What does a foley artist do?
A foley artist is someone who makes sound effects for movies. They use everyday objects to create the sounds to go along with the action on screen. Watch this video to see how it works:
- Can you find out why people who make sound effects are called foley artists?
Sounds of the weather
Foley artists make the sounds of weather that we hear in films. They can imitate anything from light rain drops to a huge hurricane!
This video shows how you can create the sound of the rain using rice. You could have a go at home but make sure you do this with a grown up.
Sounds of animals
In this video, foley artist Marko Costanzo shows how he made sounds of animals for famous films like Ice Age.
Before you watch, have a guess at answering these questions:
- What objects do you think Marko uses to create the sound of horses galloping?
- What animal does he make the sound of using a handheld fan?
- What animals does he make the sound of using gloves?
- What does he use to reproduce the sound of the tiger’s teeth?
You can now check if you were right!
Sounds of nature
Many of the sounds you hear in nature documentaries are not actually the real ones recorded in the wild. These sounds are done by somebody like foley artist Richard Hinton who has worked on series like Planet Earth II, Frozen Planet and Our Planet.
- Can you spot how Richard created the sound of the spider web?
- How did he create the sound of Northern lights? Do they really make that sound in the real world?
- What about the sounds of the ocean or of a volcano erupting?
Sounds of fire
Here is another easy sound to reproduce at home using an empty bag of crisps or pasta.
Why not have a go?
Challenge time!
Now that you have learned how sounds are made in movies, we would like you to create your own sound effects to a silent film Peter from the Opera North In Harmony team has created for you. Here are the sounds you will need to recreate with suggestions of objects you could use:
- An alarm – you could use jingling keys or tap a glass or bell
- Footsteps – you could tap your shoes on a hard floor or hit a pillow with a wooden spoon
- A door opening and shutting – you could use a book or a creaky chair
- A bird singing – why not use your own voice or whistle?
- Splashing in a puddle – you could use a bowl of water
- The beep of a ticket machine – you could tap a glass
- A tram – you could shake a box of cereals and use a whistle
Any other ideas of objects you might use to recreate these sounds?
Lights, camera, action!
Once you’ve gathered all those objects, add the sound effects along to Peter’s film.
We would love to see how you got on and what sound effects you created at home! If you want, you can share videos and recordings on social media using #ONLittleSchool.
