priceonomics.com: In the first episode of season four of Breaking Bad, Gus, the boss of a large drug operation, enters an underground meth lab, where his cooks, Walt and Jesse, are quietly seated. Slowly, Gus descends -- clank, clank, clank -- his shoes tapping against the metal stairs. Without speaking, he walks to a dressing area, meticulously removes his suit jacket, ring, and eyeglasses, and zips into a biohazard suit. The room is dead silent.
11 comments:
Foley is a very interesting way of making sound effects. It is nice to know that even with all the advancements in technology, the old fashion way of making sound effects is still used. It is possible to create many sounds on the computer, but they may not sound exactly how you want because they are electronic. Creating live sound effects in a recording studio makes it sound a lot more real. It is interesting the different types of props that are used to make totally different sounds. It is a very creative form of art because you need to think outside the box and figure out what sounds similar. There are many props that can be used to make various sounds that you cannot use the original object for. If you needed a gun shot, it may not be the best idea to use a real gun because it is very dangerous. Thunder would also be difficult to capture, but a sheet of metal gives the same sound.
First off, what?! I thought all those sounds where just picked up by mikes then enhanced later! There are actual people who stand in a room and live record those noises? The fact that they get every clip and zip and clack without missing a beat in the show, that’s really beyond amazing. The way the guy got into the industry is amazing as well, really the same type of way most of us college kids do. You really just need one medium sized break to make it big in the industry. The other thing that is incredibly interesting is the fact that this is a purely creative job, even the science part is creative. They have to imagine the way things work together to make the sounds even though they could just uses the actual sound from a digital library. In that way you get an even higher level of authenticity.
Foley artists have incredibly important jobs. I always used to just assume that footsteps, clings and clangs, little intricate noises were all picked up by microphones in the moment, but after understanding sound a little more it makes sense why it would be extremely difficult to capture theses nuance sounds without isolating them and recording them separately. These little sounds really do make moments seem realistic and authentic. Its easy to say that the wrong sound ruins a scene: the sound of boots when a character is clearly wearing sandals disengages the audience from a moment and they can tell instantly that something is wrong, but when sound goes just right it often goes completely unnoticed because it fits in with our expectations of reality. Because of this the work of Foley artists often go unnoticed when they are successful in their work. But we can’t dismiss the importance of their work, since they are the ones who really make the small dramatic moments in a film or television episode come to life. So whether it’s the disturbing sound of mashed flesh on The Walking Dead, or the insidiously terrifying footsteps of Gus on Breaking Bad as he pulls out his box cutter, we shouldn’t forget the artists’ hard work and dedication went into every second of that moment to create the dramatic wonder as it exists.
Perhaps somewhat naively, I had not realized that there was still a modern need for Foley artists in such sophisticated productions. I assumed that Foley artists had been replaced by technology. Furthermore, I did not realize that Foley artists supplied so much of the "small sounds" in productions. I thought they merely filled in what hadn't been recorded already, or what could not be technologically produced.
To that end, it must be really frustrating at times to have an entire career - and passion - that relies on the fact that (for the most part) you've only done a good job if your work is not noticed. So many jobs and careers in the industry are high profile, yielding loud accolades. The subtle presence of a Foley artist in the collective audience awareness means a Foley artist must be that much more passionate and invested in their work. Validation likely infrequently comes from external sources, so Foley artists must work with that much more love of their work.
In my undergrad, a fellow student did a presentation that dealt with a demonstration on Foley sounds. I think that with a job like that, you’d have to have a keen ear to really understand, what it is you are trying to accomplish. Everyone hears sounds differently, but he is able to find the right sound using the most inanimate of objects. Sure I’ve tried to recreate sounds using different objects, or at least recreate a sound with the same object, but couldn’t quite get it to sound the same way again. That’s why he gets paid to make sounds from something completely random, but when done correctly makes for some great audio. I never would have thought that recreating shoes would be the hardest part of the job, but I guess it makes the most sense. Everyone has a different rhythm and pattern to their steps depending on the mood at the time.
I remember seeing something similar to this video back in the early 2000s when I was watching the behind scenes for the movie Dinosaur. every movement that the dinosaur made was made by two women in a room. weather it be a huge barrel sliding on sand or a rock hitting a piece of wood, after they put them side by side with the film, I couldn't believe that what I was hearing was not the result of what I was seeing but the result of these two talented women! Like that video this concentration of foley artists truly illustrate how important they are to the industry. Its crazy how they can make something that is not the actual object they are making a better sound effect then the object itself. I love seeing these sorts of things and encourage that they keep innovating what they can make a sound for, there are infinite possibilities.
Recently, I've been editing a lot of audio for Arcade, and it wasn't until I started doing that, that I realized the importance of finding the perfect sounds. There are some sounds that have to be made in less than normal ways in order to get it to sound right. Like a lot of the above commenters, I am amazed to learn that there are still foley artists. I knew that some of the sounds on television shows and movies were not coming from the actors or the scenes, but were created and added later, but I didn't realize how big an influence foley has on the final outcome of the show.
I also love that after going through so much to find the perfect materials to make the perfect sound, the best thing you could wish for is for absolutely nobody to notice it. And in addition to that, even if the sound isn't absolutely perfect, the audience might not notice anyway. This is the epitome of a thankless job. It takes so much skill and he's really good at it.
Foley really is a very cool entertainment craft to be a part of. It really is one of those things that you don't notice until you do. And once you do, you can't help but notice its presence in every single scene! The authors journey into the Foley world is interesting to me because it sounds like he more "fell in" to foley than he did intentionally decide to take up that craft. That really does seem to mirror how a lot of people get into entertainment "craft" fields, such as props. I guess that is what leads to the constant question: "How did you get into this job anyways!?" It is interesting to hear how small the Foley field is in terms of number of people employed, but I suppose that is the same across a number of disciplines in the entertainment industry. I would imagine the work of Foley artists is pretty rewarding give the amount of creativity and ingenuity it takes to get all the different kind of sounds they need!
The more and more I learn about sound the cooler and cooler it gets! Doing the sound effects for a major motion picture is not an easy task in the slightest. This would be even move difficult if it is one of those magical movies that does not take place in our universe because we do not know exactly what the effect would sound like because we simply have never heard that sound be made before in our world. I remember Joe Pino teaching us about the Welhime scream and hot if you listen close enough that you are able to hear in about every movie where some one falls, dies, or screams. Now when I watch movies I always am able to pick out this one sound from all of the layers of sound. Reading this article provided me a lot of insight into how these sounds are created and then integrated into the films.
I really enjoyed this article, and I found it really interesting to learn about what goes into being a foley artist. It’s something that I’m interested in, but I didn’t know much about how competitive it was or how things are broken up into categories. As someone who’s studying sound, and who’s fascinated by foley work, I think that Gregg Barbanell has one of the coolest jobs ever. I thought that the article did a great job going into detail about how much work and skill go into creating sounds, and my only complaint is that I wish it had talked briefly about what sort of microphones were being used and what software they use to record things. The most interesting thing to me was the footsteps, and how footsteps are what separate the good foley artists from the great foley artists. The fact that each step is its own unique step, with its own unique personality, is really cool. Despite his warning, foley is something that I’m still interested in, but if I went into film I think I would much prefer to do it for animated movies than live action.
This article made me really happy to love sound as much as I do. Though I never really looked into Foley sound, it is now intriguing me more and more. It is an incredible art to be able to make LIVE sound for film and television and increase the realness of the production. As a child, I always wondered how cartoons could sweep the floor and where the sweeping sound came from, how far away sirens in law shows were produced, and how dream sequences and picture-less stories were heard. In my time here at Carnegie Mellon, I hope to learn this art at least to some extent and further my knowledge in the world of sound. Though mostly unnoticed, sound designer, engineers, operators, and yes, Foley artists, add so much to what the production ends up being. In my opinion, sound artists are doing it right when no one really notices due to the lack of flaws involved.
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