What is Foley:
Foley is a term that describes the process of live recording of sound effects that are created by a Foley artist, which are added in post production to enhance the quality of audio for films, television, video, video games and radio.
The term "Foley" is also used to describe a place, such as Foley-stage or Foley-studio, where the Foley process takes place. "Foley" gets its name from Jack Donovan Foley (1891-1967), a sound editor at Universal Studios in the 1950s who became famous for his advancements in synchronized sound effects.
Why is Foley important?
Foley effects are sound effects that are easier and more efficient to perform to picture. You project the movie in a studio and one or two people actually perform the sound effects to the picture. The sound effects are recorded live and are used in the final movie.
The most common Foley sound effects are foot steps and clothing rustle. Some specific effects are actually much easier to do in Foley than cutting them individually. In Finding Forrester, there were lots of scenes with basketballs. The main character was a high school basketball player. It was much easier for us to have the Foley artists do the basketball dribbling for the movie then to sync each basketball hit by itself.
Foley is used mostly when you have to deliver a foreign mix of your movie. You use Foley footsteps when you can't use the footsteps on the production recordings because you have to remove the dialog so that it can be dubbed into whatever language a particular country uses.
We had the basketball effects on the dialog (or production) tracks and they were in sync. If there was any conversation going on during any of the dribbling, then when it came time to deliver the foreign version of the sound mix, we couldn't use any of the production basketball effects. There was dialog on it.
Main concepts of Foley:
Footsteps
The first consists of the reproduction of all the footsteps of characters seen in the picture. The feet like all other components of Foley are performed by the artist while watching the picture on a TV or projector in the studio. Foley "pits" are usually found in the studio, containing different materials and substrates such as soil, gravel tarmac, wood and other surfaces for actors to walk on.Cloth
This is simply a track recorded to represent the clothing worn by each character in the picture. This will be performed by the Foley artist who controls the movement of a piece of material to mimic the sound of a suit as a character moves in a shot. Cloth is not always used and tends to be recorded at the discretion of the dubbing mixer who ultimately controls the final outcome of the audio post-production process.Props
Props are all the other sounds that are recorded to replicate sounds or complement events on screen such as telephones being picked up and put down, chairs moving, crockery and cutlery being used as well as more adventurous sounds such as crushing bones, blood splatters, and bodies falling to the ground. Foley can also include other sounds such as doors closing and doorbell rings, however these tend to be done more efficiently using stock sound effects, arranged by "tracklayers".How i will use Foley within my own work?
Looking into the clip some i have worked out some of the ways i will reccreate the sounds.
Scrat swimming on the iceberg- Splashing water with finger tips.
Scrat scattering across sand- Thin sandpaper on wood.
When he jumps in ocean - Dropingg a rock into a filled bathtub.
Eye in the skelton - Bottle cork opening.
Sound of scrat swimming underwater -Swishing water around in mouth.
Rock hitting bottom of the ocean - Balloon popping in the distance.
This video below gave me a simple insight to what Foley is and how it is created, what i got from this was
