In Tune Friday 13 Sept - Film sound effects

[LeMartinPecheur]

Interesting live demonstrations today (via the application of knives to certain fruits and vegetables) of how to make exactly the right movie sounds for gross, ghastly violations of human flesh

I daresay this is not everybody's thing but I did think some of us on these boards would have been thrilled to realise, from his over-copious but very realistic accompanying screams and shudders, just what a megastar film-star career the presenter (Sean Fafferty) might have missed as a Hammer-horror helpless victim.

OK, one can but dream...

[Ferretfancy]

Interesting live demonstrations today (via the application of knives to certain fruits and vegetables) of how to make exactly the right movie sounds for gross, ghastly violations of human flesh

I daresay this is not everybody's thing but I did think some of us on these boards would have been thrilled to realise, from his over-copious but very realistic accompanying screams and shudders, just what a megastar film-star career the presenter (Sean Fafferty) might have missed as a Hammer-horror helpless victim.

OK, one can but dream...

I quite often did spot effects when doing my job as a dubbing mixer, the effects man in Hollywood is known as a Foley operator. It takes quite a bit of practice if you want to drop the sound effect into the mix without editing it as a separate track first. Footsteps need close attention, especially if the person on the screen needs to trip or slide. We had a selection of different surfaces in the studio, such as paving stones, carpet, or gravel

There are quite a few tricks of the trade, for instance if you are pouring water into a glass always have some in the glass beforehand, otherwise the first fraction of a second will be silent, and you must always tilt the bottle early if you want it in synch.

There used to be a nice lady called Beryl Footsteps who did just that for a bottle of Southern Comfort ! She was very slick, but I always thought she sounded as if she only had one leg!

Some assistant film editors loved overloading the track with unnecessary sound effects which did nothing to enhance the result. Once, when the hero of the piece was seen on screen in long shot about to cross a busy street and lighting a cigarette, the editor not only insisted on striking a match, but gently blew it out! The subject was about 20 yards away.

Generally speaking, British drama directors seem to like busy backgrounds to the dialogue, I'm not talking music here, but effects. For example, an intimate restaurant scene between two lovers will have plates rattling and conversation in the background. American directors will start a scene in a very busy way, but gradually fade down the effects as the dialogue takes over. To my mind this is a much better approach.

My hardest job was in a TV play called On Giant's Shoulders, which featured a small boy, Terry, who was seriously disabled by thalidomide. The production featured Terry as himself at the age of 12, but he was nearly eighteen when the play was filmed. Careful camera angles and make-up disguised this, but he now had a man's voice, so another boy replaced his dialogue. There were many scenes involving Terry trying desperately to move around his house with only vestigial arms and no legs. I spent hours on the studio floor trying to copy his movements with the appropriate sounds.
This was a very moving play starring Judy Dench as Terry's mother, and Brian Pringle as his father, I doubt if the audience realised the subterfuges that had to resorted to for the sake of the drama.

[arthroceph]

Revealing FF!, many thanks! Enjoyed the insight!