What does a Foley artist do?

Correct answer: Creates custom sound effects

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What people think about it: 38 Comments
tinabobina
tinabobina
Why don't they tell us about these jobs in high school? 😝
Player #645248
Player #645248
CiaransMom, named for sound effects artist, Jack Foley
karmayeshegyatso
karmayeshegyatso
You'd think the commentary would include whoever the hell Foley was.
Canadagirl
Canadagirl
Computers will hopefully never replace the human touch. Thanks for Foley Artists
IllustratedGrrl
IllustratedGrrl
I'm picturing this person working, and it's got to be quite an amusing sight! Flapping gloves while clomping around the room in some big ol' shoes...perfect job for a hyperactive kid lol.
WaldoLydeker
WaldoLydeker
Back in the 1930's, radio was the rage. Sound effects were produced using imaginative items. Especially effective in crime dramas: squeaky doors, gunshots. So, these Foley artists are working on the shoulders of creative predecessors.
lifesasith
lifesasith
I would love to be a Foley artist
CiaransMom
CiaransMom
You didn't mention why it's called Foley...
Player SQinfoNUTS
Player SQinfoNUTS
tinabobina, I agree. I would have been great at that.
GrammyT
GrammyT
The term comes from Jack Foley, who developed and shaped the technique. An experienced foley artist makes $400 - $450 a day.
BrainTek
BrainTek
odd - wonder where the word Foley comes from? as a nurse we use "Foley catheters" or in-dwelling. they're the ones we insert in the bladder and they stay in for awhile. pretty sure they're not meant for sound effects lol
Player #85315195
Player #85315195
why don't they just let natural sound be recorded as natural? Ex, the rustling of a jacket, the clop of feet...
Kathryn
Kathryn
One trick they use is snapping celery in half to mimic the sound of breaking bones. Once you hear it, you'll never unhear it!
Ken
Ken
Lena z. how about tires squealing on a dirt road? I heard they made the sound for the light Saber in star wars with a metal rod on a high tension wire.
Player #68594183
Player #68594183
tinabobina, I wish I’d done this job!
Cher
Cher
Never deleting this app.
 Vic
Vic
tinabobina, sounds, literally like an interesting job
Susie
Susie
This is so cool to learn😊
Lynnie
Lynnie
they use sheets of aluminum to create thunder
Thunderduck
Thunderduck
I want to say that there is a play called "the Water Engine" that is done as a '30's radio show. One of the characters has no lines, but is the sound effects person. Steals the show. I could be wrong...
Linnet Woods
Linnet Woods
gillyoh, I bet you've noticed Foley artists in the credits of almost every movie you've seen since you said that!
Linnet Woods
Linnet Woods
IllustratedGrrl, I remember seeing a BBC documentary about it, back in the 70s, and the memory that stuck fastest was a girl clacking the empty halves òf a coconut shell together to create the sound of a horses hooves as she watched the footage of the scene she was working on. The sound was exactly right!
Player #46438917
Player #46438917
humbeldywump, I was just thinking of Howard Stern’s movie! That Fred?
shell
shell
why is it called a folley
Player #43081370
Player #43081370
If you have ever heard the War of the Worlds radio production in 1938, the story and sounds were so real that people actually panicked not knowing it was not real.
Indigo Shade
Indigo Shade
dont need a fancy place, one of the biggest Foley artists in Australia works out of a tin shed with sound proofing in place.
Mr_Hve_Fun
Mr_Hve_Fun
This is good to know, maybe some how I can make a video silent and use these “Foley” techniques, to make it scary; How would make I make creak ing door and sloshing in the mud sound; footsteps , a second thought maybe a tad too much for this “Senior Citizen” oh well there was one Alfred Hitchcock; LOL! YES, why was this not taught to us in high school!
Molly J
Molly J
I will never watch a sword fight again that I don't think of Foleys.
joejoe
joejoe
Very cool!
Guillermo Jr.
Guillermo Jr.
when they pull a sword from a scabbard in medieval and pirate films is a good example..
Player Gigi #28446253
Player Gigi #28446253
They are real artists
RockNRollMama82
RockNRollMama82
I want to be a Foley artist. Ever since working at a radio station that was too cheap to buy sfx records, so I had to make my own, I've wanted to be a Foley artist.
humbeldywump
humbeldywump
mr. fred newman
Uninitialized
Uninitialized
It is so interesting to watch them work in real time with the picture.
ironmage
ironmage
learn something new
Player #5100533
Player #5100533
karmayeshegyatso, On a related subject. In the second Terminator movie, Our heroin, while escaping "BARE FOOTED" down the hall, to the sound, presumably done by a Foley artist, were the sound of SHOES chomping. It's gets me every time I see it.
Kiddienurse 84
Kiddienurse 84
Sonicgirl, yes.
Sonicgirl
Sonicgirl
Did you know, that if you cut a Coca nut in half , you can make the sound of a Horse .