VIDEO, SOUND, & MUSIC PRODUCTION
A CENTRAL MONTCO TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM
SECTION 10 LECTURES
FOLEY ART AND FILMMAKING
Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to the film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. The best Foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It helps to create a sense of reality within a scene. Without these crucial background noises, movies feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable.
Foley artists recreate the realistic ambient sounds that the film portrays. The props and sets of a film do not react the same way acoustically as their real-life counterparts. Foley sounds are used to enhance the auditory experience of the movie. Foley can also be used to cover up unwanted sounds captured on the set of a movie during filming, such as overflying airplanes or passing traffic. The term "Foley" is also used to describe a place, such as Foley-stage or Foley-studio, where the Foley process takes place.
COMMON TERMS USED IN THE INDUSTRY
GARAGEBAND REFRESHER
As a new student learning about the basics of video and sound editing, some of the first programs you may encounter are iMovie and Garageband, 2 applications that come as a standard bundle with all Apple computers. Since Apple computers are often used by amateurs and industry professionals alike, it is a good program, to begin with. Some of the topics and tasks we will cover are:
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importing photos, slides, and video clips into iMovie for editing
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Creating and using sound loops and pre-loaded instrument presets to create audio tracks
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Adding text, transitions and adding sound to video files
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Selecting the proper sound to match the content of your video
GARAGEBAND TUTORIAL
ADDING A VOICE TRACK TO GARAGEBAND
As a new student learning about the basics of video and sound editing, some of the first programs you may encounter are iMovie and Garageband, 2 applications that come as a standard bundle with all Apple computers. Since Apple computers are often used by amateurs and industry professionals alike, it is a good program, to begin with. Some of the topics and tasks we will cover are:
​
-
importing photos, slides, and video clips into iMovie for editing
-
Creating and using sound loops and pre-loaded instrument presets to create audio tracks
-
Adding text, transitions and adding sound to video files
-
Selecting the proper sound to match the content of your video
TYPES OF FILM SOUNDS
FOLEY TUTORIALS
Intro to Sound and Foley Effects
Foley Effects in "Wall-E"
Making Foley Effects at Home
The Importance of Sound in "A Quiet Place"
Record Sound Using Garageband
Using Garageband and iMovie Together
Using Audacity
*** FOR NON-APPLE COMPUTERS ONLY**
Walk Through of Project Tutorial
DID YOU KNOW...?
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Common Tricks of Foley Artists
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Corn starch in a leather pouch makes the sound of snow crunching.
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A pair of gloves sounds like bird wings flapping.
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An arrow or thin stick makes a whoosh.
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An old chair makes a controllable creaking sound.
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A water-soaked rusty hinge when placed against different surfaces makes a creaking sound. Different surfaces change the sound considerably.
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A heavy staple gun combined with other small metal sounds makes good gun noises.
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A metal rake makes the rattle/squeak sound of a chain-link fence; it can also make a metallic screech when dragged across a piece of metal.
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A heavy car door and fender can create most of the car sounds needed, but having a whole car in the studio is better.
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Burning plastic garbage bags cut into strips makes a realistic-sounding candle or soft non-crackling fire when the bag melts and drips to the ground.
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¼-inch audio tape balled up sounds like grass or brush when walked upon.
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Gelatin and hand soap make squishing noises.
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Frozen romaine lettuce makes bone or head injury noises.
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Coconut shells cut in half and stuffed with padding make horse hoof noises.
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Cellophane creates crackling fire effects.
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A selection of wooden and metal doors is needed to create all sorts of door noises, but also can be used for creaking boat sounds.
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Acorns, small apples, and walnuts on a wooden parquet surface can be used for bones breaking
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Walnuts are used in place of ice cubes in a glass of water because they don't melt.
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Canned dog food can be used for alien pod embryo expulsions and monster vocalizations.
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Large and thin metal plates, when bent, can be used for thunder.
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Fun Fact:
In Star Wars, Ben Burtt introduced a number of custom effects used for the franchise. The lightsaber buzz was a film projector motor mixed with television picture tube hum and further mixed. Blasters were based on the sound of taut radio tower guy-wires being struck, Darth Vader's breathing on a diving regulator. The TIE fighter swoosh is a mix of slowed-down elephant herd noises and cars driving through water, Chewbacca's voice includes the moaning of a walrus stranded in a dry pool along with other animal vocalization, and R2D2's booping talk includes Burtt's own voice mixed in with the synthesized sounds to humanize its robotic effect.
VOCABULARY TERMS
Ambient Audio: The background noise present in a scene or recording location.
Audio: The range of sound frequencies which can be heard by humans.
Beat: The regular, repeating, rhythmic pulse of a song
BPM: Abbreviation for "beats per minute", the measure of the tempo of a song
Clips: Audio and video segments that make up a digital movie
Credits: names of those people involved in or related to your movie
Fade: A transition to or from silence
Foley: In filmmaking, Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to films, videos, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality
Input: Connection from a signal source.
Loops: Short pieces of recorded music
Loop Browser: Where collection of sounds and music are stored
Loudspeaker: An electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to the electrical audio signal input.
Microphone: An acoustic-to-electric transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal.
Mixing: to combine two or more music tracks to create a song that is more likable
MP4: A standard format for music files sent over the Internet that compresses music
Play Head: the time marker on the scrubber bar
Rendering: the process of compositing elements together in a movie
Sample: In a digital audio recording, thousands of individual "samples" are recorded every second. Added together these make up the digital audio signal.
Scrubber bar: the bar that is under the iMovie monitor
Stereo: Audio which is made up of two channels — left and right.
Timeline: where you edit the video and audio tracks
Transitions: the blending of frames between two clips