HSR|NY Handles ADR For AMC Zombie Drama "The Walking Dead"
hsr|ny recently worked on the automated dialogue replacement (ADR) for the first season of AMC’s hit zombie serial drama, The Walking Dead.
"The Walking Dead" premier was the most-watched in AMC history.
During these sessions, two of hsr|ny’s sound engineers — Bill Higley and A.J. Bartoletti — worked closely with many of the cast members to recreate dialog from some of the most emotionally-charged moments in the series.
hsr|ny’s Higley was recommended to The Walking Dead post producer Skip Schoolnik. “We did one section [of dialogue] and I was sold,” says Schoolnik. “He’s great technically and he’s great with talent. I was confident he would do a great job. He’s fantastic.”
Higley, a staff mixer with hsr|ny, along with his assistant, A.J. Bartoletti, felt the dramatic nature of The Walking Dead warranted a cinematic ADR treatment. “It was more like looping a feature than an episodic television show,” notes Higley. “We put a lot of time and care into it, because the actors involved were really great; they had to handle some pretty emotionally heavy scenes. We helped them get back into those scenes, which was not easy, as they did not have the benefit of being in the context of the set.”
Higley and Bartoletti worked separately with the actors, performing one-on-one coaching with each. Bartoletti kept track of the takes, highlighting the ones that were good, and moved the microphone around the soundstage as needed. He also worked to ensure that the overall environment was comfortable for everyone involved: the actors, Higley, Schoolnik, Lou Thomas, ADR supervisor, Walt Newman, sound supervisor for episodes 1 and 2 and Jerry Ross, sound supervisor for episodes 3 – 6.
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