Foley Sound and SFX Research

What is a Foley Artist, what do they do and why are they needed?

Foley is a film sound technique which was invented by Jack Foley in 1927; It is the art of putting sound effects to films, TV, advertisements and also video games; a Foley artist will recreate sounds that either cannot be recorded, or that would sound better than the original sound, for example if a foley artist wanted to recreated the sound of one man punching another man in the face, they may use different types of materials and textures to create the sound. One way that  foley artists use to recreate punching sound effects is putting celery inside a pillow case, and hitting it with a rolling pin. Foley Artists recreate the sound scape in films to assist in making the sound more dramatic and engaging; they will only really use foley for physical sound such as textures.

During a film shoot, the main priority of the sound is to get the audio of the actors, which means there is less focus on the sound effects that will be needed for the film. Adding foley sound in later helps solve this problem.


Explain the order in which the Foley artist creates the sound

Foley artists crate footstep of all the main characters, then the back ground characters, then they will create sound for objects moving in the scene


What are the key skills and qualities foley artists must have

A Foley artists uses an arsenal of wacky items to match the sounds in a film.
Key skills include good imagination and creativity, the ability to collaborate and work as a team, good sense of timing, rhythm and hand-eye coordination. Some physical strength and stamina are also good, as you may have to use heavy objects, or hit objects fast.


What is the advantage of using real objects to create sound effects rather than using digital production or sound libraries?

Using Foley sound rather than digital production allows you to create sounds that are more engaging to the audience by creating dramatic sound fx. Also using sound libraries doesn't really give you a wide choice, and can limit the action on screen. Foley sound can be individually suited to any specific action on screen.


Using specific examples, describe how key sounds are created

The sound of the lasers in Star wars was created by hitting a metal cable with a hammer.
No synthesisers or digital equipment was used to create the sound of the blasters in the all of the Star Wars films. It was simply created by hitting a straight metal cable with a spanner. Hitting the cable at different angle would create different pitches and were effective as the sound effect.

The sound of the dinosaurs in jurassic park were created using a mix of animal noises which consisted of Whales, Horses and Koala Bears.
These effects were complied digitally and would have been enhanced with technology to become deeper and more scary.