I've been on an ADR kick lately, hence another post about the subject.
Here are some tips and tricks for accomplishing ADR as successfully as possible (email me any additional ideas or corrections: matthew@matthewfreed.com):
*Pick one of two locations for the actor to be in: a completely quiet, acoustically treated VO booth/room OR a location/room that mimics the space they were in originally. I'm actually a big fan of the latter of these two because the space and sound will closely match the original recording. Plus, the actor will probably feel less stifled in a natural space like a kitchen or living room than a voice over booth. Whichever option you go with will depend on where the original location was, the reason for doing the ADR, and your ability to set up a mobile ADR rig (video monitor, audio playback and recording, etc).
*If possible, use the same microphone for ADR that was used on location. This is important if you're trying to cut ADR with location sound within the same scene. So, if on location they were using a TRAM lav in conjunction with a Sennheiser 416 shotgun mic it would work best to have those two mics for the ADR session. It will help match the sound of the actor to the rest of the movie.
*Be sure the actor is re-acting their lines, not just mechanically reading them. The recording/mixing engineer can make the new audio fit the lip movements but one thing we can't do is create an emotion that wasn't delivered! If the actor was sobbing while delivering lines originally they need to be sobbing while doing the ADR. If the actor was applying lip stick and their lips were pursed originally then they should be doing the same thing during ADR.
*Be sure the actor can both see and hear the original video and dialog. Visual and audible cues will help them with timing and emotion.
*Be sure everyone who needs to make a creative or technical decision can see and hear the playback. This involves the recording engineer, director, talent, and any other decision maker seeing and hearing the playback and recording.
*Make sure the actor is comfortable and takes breaks when needed/wanted. Repeating lines over and over to match emotion, pitch, timing, and all the other nuances can take a lot out of a person. Remember that while you, the director or recording engineer, are sitting in your comfy chair sipping your latte the actor is putting themself back in the space and time of the original scene.
*Know when to say enough is enough. If the actors voice is stretched thin because you've been doing ADR for 8 hours straight, call it a day and come back when their voice is stronger. If the actor just can't get the right emotion in the ADR session and the production dialog isn't too bad, perhaps it's best to live with the negatives of the location sound. The performance is ultimately what matters most.
*Have a cue sheet and ADR script. You want everyone on the same page, literally. Your ADR script should include all the dialog that was actually spoken and any additions that are to be made. Frequently actors stray from the original script to some degree so you do not want to use what should have been but rather use what was said. Also, write down have time code markers by each line of dialog so you can easily and quickly jump to the next line.
*Get a grab-bag of sounds. These are all of the little grunts, groans, slow breathing, fast breathing, mouth breathing, nose breathing, sighs, frustrations, screams, lip smacking, and any other sound that a person makes.
