Foley Artists: How Movie Sound Effects Are Made 

Itiel López I know right!

Underappreciated.

the most underappreciated jobs are the ones that require lots of work and people don't know about that unless done wrong.

lol

@@jaydenongfuel9886 Like offensive lineman whose names are not called. They are doing a good job well. I love watching Foley artists at work.

i always thought the sounds were natural. This means apart from the voice acting all other sounds are added which i find it hard to believe

Rab carn Yea it's all done in post production. Once the actors are done. This is where they add the effects and sound

Rab carn uhm... voice acting is also added in post, you know.

It's true! Think of it this way: You're shooting a scene with Al Pacino and Merryl Streep. The scene is in a restaurant with people eating and talking and the bartender is making drinks... a cappuccino machine is going, a band is playing. The most important and expensive thing to capture is the actor's dialogue. If all of that noise was being recorded organically, the way it would if you were really in a restaurant chatting, you may never be able to hear these great actors speaking great dialogue, which is driving the story of the film. There is a reason they say, "Quiet on the set!" All of the other sounds can be added later (and sound much better) in order to control what the director wants you to hear or move your attention to. Make sense?

Yeah from making sounds

Amazing right?!?! I was always fascinated by the foley artists.... Great "little documentary"

Dustin Buck I concur. Always amazed how a simple object can transform into another object. Such an important role in emerging your audience into your story.

I appreciate women

@@liberationwasalie2982 fuck off

Agreed

Nando N it is

Nando N I got to go inside of the Universals foley room, and I mean it felt fun already.

It truly is...

I've done plenty of Foley for Horror films and I have to say that the MUSIC is what really makes a film scary. Watch a terrifying film with the sound off or with music removed and see how NOT scary it becomes.

Yes.

we've been after the wrong people all along! Lets attack the foley artists instead. /j.

Soundtracks for horror are key

Yes, my last resort step of getting through a horror movie is to turn the sound way down. (I'm a >>>🐔.) I bet it would be so fun to see them in action!

That's how the different regions get a clean Music&Effects track to dub voices over. Otherwise, they'd have to digitally remove the stage voices, or record 2 takes, or act without talking and then dub themselves... It's a massive amount of work, but it makes the internationalisation of the film much cheaper.

Emily Schnepp it really depends, not ALL movies use foley artists to create sound they just use the live thing

Emily Schnepp not ALL sounds are recorded by foley actors, though what's interesting is that sometimes they'll overdub the actual dialogue if the original recording is bad somehow

Leave a like for no reason Please no. All mid to high budget movies use foley, the only one that doesn't are low budget films. Foley artist myself. So..

Emily Schnepp lol. Foot steps aren't to bad. I hate clothing the most. Seriously making clothing movement sucks. Lol

Cocoaben SAME HERE!!!!

Typically, the sounds recorded live are not usable. Wind, traffic, birds, building noise, air conditioners, it's almost impossible to get good audio even on a set. If there's a wind machine blowing, that's all a mic will pick up. Foley just gives you greater control over all those elements. Plus, it's fun!

@@madnessbydesign1415 But many things in movies sound stupid because of that. Don't get me wrong, It's nice job and I really like what they are doing, but for example that sword sounds are completely wrong and it's standard sword sound for all today movies becuase someone just did such sound 100 years ago and people are used to that is how sword should sound. I think they should be more courageous to change something and don't do it like in all movies before. I really wish there will be one day one movie with realistic sword or gun sounds. Other sounds are really well done, but swords and guns are mostly terrible. But I understand that foley actors are just doing what they want from them, it's definitely not their fault.

Nickolas Barmenkov I was going to say that too. What they're saying is interesting, and there's no need for that bed of background music.

I'm sure the million dollar contracts for big actors or the giant sets or the sometimes groundbreaking CGI has nothing to do with that.

Tomas Tur makes sense

Tomas Tur Yeah right. There is no art in movies anymore. It's all just CGI and computerized sound effects.

Puro South that’s not true.. how about moonlight?

This video shows that there IS still art in movie making. Foley is done by hand, not computerized sound effects.

Ben Stiller did a hilarious skit making fun of Foley Artists (my job) for an MTV Movie Awards show a while back. I still cry from laughter just thinking about it~

Namster05 it's a combination of both depending on what's needed

We learn by apprenticeship. Think of how a glass blower learns. Someone takes under their wings, a raw talent, someone committed to learning the craft, and teaches them.

My advice is to first become a well rounded audio engineer with a passion for post. Agree with others but apprenticeships are highly competative. Even working for free is competative because people looking to enter the industry are competeing to build an impressive portfolio that doesn't consist of just student work. Believe me I've been at it for 6 years as a freelancer and only just started charging clients when I'm lucky to actually get hired, and I studied sound engineering for 10 years before that!

Do you do that for a living? Or have another job? It seems Foley Artits only are a few who can live of it. A few experienced ones, with high cost equipment and an experienced foley mixer. You can do it all, but not sure if the time and investment is worth it @@johnmellor932

@@8DeaD7 No, I have a day job, but I do it as much as I can. I won an Award for sound editing a few months back at an Awards festival in Atlanta Georgia. Not bad for an English Northerner from a town no one's ever heard of. Which keeps me enthused. I don't just do Foley though, you have to become skilled at everything when you are independant, because you're asked to cover all bases on a project. Dialogue edit, Foley, atmos tracks, sound design, mixing. It takes dogged determination and passion. My love of film is what keeps me from throwing ths towel in. But I love it. The dream is to do it for a living but its hard to get into. Sound editors are like Freemasons you have to be invited to be one of them. There's AMPS and MPSE, to be a member of either union requires you to be invited by 4 full members. I've never tried tbh. But like anything one just needs that one lucky break, someone to give you a chance.

tragicramen uh

That's when you bring in the two people having a workplace relationship and tell them that they're being paid to fuck in front of a mic for millions to here. Then you give them 15 minutes alone and let movie magic happen.

I only hope they don't do this for porn

OckhamAsylum they aren't alone the mixer will be in the room too lol

I wouldnt be surprised if it is like the booty clap sound, it turns out it is a guy slapping his hand on a raw turkey or something like that.

Less work if they time most stuff right I guess, it might also make the process more fun

We actually order snow ice delivered to our stage and perform the footsteps in really snow. It's not cheap though and you may have heard back snow sounds in a low budget film. Maybe they didn't have the budget to get real snow.

thanks to my ass

Your average joe that likes a movie generally can't explain why they like it. Its just "cool" to them. This same concept applies to pretty much every artistic medium. But if you've taken the dive down the rabbit hole of how it was produced, then you know for sure why you like it (or hate it). For me it doesn't make me appreciate it any less or more. It just gives me the awareness of why I felt one way or the other. Instead of thinking "that movie was cool" or "that song was awesome", you think to yourself "the way those spurs rang out in that scene where the protaganist approaches the doorway was really ominous an foreboding and I like that" or "the way that timpani roll leads into the bridge was very unique and unexpected" or "the pacing of the dialog here is really chaotic and gives you a sense of the panic the characters must be feeling". To your friends you'll probably seem like a snob, but the reality is that you have acquired a real sense of taste beyond the superficial. This will happen one way or another as you get older whether you like it or not. As you get older you notice things more... you become more aware, and the more this happens you become attached to specific things. Its a blessing and a curse. I really wish I could watch marvel movies with the youthful fascination I once had as a child. Now I just think they are shallow reproductions of common tropes I've seen a million times. But hearing that church organ in Hans Zimmers soundtrack to Interstellar blew my mind in ways I'd never have understood as a child.