Final Project: Direction and Continuity

Blog #4 Field Trip - Museum of the Moving Image

During the trip I found many interesting displays relating to what we've learned in media production. One that stood out to me was the Automatic Dialog Replacement (ADR) demo booth. In this we were able to experience first hand the procedures of recording over the character's voices. Being in a group we had three volunteers take turns recording a line from the family movie, Babe. The automated studio played the dialog scene twice, allowing them to practice on the first one before recording on the second. When all three lines were done, the studio automatically handled the edit and created the full scenes with the actor's voices. We were amazed at how good the second actor sounded and laughed at the last dialog done by the third actor.

I left the booth with more knowledge about ADR. The movie we did in particular made me realize how impossible Babe would be without ADR. Can you imagine teaching the animals to read scripts? I also learned that there are many situations to use ADR, such as when the subject is conversing at a great distance, or when the subject is in a noise-polluted environment, or when the sound guy forgot the plug in the mic. It opened my eyes in just how often ADR is used in movies and TV shows we watch today and take for granted. Overall the trip was an enjoyable experience. If time wasn't an issue, I would've spent an afternoon at the arcade exhibit. Maybe next time!