Footsteps, plates, glasses. Rocks, pebbles and vases.When these frequencies match,they call it FOLEY

Armed with just a boxful of everyday, ordinary, over-the counter props like clay, plates, glasses, pebbles, and a set of ever- evolving paraphernalia, a Foley artist is probably the most inconspicuous member of a film’s crew.! Naturally, most of us wouldn’t even heard of the word Foley so far but the truth is, these are the people that enrich the audio part of any film. With the help of these props, a Foley artist completely replaces the original soundtrack of the film.

You may be wondering, why do that?

We all know that it is extremely hard to go for live recording in movies. For instance, the sound of footsteps or the rustle of leaves- these are never recorded with the actual objects. Why? Because the world is becoming an increasingly noisy place and it’s not possible for us to mute the rest of the world just to record one single sound.

That’s where Foley comes in. Every Foley artist makes a study of all sounds around them, big or small and know very well how to replace them. From using canes to imitate footsteps, to just a bucket of water to depict the sound of an entire waterbody, Foley has done it all.

Creating sounds from the counterfeit

Also, most of the objects that appear on the screen are a part of the set and may not be real.

I mean think about it, do you think people are going to be fighting around with real swords?

Here again, Foley comes to the rescue and makes use of other props to mimic the metallic ring of a sword.

And it isn’t humanely possible to record sounds like the flapping of a bird’s wings with a microphone. So where do these sounds come from then?!

That’s right, the answer is Foley again. Every movie that you have ever watched most certainly contains at least a single Foley track. The reason we don’t know this is because a good Foley track is one that does not sound like a Foley, i.e. it sounds so real that we naturally assume that the sound is indeed from an original source!

Enhancing existing sounds

Foley isn’t just about replacing complicated sounds. It also enriches sounds that may sound dull in the original track. Taka a man walking with a plastic bag in hand for example. Using a microphone to tap the rustle of the bag would certainly prove a pain. But with Foley, the focus is only on one action, one sound at a time- here the Foley artist would move the bag in line with the character’s movements on screen. So the benefit here is two-fold- there is the option of focusing on the sounds that we want, and enriching that sound at the same time.

It’s the stitch in time!

Essentially, a Foley track for an entire feature is recorded in a single day, and tries to steer clear of cuts as much as possible. Which means, that an entire audio track for a film is created in a single take within just one day!

But it isn’t as simple as it sounds, because Foley artists have to act out entire scenes in sync with the visuals of the movie and imagine the amount of research that needs to go into that.

And it doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket

I mean, relatively. Say you’re shooting this intricate scene with a grandiose set and a huge cast.

And say a part of the audio footage somehow gets tampered with or you forget to record it altogether (happens more than you think it does).

Would it be easy to rebuild the sets, assemble the cast and reshoot the scene or to make use of this potent tool called Foley?

While there have been a sparse number of documentaries and instructionals on Foley,

Vineeth Ravindren’s recent- FOLEY, is one of the first shorts to talk about the concept of Foley. It definitely makes for an interesting watch, with its visual explanation of Foley, delicately interwoven with a comical story!

Happy Filming! ☺