Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/637797
51 Q1 2016 / CINEMONTAGE by Laura Almo portraits by Sarah Shatz (NY) and Martin Cohen (LA) Click, crack, squish, smack, thud, boing, crunch, splat… The old edict "Necessity is the mother of invention" certainly rings true for Foley artists — the people who create sounds for film and television. To be a Foley artist is to be creative and detail-oriented, intuitive and analytical; they must be in good physical condition and, as it turns out, quite often a mind reader. The Foley artist must be able to perceive, feel and discern very subtle nuances of the human condition — whether it's the way a person walks when she's tired, moves when she's asleep or slams a glass down at a party when she's drunk. It may be the minutest details of a body shifting in a chair or the grotesque sounds of a person's eye popping out of its socket. From footsteps and body movements to playing sports, Foley artists re-create everyday sounds for a project, but they are not random. Everything audible the Foley artist fashions is always in service to the story. The hard-heeled, purposeful walk of an official is going to reflect the character's dogged determination. The way a cup rattles when a professor puts it down suggests the nervousness she feels at her tenure meeting. A STUDY IN HUMAN CHARACTER "First and foremost, Foley is anything that a person in a film would do — footsteps, a prop they would pick up, or contact with other characters," says New York-based Foley artist Rachel Chancey. "To friends and people who don't know what Foley is, I often refer to it as the acting or character sounds; I always consider anything a person does to be something that I'm going to do in Foley." Chancey, who got her start at Spin Cycle Post in New York City and now works out of a custom- designed Foley stage in her home in Brooklyn, says she begins a project by watching the film to get a sense of the story. "I'm looking for what's going on with the characters; I'm watching and trying to get in touch with their emotional lives." Having studied theatre at NYU, she sees a strong connection between acting and Foley, as they are both performance-based and studies in human character. "Using my theatre background, I ask myself, 'What are the characters feeling, what are they thinking, what is their intention?' It all helps when I'm performing Foley," says Chancey, whose credits include The Squid and the Whale, Midnight in Paris and HBO's Treme, as well as the upcoming films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny and Wolves. REPLICATING SOUNDS After watching the film or TV show and getting a sense of the character's emotional world, Foley artist Marko Costanzo starts doing footsteps. A typical day will involve getting into costume, which for Costanzo is a pair of shorts and a T–shirt. He notes long pants are likely to create movement sounds on the tracks. "Footsteps might take up half the day," says Costanzo, explaining that they would include anything from work boots to high heels on any number of surfaces, including marble, gravel and ice or frozen snow. "We look at whatever is on screen and try to duplicate that sound. From there, we'll go ahead and do any of the body movements and all the actions that you'll see actors do on screen — like opening doors, putting plates down and moving heavy containers." His numerous credits include Noise Makers Foley Artists Enhance Character Through Sound Effects Rachel Chancey. Opposite: Rachel Chancey and Marko Costanzo.