How to become A Foley Artist

Even the most stunning visuals in movies would fall short in impact without appropriate sound effects. From the sound of approaching footsteps to the rustling of clothing when a character moves, sounds created by Foley Artists add depth to a film and immerse audiences in the world of the big screen.

• Sound Crafter
• Foley Recorder
• Foley
• Foley Pit Manager
• Foley Engineer
• Sound Effects Editor 
• Re-Recorder

What do Foley Artists do?

A Foley Artist would typically need to:

• Custom-create sounds in real-time to add to post-production edits, thereby enhancing the overall audiovisual experience of a film, television, game, or another medium of entertainment
• Observe the diverse elements in the raw footage of visuals and try to imitate the varied sounds that characters, their actions or other aspects in the setting make, such as human footsteps or thunder
• Work in a team of three people, including two Foley Artists and one mixer, also known as a Foley engineer, to understand project requirements and deliver the targeted product 
• Make sure that the mixer or Foley engineer understands the objective of each sound produced so that they can place microphones strategically to record it clearly and accurately 
• Break down each scene into individual sounds
• Perform actions on a Foley stage to create the sounds one by one while watching their viewing screens to ensure that the sounds are accurately timed to match the visual
• Create multiple and varied character-specific sound effects simultaneously, such as for a movie scene that needs the sound of footsteps, a swishing dress, keys opening a lock, and a door creaking open
• Brainstorm better ways and tools to create a sound if it does not feel right and redo it till it perfectly suits the projected on-screen scenario
• Allow themselves multiple takes to get their sounds exactly as desired, using modern editing tools
• Liaise with the sound supervisor and sound designer, who ensure that the sounds captured align with the visual
• Provide mixers or Foley engineers with their work for blending with the visual to create a seamless flow
• Collaborate with sound editors who polish the Foley art and edit it for the final execution of the entire soundscape
• Recreate Foley art when a movie is sold in an overseas market and dubbed in other languages since removing the original dialogue removes sound effects
• Create the sounds to put in a library rather than select pre-recorded sound effects

A Foley studio is where you will likely find a Foley Artist at work. It may resemble a  junkyard, with various car bumpers, flare guns, chairs, vessels, and old shoes lying around alongside sophisticated recording equipment. Foley Artists use these diverse props to create commonplace or unusual sounds that synchronise with a particular on-screen action, whether it is people running or birds rustling their wings as they fly away. The soundproof studio also has Foley pits or the actual holes, structures or containers for debris, such as water, soil, gravel, sand and rock.

Foley Artists may need to travel to Foley studio facilities for sound production and recording.

Typically, only renowned and large-scale studios hire a limited number of full-time Foley Artists. When there are tight deadlines to deliver the soundscape on major projects, some studios hire Foley Artists on a freelance basis to supplement the team. Daily working hours depend on the assignment at hand. Freelance Foley Artists have some flexibility to schedule their time.

Typically, Foley Artists freelance or work for established Foley studios. Finding a new job might seem challenging. Foley Artists can boost their job search by asking their network for referrals, contacting companies directly, using job search platforms, going to job fairs, leveraging social media, and inquiring at staffing agencies.

Foley Artists are generally employed by: 

• Movie Studios
• TV Studios
• Foley Studios
• Advertising Agencies
• Game Developers

• An uncertain future because some television series are replacing Foley art with digital noise 
• Mentally challenging to think of how to manually and accurately recreate diverse sounds with utmost attention to the smallest detail and without resorting to a standard computer audio bank
• Physically challenging work, such as lifting heavy metallic objects, pushing car doors, or getting up and down off the floor for several hours at a stretch 
• Difficult to build a long-term career in this field due to the relatively low demand
• Finding part-time work to sustain you between gigs, given that Foley work does not provide a steady source of income.

Since aspiring Foley Artists do not need formal educational qualifications, experience in Foley art is critical to landing your first assignment. 

You can begin acquiring experience in creating Foley sounds by establishing one or more Foley pits in your house. Initially, a gardening tray or a children’s pool can replace your need for an actual Foley pit, where you may put junk material that can be useful for your Foley creations. You also need a microphone and a quiet place for your recording. Creating diverse sounds in your Foley pit, recording them and listening to those recordings will develop your Foley art. 

You can also start picking up skills in school by requesting to perform in promotional movies as a Foley Artist so that you can get hands-on experience in creating Foley pits. Creating Foley art for an audience that judges its quality can be more difficult than creating it for practice at home but it helps you appreciate the pressures a Foley Artist faces working for a movie. 

A recommended way to prepare to apply for the post of a Foley Artist is to become a production assistant in any music recording studio. Here you can start job shadowing in various departments to build your experience and connections as you wait for a vacancy in the Foley Artist department

Another avenue to acquire experience is to create Foley effects for short and independent films or less-known TV shows. 

Read about the profession and interview experts working in Foley art to prove your commitment to course providers and prospective employers.

Aspiring Foley Artists typically do not need any specific academic qualifications. Foley art may not be taught formally at school or through apprenticeship programs but instead learned under the mentorship of an experienced Foley Artist.

However, a film school degree may be helpful to enter the field and understand how sound enhances the impact of movies. Through participation in sound production,   film school may also give you experience working on a Foley stage and using Foley pits, the domain of Foley Artists.

Certification from an objective and reputed organisation can help you stand out in a competitive job market, carry a significant salary premium of up to 18 per cent, increase your chances of advancement, and allow you to become an independent consultant

While Foley Artists typically stay in the profession for many years, they may also work in other areas of production and the performing arts. Your experience as a Foley Artist can help you secure other jobs related to sound production, such as Dialogue Editor, Production Sound Mixer, Boom Operator, and Utility Sound Technician. Some Foley Artists can earn extra income from other production roles. 

Foley Artists may grow their business by building their network, having their work seen or heard, and sourcing potential clients at professional networking events, premieres, and film and sound production events.

With adequate experience and an extensive network, you can create and launch your own Foley studio with several Foley pits, numerous scrap materials to make sounds, and a microphone and audio storage system.

Candidates with the necessary skills and experience in creating and recording Foley sound effects have the best job prospects.

As a Foley Artist, your skills, knowledge and connections are what strengthen the demand for your services and your reputation. Continuing professional development (CPD) will help you build required personal skills and proficiency through work-based learning, a professional activity or self-directed learning. 

Some vital skills that you must develop and constantly update are sound design, recording, mixing, acoustics, equipment proficiency, and mastering. 

You could learn about sound design by undertaking a sound design production or film audio program, which typically covers physics and mathematics as well as the historical context of the field and the latest tools and technologies.

Recording is another area you must develop is the use of various microphones, mixing boards, and digital audio workstations, as well as optimising the use of the available workspace. Your goal is to tackle any project, from a battle scene to a sitcom, and deliver excellence in sound production and recording. 

While larger Foley studios may use specialists to mix and master the recordings, freelancing Foley Artists and those working for small studios must learn these skills to work independently with the resources available.

Take courses to sharpen your acoustics skills as you must watch the entire reel of the visual you are working on to assess the Foley sounds and the equipment you need for each scene, as well as the atmosphere every sound should take on. The acoustic environment you generate for footsteps in a large hall versus a small room at home is quite different.

Given that you may freelance or launch your studio, develop your business, networking and marketing skills and keep current with the latest trends in the audio industry. 

The Origin of Foley Art

Jack Foley, who joined Universal Studios in 1914, is credited with starting the practice of Foley art. When “talkies” arrived in the 1920s, movie studios felt the need to add realistic sounds but used microphones on sets only to record dialogue. Foley began the practice of recording audio tracks to synchronise with films that were already shot. 

Starting with assembling a team that projected the film onto a screen while recording sounds, mainly of footsteps and doors, Foley went on to become an expert, performing to the end of his life in 1967. The demand for Foley sounds continues despite stock sound effects which may not precisely fulfil a filmmaker’s requirements. 

What Skills Does a Foley Artist Need?

Creativity and imagination are a Foley Artist’s companions all through their career. In addition, you require skills in sound production, recording, sound editing, post-production, and basic acoustics, exceptional ears for nuances, coordination skills, and time management. Foley Artists may have access to studio space or may need to work in just a single room. You must know how to adapt the space for optimal-quality recording, using wall hanging, sound baffles or other acoustic methods to create a recording chamber. 

Physical fitness and dexterity are also essential for Foley Artists as their work requires extended periods of sitting and kneeling, walking and running, or manoeuvring props, such as metal sheets, with their arms and hands. 

Networking is key to establishing and leveraging your reputation as a Foley Artist and boosting the demand for your services.

How to Build a Foley Pit

Recording footsteps on location may not always be possible if the locations are inaccessible or noisy, thus giving rise to the need for a Foley studio. However, budgetary constraints may require filmmakers to create Foley sounds in a home studio with a self-created Foley pit, using everyday and inexpensive objects. The pit should be easy to assemble and clean.

A quiet and carpeted room or closet is a helpful starting point. Carpets help absorb sound and allow footstep recordings to sound dry and clean. You can use several mobile apps to check for the extent of echo in several rooms, choosing the one that works best for your Foley recordings. The next step is to create a suitable acoustic environment in the selected room by switching off all electronic devices as they might create a buzz or hum that interferes with your recording. Then cover all flat surfaces, such as walls, doors and windows, using curtains, towels, blankets or cushions to prevent sound from reflecting.

To build the pit, use something like a gardening tray measuring about 70 cm x 70 cm, preferably square and made of plastic. It should be sufficiently large for footsteps, deep enough to avoid reverberation and hold messy materials, and easy to clean. Add dirt, leaves, small branches and gravel till the sound you create matches the visual.

Types of Foley Effects

Footsteps, including the actions of running, walking, and kicking, form the first and major category of the sounds that Foley Artists create. They use shoes and floor surfaces to create a sound as close as possible to what the scene requires. The second genre of sounds is that of movements, such as the swishing or rustling of clothes. The third group of Foley effects is that of sounds specific to a scene, such as a creaky door, the shattering of glass, or the crack of a whip.

Some Everyday Objects Used to Create Basic Sounds

While Foley Artists have a bagful of tricks, tips and tools to create particular sound effects, they must also innovate or improve sounds and methods as needed. Breaking a celery stalk or head of lettuce can fill in for the sound of breaking bones. Need to match the sound of a body punch? Hit a phone book. Pick up a pair of leather gloves and flap them around to mimic the sound of a bird’s wings flapping in the air. Crushing a leather pouch packed with corn starch can sound like snow being crunched, while metal plates or sheets are helpful to imitate thunder. A thin stick or an arrow waved around creates a whoosh while handsoap generates squishing sounds. There is, of course, the tried and tested method of clapping coconut shell halves to approximate the sound of horse hooves.

Creating the Sound of Footsteps

To mimic the sound of a character’s footsteps, Foley Artists observe the surface the character is walking on, their speed and any specific features of their gait. A microphone is placed near the feet of the Foley Artist to record the sound of their footsteps as they walk in place on a hard surface, such as wood or marble, ensuring a near-perfect match with the character’s footsteps in the visual.

Foley Artists use everyday objects to create sounds that fill the audio scene of a movie. They realistically reproduce a range of sounds from breaking bones to horse’s footsteps by crunching celery and knocking coconut shells together.

Foley Artists are skilled and creative sound technicians with immaculate hand-eye coordination and a natural flow. They are responsible for accurately capturing the nuances of a wide variety of major and minor sounds that can largely alter the course of any visual medium of entertainment. Foley art is for those willing to stay in tune with innovative tools and methods to mimic familiar sounds and create new ones, which shape viewer perception and experience.

Some studios may replace Foley art and craft with pre-recorded or digital sounds but the majority still lean towards the organic customised art of a Foley Artist. You must constantly enhance your skills and expand your imagination to find opportunities in movies, games and TV shows. Start with basic sounds, such as body punches created by hitting a phone book or horse hooves generated by clapping the two halves of coconut shells and progress to more complex ones, such as thunder.