A salute to the Wizards of Sound.
Foley Artists create sounds for movies from the most unexpected sources.
We have dealt with the Visual Effects world in our 3 posts CGI Visual Effects that Really Make a Difference, Amazing Unnoticed VFX that Really Help, and Visual Special Effects at their Very Best.
Now
What do they do?
You’ve heard of Foley Artists. What do they do for a living? Well, they create sound effects for movies from the most unexpected sources.
From time to time we notice a peculiar title in the final credits of a feature film. One of them, for sure, is Foley Artist or simply Foley. These people are the real magicians of sound.
Ben Burtt
I will always remember, many years ago, a documentary about the guy who created all the special sounds for the original Star Wars, amongst them the lightsaber sound that fed my childhood! That guy is Benjamin “Ben” Burtt, Jr. He did sound effects for Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. The Extraterrestrial, WALL-E… Right below is a 25-minute documentary about the sound behind many Star Wars movies.
2 more great short docs about foley
Here below two more great and very amusing short docs on the Foley Artist trade:
An old teacher of mine used to say that sound is the real third dimension of cinema. A big truth indeed.
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