~ Foley Artist
What's a foley artist?
A foley artist is a sound professional who creates and records sound effects that enhance a scene in terms of sound, matching what's happening during it. Some of these sound effects can be more realistic or heavily processed.
~ Foley is about performance
Creating foleys is not only about recording, but also performing.
When recording foleys, it's necessary to exaggerate the performance a little bit to better capture a more detailed sound.
However, overdoing it could potentially ruin the scene.
Microphone selection and distance also play a significant role in achieving a suitable sound for the scene.
Obtaining the right sound is a creative process that could involve layering multiple sound effects.
~ Free sound effects
Where to find free sound effects?
If you are unable to hire a professional foley artist or lack the necessary recording equipment and techniques, you can purchase a foley sound effects library or search for free sound effects on websites such as www.freesound.org. However, keep in mind that some of these free sound effects may have different copyright licenses. Additionally, using pre-recorded sound effects will lack the personal touch and attention to detail that a foley artist can provide during recording.
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Do Foleys need to sound realistic?
No, the goal of foleys is to match the picture and the production sound. They should sound like they belong to the scene.
On the other hand, this is not a strict rule and depends on what the director is aiming for. Making the foleys stand out by sounding more hyper-realistic can also be valid. It really depends on the project's intentions. -
How loud should you mix foleys in a film?
There are no rigid values. Some people present "specific values" for mixing dialogue, foleys, effects, and so on... but the truth is that's misleading because it depends on many factors. Not every scene sounds the same, both in terms of the amount of sounds, loudness and frequency distribution.
The same level for a foley can make it sound louder in a quieter scene or quieter in a louder scene. A fixed value is not correct, it depends on the context.
It also depends on the final platform. Mixing for streaming, TV, theater, and other mediums requires different approaches due to delivery specs and playback systems. -
Do I have to record and replace every production sound with foleys?
Absolutely not, although it depends on the quality of the production sound. If production sounds, such as footsteps, are well recorded and match the scene properly, you might enhance those by layering them with foleys or simply use the production sound.
Once again, this is highly dependent on other factors, such as the quality of the recording and the film genre.