A definition by Pressure Cooker Studios
Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) is a common tool used in audio post-production, and one of the least understood. At least 25% of a full narrative project usually requires ADR. And when done properly, nobody ever notices it was there at all.
We sat down with Kyle Koekemoer, our Head of Audio, who has close to eight years’ experience, to talk about what it actually is, how we approach it, and why so many productions still dread it.
What Is ADR?
“ADR in its purest form, is replacing or adding dialogue to a production to better enhance the clarity or performance,” Kyle explains. “We get the actor to come into the studio, and they reperform the required lines in sync to picture.”
Sometimes ADR is needed from a creative perspective. For example a storyline shifts direction, or a name changes or a line was mispronounced. Sometimes it’s technical: a set is noisy (think of a period drama shooting next to a highway, with trucks that have no business existing in the 1600’s). Or a scene filmed next to a waterfall, where the dialogue simply isn’t clean enough to use. And sometimes it’s regulatory: broadcasters need what the industry calls “TV lines”, a swapped word or two so that a film fits the swearing quota for a PG-13 cut or an in-flight edit for example.
“The aim is to make it unknown to the viewer that it was actually recorded afterwards,” Kyle says. “The skill is in what you do to it, to make it live authentically in that world.”
How Does Pressure Cooker Studios Make ADR Sound Natural?
The technical work is where a lot of the craft lives. Getting a re-recorded line to disappear into a scene means rebuilding the environment it was never recorded in, like the reverb of a cave, the tightness of a car, the echo of a church.
“We use different plugins and processing to make it sound like it wasn’t recorded in a booth,” Kyle explains. “If the original scene was recorded in a big warehouse, you’ve got to make it sound like it was recorded in that warehouse.” That even extends to matching the original microphones. Our audio team will contact the sound mixer from the set and ask exactly what was used on the shoot, then match it as closely as we can.
How Do Actors and Audio Engineers Prepare for ADR Sessions?
Kyle is candid about the reputation ADR has in the industry. “A lot of directors try to refrain from doing ADR, because a lot of people in South Africa don’t know how to do it correctly,” he says.
For Kyle, closing that gap comes down to two things: timing and trust. Actors are brought in as early as possible, sometimes while a production is still shooting later episodes, and the scene is always played back before they record. For many actors, it may even be the first time they’ve seen their own performance. The director is usually in the room too, resetting the emotional context and guiding the performance.
Actors, Kyle points out, tend to be remarkably good at matching their own performances and speech patterns from set.
But sometimes matching the original actor isn’t the goal at all. Kyle is currently finishing a series where the original performance was recorded in a Russian accent, but wanted it changed to a French accent, to enhance the updated storyline. That calls for a different actor altogether, which then becomes a process far closer to dubbing than ADR. Except the new performance still has to lock to the same lips, the same beats, the same face on screen.
“You’re basically just trying to make things sound better, and trying to stay true to the story,” Kyle says. “If you can make the Actor or Director feel, when they walk out, that the film was better after they did the ADR. Then that’s the goal. And that’s what we’ve achieved.”
Is ADR Used in Commercials Too?
ADR isn’t only a narrative tool, some commercials use it too, though more sparingly. A line or two rather than a large section of a script, usually to fix a technical issue or adjust an off-screen read. As branded content leans further into storytelling and on-screen performance, Kyle is seeing it come up more often in longer-form branded work as well.
Whatever the project, the principle doesn’t change: Get the Actor comfortable, protect the performance, and use the studio to make sure nobody watching ever second guesses if ADR was used at all.
ADR FAQ
Is ADR the same as dubbing?
They are similar but different. ADR involves using the original actor to re-record their own performance in the original language. Dubbing is the process where another voice artist performs dialogue in another language for international audiences.
Whatever the project, the principle doesn’t change: Get the Actor comfortable, protect the performance, and use the studio to make sure nobody watching ever second guesses if ADR was used at all.
Why do actors need to redo dialogue in a studio?
There are two main reasons. Technical (the set was too noisy, microphone malfunction) and creative (additional or changed lines for better storytelling, accent correction or change).
Whatever the project, the principle doesn’t change: Get the Actor comfortable, protect the performance, and use the studio to make sure nobody watching ever second guesses if ADR was used at all.
How long does an ADR session take?
This depends entirely on the actor’s ability to perform the ADR as well as the session’s requirements. Typically an actor is booked for a minimum of 30 minutes to allow time to review the scenes and perform the lines, but sessions can take as long as 6 hours.
Can ADR sessions be done remotely?
Absolutely, most of the time we do an ADR session one of the parties is remote. Sometimes the actor is in the recording booth at Pressure Cooker Studios with the Director joining remotely, or the other way around.
Read more about our remote sessions here.