Sound and Foley

Sound and Foley - Research

For this project we have been asked to research Sound and Foley in media including the artists, how Foley is made, etc. We will create our own sound/Foley effects using our ideas on what we could use for sounds and what they will sound like. We will use Audition, which is basically the audio version of premier pro, to edit our sound/Foley effects. We will then add these effects to one of a choice of five animations.

We are studying sound and Foley because it is essential in media especially film, TV drama and games as it helps tell the and drive the story. Even if we do not wish to go into sound design or something similar it's good to have the experience for future employment.

From this project, I need to learn the following skills, how to record sound and Foley effects, how to edit them in Audition and how to add them to an animation this includes timing the sounds to the action perfectly.

What is a Foley artist?

The original Foley artist was Jack Donovan Foley as he was the person who came up with the idea of Foley sound effects in the 1920’s.

A Foley artist is an artist which creates Foley. The Foley artist comes up with ways to make a sound using physical items and creates the sounds for something. For example, the sound of breaking bones is often made by snapping celery, the sound of walking on snow is made by a pillowcase filled with corn starch as this creates the crunch sound you hear when walking on snow. So, Foley artists really use anything for the Foley effects. Foley artists often have to sort of recreate the character on the screen and put them into your performance. They have to make a soundtrack that drives the story. It could be from 10% to 80% of what they record in the studio is used in the final production however this is so they can give a wide range of sound to the production to choose from.

In a Foley studio there is usually two Foley artists who will create the Foley. In the studio there

is a projection of the production, then a streamer will go across the screen and when it gets to

the end this is when the Foley artists will start to create whatever noise they need to make.

The Foley studio has so many items in often part of a car with a door to make the sound of a

car door opening and closing. If a floor is supposed to look marble but it’s actually wood, then

the Foley artists will recreate the footsteps in marble in the Foley studio. They can also add

stuff to surfaces for example they can put grit or dust on a concrete floor to make gritty.

There’s an earth pit so they can put different plants in there to make the sound of that plant

for example grass. They can turn it into marshes or the jungle etc. There’s also a river pit

which they put water in to create water sound effects from rivers to the ocean etc, they can

also add things to the side so it makes it sound like a certain location, so they could put mud

on the side for a river, they did this at pinewood studios for Tarzan.

Then there is a mixer, in the control room, who records the sounds and makes sure they sound like what they’re meant to sound like and make the decision if the sound is right or not. One of the mixers at Warner Bros doesn’t actually look at the Foley artists when they’re recording and making the noises as they prefer to see if it sounds like the noise, they’re trying to create without seeing what the noise actually is.

Caoimhe Doyle

Caoimhe Doyle is a Foley artist who has over 20 years of experience and she is the co-owner of "The Foley Lab" which is a Foley Studio Wicklow, Ireland. She got a Diploma in sound from Coláiste Dhúlaigh in Dublin in 1992 and she graduated with a BA in Film Production from IADT in Dublin in 2003.

Caoimhe Doyle has worked on many films a TV series's includind Game of Thrones, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Favourite, the Killing of a Sacred deer and many more titles.

The awards and niminations she has recieved are:

MPSE Golden Reel Award Nomination in 2008 for "Eastern Promises"
IFTA Award Nomination in 2009 for "Niko, Way to the Stars"
Primetime Emmy Nomination in 2011 for "Game of Thrones" Season 1
IFTA Award Nomination in 2012 for "Game of Thrones" Season 1
MPSE Golden Reel Award in 2012 for "Game of Thrones" Season 1

She does guest lecture visits to universities to give the students Foley workshops and not just universities she also does theswe visits for children. She also has done 40 live Foley shows for film and theatre.

Here is a photo of a Foley studio.

Foley Artists

Job Roles

Sound trainee:

Sound trainees are basically production runners for the sound department.

They set up equipment, put equipment by the sound mixer, charge batteries, help attach clip microphones to actors clothing, etc. When they’ve got experience, they may even help to swing a second boom when Its required. They also do production runner sort of jobs like making tea, taking messages to departments, order extra supplies if they’re needed and at the end of the day they help pack up, make sure everything’s labelled properly and hand all the paperwork into the production office.

They need to know about sound, equipment, they need to be reliable, good at communication, good at learning and then asking questions to learn and they need to enjoy film and TV drama and have a passion for it as this will help them in their job and will help them work they way up job roles.

To become a sound trainee there are six BTEC courses you could do, one RSL course, one OCR course and one UAL course you could do.

“BTEC Diploma/Extended Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering

BTEC National Diploma/Extended Diploma in Music Technology

BTEC National Diploma in Film and Television Production

BTEC National Diploma in Music

BTEC National Diploma in Sound Production

BTEC National Extended Certificate in Sound Engineering

BTEC National Extended Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering

RSL Subsidiary Diploma for Music Practitioners (Technology)

OCR Technical Diploma in Digital Media (Moving Image & Audio Production)

UAL Diploma/Extended Diploma in Music Performance and Production”

You could also do an apprenticeship, get a degree, network, network online, volunteer somewhere, build a portfolio and make films and a showreel from previous projects you’ve done maybe at university or college. You can also take the National Film and Television schools’ short course in Location Sound recording.

Sound mixer

Sound mixers are responsible for all the sound during filming. This is mostly dialogue but also includes sound effects and atmosphere.

They meet with the director and producer before shooting starts to discuss what they think would be the best method to capturing sound that goes with the directors shooting style. They also go to locations to see if there would be any potential disruptions/problems to sound such as roads and railways.

Sound mixers ensure audio from the boom and radio are recorded at a good level for every take. If they flag up a problem the director will be the person who decides whether they do another take or they just fix in post-production.

The sound mixer has to deal with a lot onset as well as they need to make sure nothings too loud for example a costume can rustle about and they need to make sure this does not disrupt the rest of the sound. They also need to work out where mics will go as cameras often point where they need to be.

A lot of audio is added in the edit in post-production as this may be better than doing a retake and it often makes the sound better.

Sound mixers are good at hearing, understanding sound, communication, they have good knowledge of equipment, they have a good attention to detail (they listen for tiny sounds and are good with detailed recordings), and also know about film production.

To become a sound mixer, you can do the courses that are I have already listed for becoming a sound trainee, you could also become an apprentice, get a degree or you could take the National Film and Television schools’ short course in Location Sound recording.

Stuart Wilson

Stuart Wilson is “a production sound mixer, recording sound for film and television.”

He has been Oscar-nominated sound mixer who has worked on many films such as most the Harry Potter franchise, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Cinderella, World War Z and Edge of Tomorrow.

He got into the industry by knocking on doors and doing short films either for free or for a small price. He also got onto the Scottish Film Training Trust scheme. This course was only a one year course which included one week in a studio and placements on film shoots and which at the end he got his Union ticket. However, before applying to this he did actually apply for the National Film and Television School however, he was 19 and the other applicants were three or four years older than him, so he was told he was too young. He also did one year assist, booming and recording on light entertainment, corporate and documentaries, however this area h quickly became disenchanted with. He finally applied to do sound at the National Film and Television school. Stuart Wilson thinks going to NFTS and then concentrating on feature films where the two best decisions he’s made so far.

He thinks that the best training is working with other sound mixers and learning from them as you can learn a great deal from practical experience.

Some of the advice he would give to someone just starting out is “Constantly strive to improve your standards”. You should start from the bottom as you need to experience the industry as a whole as it may not be for you, however if it is, then get on some short course or training courses as these can be helpful in focusing your skills.

To keep up with the industry he uses chat rooms online and he goes to seminars and meetings to speak to people on skills and tricks they’ve picked up and new technology.

Becky Thomson

Becky Thomson a film and television sound recordist and an occasional boom operator.

She makes sure that the sound is clear and is going to work for the final process. Then she also does boom operating which is where you put mics around the actors for the best sound.

She got into the industry as she was at university studying biology when she discovered the radio station. She spent tie working in radio and setting up programmes and she also spent time putting together a studio. Then she went into freelance radio, then as a broadcaster for independent radio. She git a chance to train in sound recording, then did an apprenticeship specifically in film location sound and then learnt video as it came along.

When her radio contract was about to end, she wrote to Bill Rowe as she had seen him talking about the Oscar, he’d just one and she also sent him a tape of what she had been doing. He phoned back and told Becky to visit when she’s next in London. She spent time dubbing and that helped her make the decision to go for training in sound.

She found work as Scotland is small enough that you get a decent amount of phone calls on spec for work anyway. If she’s short for work, then she’ll update her CV.

To keep up with the industry she says there’s a lot of relevant magazines available. She also says how there’s an institute of broadcast sound where they argue and debate which is critical to keep up when the industry is moving. The BBC also have good health and safety information so they’re good for educating you on health and safety.

Her advice for someone starting out is that you have to give 100% to get into the industry. Take every opportunity you can get because there will be someone else who will take these opportunities. You have to be completely committed. People also need to understand that once they’ve made it their lifestyle its hard to get time for a relationship and have time to see your children if you have any.

For this research used www.screenskills.com.

Job Roles

How important is sound to animation?

Sound is important to animation as it helps tell the story and helps the audience understand whats happening. It also helps bring the animation to life. Animations need sound because a silent aniation isn't very entertaining and without sound the audience can sometimes struggle to understand what is going on in the animation. It can also help us understand what objects are and what they sound like as people might not understand what an objects meant to be.

So basically sound helps tell and drive the story, help the audience understand whats happening, brings charater to the animation and brings life to the animation.

What percentage of meaning derives from the sound?

About 80% I think. This is because sound is very important in media and helps media be so immersive, intruiguing, helps us understand it, helps bring it to life, etc.

How is sound so important to games? Why is it important?

Sound is so important to games as it helps bring a game to life by how in depth and detailed some sounds are so this makes the game much more immersive as if you're there in the game, creating what characters sound like and the sounds of the game which are specific to that game. It can help tell the story of the game if the game has a story as there's often narration or things you may need to hear. You also need sound in games to help you play the game for example, if there is an enemy or monster walking up behind you, you will need to hear this so you can turn around to know where they are or to kill them.

Call of Duty

CoD is one of the most popular first person shooter games. The game is made so the sounds and graphics are as realistic as possible. The sound in CoD is immersive as theres often sounds coming from all directions including explostions and gunshots. They oftern make gore sounds for zombies which are pretty realistic and gruesome. So CoD try to make their sound effects very realistic as it's not a funny game, obviously it can be funny if you're playing with your mates but thery try to make the game serious therefore they maske the sound effects very realistic. The footsteps are realistic and these are important in CoD as you need to hear where the enemies are.

What can you learn from the use of sound in your chosen game?

I can learn that sounds should be as realistic as possible although, this was pretty obvious. Sounds should sound like a realistic distance anway for example footsteps if they sound close thy should close nit just really loud and the same for explosions and gunshots. The timing although this is obvious it sholuld be perfect for example when you get enough points for a killstreak you should get the sound alerting you youve got one as soon as you've got it not later. Sounds in games should help create the atmosphere of where you are for example an explostion or gunshot should echo a bit and you should be able to hear gunshots and explotions around the map as these help build the astmostphere of either a action packed battlefield or a quiet abandonded town for example.

How can the use of sound in animation and games change the way the audience identifies with the character?

Sound can change the way the audience identifies with characters because if the audience see a really big, strong, angry looking character they'd expect him to have a deep agressive voice however he could be made comical if his voice was really high pitched and the audcience wouldn't see him as much of an agressive character. The character could act a certain way but the sounds for that character could be the opposit so this could be comical or it could also be sinister, etc.

How can sound effects make the animation more entertaining, educational, social?

Sound effects could make the animation more entertaining as they could make it more comical or more immersive and draws you into the animation more. Sound effects could make the animation eduacational as people may learn about new sounds and understand what something will sound like better. Sound effects could make an animation social as someone might hear a sound which reminds them of something or people will talk abnout the sounds therefore the animation. If a sound sounds sinister then people may see the animation as sinister therfore say it's a sinister animation the same for if it's comical or very serious.

How will this research help my soundtrack more appealing to the viewers?

This research will help me make my sound effects more appealing to the viewers as I will make my sound effects quite clear and obvious of what they're meant to be. I will make them intruiguing and interesting, I'll make them immersive to create a sense that the viewers are sort of in the animation. I'll make the soundtrack sound how the animation looks so quite comical as the animation is quite amusing however you also feel quite sympathetic for the sloth as he never gets to eat as he's too slow. I will make the sound effects realistic as that is good in animations. I will also make the sound effects sound like the viewers are there by not making them too loud or too quiet but make them the right volume to sound right with the distance the noises are from the screen and to make them sound realistic.

Sound in Animation

Research Technques

Audience research techniques and Sound and Foley research

Foley and Sound Effect Ideas

Sound/Foley effect ideas

I experimented with different things to come up with sound effects.

When I was recording with Ben we experimented with many different sounds including, tapping a metal phone box, we did the same with the plastic cover on the bike shelters. Splashing puddles and swirling them around, shaking bushes and rustling bushes, rustling/kicking leaves. We even recorded walking through the main corridor to get the atmosphere sound of that. None of these sound effects would have worked though in my animation or if they did they wouldn't have worked very well as I tried having leaves rustling in the background however this didnt sound very good as it was just the same sound repeating itself.

Animation Soundtrack Work

The animation I have chosen to do my sound/Foley effects for is "Slow Lo" by Nexus studios. This is a CGI animation. The only problem is that it's a 360 VR video so I may have trouble downloading the video as it might come out wrong so I'll have to find a way around this problem.

I have found a non 360 linear version of the video so I can now work with this instead of trying to find a way to download a 360 video.

Instead of downloading the animation I will most likely screen record it on my phone however it will still be the non 360 video.

Here are the sound and Foley ideas i came up with for the "Slow Lo" animation.

I did not use any of the sound effects I recorded at college instead I recorded sound effects at home using my iPhone.

To get these I emailed myself the sound effects and then downloaded them at college.

The sound effects I ended up making were (the ones I DIDN'T use for the final product are in red) :

Snipping scissor
Scraping a knife on the table
Shaking paper
Rustling paper
Patting on table - However I may have used this for the plant being picked but I'm not sure as it didn't get labelled.
Mug dragged and moved - I did this on cardboard and a table/desk and the desk was better.
Pouring water (I did this into a mug and a sink, however, with the sink I filled it up to different water levels and sometimes no water at all to get range of sounds.
Wooden spoon on carpet
Pepper grinder instead of a salt grinder
Sellotape snap and pull
Wooden spoon dropped on the floor
Clothing shaken
Leaves rustling

Sound effects I didn't plan but made were:

Wooden chair - I tilted it and then dropped it to create the sound of the stool
Patting on clothing for the sloths footsteps
The knife when I placed it on the table to scrape it actually made a good sound for when the sloth puts the scissors down the the table

Peer Feedback (unfinished project)

I was told to add background audio as in atmospheric sounds for the jungle.

I was also told that although I already had a few sound effects I should add some more.

Peer Feedback

Reflective Journal

I didn't have too many problems however, a problem I did have was the video was 360 so I couldn't really use it however, I found a non-360 linear video which I can use. I also screen recorded the animation instead of downloading it as this is easier than downloading it and it is still really good quality.

Some problems I had were that there was little things in the animation I hadn't accounted for like when then sloth drops the scissors down onto the table, however a way I solved this was I used noises from other sound effects I used for example, the sound of the sloth dropping the scissors onto the table is the sound of when I put the knife down on a table before I scraped it to make the sound for the scissors being dragged. Another way I solved this is I went home and recorded more sound effects for example, for the wooden stool being knocked a bit I went home and recorded a wooden chair on wooden floor.

I had a problem trying to find jungle sound effects I could download as most of them the audio either sounded distorted, I had to sign up or create an account on the website I'm downloading it from or I had to pay for them. However, I finally found a decent sounding "Jungle Ambience" sound effect which didn't sound very distorted at all, was free to download and I didn't have to create an account or sign up to anything.

I had a lot of empty spots in the animation where I didn't want to make sound for as the animation was quite long, so in Adobe Premier Pro I cut the video using the razor tool and added video transitions so there were smooth fades to black and fades out of black transitions instead of just from one clip straight to the other. This made the animation shorter so there wasn't empty spaces with no sound effects and the transitions made it look more professional like the animation was originally meant to be like that.

Something I didn't sort out was the sound of the plant being picked, I don't know what the sound is as I think the label got deleted or didn't save as I labelled it on my phone, I can't make out what the sound is however, I think it could be tapping the table or something with sellotape.

Final Production

Final Evaluation

Some of the techniques I used were recording somewhere quiet, this was successful as this meant there was no background noise. Recording outside meant there was often background noise of roads, cars, people, etc, however, when I recorded inside I made sure the room was quiet and I did most of them in the evening and at night meaning there was even less background noise as even in the day there can still be outside background noise inside.

In Adobe Audition I made the some of the sounds gradually get quieter so they didn't just end abruptly. I used the razor tool to cut bits of audio to shorten them or so I could also copy the shorter bit and use it in a different part of the animation. I turned down the volume of quite a few sound effects to make them more realistic for example, the wings of the butterfly as the sound would have been unrealistically loud, obviously it isn't very realistic anyway however if it was too loud that would have just looked and sounded stupid, unrealistic and just not very good.

I think quite a lot of my sound effects were successful and I'm quite happy with the footsteps as all the sound is, is me tapping my coat. I think the footsteps are actually quite effective and work really well as it is just a light tapping sound which works well as you can see the sloth only puts his feet down softly.

Another thing that worked well was the timing of the sound effects, because on Audition you can zoom right in to the sound effects and put them perfectly in time so this was very useful in making it sound and look pretty much perfectly in time.

As you can see below I have zoomed in quite far to the sound effect so I can edit it accurately.

The equipment I used was a rode microphone and Roland Wave/MP3 Recorder R-O5. However I never actually used any of the audio I recorded with this equipment. I used my phone to record sound effects and the audio I recorded with my phone was the audio I actually used in my final production.

The software I used to to edit the sound effects, the video/animation and the final production was Adobe Audition for the sound and Adobe Premier Pro for video. These are both very good editing software and you can be very precise and accurate with timing and cuts, etc with your editing using Audition and Premier Pro.

Some problems I had recording in different locations is that some of the sounds can sound sound like they're in a small room however, the location set in the animation is in a tree house which is quite open. So some of the sound doesn't match the sound of what the tree house location sounds like. Also recording outside there is often background noise like cars or people so I didn't actually use any audio that I recorded outside.

Something which didn't work too well in my opinion is the flapping of the butterflies wings, this is because it's not really the right speed or timing and they end quite abruptly but they're not too awful.

Another thing which didn't work too well is when the sloth scratches his head with the wooden spork as again it is not really the right speed or timing. It is edited so the sound is there when he scratches his head but as I made the effect the wrong speed ity isn't exactly in time to the sloth actually scratching his head, this is the same for the butterflies wings flapping.

The way I imported my Foley effects into Audition was, I emailed them, to myself from the voice memos app on my iPhone, then logged into my email at college, downloaded the audio clips to the computer and my memory stick and then once I had Audition open I opened my documents and dragged the audio into Audition.

A slight problem I had was as I couldn't send the Foley effects all in one email it took quite a long time to email all of the audio clips and then download all of the audio clips.

I had to do this with 43 audio clips so it didn't take too long but about maybe 5 minutes or a bit longer just to download them all which doesn't sound like long but it is a lot longer than if I could have just sent them all in one email.

I was influenced by my research into Foley artists and Foley as it showed me that you don't need to make sound effects out of the thing you're creating the noise for. What I mean by this is that for example for walking on snow you don't need to walk on snow for this effect you can just use a pillow case filled with corn starch. I know this is obvious and I know that not all sound effects are the actual thing in films but it showed me that a lot of the Foley effects in film are actually something completely different to what the sounds meant to be. This meant I could be more creative with creating my Foley effects and made me come up with more creative ideas on how to make sound effects.

I used audience/peer feedback to influence my work by doing the feedback that I was given.

The project was unfinished and I plan on adding background audio and more sound effects to my project the peer feedback made me think that okay these are actually quite essential for my final production especially for it to be good.