Ahhh, the infamous line that is uttered in such ignorance on so many film sets: "We'll fix it in post."
What is it you hope to fix in post? How do you plan on accomplishing it? Can it be fixed in post? At what cost? Will the actors be able to re-perform their dialog in a believable way? And, worst case scenario, will the actor be available and alive?
Two projects come to mind on the last point. I did post-production audio for a project where one actress lived in London and the other actress lived in LA; neither were available in a cost effective way for doing ADR even though it was badly needed for two scenes. Another project I did both the location audio and the post production audio and an elderly actress actually passed away while the movie was being edited. I recorded her dialog with the finished product in mind knowing it would be impossible to re-do any of her parts simply because of her fragility and age; ADR was not an option or needed. The point being, you don't know the future and where your actors will be once it is time for post production audio.
ADR and looping are the same thing. It is the process of recording the actor's dialog, breathing, and mouth noises in a controlled environment for the purpose of replacing the production dialog.
ADR has it's advantages and disadvantages. Let's look at some of the Pros and Cons of this process:
-PRO: It allows a second shot at what is said and how it's said. Dialog can be changed, tweaked, and even re-written depending on what is seen on camera.
-PRO: It allows for the visual side of the movie (the other half) to get a shot at a location that might otherwise pose a problem. Times Square in New York, on a freeway overpass with heavy traffic below, the end of a runway at Reagan National Airport, etc.
-PRO: Can fix problems with mic placement on location. Clothing rustle on lavs or a shotgun mic being too far away might not provide clean enough dialog so ADR can correct that issue.
-PRO: It can allow the director to give audible cues during an action sequence or an otherwise tricky scene. Now, this isn't a free pass for anyone to just babble away during a shot because "Quiet on set" means exactly that. Audible cues are only to be used when no other option is available.
-CON: It requires the actor to reproduce their performance and match lip movements. The actor can't just get close, they have to be exact! Not all actors have the ability to re-act a particular part. The emotions may be different or they may not match the timing. Either thing poses a problem.
-CON: ADR can feel unnatural to the viewer because the spacial perspective may not be accurate. This particular issue is up to your ADR recording engineer to get the mic placement appropriate for the lines being worked on.
-CON: When replacing the dialog ALL of the other sound for that scene or shot must be replaced as well. This means Foley, room tone, and anything else that goes in to the environment. You can't just replace the dialog without rebuilding the audio for the scene. This can become a time and cost intensive procedure.
So, next time someone on set utters "We'll fix it in post" weigh out the cost and time involved in that "fix." If your sound team is asking for a couple minutes to fix a microphone because your actor decided to wrestle with the dog and knock their lav mic loose or the G&E department didn't baffle a generator, or to solve any other problem on set in order to get good, clean audio, LISTEN TO THEM! It WILL save you time and money in the long run. ADR is an extremely useful tool and has its place but it is not a cure-all for dialog problems. It is typically cheaper, faster, and better to simply take the time on set to fix a minor issue rather than "fixing it in post."
