Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529989
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 77 We talk about the work of sound editors being invisible, but it is more accurately the detailed work of Foley artists who really earn the invisible label; their work blends seamlessly into the sheer veil of a film's soundtrack. Foley artists have been around since the dawn of cinema and there are drawings of people positioned behind the screen during the "silent" era with a variety of noise-making implements, working to bring the images on screen to life. Their work was there in the beginning, and it is still important today. Where would we be without those folk treading the boards, rattling those boxes, shaking those chains? Whilst there are Foley artists the world over, there are also Australian Foley artists who provide sounds to the world. No longer are there the physical requirements of being in the same city or country; now there just needs to be a data pipe big enough (and fast enough) to upload and download the huge files. With such a large canvas, working on films in any language or country, their work is a delicate blend of must-haves (on-screen moves for M&Es), and the answer to a sound editor's cry for help to create something unique and elusive (I'm thinking about MPSE member John Simpson's Foley dust on leaves for Kiss or Kill). Whilst there is many fine Foley folk working "down under," here are a few of the elders, mid-career, and relative newcomers. Together, their credits total more than 1,000, which is proof their work has been, and still is, in demand. "Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." –Jonathan Swift John Simpson's Foley Studio, FeetnFrames, Outback South Australia