Foley Artists Heeeeelp...

[nadman]

Did anybody heard about foley seminar or a foley school? I've been looking on the internet and I was not able to find such a thing.

Does it exist or foley artist are all selfmade?

[mfife]

I'm in the foley business and I'd like to help you out.

Get another job.

Foley is not a growth industry. There aren't very many foley artists in the entire world. The career path to becoming a foley artist is completely random.

There is no such thing as foley school, although there are people who will take your money to show you how to walk around in dirt.

And finally,
it isn't as exciting as you probably think it is.

[nadman]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mfife:

Get another job.
QUOTE]

I'm not really interested in making a career out of foley. Wath I am looking for is tricks for different situations because sometimes it faster to do foley sound live then to pick it from a cd...

Is there Books out there or wathever???

[mustafatron]

what is foley?

[Noiz2]

No not that I've ever seen anyway and Foley artists tend to keep there "secrets" to themselves. However books that deal tith old radio production and or theatre before tape often have some usfull info.
SK

[Peter Steinbach]

Here are a few things I've learned from foley sessions:
1. Always wear shorts
2. Bring MANY different shoes.
3. It's easier for women to emulate male footsteps than vise versa. To compensate, practice walking more "lightly".
4. If you are a male, try going to stores that cater to transvestites for heels that fit. (Im in San Francisco...no problems with that here!)
5. Practice walking in heels at home, with curtains drawn. Warn your significant other or roomates beforehand.
6. An interesting tidbit...Foley walkers often watch actors shoulders to determine when footfalls should occur. Especially if the feet are off camera.
7. Remove all rings, watches, etc.
8. Do a "Cloth" pass. Essentially, a take of clothing rustle.
9. Do a "Pats" pass. Essentailly, a take hand activity.
10. If the scene is crowded with extras, you don't have to do everyone's feet. I only make cues on the foley cue sheet for the extras that I notice on my FIRST look at a scene. Chances are, an audience will only notice what you notice when viewing the scene for the first time.
11. Foley cue sheets are time consuming and suck, but you have to do it. I use software called Tape made by Wildsync. It works alongside PT 4.x very nicely. You highlight the area in PT that you want to create a cue for, and Tape automaticly captures the TC and creates a new foley cue.
12. Foley cue sheets must be formatted in a specific manner to make the session go faster for all involved. Try downloading this demo:
http://www.wildsync.com/download.html
13. Practice
14. Practice
15. Practice

One last thing: Many foley artists I've worked with used to be dancers. Makes sense...


In response to Noize2- I've worked with some of the best foley artists in the world (Jennifer Meyes, Marney Moore, etc) I really don't think they could care less about secrets. They know that what they do is a talent that is developed over many years of hard work and perseverence. No trick or secret will make you great at anything. The people at the very top of thier fields are usually the most forthcoming with knowlege they've acquired. Guess is has something to do with self-confidence or something.....
-p

[This message has been edited by Peter Steinbach (edited March 26, 2001).]

[Noiz2]

Peter
I 've worked with many of the same folks and your right but nadman is not working with them, he wants to foley stuff on his own and not hire them. All I men't was that cold calling foley artists and asking them how to do such and such was very unlikley to get him much info.
SK

[Peter Steinbach]

Hey Noiz2-
Sorry, I did'nt mean to offend or sound high-handed. I was more venting at those secretive types we all know and dislike. You're right though, a cold call would get one nowhere.
cheers, P

[quakebasket]

Peter's right - practice, practice, practice. I'm nowhere as experienced as he sounds with regards to foley, but I've done quite a bit by myself to complement my sound design. The more you foley, the more your imagination will be able to free itself. I think half the battle is finding the object/suface/thing that makes the sound you're looking for - which is quite often not the object in the film. Good luck.

QB

[This message has been edited by quakebasket (edited March 28, 2001).]

[Noiz2]

No offence taken.
SK