It’s Flashback Friday!
Foley Artist Fun from It’s a Wonderful Life
Did you see our 2019 production of It’s a Wonderful Life? Our reimagined version of this holiday classic featured a foley artist (sound effects artist), performed by Chris E. Ware. Chris commented, “I think my favorite part of the Foley work was contributing to the world we were creating. There are so many sounds we hear everyday that we don't always key in on but we'd miss them if they weren't there. Foley art seeks those sounds out and brings them right to your ears. It's like not being able to smell and eating food. Sure, you can taste it but there's something lost without the aroma. That's what the sound effects are to what you are seeing—it ‘heightens the flavor’ if you will.”
What are foley artists?
Foley artists are named after Jack Foley, a sound effects artist who worked in the film industry when silent films were transitioning to “talkies.” He created many of the foley artist sound effect techniques still used today. In radio, foley artists create sound effects as the radio drama plays out – like doors opening and closing, phones ringing, footsteps, or the jangle of keys. Today’s foley artists mostly work in film and television, but during the Golden Age of radio, foley artists were a key element when broadcasting a radio drama. Foley artists have to get creative to create their sound effects. For example, a radio drama may have a horse galloping in the script. It wouldn’t be realistic to bring a real horse into the radio broadcasting station! So the foley artist would use coconuts to create the sound of the horse’s hooves. Or, a foley artist might crinkle a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper to create the sound of a crackling fire.
Create your own foley scene
Using objects found around your home, create your own foley scene! Recruit family members to create a silent scene – one with no lines of dialogue, but plenty of action accompanied by foley-style sound effects. You can use regular objects from around your home to create the sound effects for their scene. For example, you can knock on a desk while the actor in the scene pretends to knock on a door.
Chris shares more ideas: “I think youth could certainly experiment with cutlery—spoons and forks of different sizes. They could bang them together or use surfaces of varying hardness (e.g. tables, pillows, paper) and see what unique sounds come out. They could take what they've found and use those sounds to make effects for a book they or their parents are reading.”
If you’re interested, send us your foley scene videos to community@metroplays.org. We can’t wait to see your creations!
