Today’s sound effects are often recorded live, then archived in SFX libraries
for use in recording studios where they are mixed with dialogue, music and other
sound. The technology used to perfect—or even exaggerate—sound effects
is highly sophisticated and film sound designers are experts at using it to tell
a large part of a movie’s story.
The
history of Foley sounds
Several categories
of SFX comprise the emotional language of films: Foley sounds (see description
below); designed sounds (usually the sound of something that doesn’t exist
in real life, like a laser pistol); creature sounds (the “language”
of creatures you see on the screen); or ambient sound (such as crickets in the
background). Contemporary sound designers use computerized sound effects to enhance
movies, but an early sound man named Jack Foley made innovations in one area of
sound technology that are still in use today.
From the early
days of radio drama when bumping coconuts passed for horse hooves in full gallop—to
the thunderous and believable sound effects that make space ships and dinosaurs
feel like they’re 20 feet away—sound design has always been a creative,
yet virtually unsung art.
Jack Foley, a 1950s
radio and movie sound pioneer and Universal Studio technician, turned the early
and sometimes primitive field of sound effects into an art form. Foley became
famous for producing synchronized sound effects, and in doing so, gave his name
to a specialized segment of future sound technicians called Foley Artists.
Try
to match the Foley Artist's action to the action shown on screen
1.
twisting cellophane
2. squeezing a box of corn starch
3. blowing through a straw into water
4. squeezing folded sandpaper
5. rattling used flash bulbs in a can of water
6. thumping a full water bottle
a.
breaking eggs
b. a punch in the belly
c. crackling fire
d. cocktail shaker
e. boiling water
f. footsteps in the snow
answers
1c, 2f, 3 e, 4a, 5d, 6b
Product Highlights
Learn more about the surround sound performance of our home theater systems.
