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M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 25 based on the story of the feature itself. Foley contributes to the pro- duction and all of the activity that is happening on the screen, which tells a story. Foley augments sound ef- fects. So, for example, Foley doesn't record gunshots or explosions or car crashes. Foley records what is called effects sweeteners, which augments the result of the sound effect. So, if a car crashes, we will record the glass breaks, metal screeching, ripping, tearing, and glass shards all over the place. We cannot shoot a gun on a Foley stage, but we can record all the handling of a gun, whether it's a shotgun or a handgun or whatever kind of gun it is. In reality, gun move- ments don't make sounds. But in the movies, everything has a voice, everything that moves has a voice. In Ironweed (1987), Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep are both homeless. She's dying of cancer. She's got a horrible limp. Her walk defines her illness. In the Foley, we recorded her walk as very sickly, and his walk was a hero's walk. Even though he was scuffing around, he was her savior. Their footsteps have an emotional base that clearly defines their characters. BF: Why do they call you "Solange of Hollywood"? SSS: Wow! Can you believe it? In 1985, I was working at Gordon Ecker Productions on a movie called SpaceCamp. Becky Sullivan was the ADR assistant. She started out at Ecker's as a phone receptionist! For my birthday, she created a sign that said: "SOLANGE OF HOLLYWOOD, QUEEN OF FOLEY." That stayed on my door for many years! The tag has followed me around since 1985 and got shortened to "Hollywood" over time. When I am four-wheeling on the rocks in Lake Tahoe, my handle is "Hollywood." When I worked at Ground Zero, I was known as "Hollywood." It is a lot easier to remember than Solange. BF: What inspired you through your journey? SSS: I've been so lucky to work with geniuses and high-profile super- visors like Mark Mangini, Richard Anderson, Stephen Flick, Chic Ciccolini, Gordon Ecker, Alan Murray, and so many other brilliant sound supervisors who enabled me to con- tribute my source of creativity by allowing me the privilege of cueing and recording Foley. The cueing process can make or break your Foley stage. When I am sitting with the supervisor, we dis- cuss what it is they are looking for in the feature, regarding the story. Then I come up with ideas bouncing them back-and-forth. When we're spotting, we get the ability to share ideas and find out exactly what it is they want. In the cueing process, I am responsible for laying out and mapping out all the footsteps and all the props, defining when every- thing starts and stops and what is the action on the screen. So, what inspires me is the actual relationship with the supervisor and the Foley artists. The Foley artists, they are performers. They're like Cirque du Soleil. They're actors on a stage per- forming sounds and sound effects in sync to picture. It is a real inspi- ration for me to have the privilege of watching Foley artists perform cue after cue creating these most amazing sounds from scratch that you would never even think of. John Roesch has been a huge Weddington Productions, 1980s. Photo courtesy of The Hollywood Sound Museum.