Emma Butt Sound – Dubbing Mixer, ADR Recordist, Sound Editor Interview

Emma Butt, ADR Recordist

Emma Butt Is an Ireland-born, London-based sound expert with a prolific career post-production sound, working on huge titles throughout her career including Game of Thrones & Dr Who.

We got the chance to sit down and chat with Emma to discuss her work in post-production, as well as her advocacy in diversity – with some great stories and tips throughout.

JJ: Hi Emma! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me this morning. What are you working on at the moment?

Emma Butt: No worries! I’ve just finished a four-part ITV drama. It’s been really interesting, but also really tough because our schedule has been so tight. This is my final week, so it is the last scramble to get everything done, and hope it’s all okay!

JJ: Are you doing the ADR on those, or are you doing the sound editing or is it a combination of both?

EB: It depends on the job. A lot of the time I’ll do all of the sound post-production if it’s a factual or entertainment show. Sometimes though if a post house is employing me, they might ask me to do one element of sound post, instead of all three.

JJ: So it’s really varied then, right?

EB: Yeah, no two days are the same because I have different skill sets, and I don’t stick with one genre. I go from factual to drama, to entertainment, to recording video game voices. And I do audiobooks as well, so it’s constant change!

JJ: What parts of your role do you find to be the most rewarding?

EB: For me, it is seeing the clients happy at the end of a final mix because, most of the time, they’ve been doing the show for quite a long period. Sound is always the final piece of the puzzle where it all comes to life before it is released into the world. The client might be having trouble letting go because they know that this is the final step and they just don’t want to!  So to see a client leave the sound studio happy, satisfied and proud of this project that they’ve worked so hard on – that’s the most rewarding part.

JJ: It must be so nice working with certain directors or producers who know how important the sound is

EB: Sometimes it’s even more rewarding when they haven’t considered sound when they’ve been on set – they’ve kind of forgotten about it as they focus on the visuals, and then they come in with a project that has a lot of issues that you need to correct.

If you’re on a low-budget project, It can be really tricky if they haven’t considered the sound properly on set, making sure that their dialogue is clear by the time they get to post-production. Sometimes our hands can be tied.  Repair tools like RX help a lot, But sometimes that’s not even enough. So those moments where you’re able to actually rescue that audio, they’re really rewarding as well. The relief from the director is just amazing to see.

JJ: What are the main issues that you deal with as an ADR specialist?

EB: Usually they haven’t used two mics – That’s a big one. They’ve only used a boom, but they’ll only have used a boom on outdoor scenes. So it is capturing noise – traffic, building work – Anything. It gets picked up along with the dialogue. If they need that line of dialogue a little bit louder, you’re not just raising the level of the dialogue, you’re also raising all of the noise behind it. So if they’ve not used a clip mic, you’re in trouble!

Another is not considering the placement of generators. The best production sound mixers will walk around the set and they’ll see where generators are, where lights are being placed, where catering trucks are being placed, and if any of them are going to be too close to the set or they’re going to cause any noise on the mics, they’ll go and they’ll speak to the heads of those different departments and say, look, is there any way that we can move this just a few feet away? That way, we get a cleaner sound recording.

Oh and another one!  If people are shooting a scene in a car, the car isn’t running, it is being pulled along, But sometimes keys get left in the ignition even though the car isn’t on. But the problem is, keys rattle! you can’t see them, they’re not going to be in the shot, they don’t need to be there – just take the keys out! (laughs)

That was a really interesting project to work on. It was a young cast and most of them hadn’t done something that big before. It was just such a lovely experience working with such new talents that were eager to do it.

Emma Butt

JJ: I would never have thought about that – this is an eye-opening conversation in so many ways! (laughs). So you’ve worked on a lot of projects – is there a particular project you’ve enjoyed working on the most out of everything?

EB: Game of Thrones is obviously the big one because it really helped my career. It was exciting because it was massive, and I always saw scenes and episodes well in advance and that was fun, but the project that I’m most proud of is a little Irish project that not many people have seen outside of Ireland, called What Richard Did, by Lenny Abrahamson, who directed Room starring Brie Larson. He is one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with – super talented, really down-to-earth, just a really lovely guy. 

What Richard Did, of which Emma Butt was on the sound team

That was a really interesting project to work on. It was a young cast and most of them hadn’t done something that big before. They were coming in for ADR and they hadn’t done it before and they were all incredible. It was just such a lovely experience working with such new talents that were eager to do it.

We quickly got the police called…But we got to use that recording in the actual film, which I thought was incredible. That’s probably one that I’m really proud of!

JJ: How do you prepare actors to re-deliver their lines?

EB: ADR is primarily about psychology – getting the actor back into the headspace that they were in when they were on set and getting them relaxed and getting them comfortable and trying to make the experience as relaxed as possible.

The What Richard Did cast just came in with this enthusiastic attitude and they gave really great performances. There was a scene at a house party, but some of it took place outdoors when a fight breaks out. I was working in Dublin at the time and at ADR studio led out into the car park. So we ran the cables out into the car park, set up the microphones, and got this group of ten teenagers to stand in the car park and scream and shout as if they were watching this fight.

We quickly got the police called by the neighbours because they thought it was an actual fight! But we got to use that recording in the actual film, which I thought was incredible. That’s probably one that I’m really proud of!

And I guess the other one is probably Doctor Who. Jodie (Whittaker) came in, and the first time I worked with her, she was the one who was playing Doctor Who at the time. I was the first woman in sound that she had ever worked with, and that’s not uncommon for me to hear. Jodie was incredible. We had a really good flow and we worked really well together. She went to production after the first session and said, “I only want her to do my ADR from now on.”

JJ: Wow, that’s amazing!

EB: Yeah. She was really good. She wanted to be sure that diversity was happening on set, and that was just incredible.  I didn’t end up getting to do every session, but the fact that someone spoke up and tried to push women forward and push myself forward on that job was just incredible. So, yeah, that was another one that was really proud of!

JJ: Do you tend to be selective about what projects you get to work on?

EB: When I started, no. Whatever work came in, I would do. Now, because the industry is so busy and there’s so much content being made, I can be a little more selective. Over the last year, I’ve taken a step back from recording ADR, primarily because of COVID. I didn’t want to record ADR remotely.

JJ: What issues does remote ADR present for you?

EB: By doing ADR  remotely, you lose so much of the interaction with people – it’s harder to read body language and gauge how the actor is feeling. But also, because I’m known as an ADR recordist, I feel like I need to take a step back to focus on my other roles, as I don’t want to be pigeonholed.

JJ: Ahh I see, that makes a lot of sense.

EB: Yeah, whereas now, I’m in a nice position where I can go between a few different things. So I do try and pick and choose and keep it varied, and also you learn how to do things in different ways for each skill set depending on the genre. You have to tackle problems in different ways and find different solutions – it makes you a better soundie.

For example, with drama, it is generally well recorded, they’ve had a professional on set and if an actor has fluffed up a take, you have alternate takes to work from. Whereas if you’re doing a documentary, you have one take, and if the contributor has fluffed up the line or if there’s a noise in the background, you don’t have the luxury of using an alt. You have to find creative ways of making that take work.

If you’re doing a documentary, you have one take…you don’t have the luxury of using an alt. You have to find creative ways of making that take work.

Emma Butt

JJ: So as well as having such varied sound roles, you are also advocating for diversity. I had read your report on diversity in post-production. It was such an eye-opener.

EB: It is a big problem that needs to be addressed: Post houses who hire both in-house and freelancers – they need to diversify their hires. Some post houses actively make sure that their teams are as equal and diverse and inclusive as possible but there just needs to be much more of them.

There were lots of promises to address diversity in crews; some promised to invest millions in inclusion, but there are no changes as of yet.

Emma Butt

JJ: It is so important to make sure what is behind the screen is a good representation of what is on screen. The Tweet thread that you re-posted from Marcus Ryder explains this so well, too. [LINK]

EB: Me and Marcus had followed each other on Twitter for quite a long time. He reached out to me and asked what I was planning to do, which was doing the research independently. He’s a visiting professor at the University of Birmingham and Head of external Coonsultancies for the Sir Lenny Henry Center for Media Diversity. He also does his own work in diversity and inclusion across the industry, too. He is also a former producer so he knows the industry well.

JJ: It is very eye-opening. Have you noticed much change or development towards fixing this problem?

EB: If anything, the industry has gone backwards. There were lots of promises to address diversity in crews; some promised to invest millions in inclusion, but there are no changes as of yet. But there are easy ways to address it. When commissioning a show, you can say, “okay, we’re commissioning it, but you have to assign part of your budget to an audio assistant, specifically from a black or ethnic minority background, a woman, or an underrepresented group.”

We’re still not even getting funding for training and progression, which is another issue. When a production gets made in the UK, contributions are paid into a skills fund which is meant to be used to create new training and career opportunities – but none of it comes to sound. 

So if they’re not even funding post-production departments to help progression with diversity and inclusion, then nothing will change. It’s just a constant battle!

JJ: Well Your advocacy is inspiring and we will just have to remain optimistic for now! Emma, thank you for chatting with me today.

EB: No problem – thank you for inviting me!

You can read more about Emma Butt, her career, and her work in diversity and inclusion at:

https://www.emmabuttsound.com/ – Emma Butt Website

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3546318/ – Emma Butt IMDB

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