{Audio post: Ghost Dog ADR}

Today we're going to start working on a project that involves two of the areas of audio post-production that we have been discussing: ADR and scoring. In addition, we're going to use some mixing techniques to give the piece an interesting and (hopefully) believable flow.

First, let's watch the clip we're going to be working with. This is a scene from the 1999 movie, Ghost Dog, directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Forest Whitaker. Check it out:

What are the main sound elements we can hear in this scene?
What kind of mood is the music creating?
What do we notice about the volume levels throughout the scene?
Is there anything about the dialog that you think might be challenging?

So, you are now going to work with this clip and replace all the sound with your own...

Part 1 - Preparing the Session

Please do the following:

1. Look in Shared Media>Class Materials>Film clips and find the file called: Ghost Dog_RZA.mp4
   
2. Copy the file to your computer.
   
3. Pick a partner.
   
4. One of you needs to create an Empty Pro Tools session called: Ghost Dog ADR
   
5. In the session, create 3 Mono Audio tracks.
6. Label one audio track: Ghost Dog
7. Label the other audio track: Samurai
8. Label the 3rd track: TB
9. Import the video into your project.
10. Play it back and listen carefully for the part where the Samurai in Camouflage (the RZA) starts speaking. Drop a marker exactly at this point. Name it: RZA
11. Save this session and quit out of Pro Tools.
12. Put a copy of the Pro Tools session in your folder on the Shared Media drive.

Part 2 - Recording ADR
You are going to work with a partner to record the ADR for this scene. You will play one character and he will play the other. You will take turns engineering and preforming the lines. Here is the dialog:

Samurai in Camouflage: Ghost Dog, power, equality.
Ghost Dog: Always see everything, my brother.

Please do the following:

1. On the Instructor Station, copy your Ghost Dog ADR Pro Tools session to the folder called Student PT Sessions on the desktop.
2. Open the session.
3. Check your Mic Inputs and make sure they match this setup:
4. Decide which one of you is going to play Ghost Dog, and which one is going to play the Samurai.
5. Have the first person go in the vocal booth, and the other person set recording levels.
6. Make sure that the video clip is big enough and the monitor is angled so that the performer to see the lips of the characters.
7. Do a few practice run-throughs and decide if you want to record while listening to the original audio, or if the track should be muted.
8. Record!
9. If you get a take that you think is good, but you want to try another one, create a new Playlist by clicking on the little triangle next to the track name, and then clicking on New.
10. When it asks for a name for the Playlist just click OK.
11. Record as many times and create as many playlists as you need to get a good take.
12. Switch positions with your partner and repeat Steps 5-11 for the other character.
13. When you think you're done, SAVE the session.
14. Put a copy of the session in your folder on the Shared Media folder.
15. Go back to your desks and copy the PT Session to each of your computers.
16. Open the session and pick the best playlists for each character.
17. Do some basic editing to clean up the audio (trim the edges, fade ins/outs, etc.)