In an autobiography of one of the “Little House on the Prairie” actresses claims all outdoor scenes were repeated indoors so the sound could be controlled and later dubbed-in. The explantion also included the fact there was a lot of “unauthentic noise” like generators to power the lighting, etc.
Is this the norm for all outdoor scenes for best sound quality? While a studio gives more control, it sure seems like a lot of work to dub it in correctly into every scene!
It’s called ADR aka “looping” and is quite common, to the point where it’s all in a day’s work for most actors. Even in-studio scenes can be looped – the best looking take might have missed the mark on the dialog.
All part of the magic of film-making, it mainly involves a lot of hard work.
It’s SOP for most Hollywood movies; nearly all dialog is added in post-production.
Unfortunately, most looped dialogue sounds like it was recorded in a soundbooth, because it was. They are starting to be able to adjust it digitally so that it matches closer, but it’s really difficult to re-create that open air quality.
Obviously they do this for animated films. But for The Fantastic Mr. Fox they went “on location” to record the voices. So they recorded outside, by a tree, if that’s what the scene called for.
Ah, no. Certainly not “nearly all dialog”, very very little dialog in fact. As little as possible because today’s audiences notice it and (rightly) find it distracting.
I’ve worked on a couple of independent films here in Indianapolis, and they always record ‘room sound’ for every scene filmed.
That recording is layered under the actors’ dialogue in post production. The end result marries room sound and re-recorded dialogue perfectly. I was there when the scenes were shot, and watching the end result after post production I’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between ‘wild’ dialogue and ‘post’ dialogue.
Undoubtedly Hollywood does the same thing on a far grander scale.
Have you ever used a non-professional video camera with cheap microphone to record your holidays in the 90s or early 2000s? Did you notice when watching the tape on your TV, how the sound of wind blowing masked everything else as constant, though you didn’t even remember it being very windy that day? And when you asked around how to cut that annoying noise out, the answer was “spend several hundred dollars for professional microphones (those fluffy ones used by pros) or better, record your sound inside”?
That’s why.
It’s hard to get good sound on location, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. ADR is much more common in movies than on TV shows where time is of the essence to pump out weekly episodes. A good sound mixer can work around (i.e. cut out) background noise, as long as key dialogue and other elements are crisp.
I got to sit in on a session once at a professional post-production house where they were cutting the sound for some TV cop show. It was interesting, because the sound that was recorded on location included gun blasts, and they kept the original sound from some of the guns but replaced others with stock sounds to make it sound better/fuller (including adding in little accents, like the sound of the shells hitting the pavement). The only spoken dialogue recorded on location was used as recorded. But it was recorded inside of a car, so that helped control background noise a little.
We call it “atmos.”
Thanks all for the inside look at pro audio, but one follow-up question: I believe it was said that “looping” is quite common - even for in-studio. Yet, the evening news sounds natural and not like “open mic” as my friends once kidded me for trying to tape things with just a plain ole tape recorder (which does sound very, very “atmos”). Why is it no problem for the evening news? Thats not shot in a non-echoic chamber, right?
Because they have body mics, aka radio mics, which are very sensitive to close-quarters audio, and almost entirely unable to pick up wider noises; unlike an old tape recorder from the 80s which would pick up everything indoors, outdoors, and three blocks away.
Also, sometimes boom mics are used, which are strictly directional, where you can point them at where the sound is originating, and they won’t pick up anything to the sides.
Lavalier mics are what they use for the news and talk shows. For an anchor behind a desk they’ll typically be hardwired so as to avoid the risk of interference. Talk show guests who need to walk on and off the stage will have radio lavs.
I’ve never heard of the word lavalier before. It seems to me to be like lanyard; too fancy a word for something so utilitarian.
What struck me on visits to outdoor film sets was the number of mirrors or spots they always had around to reflect light onto the action, even while shooting in bright sunlight. You would think that a bright sunny day would provide enough ambient light by itself to shoot a scene, but obviously not. For the actors, it must have been like working inside an incandescent bulb.
There’s plenty of light, but it’s not focused correctly. A bright noon sun, for instance, creates shadows on the face. The mirrors and other lights are to minimize those shadows.
I was an extra in some of the outdoor scenes in the not-very-good Zach Braff movie The Last Kiss, and they were recording dialogue during the shoot using microphones held over the actors’ heads. However, all of us extras were instructed to remain completely silent. We pretended to be talking, and the group I was with was mouthing realistic dialogue for the setting (e.g. “Hey, do you want to go get a drink?”), but all the background noise of people talking must have been dubbed in later.
I’ve always heard them called “lav mics” ever since I started working in video production.
Down here in the Southern Hemisphere, they’re known as either lapel mics, radio mics, or body mics.
Not all lavs are radio mics though. I have both a wireless system and a wired mic. The wired one may be more of a hassle to the talent, but I don’t have to worry about interference.
Back before they made mics small enough to attach to clothing with a clip, mics needed a string around the performers neck. I remember using them when I was a child ventriloquist.