Tutorial
I had some time to think about what sort of sounds I wanted to explore sonically during this tutorial with Ed Baxter on foley, we hired out the foley studio in UAL and learnt the ins and outs, specifically on the process of creating noise for visual cues. Getting used to using the studio, I had a go at being the sound technician for it which was a good experience. We tried to make fire noises as a group, using only two bed sheets and some plastic wrappers. We also attempted to make the sound of someone getting hit with a hammer using a watermelon. and a blunt object.
The ‘fire noise’
We teamed up and attempted to make a synthetic fire noise using two bed sheets for the hum of the fire, different crackly plastics for the sticks burning along with other small fabrics for the randomised movement of the fire. The difficulty with this task was getting it to sound natural, as humans we try to create patterns within our day to day life so it was hard to break from that mould.
This task turned out to be a lot more challenging than originally expected, finding the right rhythm was difficult but it put things into perspective when making foley. We ended up with a some what good attempt at fire noise after a few tries. I have had technical difficulties accessing the files for this recording process currently.
The world of foley
Looking deeper into the world of foley, various artist such as Ron Geeson (1943) who has been involved in films such as Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) and Ghost Story (1974). He’s known for his scoring of films in a unique electro grove way, incorporating motions of jazz and classical and his incredible work of foley. He work in foley was seen as a new start to cinema at the time, with his films been credited for their audio accomplishments.
Kate Hopkins (1982) share the views on the creative tough of foley. They believe that creating foley isn’t about making the sound realistic, but actually trying to match a sound to the thought of the image, thus making the process a more individual and creative process. Kate has done Foley for many nature documentaries such as Frozen Planet (2022) and Our Planet (2019), showing the power of good foley in real time.
Looking into my own work, I want to take inspiration from people in the field. I listened to a podcast with Ruth Sulivan (1914) and it was interesting to hear her say that making sound effects is like being a composer, because you need a timeline to portray a feeling. This made me reflect on the possible creativity I have over my own sound FX.
It’s obvious now that sound effects are there to attract atmosphere, not to show reality. It’s not important to reproduce sounds not as they are heard but how they are imagined. Going into my own work I now realise that I need to think about the detail and demeanour of actor or objects to best portray synthetic sounds.
The importance of Foley in radiophonic artwork
Foley plays a huge part in the world of radiophonic art as it adds an often surreal layer of sound that can change the listener perception. The correct use of foley can shape narratives without the use of the voice, it can be an effective tool for story telling without speaking a single word, which is a powerful tool in radiophonic artwork.
References
Geeson, R. (2025). Ron Geesin – Home. [online] Rongeesin.com. Available at: https://www.rongeesin.com [Accessed 8 Apr. 2025].
Clifton Web Design (2019). Kate Hopkins – Wounded Buffalo Sound Studios. [online] Woundedbuffalo.co.uk. Available at: https://woundedbuffalo.co.uk/people/kate-hopkins/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2025].
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