Foley Artist

Foley Artist Career

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A Foley Artist creates audio effects for a film by using physical props. As a Foley Artist, you are responsible for very specific sounds: You do not create audio for standard special effects, such as explosions or background noises from cars—that is the domain of Audio Engineers. Instead, you deal with recreating the finer details that require a high degree of precision: The clop of someone’s shoes as they walk across the floor, the rustle of their jacket as they sit in a chair.

Your work as a Foley Artist is necessary because on set recording does not capture every nuance of a movement’s audio. Additionally, most things on a film set are fake—if two actors have a swordfight it might look real, but the clear ringing of steel when the fake swords clash will not be present. Your work is to match the ring of steel to each sword clash.

These are tiny details but without them a film seems unreal, cheaply made. And because of the individual and erratic nature of such sounds, they are better recreated by human hands than by a standard computer audio bank.

Your studio resembles a junkyard of sorts, with various car bumpers, flare guns, and old shoes lying around beautiful recording equipment. You use these pieces to create sounds that match specific actions on screen, like flapping gloves to mimic the sound of a bird flying away.

How do I become a Foley Artist?

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Build up a portfolio of recorded sounds that you have matched to visual images. Then network. And network some more. It is hard to break in to this industry, so you have to shop yourself around. Focus on landing an internship or apprenticeship.