Dialogue Editing

288 ADR
There’s another reason for sensible naming of regions. Computerized cue
sheet (rerecording log) programs name a string of regions (such as an ADR
line constructed from a number of manipulated regions) based on the name
of the fi rst region in the string. If the fi rst region, however short, bears a name
unrecognizable to humans, the cue sheets will faithfully use it for the entire
line. It is better to name the fi rst region something meaningful. (More on this
in Chapter 18.)
Group Loop
Not all postproduction dialogue recording involves principal characters.
Often you need to record the other voices in a scene, whether to enhance the
plot, to say more about a principal character, or to add mood and texture.
This process is called group loop, and it involves contracting voice actors and
a supervisor to study each relevant scene, come up with appropriate dialogue,
and record the result in a studio.
Group loop recordings can roughly be divided into three types:
Walla
Specifi c group loop
Callouts
Walla
Walla is the American term for the indistinct “buzz” created by a background
group (in the United Kingdom it’s sometimes called “rhubarb”). The classic
example is barroom chatter. Imagine your two main actors sitting at the bar
having a beer and discussing the meaning of life. Behind them, seen and
unseen, is a crowd of fellow drinkers doing whatever you do in a bar. During
the shoot, the extras are only mouthing their lines lest they interfere with the
principals’ dialogue, so aside from the words of principal actors in the foreground,
the raw scene is eerily quiet.
You’ve already looped any critical lines from the principals. What’s left is
to fi ll in the background and defi ne the mood—how big and rowdy the
crowd and perhaps some clues about class or region. For this, a group loop
supervisor will spot the scene with the supervising sound editor to fi nd out
what’s important in the background sound. Are there any critical plot issues
that need to be dealt with through off-camera commentary? Are our protagonists
noticed by the crowd? Are there comments? What’s the mood?
This process continues for all relevant scenes. The group loop supervisor