is no good from the standpoint of realism. I don't feel that the people are in the automobile. There's no sense of movement in their voices; they're not responding to the movements of the car. The voices are much too static.

So, I went back to the recording stage and redid all of the lines. This time they were done with the actor or actress and I seated on a twelve-inch plank suspended between saw-horses. As we watched the picture, I simulated the movement of the car by bouncing the performer and myself up and down on the plank.

This quotation from Stewart describes how much detail is put in to make sure that the audio being recorded sounds authentic. The work of Stewart and Welles is widely admired. The creation of post-production audio as a way to free up directors from the restrictions of early sound films has evolved into two techniques we still use today, audio and visual looping.

ADR is recorded using one of two techniques, audio looping, and visual looping. Audio looping is when an actor will deliver their performance matching their original audio, and visual looping is when an actor watches a scene on a loop while syncing their audio to match the scene. ADR is used to replace dialogue from scenes where the dialogue was unclear, due to the ambient noise of the environment being too high, equipment malfunctions or poor dialogue in the initial filming. It also has the ability to salvage scenes that would; otherwise, be unusable. Hollywood films can have between 30 percent to 70 percent ADR dialogue in them. While re-recording dialogue, actors have to not only sync the dialogue with the scene but also have to match the same intensities and rhythms done in the initial recording, making it difficult to do. Singing is often replaced using ADR. Actors will do their own singing while filming, but it will later be re-recorded if the singing was unsatisfactory. ADR is also sometimes used for creative purposes. Actor Marlon Brando is said to have mumbled his lines so the producers would have to ADR his scenes. This gave him the opportunity to craft his performance around the context of the rough cut of the film. Authenticity is key when re-recording dialogue because if it is not recorded right you can tell that it has been recorded inside a studio. This is why the recording engineers will recreate acoustic spaces for the recordings. There is a lot of time and effort put into making the dialogue clear and true to the scene, making ADR is an important, but often overlooked, part of making a good movie.

Another use for ADR is the recording of human background audio. Human background audio is different from sound effects because it only deals with human background sound. The first use of this was in the movie Jaws. Before this, extras in scenes would be miming while filming, and pre-existing crowd audio would be put in afterward from sound libraries. This allows for clear recordings of the primary actors. But the director of Jaws, Steven Spielberg, wanted to have more believable background sound. So, Carl Gottlieb, the co-writer of Jaws, hired improve actors to create background audio to form an authentic foundation for the setting in New York. The actors that were hired did New England accents and recorded a variety of different conversations and sounds. This created the new profession of human background sound acting, that is now an industry standard. Sound actors, or loopers, are mostly doing improve, but are given direction for what they are doing in the scene. These directions are referred to as, “What's my motivation?” Loopers will be given prompts for a wide variety of different situations and conversations. Commonly, loopers will voice paramedics in scenes; therefore, they have to know the information and have it on the tip of their tongue. Loopers will do a great deal of research for this reason. Along with speaking, loopers also have to be able to do non-verbal communication. These include grunts, groans, sighs, breath, sniffles, etc. Although these things are small, they can greatly change the feel of the scene. Another challenge for loopers, is they have to be interesting, but not so interesting as to draw focus from what is actually going on in the scene. If they are doing improve, going negative is not preferred. If loopers go negatively, they could begin to draw too much attention to what they are talking about in the background, because the tone is always going to come through. Without all of these different factors that go into human background sound, the scenes can be lifeless, This small post-production detail can greatly affect movie ambiance, making the films more immersive.

Human background sound and ADR can greatly affect movie ambiance and can even act in place of a score, which is original music that is written to accompany a film. Human background sound can be used in the same way. It creates a more subliminal feeling than a typical movie score would, because a score manipulates emotions with the tones and keys of the music, and it greatly affects how scenes are viewed. However, if looping is used instead of a score, emotions can be controlled subconsciously. Director David Simon uses looping in place of a score in everything he makes. He even goes as far as to script the dialogue that is recorded. Different feelings can be created using this technique. The feeling of danger is portrayed by putting an argument close by, while the feeling of loneliness and isolation can be created by a group having fun close by. Silence itself can also very powerful in a scene. Contrasts are created by using silence, “Loudness needs silence and silence needs loudness to have any impact.” There is a scene in the movie Goodfellas, where people are drawn into the conversational silence, but background noise is still present. This creates a very awkward feeling for the audience, who can feel the tension between the characters. These creative uses of ADR add more depth to scenes, which enhance what the audience is viewing.

The development of ADR in the 1930s, is responsible for creating the intricate art form we enjoy today. The techniques used for recording the dialogue, audio, and visual looping, allow for many different types of dialogue to be recorded. ADR has the ability to not only salvage and correct footage but also to enhance what the audience is watching, making it more immersive.