SOUND AND FOLEY
Use of sound and Foley in the media industry
-Used to enhance the sounds, for example they use shoes to exaggerate the sounds of movement.
-Using vegetables to indicate different bones breaking.
-A library is a folder used to keep storage of different sounds created. This keeps it neat and organised.
-Foley is created by watching the footage and mimicking what the movements are doing and the sound effects have to be in sync as it could come out sounding completely off with the footage. However in baby driver, they had to match the foley with the music.
For this project, I will be creating different sound effects and why we need them. I will also be learning how to use audition, it's like primer pro but for sound effects. I will also be choosing an animation and create sounds for. We will work in small groups to create a sounds for a short animation, we will record our own sounds and edit them on audition.
​
We're doing this project because sound is one of the key elements in film making, having a broad understatement of the different sections in media could benefit us in our future as our cv would stand out because we've had experience in it. This project is also beneficial because we're learning when a sound effect is needed and when to add it on, this means that the sounds won't be delayed by a couple of frames.
​
From this project I need to learn my way around audition. I will also need to learn what sound is appropriate for most movements, I will also need to understand the different areas of creating sound.
Paper cup scene
When creating the sounds for this scene, I think the foley artists got some cardboard and crumpled it up.
Walking with guy on his arm
They’re walking on a pavement in this scene which means, for the footsteps the artist would walk around in pairs with one slightly walking slower behind.
Putting the paper cup away
When creating the sound, they would crumble it and then put it back in their pocket.
A foley artist is someone who creates sounds for movies, animations and games. By having a foley artist this allows the film to be more enhanced. A foley artist is key, as they complete the sense of sound for a film, this allows the audience to have a more stronger connection to the film, this releases emotions such as fear and happiness. By using certain sounds it creates another world for the audience. Caoimhe Doyle approaches hitting an arrow in different complements, she would start from the arrow being pulled, the tension from the string, the arrow being shot and the arrow hitting the target. Doyle, creates sounds of breaking bones by using celery or if its inside a certain part of body she would use pasta in her mouth to create a muffled sound. For horror films, she would use a wet cloth and a hyper-sensitive mic and squeeze the wet cloth to create a squelching noise, with the microphones help she's able to pick up the sounds of the different bubbles being created and popped.
Sound trainee
They have the responsibilities of prepping the microphones the day before, making sure that they know who its for and if they have a large amount of dialog. They would also have to make sure it's charged and ready, for the microphones, they have to figure out how to attach it onto the actor/actress. Being a sound trainee, they have to have good hearing, which means they have to watch out for sounds around the set that would distract from the filming, they would have to find a solution on keeping the set quiet.
​
To become a sound trainee, you'll have to have a levels on maths, physics and music. The courses in university to take would be a BTEC National Diploma in Music, by taking this course it will help you with getting into apprenticeships. The skills you'll need would be, good communication, have a passion for film and tv shows, reliability and the understanding of sound and technology.
Sound mixer
They have the responsibility of making sure that the sound recorded during the film is at it's best. They must meet with the producer and director before the filming to discuss the best way of capturing the sound whilst the recording of the film is still at the best it can be.
​
To become a sound mixer, you must be good at hearing things precisely, they must also have an understanding of sound which means they must know how it moves and know how to edit it. They must also have a good range of knowledge of appropriate equipment. They must also have an a level in maths, physics and music. They can also have a level 3 diploma in Music or Sound production.
Sound is very important as it adds a new dimension to the animation or film. It's good to have a range of sound effects for one thing as it adds a realistic aspect. When the sound is created, it's got to perfectly sync up with the animation. If it doesn't match up then the animation would look messy and out of place. For example the Harry Potter fight scene with Voldemort, this is a great example of sound, the foley artists added small subtle sounds as they didn't want to distract the sound from the actors. The percentage of sound for this film is 85%, some of these sounds have been the same since the first Harry Potter. Another example is when they were recording in the room of requirements, they stacked up a lot of furniture and knock it over, they added ropes to certain parts of the furniture and pulled on it. The location they filmed at heavily relied on their sound as the location they chose had more larger scaled items which could be used. If they stayed in the sets, this limits their sound choices. They got to smash a caravan rather than just breaking glass because of this, they also used a flame thrower for the dragon and room of requirements.
​
Sound is also very important for games, this is because it adds a more dynamic atmosphere which is great as it sets the tone for the game. For example in the game Life is strange, they have an indie soundtrack and the sound effects that are used and only for mundane items, it's not something that will make you jump. By having this kind of take, it allows the players to focus more on the graphics of the game, which is amazing. Another great example of sounds in game would be Mortal Kombat, the games have different endings to each fighting sections, it's either fatality or a brutality. I think the foley artist would have to research how different parts of the body would sound when broken. They would then find different objects that would sound similar and create layers to make a realistic effects. It is important to create such a realistic sound as the player would feel a sense of achievement when they have defeated another player. However if they lose it helps them play harder than they did before. Without sounds, the game would feel lost and it would be boring.
​
•4.2.1 How can the use of sound in animation and games change the way the audience identifies with the character? How can sound effects make the animation more entertaining, educational, social?
​
The use of sound in animation and games helps with identifying the different characters by giving them different accents, an example of this would be
​
•4.2.2 Now explain how this research will help you will make your own soundtrack more appealing to the viewers.
Reflection:
I made different sounds by making sure to create a table of what sounds I want to create and what object will sound similar to it. Once I've created this, we went out in groups and recorded things. We recorded pool tables, different terrain to walk on, hitting things like a couch and a tree. I made sure to have a range of sounds, so I can layer different sounds and create a new sound. We recorded the sounds using the microphones, we had to make sure it was charged and the headphones worked. You would then hold the side for it to turn on, when recording things you have to make sure that you press the middle button twice.
How did I get my animation?
Joe gave us the options for five animations, we had to choose one and add our own sounds on to it. I chose 'The man who was afraid of falling' by Joseph Wallace. I screen recorded the video from youtube and sent it to myself via facebook, I did this because I wanted to have a high quality video and if I sent it on any other platforms it'll bring the resolution down.
Plan for 5/12/19:
-Need to complete table with audience research
-Complete table on range of foley processes
-write detailed evaluation
-edit audio
-edit it onto animation
Reflection 09/12/19
Today I finished my animation, I've added the audio and made sure it's all linked up. I used the cut tool to crop out the parts of the audio I didn't want to use and I used the red line to make sure the audio was matching the footage, after I decided what fits well with what I then made sure the audio were all at the right level of sound especially if I layered them. However, this whole process was quite difficult for me as I didn't understand the program (Audition) very well, I had to ask my peers for assistance and that worked out quite well. I planned out what sounds I wanted to record, however I didn't record enough background noise, I only focused on the action sounds and forgot about the city and the wind.
Although since I have almost a week left with this project and I've almost completed everything, my plan would hopefully be to create another animation with different sounds and I want to add audio which is humorous and entertaining. I will be doing this by carefully watching the video again and list everything I can see and make sure to think carefully about the different sounds it would make. I would then record it and edit it on audition, I need to remember to export the audio file to premier pro and add the animation onto premier pro and export it from there.
Final evaluation
The recording techniques I used consist of a recording device which had a rode and I also used the software 'audience', using these things were very successful because the recording device allowed me to listen back on my recording to see if it was at a good quality or not, and it also allowed me to change the sensitivity of the microphone. Audience was good because it allowed me to sync the audio and the video perfectly, making sure that everything was in place. However it wasn't very easy to use, I was very confusing and I didn't understand how to do most this on it. Recording in different locations made it difficult as students were walking past and making the recording sound fuzzy, to overcome this problem me and Jakob decided to move to quieter areas in college and we managed to find a hallway which has wooden floor and space to make extra noises, we only recorded in doors as the wind was too strong and it was blocking any sound that we were trying to make.
I edited my audio by just cropping the audio, this wasn't too difficult yet it was very effective. I also used the yellow line to edit how loud I wanted the audio to go, this was effective because I could layer the audio and change the levels of the sounds so not everything was clashing. However these two are the only tools I used as I didn't know where to really go from there. If I was to use audience again, I would make sure to look up some tutorials and ask for help when I need it. I imported my audio from the recording device to my documents from there I then transferred the audio onto audience and edited them slightly, I layered the audio and made sure it all worked well together. I then exported the audio onto premier pro and made sure it was in sync. I had some problems with using audience as I didn't look at any tutorials on youtube or online, I just went onto the software with no knowledge. To overcome this problem I asked my peers for help on the basic knowledge of audience and from there I built up my work.
I was influenced by Caoimhe Doyle because she introduced Foley artist in such an inspiring way, the foley artists were required to create sounds in obvious yet unique ways. This encouraged my recording because I explored sounds in a different way, for example I got one of my peers to step on a plastic bottle and I recorded it multiple times exploring the different sounds it would make if stepped on a different way.
​