Serious Time #17 Foley

Sounds are crucial in movies they make a scene feel alive and vivid, but half of them don't actually take place not in the scene there actually in but in post-production. There are three types of sound; ambiance, library effects, and foley. Ambiance is the sound in the background like birds chirping or a restaurant bustling, these are usually recorded in the same location but not on scene. Library effects are pre-recorded sounds that you can get with or without purchase, these are typically used with sounds like gunshots, explosions, or glass. Foley is the sounds specifically assigned to the character such as footsteps, cloth movement, and prop noise. Vodville is the source of these effects which is where the rimshot came from. Vodville began to die out so it was then replaced by radio broadcasts and talking pictures. Radio especially making their own sound effects from everyday objects. Music can also in some ways be considered a sound effect setting the mood with what is happening or what the character is thinking. Sound duties are mixed into 3 different categories; dialogue mixer, music mixer, and sound effects mixer. All of these people get together with the director and watch the film to see what goes where with their specific job. Now there are plenty of props to make sounds with an example being celery being used as bones breaking. Sound is an important part of any film and is a necessity too.

I thought that the video was good but it was I feel way to long. I don't need to know Jack Foley's life story I'm watching the video for sound not a biography. Other then that the video was great, I especially liked when they showed the old process of radio broadcasts. Radio broadcasts must have been very stressful with so much going on at once and the pressure of being live. I learned about some the items they use for sounds which is cool too, like saran rap as fire. Overall this was a very factual video with a lot of great info at hand.