Who is Foley? Jack Foley, actor and stuntman. Credited being the first person to add sound effects to a soundtrack.
A day in the life of a Foley artist? We only get to watch a few minutes of a project more if we are lucky. Feature films are different.
Explaining Tracks:
Clothes moves: Creating a claustrophobic atmosphere you want to hear all the sounds.
Footsteps: Main characters, backgrounds, animals.
Spot effects: Favourited scenes to create the sound for. Everything the actor does.
Other Effects: Another sound effect, for example, leaf’s (old videotape) pidgins (gloves)
“You have to be governed by what the scene is telling you”.
Ruth Sullivan
Foley Discipline:
But Why do we still need Foley? Anything programmed sounds computerised. Foley creates a rich texture and detail only a real person can do.
Microphones: Dialog is precious and recorded on set however always asked again to record if necessary.
Special Effects: Sounds that aren’t real made real.
Location/Set Sound: Build the soundscape of the movie.
Animation: Makeup everything, most fun however hardest work
Foreign Versions: Everything is brought except the voice.
Documentary and Nature Programmes: All the sounds are created by Foley.
Tip: Anything in a cardboard box sounds big.
Foley’s Editor uses pro tools to cut up the scenes for Foley and they become the Foley director. If done right it can be a work of art, they bring in big sheets of paper that display the timecodes, scenes and sounds needed.
How has your job affected your daily accusation with sound? Hearing has changed they associate sound with how they created the sound. And her sensitivity to sound
Microphone Patterns change perspective for example, Omni and Cardioid can make the difference in perspective between inside and outside depending on the studio.
Tip: Using a slinky in a box creates these magical sounds which are also the sounds of the lasers in Star Wars. The box acts as a resonator.
Foley Sound and Production Sound – Tip:
Never record too close – leave space for recording, however, it depends on the project and screenplay.
Film, Theatre and Radio Foley: In film, you record sounds complexly however, in theatre and radio you record sounds more clearly and simplified.
Macro and Micro Foley: A page flip or a detailed corner of the page bending. Hyper detail, you need to pick your battles, does the visual need your hyper-focus?
Do you really hear every sound you make?
She never recognises sampled sounds however she recognises other artist’s work.
The Evolution of Foley:
Film recorded in tape, were long scenes. Ruth Sullivan described the Foley work as ‘easier’ because now with technological advancements in production gear, scenes are short-lived and camera angle perspectives can be extremely close therefore the perspective in sound can be challenging however playful to achieve.
Idea Development: I found this argument influential, and it sparked an interest as a possible research project to explore this idea further.
Capturing human emotion without dialogue – This concept came from a discussion about my research project ideas with my girlfriend. However, I feel that this concept will not meet the criteria of an audio paper. This concept developed into a better idea, as we discussed my interests in sound for the screen, for example, foley and how we could combine my interest to learn the anthropology of sound as a sense.
Human emotion and sound unite in the perception of reality, a created space in consciousness. The offscreen sounds in the film are fascinating as an element of imagination created by Foley artists and sound designers who translate the soundscape as an emotional communicational narrative tool. Unspoken dialogue in film is subjective as the viewer and as the creator. Therefore, culturally is communication multi-lingue or can translation get lost?