The Odyssey: Matt Damon reveals how Christopher Nolan's no-ADR rule challenged the cast

Hollywood actor Matt Damon has revealed an unusual filmmaking rule followed by director Christopher Nolan on the sets of The Odyssey saying the filmmaker does not allow actors to rerecord their dialogue during postproduction making the shooting process particularly challenging according to PeopleDamon 56 shared insights into Nolans filmmaking approach during a special screening of The Odyssey and a conversation about the films behindthescenes production in Universal City California on Tuesday November 10 During the event he spoke with sound designer Willie D Burton who has worked with Nolan since Tenet 2020 Highlighting the unusual experience of completing the film without rerecording any dialogue Damon asked Burton I have one question How is it possible that I did not loop a line for this movie You did it to me on Oppenheimer as well Damon said as per the outletRecalling the challenges of filming in the New Mexican desert amid severe weather conditions he added We dealt with bad storms in the New Mexican desert and I remember thinking lsquoTherersquos no way Irsquom not ADRing automated dialogue replacement thisrsquo And I had nothing Irsquove never seen anything like what you were able to capture Typically actors rerecord portions of their dialogue in professional sound recording booths after filming to improve lines that may not have been captured clearly during the original shootThis process is known as automated dialogue replacement ADR However Burton explained that Nolan prefers to capture dialogue during the actual filming rather than rely on postproduction recordings according to People Working on Tenet with Chris I learned right away that therersquos no ADR with Chris Burton said He does not want to do ADR Explaining the efforts made by the sound team to meet Nolans requirements Burton said they carry extensive equipment to ensure clear audio recordings on set We carry 300 or 400 feet of cable he said adding that his team works hard to capture sound as cleanly as possible as per the outletRecalling the challenges of recording sound aboard the ship used for the film Burton said he spent considerable time below deck on the real ship recording the sounds of the action taking place above Damon recalled that Burton spent two months below deck on the ship recording and mixing in real time everything going on above while managing to capture the required audio without the need for additional dialogue recordings Burton also recounted an incident during filming when the ships captain warned the crew about the dangers aboard the vesselI remember on the ship we had a safety briefing The captain made a statement He said lsquoEverything on this ship will kill yoursquo I thought lsquoOh my Godrsquo Chris told me I could get behind the camera That was forward on the ship But the camera kept backing up and there was nowhere for me to be Chris looked at me and said lsquoWell Willie there is a holdrsquo he recalled according to People He further described how the sound team had to protect its equipment during simulated rain sequences using his raincoat to shield the gear as water rushed into the ships hold It was an incredible journey I have a great team and we worked hard to capture the sound because Chris doesnrsquot want ADR Burton saidHe added that the camera blimp designed to reduce camera noise made it easier to record clear audio On Nolans earlier films the team often had to record additional sounds separately and repeat scenes to capture audio without interference from camera noise The Odyssey also marked a major technical milestone becoming the first featurelength film shot entirely with IMAX film cameras New cameras with reduced operating noise were developed to help Nolan capture highquality audio during location shoots across EuropeReflecting on the production challenges Burton said This time it worked a lot better Every location was a challenge Yoursquod think the next location wouldnrsquot be so bad but there were always more challenges Responding to Burtons account Damon said I donrsquot know how you did it Maybe magic Much of The Odyssey was filmed at sea adding to the challenges faced by the cast and crew during production The film is currently running in theatres according to PeopleThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever