Learning the Art of Sound Effects Is Weirder Than You Might Think

(playful string music)

There's a lot more to a movie's audio

than lines of dialogue and a musical score.

There's also the sound that everyday objects make.

Footsteps in the sand, say,

or a spoon clinking against a coffee mug.

That's the province of foley artists,

who create those sounds, which are then added to

a film or TV show's audio track.

So we are here at the Archive Foley Stage

at Skywalker Sound.

It was built from the ground up and it's only been

in operation for just about six months.

I'm here with Shelley Roden and John Roesch,

two of the masterminds who run the sound gig here

and have worked on all manner of movies and other things.

We're going to have a little fun today, yeah?

You're actually going to get your foley training license

today, signed by both Shelley and myself.

You're going to become a female rabbit today.

My dream, finally realized, let's get into it.

The mission was to do foley for a scene from the Disney

animation movie Zootopia.

But while that might sound simple,

there was nothing simple about making those sounds.

My first mission on the road to being a foley master

was making rabbit footsteps,

using rubber coated gardening gloves.

(gloves thunking)

Chalk it up to beginner's luck,

but the first go wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

First off I believed what you were doing.

In other words, I was watching the screen like you were,

I was hearing it, and I believed what I was hearing,

and that's really the key to foley.

Next up, I had to replicate the sound

of an animated suitcase.

(suitcase thunks)

Foley may look weird but it's all about giving a scene

satisfying sonic texture.

(picture frame tapping)

That was pretty darn good, I have to say.

Cool. I did that right.

I like the character of what you were doing.

Well I gave it some backstory.

This picture has been through a lot.

And then the grand finale, the sound of an animated bunny

flopping on to an animated bed.

I had to get suggestions from the pros for this one.

Hold these in the air.

Oh my God, the advanced techniques are blowing my mind.

All right.

(blankets rustling)

That was perfect.

Great! It was really good.

So you've done it, so Scott,

could you play the scene back please?

Ladies and gentlemen, Peter.

(footsteps tapping)

Greasy walls.

Rickety bed. (suitcase thunks)

(pictures rattle)

Crazy neighbors.

I love it! (body thumps)

I have to say, with the star cameo turn by you

with that second picture frame, that was,

it was a thing of beauty.

Thank you so much.

You did great.