Inside the Pinewood foley studio
- The Pinewood foley studio is based in Buckinghamshire just outside of London and has been the central hub for Foley work for major films like Batman Begins and Harry Potter
- Their aim is that they usually collect loads of props and objects that have interesting noises and strange acoustics. Their studio is filled with props, objects, textures and surfaces. All collected because of the unique noises and acoustics they produce
- One of the Foley artists said “You spend a lot of time collecting things and listening to them,” which perfectly captures how much patience and curiosity this job requires.
- It’s interesting to see that they don’t like using banked effects and have loads of the same type of prop so that they don’t have the same noise for a same object so that repeated sounds never feel artificial or identical.
- I didn’t realise how much depth, care and time is taken to try and perfect foley in films. Watching how they craft films made me realise how Foley really is an art form in itself quiet, precise and incredibly skilled
Jack Foley
- Jack Foley was an American film maker that innovated the use of sound effects that are synchronised with what’s going on screen
- He was the pioneer that created many films and made the sound effects in post production, thus it being called Foley artists
- Foley is defined as am act of syncing the performed sound to the visual moment. It’s performed as much as it is recording.
- Foley artists will say it’s always about your ears, emphasising that the work relies more on instinct and creative listening than technology alone.
- Silence draws us closer to the character and can be a very powerful tool
- Microphone placement I both in studio and on location is essential. A badly placed mic can sometimes ruin intimacy, whereas a carefully angled mic can make a sound feel personal and alive
- The sensory is very important when talking about cinema, you must think about what the on screen character sees, thinks the way they move their body or how they move their body in a certain way
- Motifs are also useful, films like We Need To Talk About Kevin use sound effects or noises to represent an event or feeling on screen. Creating sonic signature for certain characters or themes
We Need To Talk About Kevin directed by Lynne Ramsey
- The film is about a relationship between a mother and her son who is psychotic, it has a lot of dark hidden messages and psychological unease
- The film uses unsettling noises like a baby crying and noises of giving birth to build tension and to give the whole film a unsettling feeling
- Some parts of the movie are also really silent, this draws us closer to the characters and also gives the movie time to build tension again
- All in all, the film is an excellent example of how silence, non-diegetic sounds and repeated sonic motifs can shape emotional experience and reveal psychological layers without needing dialogue
Reflections
Learning about Foley, from the precision of Pinewoods studio to the legacy of Jack Foley himself has completely reshaped the way I think about sound for screen. These sessions have shown me that sound isn’t just something added to film, its tactile, living layer of storytelling. The smallest noise or the angle of a microphone can shift the entire emotional experience of a scene. Watching how artists work with objects, rhythm and instinct made me realise that foley is almost like sculpting sound – Shaping something invisible.
As Im starting to look for my own film to redesign I’m trying to bring this mindset with me. I want to listen more intentionally to hear not just what an object is but what sound can it produce to create something else entirely. My aim now is to look for a suitable film to make some Foley and music for. This week has reminded me that good sound design doesn’t just support film it transforms it, and thats the sort of work I want to create.