10
Hey,
You should check out Diego Stocco´s stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhQntkY1Ank
He has alot of videos online,showcasing his methods....very inspiring!
8
I once tried (very nervously) putting my zoom H2 in a plastic tupperware box and holding it in a bath of water. You can get a pretty convincing underwater ambience, and also if you run the taps at the same time and place the box in various positions around the bath - even under the taps - you can get some good watery rumbles. Word of warning; check the box ...
8
Film Soundtracks are made up of 3 components:
Dialogue
Sound Effects
Music
Dialogue can be broken down into the following components:
Production Dialogue (Sync)
Production Dialogue (Wild)
Post-Sync Dialogue (ADR) [usually sync, but sometimes wild]
Sound Effects can be broken down into:
Production Effects (Sync)
Production Effects (Wild)
Foley (Post)
...
7
Don't forget to add plenty of cloth track too. Adding some quick flaps and whooshes of fabric can help sell the intensity of it too!
7
I found by quickly running the back of the fingers together (or more so the fleshy middle joint section below the nail) in a fast up/down movement made for a pretty cool insect flight sound when pitched up and octave. Perform a few 'pass bys' at the microphone for added variety!
7
The first thing I do when I'm beginning a film is to WATCH it. (Better yet, I READ the script BEFORE I start to design anything). You only get one first impression. I take in the look and feel of it, the attitude and mood, and try to recognize any overarching themes or ideas the director is trying to convey. Only then do I start listening to sounds or ...
6
Leather work gloves with Lee Press On Nails glued to them.
Good luck.
6
I used a box of fruity pebbles and a wood plank to make a scifi grain sound for a logo design last week. good times!
I think I'm going to do a mentos-diet coke record session sometime in the future as well.
5
Disclaimer: its been a while...
Grass itself does not really make a strong sound unless it's dried up grass.
So unless you have close ups of feet walking in grass spend less time to recreate the grassy part of the sound. The green grass sound is mostly about a good NON resonant soil sound, with a little grassiness on top.
Old school was using old quarter ...
5
I know: using a violin bow ain't something new, but when I bowed the ironing board of my flatmate some real nice sounds came out of it:
http://soundcloud.com/michaelmanzke/gestrichenes-b-gelbrett
and one thing I still want to build and record is the "jam jar jet"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARjqjRb52vA
5
Watermelon - dig through it with your
hands
raw chicken in marinade - awesome 'slimy guts' sounds
raw egg - for some more slimy goodness
hand soap - for the same
macaroni and cheese - for some smush
bread soaked in water - gives a nice
fibrous squishy sound
bell peppers - rip them apart if you
need some nice crunch
Grab your apron and get messy ...
5
It depends on the sound I'm trying to create ;). Pragmatically, it also depends upon the availability of a quiet, reflection-free outdoor spot vs. a foley studio — both of which can be hard to find (or afford).
A project that calls for a more stylized foley track might best be served by a foley studio with an enormous assortment of props, shoes, pits, cloth,...
5
small skinny rope with a lightly weighted object tied (VERY SECURELY) to the end - record two layers - one of big looping swooshes for the initial flight out the window - maybe a 10 foot extension of the rope, then shorten the rope to 2 feet or so and go much much faster in a circle for the uncoiling.
xlr cable could also work.
5
The two things that come immediately to mind are that you should look at photography and sketches of 19th century London, and you should listen to any audio material you can find from cities that are at about that level of technological development.
Photography and sketches will help you determine what noise-creating objects you need to simulate. It is safe ...
5
shorts and a t shirt, to minimize clothing noise when doing a foot pass. clothing moves can be added separately. pants swishing noise can build up when doing multiple passes of feet.
5
A lot of Foley artists use sweat pants, soft clothes that don't make sound when rubbing together. Also take off any jewely, belts, etc.
5
For the sound of dog I actually normally just use a kind of heavy-duty gloves I've epoxy-glued paper-clips on. I was gonna try other things as well when it was still just gaffed on, like pieces of horn and different types of wood, but truth be told I found this configuration to be absolutely spot-on for what I needed instantly!
For the sense of weight, I've ...
4
A few that come to mind:
Dowel rod
Cat hanger
Shirt/blanket/cloth
Rope/jump rope
Tennis racket
Fishing rod (Or other flexible metal/fiberglass)
Chain
Branch with leaves or smaller branches
Things to tie to a string and swing:
whiffle ball
Cheese grater
Soda can
Plastic bottle
Empty metal or plastic bucket
And one of the coolest things you can swing: ...
4
It's really a question of schedule and the time available. In an ideal world, I prefer to record things from scratch. There just isn't always time for that (not in TV audio at least). However, there are occassions where it's more efficient to record from scratch than to spend time building a complex sound from library components.
I try to spend down time at ...
4
I'd have to second Ian's sentiments here. It's not as simple as "Go work overtime.". The games industry sounds similar to TV and often it's not possible to record new sounds. Before I worked in the industry I was all "I'll never use libraries!" and now I'm actually working to deadlines and see what production is actually like, I'm thankful we have libraries ...
4
I share Shaun's sentiment, mainly as I too work in TV.
I disagree with Conant who's response seems a little naive to practicalities of life. I would love to record all the sounds I need but there simply isn't time (and budget) to do such things in the world of quick turn around TV work.
Besides, another argument is why would I spend time and money ...
4
When I do foley I rarely base such things on the quality of the movie as a whole. After all, first of all it can be hard to tell when I get a movie ungraded and raw how it will be in the end, and second I do not believe in adapting the sound to the picture but to the scene, the emotions it's supposed to bring, and possibly the quality of the dialogue track. ...
4
My take on it has always been that there's no black and white answer, because Foley crews do a lot on some major union shows that delve into the FX area (like Dan O'Connell creating sounds of a steam train), and sometimes they only do the feet/cloth and such which is termed as 'tradition' Foley.
I've come to call the difference as this: FX adds in the ...
4
The more traditional view is that foley is performed to picture, whereas FX are cut to picture. There is an efficiency idea at work here. To piggy-back off of an example that Stavrosound mentioned, let's use the idea of props handling (specifically a dinner scene). I could, with very little fuss, edit in all of the plate/silverware/glass/chair/table noises ...
4
It would help to know what kinds of bangs you are recording. Are these intended to be big metal clangs? Low-frequency impacts? Car crashes? What recording device are you using? Are you hearing the clipping or just seeing it on the meters?
In most cases, the key ingredients to a powerful and believable impact recording are multiple perspectives (layers), ...
4
To offer an alternative viewpoint on what @Matt Glenn has said, I challenge you to use EQ, spatialization and compression/limiting INCORRECTLY in post processing - many times you need to push the envelope (or completely destroy it) in order to achieve the sound you are hearing in your head. Liberal use of distortion plugs, overlimiting and other red LED-...
4
As I side note (quasi-related), if it's of any help, I've found that having some distance between the mic and the source for things like buttons and switches help - it seems that the proximity effect causes it to sound unnatural and hard to 'undo' in Post, but even so much as 1-2 feet of added distance helps it have a natural sound by letting the sounds it ...
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