Can’t figure out what Cillian Murphy or any of his co-stars are saying in Oppenheimer? Director Christopher Nolan has now provided a potential reason as to why, telling Insider in a new interview that he doesn’t bother with ADR—a traditional step in which actors are called back to provide new, and presumably clearer, dialog—during the post-production process for his films. Nolan explained that this is because he likes to use the actor’s original performance. Another reason that dialog may be harder to hear in Oppenheimer is because of IMAX cameras, which can be noisy.
“I like to use the performance that was given in the moment rather than the actor revoice it later,” Nolan explained. “Which is an artistic choice that some people disagree with, and that’s their right.”
“There are certain mechanical improvements,” he added in regard to IMAX cameras. “And actually, IMAX is building new cameras right now which are going to be even quieter. But the real breakthrough is in software technology that allows you to filter out the camera noise. That has improved massively in the 15 or so years that I’ve been using these cameras. Which opens up for you to do more intimate scenes that you would not have been able to do in the past.”