PRODUCER'S NOTEBOOK

The Fourth Column: "Notes"

In the previous posts, I explained how to read the first three columns of an ADR script. Now we continue with the fourth column, “Notes”. This gives the actors direction, or explains something about the dialogue. The technical terminology is very specific to ADR scripts and you’ve probably never seen it before. 

During an action scene you might see the following:

Below are the most common technical terms and what they mean:

CHEAT

You are “cheating” the synch; the mouth movements are not going to match the dialogue no matter how many times you try. This would never have happened when I started in the business. Synch drove the scripts, even if when it created lousy dialogue. But that was back when foreign companies were thrilled to get any kind of American distribution for their product. Once those deals were made, the distributor simply disappeared.

Nowadays, the original distributor or licensor is a big part of the re-versioning process and the original manga (Japanese comic book) often drives the scripts. So if a character had a call-out or spell that was established in the manga, then it is important to get that in the translated versions as well. Synch is not as important as content. Sometimes the call-outs or names remain in Japanese. Sometimes they get a very literal translation to English with interesting results.

On a more technical note, sometimes the mouth movements are just animated poorly and synch is impossible. “Cheat” tells the actor and director that they’re never going to nail the synch, but say the line anyway. It also tells them the writer isn’t lazy or just incompetent.

CT – “clenched teeth”

The dialogue is spoken through clenched teeth. Imagine Clint Eastwood saying… anything. This is sometimes paired with a “Angry” as a parenthetical in the Dialogue column.

FLASHBACK

Everybody knows what a flashback is: a scene from the past usually seen through a nice, hazy filter.  But in anime, a flashback doesn’t necessarily mean that the footage has been previously recorded. If it has, you will see the term “pull” or “reprint” somewhere in the notes. If a flashback needs to be recorded because it is new footage, you will see a note to that same effect.

GOES OFF

The dialogue starts on-screen and then goes off-screen. It does not mean the character “goes off” as is “goes out of control”.

GOES OVER CUT

The dialogue extends over a video edit, usually without a distinct pause. For whatever reason, this doesn’t happen too often in Japanese animation. Most loops take place inside a single edit.

MBS – “mouth barely seen”

Whether a result of a strange angle, poor animation or the character being in the distance, the mouth movements are difficult to see clearly.

MNS – “mouth not seen”

This means some part – any part – of the character is on screen, but not his mouth while he is speaking. This can be a little tricky because sometimes it won’t be immediately obvious. For example, even if only the tip of the character’s shoe is seen, it is still MNS.

NIOJ – “not in original Japanese”

This dialogue was not in the original Japanese version but you might want to add it for clarity. Anime flashbacks, for example, sometimes do not include the original dialogue. American audiences are not used to seeing mouths moving in silence. The writer might include the flashback dialogue, just in case. 

NO SYNCH

Dialogue will not synch to any mouth movement, but say the line anyway. This is different than a “Cheat” because there was no effort in the original Japanese animation to synch the line either. This happens a lot when characters are belting their call-outs. In DIGIMON, for example, during each transformation sequence, the character announces his new name but there is rarely any mouth movement other than what looked like a roar.

OFF –  “off-screen”

The character speaking is off-screen, not visible at all to the viewer when the dialogue is spoken. 

OM – “open mouth”

The character opens his mouth and laughs, or says something but without any flaps.

ON –  “on-screen”

While all dialogue is considered “ON” unless otherwise noted, “ON” is necessary whenever dialogue starts off-screen, mns, etc., and then goes on.

OPTIONAL – same as NIOJ

As adaptations become more and more faithful to the original text, some writers will give “optional” loops in case the director or client decide it may be best to add a line not in the original. This doesn't have to be dialogue. It can be a reaction or effort.

THOUGHT FILTER

The all time favorite anime device: a character is thinking the line. There is no synch involved here. Sometimes during fight scenes, characters will have nothing but thought filters as they size each other up. Imagine a close up of two glaring eyes, staring down an opponent, all the while having a veritable conversation with nothing but one thought filter after another. Fascinating!

V/O – “voice over”

This is the same as narration. When a character is not part of a scene but just reading a caption or a title card, it is usually referred to as voice over. This is not the same as a thought filter or just an off line. The text in a voice over is usually informational and the character is not talking to anyone other than the audience. If the character is talking to himself, it should be listed as THOUGHT FILTER.

The terms explained above are also used in combinations with each other. “MNS-ON” means you don’t see the character’s mouth when the dialogue starts but you do by the end of the loop. “OFF-ON-MNS” means the character is not in the shot, then appears and his mouth is onscreen, then he continues talking but his mouth is no longer onscreen. You get the picture.

The Notes column can also include performance suggestions from the writer. This is helpful when the character’s intent is not obvious just from the dialogue but you want the actor to know the subtext. For example, “Pretending not to know”, “Feeling on the spot”, “Regains composure”, or “Lying thru his teeth”.

Some writers give very few performance suggestions and some use the Notes column to virtually direct the dialogue from the page. It’s a personal preference. At the end of the day, the director can chose to completely ignore these suggestions and use their own judgment anyway.

Next time, we will finally get to the Dialogue column. Please feel free to leave comments or questions about all the information we’ve reviewed so far.