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100% ADR -- stupid idea, or pure genius?

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

The thought occurred to me that shooting a feature film without production sound, and using 100% ADR, might actually end up being less expensive. And, so long as I hire a good sound designer and foley artist, shouldn't it sound better, as well? Also, I could shoot wherever I want, without worry of sound (and it's worth noting that the next feature is a Road Trip movie, so we'll be spending a great deal of time in cars and on or near freeways).

Any potential pitfalls or downsides to doing it this way?

Thanks.
 
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cameronchapman said:
SAG minimum for the ultra-low-budget (under $200k) agreement is $100/day, so you'd actually be set there.
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130 after payroll and pension. That's also taxed money, plan to have a CPA deal with that. Which also increases the cost.

As for ADR: watch SPEED, guess how much was ADR'd.

I wouldn't advise doing it. Just get good audio from the get go or make a silent film.

You should be able to getgrea audio guys for 125-175 a day. Then again it's prolly different where you are.
 
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Awesome. More good info. Thanks, guys (and gal :))

Alcove, I have no idea if it will take me a few months to secure funding (I do have one possible lead), or if it might take years. Either way, I'll definitely send you an inquiry when I'm nearing preproduction. Cheers.
 
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I'm liking this ADR idea. I'm thinking for the ADR session you bring in DIFFERENT actors -- voice talent! It works for cartoons does it not? I like the idea more control of the film is put in the editing suite.

For this to pencil out, of course, you'd have to set up a ADR "studio" at home so you can experiment and test till you get it right. Renting time at a professional studio pretty much is a buzz kill for intentional ADR.

The best part is no one needs to know! During production, just pretend you're rigging up wireless mikes but actually use the on camera mike for the guide track. With the money you saved "breezing" through production, you can afford to hire voice talent.

Hmm . . .
 
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GuerrillaAngel said:
I'm liking this ADR idea. I'm thinking for the ADR session you bring in DIFFERENT actors -- voice talent! It works for cartoons does it not?
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With cartoons you do the "acting" to the prerecorded voices.

Your actors will not like the concept at all. It's okay with bit parts, but your lead actors, if they know in advance, will give lack-luster performances.


And, if you've never done ADR before, you have no idea of what you are getting yourself into.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
With cartoons you do the "acting" to the prerecorded voices.

Your actors will not like the concept at all. It's okay with bit parts, but your lead actors, if the know in advance, will give lack-luster performances.


And, if you've never done ADR before, you have no idea of what you are getting yourself into.
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I think Guerrilla was making a big, sarcastic joke. One that I appreciate, actually. Point taken. I'd be killing their performance. :)
 
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Alcove Audio said:
With cartoons you do the "acting" to the prerecorded voices.
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That is true, but like I said (and provided one gets plenty of coverage) you can edit to make it all match. It wont be easy, but editing is my forte.

Your actors will not like the concept at all. It's okay with bit parts, but your lead actors, if the know in advance, will give lack-luster performances.
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That's why I'm not telling! :)

And, if you've never done ADR before, you have no idea of what you are getting yourself into.
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I'm up to the challenge. There was a LOT of things I didn't know what I was getting into in this business, but I kept at it, learned and worked them all out.

cracker said:
I think Guerrilla was making a big, sarcastic joke. One that I appreciate, actually. Point taken. I'd be killing their performance.
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At first glance, it would seem to be a sarcastic joke, but you know, I can see this working on certain kind of projects . . .
 
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Oh, wait. You're not joking? That's even funnier. :lol:

If you're serious about having voice talent replace all the dialogue, I have to admit, I'd be curious to see how it pans out.

EDIT: Caught your edit -- yeah, I can envision it working, perhaps, on really small projects, particularly ones in which the cast is inexperienced, and maybe not the best in the world. But if you have real actors/actresses, wow, that would be a giant slap in the face to them.
 
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cameronchapman said:
You could also try it the way that Robert Rodriguez did for El Mariachi, and have them immediately do their ADR as soon as you stop filming each scene. Of course, that would mean either having to do a lot of back-and-forth to a studio or using some kind of portable sound booth, which could be problematic. :hmm:
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You could make a portable ADR studio on the cheap by renting a U-Haul truck and lining the back with egg crate and carpet. For cooling, you can stick a window unit AC into the roll up door while you're filming the actual scene and pull it out during ADR.
 
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Lucky Hardwood said:
You could make a portable ADR studio on the cheap by renting a U-Haul truck and lining the back with egg crate and carpet. For cooling, you can stick a window unit AC into the roll up door while you're filming the actual scene and pull it out during ADR.
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Not really for ADR, but I've used the simple interior of a car to record VO in the field. I used to have a Lexus, that thing was totally soundproof and nice acoustics.
 
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brianluce said:
I gotten that rate too and it did include a kit. They call it the "Indie Rate". The kit was decent too. No DR100/videomic stuff, real Sound Devices mixers etc.

Shamed to admit that I've paid day labors in the Home Depot parking lot nearly the same rate.
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Brian said it.

But, I'm also in LA so it's different. And, these are people I will pay more when I have more money and have paid more to do less work. It's a give and take thing.
 
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Voice Acting is very different (I know a few people who have done it); I imagine good ADR people would require the same skills. As a control freak, boy being able to control every aspect of the sound would be fantastic...were it not for the CRAZY amount of time involved.

Another crazy, impractical but possibly fun experiment; Reverse ADR. Record the dialogue first, like a cartoon, and have people act to it. I imagine the end results would be weird!

And speaking of dubbing different actors, my favorite example is one of my all time favorite AWFUL movies, "Virtual Combat". The main antagonist (the boss from a VR fighting game) was voiced by Michael Dorn. Nothing but awesome in the first half of the movie when he was wearing a mask, Vader style (actually, looked a lot like Vega from Street Fighter 2). But then he takes the mask off. The actor does not move his lips (having been informed he was to be dubbed) so he overacts in every way possible. It's fantastically bad!
 
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brianluce said:
I gotten that rate too and it did include a kit. They call it the "Indie Rate". The kit was decent too. No DR100/videomic stuff, real Sound Devices mixers etc.

Shamed to admit that I've paid day labors in the Home Depot parking lot nearly the same rate.
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All day long where I live as well. $150 a day will get you an operator who at least halfway knows what he's doing with lower end pro gear. Some twenty something trying to build his resume (and his skill level) to move up the food chain. Low paid work beats no work.
 
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