You know how all those sound effects in almost every film sound crystal clear like the footsteps someone takes, doors opening or maybe even paper crinkling? Well all those sounds are actually recreated in a room specifically made for Foley artists called a Foley-studio because such sounds would often be very difficult to record when actually shooting the film.
It all began in the early 1900’s, particularly during the release of Universal Studio’s first film to include sound, Show Boat. Because they had no prior experience to working with sound in their films, Universal had to hire someone who’s experienced in the radio industry and the man chosen for the job was a man named Jack Donovan Foley (of course, the last name of Jack Foley became what we know as the Foley technique to this day). However, only the character’s dialogue could be picked up since microphones of that era weren’t capable of picking up all the little sounds. Therefore, Jack Foley and his crew took projected the film onto a screen and manually recreated each and every single one of these sounds whilst having to sync them up in time with the video itself. This clever technique was then used in various other films from that point onwards which made them all come to life, making every single bit of these films seem all the more immersive.
But why do this when all sounds could easily be captured with our modern technology you might ask? It’s so film producers can have even more control over their films. Imagine a horror movie where the creaking floorboards, doors opening and wind breezing wouldn’t sound prominent and slow-paced during such film, it would essentially be removing all suspense and tension it creates; it’s exactly what a horror film would be like without any Foley artists and the same applies to every other genre. Next time you watch a film, try paying attention to the volume, speed and quality of all those minor sound effects.
Role of a Foley Artist 