Dissertation - Foley

[Deleted]

hey peeps

ok so im doing my Dissertation on Foley recording
and it's importance in film and Post Prod
i just need a little help, if possible?

basically im going to write a section about low budget filmmaking
along the lines of the best ways on how to produce 'professional' or a least decent sound designs on next to no budget

im sure some of you here have had some experience in that area
if you could maybe give a few lines on your trials and errors
and your thoughts


thanks!!

[RydCook]

Not a huge amount of experience but yeah.. here goes.

An external Mic is essential. I got a Rode VideoMic after Meadows himself recommended it a while ago. Its spot on for indoors stuff clear sounding and no camera buzz at all. I haven't used it outdoors yet, but I'm thinking a Dead Cat would be needed to cut out the wind.

When I shot outdoors for "Away" my friend provided the equipment. He used a nice Sennheiser mic with a wind cutting thingemyjig on it. I got some great sound, but believe it or not, still got a little bit of wind on the audio. Now, in the edit this wind was bugging me, so I had a play around with the Audio Filters... something I've no experience with. I basically guessed and found an audio filter that would cut out the wind completely, and still have a good sound of what you're meant to hear. Can't remember what filter it was now, but the point is... its possible! All over audio in the film was downloaded from the net.

Anyway, thats my experiences with audio. No idea if thats any use to you at all? Good luck with the dissertation mate.

[Dave]

The thing about foley is that by its very nature it is usually cheap to do. Hitting bits of junk, smashing up vegetables, and walking on the spot in a tray of gravel doesn't cost much at all. ;D
So professional sounds are often achievable by low or no budget films in exactly the same way as big budget films... as long as you have a capable mic.

The difficulty is knowing what will work, so I guess it is a lack of experience or knowledge in the field which will lead to big costs because there will be a lot of trial and error.
You also need a good mic and you need someone who knows how to use the sounds so that they integrate seamlessly into a film.

So, I don't think it is the cost of the foley aspect that would cripple a low budget film, but rather the lack of experience... which could make pro style sounds still sound cack if used incorrectly.

I downloaded this making of video from the Playstation network a while ago. Quite interesting to see a room full of busted fruit and veg.

The Wall-E DVD has a great documentary about foley, but obviously its mostly geared towards animated films. Very interesting indeed though!

[Deleted]

thanks guys, some good points to work with

Dave - i'll have to check out that Wall-E section
i remember on Spirited Away they had a whole thing on how they recorded the Foley as well

[RichK]

Two halves of coconut shell. Some watermelons...

Just kidding. I had the privilege of seeing some foley sound being added to a film once. It was just the rattle of a letterbox after a door had been slammed. I didn't see the sound being made, I just saw the editors slowly putting the sound into the right place.

They'd make an adjustment, play the clip, frown to each other, make further adjustments and play the clip again.

And I swear it sounded exactly the same every single time.

In the hour I was there, it was just *door* SLAM! followed by *tap tap* letterbox rattling (as if echoing the slam). So after seeing all of that, I guess the cost is mostly in the time it takes to do things in that incredible level of detail, rather thn the actual cost of making the sound.

Rich

[paulblackpool]

You know only the other morning while eating my cornflakes i accidently ran my spoon over the bowl creating a cosmic sound like doors opening on a space ship!! I'll store that little sound in the back of my mind for if i need it i know where it is, who knows?

Having done a little bit creating sound effects for our old animations years ago, you can have a right laugh putting them in still back then we had to create them live into the mic while the video was playing on dub, which was hit and miss, but got to adjust recently when converted on to disc.

Watched the docu on Wall.E DVD, very good, reminds me of one i saw on the extras of the Jimmy Neutron DVD which was packed with excellent ideas on how to create sounds.