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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Emmys: How the 'Catch-22' Foley Team Brought a 1940's Air Force Squadron to Life with WWII-Era Props
Sound & Picture: Catch-22 – a paradoxical situation in which one gets stuck due to the contrary/conflicting parameters of said situation. It’s a term coined by author Joseph Heller for the no-win position in which fictional WWII bombardier John Yossarian and those in his Army Air Force squadron find themselves.
Sound and how it affects us is super interesting. These two foley artists sound like they had a lot of fun working on the project and working together. I find it very interesting how so many of the sounds we hear in movies are not the actual sounds that the cameras pick up because it sounds somehow more realistic to mimic what’s going on screen. It’s also interesting that they were able to create sounds that they had never heard in real life. Neither of the artists were soldiers in WWII, but they had an idea of it and they were able to make it sound, at least how we perceive it would have. There was a photo in the article of a guy climbing into the back of a jeep and I understand how foley artists are able to mimic actions like walking, but a compound movement like getting in the back of a truck sounds incredibly difficult. I’d be interested in seeing that sequence some time.
The production and work that goes into period pieces such as Catch 22 is truly fascinating. Similar films that come to mind that came out in a more historical-period sort of light include Christopher Nolan’s recent Dunkirk, and the science fiction/zombie film Overlord. Something common between films throughout this general genre is the props, costuming, and ultimately the environment of each film in itself. Between each film, the filmmakers manage to place themselves into a mindset of an older soul, looking to a new time, living with the various clothes and fashions, overall weaponry and items commonly seen at the time (especially during wartime with use of rifles and military weaponry). Period pieces have always fascinated me with such a production quality and environment to them, because somehow, through these minor details such as props and various background pieces, the mediamakers manage to immerse their audience in the time period as well. For example, watching Catch 22, Overlord, or Dunkirk, I could feel myself worrying about the various dramas of the time period: will the Germans march on the oil fields near Russia; will the planes survive gliding without gasoline; will this outfit be too scandalous for the period at hand? The type of immersion that even the small details that mediamakers can create proves insanely fascinating to me, and it ultimately is one of my inspirations for wanting to make a ‘60’s-set period piece film when I grow older.
2 comments:
Sound and how it affects us is super interesting. These two foley artists sound like they had a lot of fun working on the project and working together. I find it very interesting how so many of the sounds we hear in movies are not the actual sounds that the cameras pick up because it sounds somehow more realistic to mimic what’s going on screen. It’s also interesting that they were able to create sounds that they had never heard in real life. Neither of the artists were soldiers in WWII, but they had an idea of it and they were able to make it sound, at least how we perceive it would have. There was a photo in the article of a guy climbing into the back of a jeep and I understand how foley artists are able to mimic actions like walking, but a compound movement like getting in the back of a truck sounds incredibly difficult. I’d be interested in seeing that sequence some time.
The production and work that goes into period pieces such as Catch 22 is truly fascinating. Similar films that come to mind that came out in a more historical-period sort of light include Christopher Nolan’s recent Dunkirk, and the science fiction/zombie film Overlord.
Something common between films throughout this general genre is the props, costuming, and ultimately the environment of each film in itself. Between each film, the filmmakers manage to place themselves into a mindset of an older soul, looking to a new time, living with the various clothes and fashions, overall weaponry and items commonly seen at the time (especially during wartime with use of rifles and military weaponry). Period pieces have always fascinated me with such a production quality and environment to them, because somehow, through these minor details such as props and various background pieces, the mediamakers manage to immerse their audience in the time period as well. For example, watching Catch 22, Overlord, or Dunkirk, I could feel myself worrying about the various dramas of the time period: will the Germans march on the oil fields near Russia; will the planes survive gliding without gasoline; will this outfit be too scandalous for the period at hand? The type of immersion that even the small details that mediamakers can create proves insanely fascinating to me, and it ultimately is one of my inspirations for wanting to make a ‘60’s-set period piece film when I grow older.
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