LO2: Role of a Foley artist

In any form of digital media that uses sound, a foley artist is required to create realistic everyday sound to be added to media in post production to enhance audio quality and engage the audience and make them feel as if the are really there. 

A large part of being a foley artists is having to create walking sound effects, so they have to recreate the way the actor walks and acts out many different walking styles. When creating foley, the artists are in large sound studio with the big screen of the media product in front of them, that way it makes it easier to try create the sound with the variety of instruments and equipment they have. This is to help create verisimilitude for the audience and is a key part of creating a media product and bringing the project to life.

The equipment they use includes a high quality microphone to capture clear and crisp audio to match the product. They may also use a sound mixing board so they can put the audio together as they sometimes layer sounds to create a certain sound/noise. To create these sounds foley artists have to use a wide range of different instruments and everyday items in order to mimic the perfect sound in a studio setting. Examples of often used sounds that need to be recreated are 'thin sticks to create whooshing sounds', 'old chairs for controlled creaking' and 'rolled up large phone books for realistic body punches'. 

An example of a famous foley artist is Ben Burtt, who is most well known for his work on WALL-E and Star Wars. He created the iconic blaster sound effect by hitting guy-wires with a wrench until it created the right tone at the Los Angeles radio towers. 

LO3: Be able to plan the production of sound elements for identified media purposes

This LO3 post is a merge document containing:

- Developing ideas to include different types of sound elements (spider diagram, list of potential sounds)

- Creating planning materials for intended production of a sound track (production schedule and recces)

- Issues and resolutions for legal and ethical issues for sounds to be included in the production process 

Developing ideas to include different types of sound elements:

Potential Audio Ideas, Detailed report/list:

- Sting: To create my own sting I would have to use a variety of instruments/objects to recreate a high pitch sharp sound that'll install fear in the audience when the antagonist appears on screen. I could do this by scarping to metal instruments together; pole and knife?

- Creaking door: 2 different sounds (heavy and light door). These are common conventional sounds in horror, which will work especially well considering the environment I'm filming in. As my planned production of the short film almost presents the house itself as a threat, with the monster hiding in shadows out of our sight; this sound effect will help to accentuate this idea as the deafening silence is broken up by the house moving by itself.

- Fridge opening/closing: As in my planned scene the fridge opens by itself offscreen, it's important that I ensure the audience are aware of what's happening through the use of sound. This will mean that I will record the sound separately to the scene and implement it during editing so that the sound is very audible, allowing the audience to understand what's happening off screen, making them tense as they wait for the camera to reveal what they cannot yet see.

- Static: The static sound effect is used to further push the fear of the unknown to the audience by literally having my creatre distort the sound in the phone which my protagonist uses as a lifeline to stay calm and talk to her mother, however the distortion of that technology symbolises how the entity has complete control over my protagonist and what's happening. 

- Light switch: This sound effect is important for the same reasons as the fridge sound which is making the noises of the lonely house come to life.

- Knife sound effect: pulling out knife. In my film the introduction of the knife prop is supposed to symbolise a sense of security/defence for the protagonist and audience, which is why its terrifying when the use of the knife is proven to be futile. To set up the knife as this beacon of defence/hope for my protagonist I will accentuate sound when its introduced on screen with a powerful scrape sound effect which is often used in productions to signify the weapons power. This will be an effective sound to use as it will lead my audience into a false sense of security greatly intensifying the scare factor of my antagonist.

- Phone call sound effect: This sound effect helps to introduce/reintroduce the character 'The Mother' to the audience and it makes it clear to them that the noise os coming directly from the phone call and not within the scene itself. This is primarily done to reduce as much confusion around important details as possible so that my audience are able to stay immersed in the film and not break tension.

Creating planning materials for intended production of a sound track:

This is a recce sheet I created for our in-school sound booth to assess the suitability of using it to record sound. 

Issues and resolutions for legal and ethical issues for sounds to be included in the production process:

In development of the soundtrack for my short film it's important to consider the legal/ethical issues associated with the production of sound in the industry. Not conforming to legal guidelines can result in serious consequence such as being sued or having the product taken down. Ethical issues are more to do with morals of what's included in the product. Not conforming to ethical issues the audience have raised can result in negative publicity towards your product, causing less people to engage with it. 

The most prominent legal issue to consider when developing my sound is copyright. Copyright ensures that intellectual property is protected from being plagiarised without permission from the original creator. An example of this in sound would be using iconic liscensed music/jingles to further sell my own product as audiences recognise the sound and want to engage with a product they may be familiar with. As I am producing a short horror film I will not include any music owned by another creator without their permission and will use copyright free suspense music/sound effects available for the public to use. I will also record my own foley sound effects and not take them from an already existing licensed product. Taking these precautions are important as it will avoid me getting sued and stop my product from being made unavailable to the public/taken down. 

An ethical issue I should consider on the other hand is whether the content i'm including in my product is age appropriate. My horror short is aimed at ages 15+ so the sound design and visuals should reflect this. To achieve this 15 rating certificate the sound must be regulated by the BBFC to fall within their guidelines, such as: there can be a strong threat or horror, but violent behaviour must not dwell on the details that could be copied. My horror short conforms to this through the use of sound design as the strong threat is implied almost entirely off-screen as we can only hear the fate our protagonist faces and not see it, allowing me to avoid showing anything too graphic that would cause my film to be bumped up to an 18 rating, whilst still keeping within the themes and genre conventions of horror by instilling terror within the audience.