Foley vs Computers

Foley is the creation and recording of sound for film, TV and radio during post production. It's one of my favourite aspects of film-making and a career I'd love to go into. This feature about Foley on BBC's The One Show poses an interesting question: Is the future of Foley safe or will new technologies in computer generated sound take over completely?

The new technologies designed to generate sound are exciting and open up whole new opportunities for film-makers and sound designers to be creative and imaginative with their soundtracks.

The new technology demonstrated in The One Show's feature is explained in this article  on the New Scientist website. It talks about acoustically enabled animation software developed by two US based computer modellers. This software automatically generates sound effects by using the same physics used to create the animations. This can save so much time for a film-maker/sound designer when constructing their soundtracks for animated films. By having the more mundane sounds done automatically for them, they can focus their attention on the focal sounds. However, this technology is still in development and is yet to be perfected.

Be that as it may, I still favour Foley over any sort of computer generated sound. No computer can replicate the human essence of Foley and the simplistic realism of it. Films exist to share perception of the human experience, no computer, no matter how highly developed and intelligent can beat the unique and real sound of the Foley artist.

'The Foley Grail' by Vanessa Theme Ament

"The art of performing sound for film, games and animation."

One of the books I continuously took out of the library was 'The Foley Grail' by American Foley artist, Vanessa Theme Ament. However, over Christmas I managed to get my hands on my own copy to save trips to and from the library. 

This book is is so wonderfully written. It reads more like memoirs than a textbook which is a breath of fresh air. It includes in depth descriptions and advice on how to recreate everyday sounds using Foley. A classic example is horse galloping using coconut shells. Ament states: "I use them with the coconut still inside them and baked, then hot glued to the shell." and "The trick to horse feet however is the rhythm. Horses have many different types of walks and runs, and it is important to bridge the cut without jolting the rhythm."

This book is ideal for those only just getting into Foley as it explains a lot of the basics. Part one describes what it is to be a Foley artist. Why it is used and how it is used. It also goes into a brief biography of the creator of Foley, Jack Foley himself.

Part two of the book describes the rules and traditions in Foley, the various jobs available within the art of Foley and the places where Foley takes place (Prop Room, Mixing Room, Foley Stage etc). This section also explains what it is to spot and cue.

Part three is my favourite part of the book. This section goes into detail of the nitty gritty of how to create great sounds. Typical props are listed and dozens of tried and tested methods described. A section is also dedicated to the importance of being able to perform in sync sounds to visuals. Ament tells of how in television in the 80s often has Foley artists shoot the Foley a day before broadcasting day and editors expected them to be as in sync as possible to make final editing minimal.

Part four talks about editing and mixing Foley and also introduces ADR, a vital to tool to be able to "fix it in post".

The Foley Grail is one of my favourite film sound books purely because of the amiable and almost informal way Vanessa Theme Ament writes it. She introduces beginners to her art without sounding patronising or pompous. It's a brilliant read for anyone interested in Foley.