Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1335010
74 W I N T E R 2 0 2 1 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y means we do too much, but it's better to have something than to have to make a call and ask for it. Our supervisors reach out to us and inform us of our coverage, as well as when the SFX editors need help with something. If we feel that we want to try something out, we give them a call to have a chat about the sound. On occasion, we just go ahead and do something. On Terminator, Craig was really open to us trying out stuff and taking initiative. As for the horror genre, those movies like to bring the pace down to amplify the scare moments. In those instances, we may add something extra like a lantern shaking, creaking, a branch, or bush hit. STEVE: If we work with another team on a project, we would coordinate recordings for consistency. Each would do certain props, scenes, or themes completely so that our workflows are seamless. In regard to genre, they all have their moments. We do a lot of raw recordings for SFX editors to use and incorporate into their own sounds; large monster feet and movements, backgrounds, creaks, and other sounds that help out the overall mix. This results in us not having to do those elements when we actually do our Foley pass. Peter, does your approach to mixing Foley vary by genre? If so, how do you alter your workflows and processing decisions to fit the genre's sonic style? PETER: Again, that is a big affirmative. Steve and I both start with our normal approach which is "realism," but you really have to remember what the Foley has to get over in the mix. When you're doing something with a helicopter crashing nearby, the subtleties go out the door and you make things bigger in a range that will cut through (hopefully). When there's no music and minimal background, you have to record it clean with character. If we need to add a Foley prop to something like a helicopter crash in an action film, Steve may pick a different prop that plays better in the moment. For example, if the helicopter hit into a fence, we may do a chain-link sound with a brighter frequency to cut through the boom of the explosion and music. For a thriller, we may want all of the frequencies of that prop to make it sound fuller and bigger. In some cases, I may help Steve's performance by adding some substance whether it be through an EQ boost here, a transient shaper there, or a compressor. What is really exciting are the teams we work with are all pushing the evolution of sound, so we have to try to keep up or [we'll] just get dragged behind and eventually just fall off. When I first started, I would have been given the stink-eye for putting any processing on a sound. What other considerations are there to guide your approaches in creating and mixing Foley for a project? How does the overall sound design of the piece affect your decision-making and creative instincts? PETER AND STEVE: It really comes down to who we are working with. The sound design crews we have been fortunate to work with are just calm and creative. They really understand what we do and how long it takes. Nothing is really rushed and the process is allowed to breathe, which gives us a lot of confidence to just work. From there, it's hopefully just having fun and enjoying the sounds and the soundscape we create. The reward comes from the last scene that we finish, knowing it's how we like to present it. HEIKKI KOSSI (FOLEY ARTIST), PIETU KORHONEN (FOLEY EDITOR), AND KARI VÄHÄKUOPUS (FOLEY MIXER) AT H5 FILM SOUND (FINLAND) Would you mind starting by briefly introducing yourselves and summarizing your paths to teaming up at H5 Film Sound? What made you interested in audio and decide to pursue it as a career path? HEIKKI: I'm a 50-year-old Foley artist and a family man. I started H5 Film Sound in 2000 as a freelancer. Before that, I spent six years as a professional musician playing mostly roots music around Scandinavia. My instrument was upright and electric bass. I also studied media for four years focusing on sound for radio. My first experience of making customized sound effects was during these studies where we did a few radio features which needed some sound FX. I was asked to do a sound of a car crash. A squeaking note stand was the sound of brakes, a few tuna cans and pieces of glass helped me to build some debris, etc. I felt really fascinated from the very beginning. Creating sound by hand can feel so right and believable. Those were my first reactions. In the beginning, I worked just by myself on different [aspects] of sound as a sound editor, boom operator, and sound designer. I was also lucky that they started an animated TV show in Finland in 2001 where I basically started to build my career as a Foley artist. In 2005, I moved away from the Helsinki area to a small town called Kokkola on the west coast of Finland. After that, I have basically concentrated only on Foley. PIETU: I think I have a pretty common path to film sound. I was really into music as a kid and teenager but wasn't really [able to make it] into a career. I also had a passion for film and realized that I could apply my knowledge of sound with film and decided to try that out. I studied film sound at the University of Helsinki. I met Heikki there when he was teaching a class on Foley sound. Many years later, we talked. One thing led to another and I started working as a Foley editor for him. Before that, I was working as a freelancer, both for production sound and post-production. KARI: I've been working as a Foley mixer for five years. I became interested in audio when I was 15 and started to play guitar in a rock Heikki Kossi