Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/637797
54 CINEMONTAGE / Q1 2016 fashions come and go in terms of how supervising sound editors want their Foley. As Harlan puts it, there are some sound supervisors who want everything to be completely "vanilla" — very toned down with more of a suggestion of footsteps than the reality of feet. Others want bold and over the top. WALKING THE WALK The job itself requires impeccable timing and physical endurance, as well as a keen understanding of the human condition. "If you watch people's feet, they depict what kind of personality the people have," explains Sabella. A gangster walking with a sense of purpose requires a lot of weight, while a person who is emotionally drained is going to walk more sluggishly. Choosing the shoes to make these textured and nuanced sounds is a whole art unto itself. From sneakers, heels, flip-flops and sandals to dressy men's shoes and snow boots, a Foley artist's shoe collection may have upwards of two hundred pairs. "You can dissect a shoe heel to toe and come up with a sense of which is heavier, lighter, bulkier, etc.," says Chancey. There are some shoes that work really well and others that just don't work; it depends less on the size of the shoe than the sound it makes. A 50-pound schoolgirl could be walked by a beefy Foley artist, while a 250-pound sumo wrestler may very well be performed by a petite woman. For example, when diminutive Chancey did the Foley for Christopher "Biggy" Wallace in Notorious, she used a bigger men's shoe stuffed with socks and a microphone to pick up the low end. Acquiring shoes is often a humorous endeavor, relates Monat. "People look at you strangely," she says. "Employees want to help you with fashion, not sound." Some of the best finds have been cheap shoes from second-hand stores, according to Harlan, who recounts buying expensive men's shoes only to find they were unusable on the Foley stage. "Maybe you go to the Salvation Army and get a pair of shoes for 50 cents — and they're the shoes you end up using for 30 years because they are fantastic and you'll never be able to replace them." Harlan reveals that she is walking Foley for the current series Madame Secretary in the same shoes in which she walked the character of Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy. Sarah Monat, left, and Robin Harlan.