Foley is one of those wonderful mysteries of film. Whether it's a composite animal sounds to make a dinosaur or Wookiee roar, the perfect sound of running water or footsteps, or if it's finding the right mellon to hack into to find the visceral sound of a knife wound, there's a real art to it. Sound design consistently amazes me.
In no small part because I don't fully understand it.
I play the part of a law enforcement officer in director Nick Carlisle's Moneytubes - A Comedy Short, currently in post-production. In the penultimate scene in the movie, there is a... let's call it a bit of slapstick physical comedy disguised as an assault. This past weekend, my fellow actor Drew Laughlin and I got to work with sound guy extraordinaire Ken Lacouture as he developed the sounds that would be every kick, punch, headbutt, and body blow occurring during that fight sequence.
("Wow, that really sounds like a skull hitting the pavement," I said as we tossed one bag of sand onto the ground. "Dude," says Drew, "I am NOT going to ask how you know what that sounds like.")
It was, I think, the single funniest things I've ever seen in a post production meeting. Drew and I were on the patio throwing around bags of sand and trash talking to our invisible opponent, ad libbing taunts and kicking those sandbags while wearing steel-toed boots.
Now, to the human ear, it sounded amusing. But when we heard what those kicks, throws, and stomps sounded like through the microphone, it was a bit of hyperrealistic, over the top butt-kicking the likes of which I've never heard before.
Next up, though, was ADR for Certainly Never. (See photo to the left--recording outside to simulate the tone of the outdoor dialogue we were replacing. And yes, that's a cat in the background. Buddy was asking me what my motivation was in this scene.) I'm told that Hollywood films end up ADR'ing 75% of their dialogue in post. Personally, I've never been particularly good at ADR. I get obsessed with matching up my mouth to the original picture, and, being easily frustrated, I liken it to playing a video game I suck at.
That being said, though, this round of ADR was easier than ever before. I'm assuming because I wrote the script, and also have seen this film inside and out for over a year now in post-production. We've got some more work to do in the studio, but I'm hoping this is a sign we're on the right track to getting the best dialogue recording possible.
Now if we only needed more simulated fight noises, I'd be in heaven.
In no small part because I don't fully understand it.
I play the part of a law enforcement officer in director Nick Carlisle's Moneytubes - A Comedy Short, currently in post-production. In the penultimate scene in the movie, there is a... let's call it a bit of slapstick physical comedy disguised as an assault. This past weekend, my fellow actor Drew Laughlin and I got to work with sound guy extraordinaire Ken Lacouture as he developed the sounds that would be every kick, punch, headbutt, and body blow occurring during that fight sequence.
("Wow, that really sounds like a skull hitting the pavement," I said as we tossed one bag of sand onto the ground. "Dude," says Drew, "I am NOT going to ask how you know what that sounds like.")
It was, I think, the single funniest things I've ever seen in a post production meeting. Drew and I were on the patio throwing around bags of sand and trash talking to our invisible opponent, ad libbing taunts and kicking those sandbags while wearing steel-toed boots.
Now, to the human ear, it sounded amusing. But when we heard what those kicks, throws, and stomps sounded like through the microphone, it was a bit of hyperrealistic, over the top butt-kicking the likes of which I've never heard before.
Next up, though, was ADR for Certainly Never. (See photo to the left--recording outside to simulate the tone of the outdoor dialogue we were replacing. And yes, that's a cat in the background. Buddy was asking me what my motivation was in this scene.) I'm told that Hollywood films end up ADR'ing 75% of their dialogue in post. Personally, I've never been particularly good at ADR. I get obsessed with matching up my mouth to the original picture, and, being easily frustrated, I liken it to playing a video game I suck at.
That being said, though, this round of ADR was easier than ever before. I'm assuming because I wrote the script, and also have seen this film inside and out for over a year now in post-production. We've got some more work to do in the studio, but I'm hoping this is a sign we're on the right track to getting the best dialogue recording possible.
Now if we only needed more simulated fight noises, I'd be in heaven.