Guest post: Eric Rigney
Test. Test. Test, One, Two. Two.
Is virtual production listening?
Eric Rigney on the set of FATHEAD
With the release of the 2nd White Paper from the Entertainment Technology Center @ USC concerning audio recording in Virtual Production volumes, we asked co-author Eric Rigney to put down some thoughts to introduce the concepts of audio in Virtual Production:
Virtual production (VP) is a fast growing technological development in feature filmmaking and scripted television. VP exists in several forms: green screen, augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR), in-camera visual effects (ICVFX), and hybrids. I teach them all at the Mo-Sys VP Academy in Los Angeles. Of all the VP forms, ICVFX executed on volume stages with tall, encircling walls and ceilings of flat, hard LED panels creates a combination acoustic echo chamber and parabolic microphone effect. A clap of the hands center or in front of a volume stage tells any ear how difficult a production sound recordist/mixer’s job will be. Thus, while the industry focuses on image quality capable of reducing post VFX (final pixel), camera set ups, and location shoots, sound recording quality is egregious left out of the picture. With every challenge comes opportunity, so I took this opportunity to focus on what I dub “final sample,” capturing and carrying original dialog performances through to final sound mix, minimizing use of automated dialog replacement (ADR), striving toward zero-ADR (ZADR).
With great affection and appreciation for the storytelling craft and audience impact of Hollywood sound, from actor performance to final mix, I took on the challenge of understanding the acoustically hostile environment created by volume stage builders. With support and access provided by the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts’ Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), interviews of sound professionals from acoustic architects to Hollywood’s sound elites, and assistance from VisiSonic’s sophisticated acoustic camera and its Ph.D. developers, I demonstrate the physics of what occurs to sound in an ICVFX volume stage and share how to mitigate unwanted reverberation and noise, achieving ‘final sample.’
Directors and actors collaborate to create a specific and forever unique performance. The emotions within an actor’s voice can deliver a powerful connective impact to audiences. “What about foreign dubs, that’s not the original performance dialog and movies still sell globally?” In response, listen to the original dialog performance of a foreign language feature and experience how much more impactful the performance feels. Lack of fluency in a foreign language does not preclude one from feeling the subtle but profound human emotion expressed in a performance. That said, for foreign dubs, a given performance provides an essential emotive guide for foreign voice actors. For productions or scenes where the capturing of a director/actor’s collaborative performance is acoustically disposable, original performance is but a placeholder for post production sound techniques. In a world of deep-fakes, maybe original dialog performances don’t matter, . . . but, for me, they do. In a recent industry association convention discussing the challenges of virtual production, of the 48 panels presenting, only mine discussed sound. To see and hear some of what I’ve learned about preserving original performance dialog in a volume stage, visit www.finalsample.com.
