It says that most of the lines actors speak in films are actually ADR (automatic dialog replacement), dubbed over their actual lines shot on camera.
Well, the rumor’s true – and if you shoot outside, and you’d better expect it. The more action/adventure involved, the more ADR necessary. Apocolypse Now was 80 to 90% ADR. Many of the spaghetti westerns were 100%.
I wrote about doing ADR a few years back, and the other day I was in the studio once again , doing it for my role in the film Saints and Sinners. In some ways, it’s a cinch to do it – your cadence never tends to deviate even months after shooting. But if you’re trying to match a heavy action sequence like a fight scene or improv, it’s a beast. Couple that with the fact you’re dealing with a series of audible beeps in your headphones that both cue you and distract at the same time, and it’s like trying to do Chinese trigonometry. For some reason though, I seem to be able and nail it in just a take or two. Who knew.
So yes, most of what you hear is actually recorded later in a studio. And if I inadvertently hocked a loogie on your movie-going experience, my deepest apologies.
