Foley

What is Foley?

Foley effects are sound effects added to the film during post production. They include sounds such as footsteps, clothes rustling, crockery clinking, paper folding, doors opening and slamming, punches hitting, glass breaking, etc. Basically, it is adding in the sound that recordists try to avoid recording. .

The boom operator's job is to clearly record the dialogue, and only the dialogue. At first, it may seem odd to add back to the soundtrack the very sounds the sound recordists tried to exclude.This has been all done for control. By excluding these sounds during filming and adding them in post, you have complete control over the timing, quality, and volume of the sound effects.

By adding the foley sound effects in after, you can control its intensity, and fade it down once the dialogue begins. Even something as simple as boots on gravel can interfere with the dialogue if it is recorded too loudly. 

How is Foley Recorded?

Foley is usually performed by Foley artists. They stand on a Foley stage (an area with a variety of possible surfaces and props) in a Foley studio (a specialized sound studio). The Foley artists can clearly see a screen which displays the footage they are to add sound effects to, and they perform their sound effects while watching this screen for timing. The actions they perform can inclu
de walking, running, jostling each other, rubbing their clothing, handling props, and breaking objects, all while closely observing the screen to ensure their sound effects are appropriate.

Why Do We Use Foley?

Without Foley, a film sounds empty and hollow - the actors seem to be talking in a vacuum (no sound). The sound recordist provides the just dialogue and gets rid everything else, but films needs more than this for the picture to "come alive". We need to hear the little sounds of clothes, furniture, but we need to control those sound effects so they don't obscure any of the dialogue.

Another common use for Foley sound replacement is adding it to documentary footage. Old historical film seems lifeless when it is screened without sound, and adding foley to it helps bring those old images to life.

Foley can also be used to enhance comedy or action scenes. Watch most comedy films and you'll notice that many of the sounds are enhanced for comic effect, and sometimes the Foley sound is the joke. As for action, most fist fights do not involve the actors really hitting each other, and even if they did we would not be able to record a satisfying punch sound. By punching and variously objects such objects as cabbages, celery and sides of beef, Foley artists can record unique and much more 'realistic' action sounds.

Levels

I will analyse 4 opening title sequences created by students and give hem a level between 1 and 4, with level 4 being the best and level 1 being the worst.




I would level this opening title sequence as a level 1 piece of work. I have given it this level because the editing has huge black gaps at certain points, which should not even be there. then after 30 seconds there are no more credits, leaving out who directed the film. This leads to a Furthermore, the camera used to film the entire piece is hand held. This leads to a lack of atmosphere and the camera being shaken when it should be still. Also the camera has a very limited style of shots, usually long shots, with a medium close up shot at the very end. The long shot gives a good representation of the setting used to in seqeunce, however it creates a lack of atmosphere. The camera also does not move throughout a shot. An example in this piece is a (0:29), where the camera does not move, even when the door has shut, and the character is difficult to see, at (0:39), the same problem occurs, where the same shot continues for 11 seconds, while he character gets harder and harder to see.


Gender - This opening title sequence clearly shows that this film is not gender orientated as there is a lack of clues to suggest what gender this sequence is aimed at.

Setting - setting is shown through a sequence of long shots heavily, throughout the sequence. In the first scene, we see a shot of a street, suggesting that this is the characters home town, where she would leave later on in the sequence.

Atmosphere - The sound creates an atmosphere of tension, but this tension is then partially eradicated by the sound cutting out, a long time before another piece of music starts to play, which creates an atmosphere of sadness and unease, when she returns. The credits at the start also suggest that this sequence has a feeling of horror and death that his eluded to by the black and red text and font. The clothes that she is wearing also tell us something about the atmosphere in the sequence. At the start she is wearing white dress that connotes innocence, while towards the end of the film, we see her wearing as black top and trousers to connote death or violence.

Character - We are only introduced to one character throughout the entire sequence. What we can tell about this character is that she starts the sequence as an innocent girl running away,we know through her white top. When she returns, we see her wearing black clothing, which could suggest that she is a much more violent character, and is associated with dark topics more then at the start of the sequence.

Narrative (enigma) - The narrative in this sequence is present at the start of the sequence as it got the audience thinking, why is she running? who from? what has she done? But at (1:21), we see her 5 years later, which kills off the enigma that was created before.



I would rate this opening sequence a level 4 piece of work. I would rate this a level 4 because there is a variety of edits used, such as fades, blurred dissolves and cuts.  There is an element of Foley used, when he smashes the bottle, which gains then a lot of marks and the other sound used in the sequence is really effective in creating an atmosphere and enigma. The font used, along with the colors of red and black create a strong feeling of horror and death, that is present towards the end of the sequence. The range of camera shots also connote who is in power, and who has authority and create a sense of character and gender. For a level 4, students must show:

. material appropriate for the target audience and task;

• using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions;

• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;

• shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene;
• using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects

Gender - This opening sequence starts with a boy walking off, wanting to be independent, which is a stereotypical representation of men in a film and TV drama. We then see a boy dancing with a women, which once again is a stereotypical representation of both men and women. Also the camera is filming a from a high shot, which portrays young men and women as vulnerable and submissive. Then, we see a male villain abduct the character that walked off from the rest of the group. This is stereotypical as most villains in movies are men, as they seen as being powerful, and independent.

Character - We first see a character, walk away form the rest of the group. This could be because he is frustrated at the fact that his friends have old him he should not drink any more, suggesting that he has a drinking problem, and wants to be alone, where he later finishes the drink. This could tell us that he does not like being told what to do or that he prefers to be alone. We are then introduced to his friends who are clearing concerned about where they friend has gone a decide to track him down, eventually to a school where they meet then antagonist.

Atmosphere  - We are first introduced to a party atmosphere in this sequence. this is a very social atmosphere with everyone having a good time and at this particular party, they are having a drink with each other. Then we see one character walk away into a dark, poorly lit wood. This creates an atmosphere of uncertainty, and a mystery, as we do not know what is lurking out in the woods, and judging by the dark lighting, there is also an element of danger about where the character is heading, which is shown later on in the sequence. Another atmosphere is created when the two friends go an investigate where their friend has disappeared to. This atmosphere is one of unease and urgency, as they realize that he could be heading into trouble, which is also demonstrated through the mise en scene of the forest. This same sense of urgency and shock is also carried forward to the next scene, which shows their friend being abducted by what seems to be a psycho killer. Then, a feeling of desperation is apparent, when the two friends run away from the crazy killer, who has just killed their friend.

Setting - There are three settings used for this opening title sequence, the party venue, the forest, and the school. The party venue is represented as being a place where most teenagers in the sequence go, and it is a very social place, where teenagers go to have fun. The forest is very dark, and poorly lit. This gives the impression that this is not a safe place to be and is surrounded by danger, which is connoted through the dark lighting a silhouettes of tree branches in the foreground of the camera.

Narrative (enigma) - Enigma is present throughout the sequence. The first question we are faced with is, why are the characters in the party area? We think this because we are placed into the party with no clues of how the characters got there. We are then left to wonder what the killer is doing in the school. we think this because we had not seen this character previously in the sequence. The final enigma the audience is faced with is, do the two friends escape? They think this because the sequence ends with the two friends trying to escape from the killer, but run into a locked door.

Evaluation Of The Preliminary Task

This is our preliminary task piece. We filmed the piece using a Cannon 700D which enabled us to get high quality images, which makes it easier to see what is happening on screen. While filming the piece, we made sure that we kept to the following continuity editing rules; the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot, and match on action. We did this by filming certain sections of the film in particular ways, in order to make the film look real and maintain continuity.

The first scene we filmed was a shot of character A walking down the stairs and opening a door handle. To keep in line with continuity, we filmed a close up of character A opening the door. We did this keep with match on action and to let the audience see that he actually opened the door, and didn't just go straight through it. This creates a sense of realism for the audience, to make the audience seem like they are with the character. We then see the character close the door behind him to further enhance the match on action present at this point.

The next shot shows the same character walking across a room to approach character B. We can see that there is possibly a bit too much space between  character A and the edge of the camera shot. This could be reduced because it distracts the audiences focus, which should be on the character, not on the setting.

Just at the end of the scene, we see character A raise his hand to give Character B a handshake. The next shot shows seamless editing which makes it extremely difficult to see a change in time through the cuts. This creates a realistic feeling to the audience as it seems like the cuts happened simultaneously, as there is no gap between the raising of the characters hand, and the next scene where he lowers it to shake the other characters hand.

The two characters then start to have a conversation about borrowing each others phone. While this conversation is taking place, we incorporated a shot reverse shot. This enabled the audience to see each characters face and emotion when having the conversation, and was required to be in the sequence somewhere, due to the guidelines for the preliminary task.

We then see the character walk back across the room. We filmed this because it was required in the specification of the preliminary task. We filmed this part of the task in one shot, to establish the surroundings of the location. The camera then zooms to a close up of the character opening the door handle. This is once again to keep with match on action throughout the film.

The camera then cuts to a medium shot of the character walking out the door. The camera then pans across the room, to track the character walking out the final set of doors, to end the task. This once again allows the audience to see the surrounding area where the task is being shot.

Credits

At the BFI, I learned how important credits were to actors and how much they desired to have a credit all to themselves. The visual effects person who was at the BFI study day, really emphasised how much actors demand an individual credit.

Credits are a big part of a movie. They tell the audience who has stared in the film, the director, the producer, the distributers and editors.

End credits are added to the end of a movie to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page or move smoothly. Credits may crawl either right to left, usually in the UK, or bottom to top, more commonly in American movies. Credits that appear during an opening title sequence do not appear at the end of a movie.

Kyle Cooper

From watching this interview with Kyle Cooper, I was able to understand how important it is to have titles. In particular, its important to ensure that they are of a suitable font and size which give an impression and tone to the film. For example, in Se7en, Kyle Cooper has ensured that the text looks had written and jumpy. This is to relate to the fact that character in the sequence is a psycho, who is hand writing notes down in a journal, scratching his emotion and developing his own optical in the bath, where he is writing on the film, and is all jumpy.

The type in To Kill A Mocking Bird is very simple, as it does not hid behind objects or move in a Z-axis. The form of the horizontal type and the circular marbles makes for a good contrast, so therefore the type is integrated.

One of the key elements that I learnt was that everything is done for a reason. There are no 'mistakes' when it comes to title design. Every last detail is considered when creating the sequence, from a crack in a photo, to the hair on King Kong.

One of the films that made the biggest impression on him was 'The dead Zone' by Tom Skerritt. This was because the sequence consisted of simple typography, great music, and simple shapes, which linked the graphic design skills that he had developed earlier.

Opening Sequence Designers

There are many famous opening sequence designers, however not many are as good as Saul Bass and Kyle Cooper. They have covered a range of famous title sequences between them, like Vertigo, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Se7en, Psycho and North BY Northwest.


Saul Bass described his main goal for his title sequences as being to ‘’try to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story”. He wanted the audience to see familiar parts of their world in an unfamiliar way, he called it  “making the ordinary extraordinary”. Examples of this image that he wanted to portray can be seen in Walk On The Wild Side, where an ordinary cat becomes a mysterious prowling predator. All modern opening title sequences that introduce the mood or theme of a film can be seen as a legacy of Saul Bass's work. In particular, though, title sequences for some recent movies and television series, especially those whose setting is during the 1960s, that have purposely copied the animated sequences from that era. Some examples of title sequences that relate to Bass’s graphics and animated title sequences are Catch Me If You Can and X-Men:First Class.

http://www.creativebloq.com/design/top-movie-title-sequences-10121014

BFI Study Day

During the study day to the BFI I learned many things, from learning how to analyse an opening sequence, to knowing what it takes to be a producer or visual effects worker. The first thing I was told, was how to break down an opening title sequence. To do this, you need to look at the Genre, Narrative (enigma), Character, Atmosphere and Setting of a sequence. Every opening sequence contains all of these elements, however, they usually focus on one specific element, due to their genre, plot or reputation. For example, Dawn Of The Dead is a horror film, so the opening sequence specifically highlights atmosphere, as this what makes horror films unique and stand out from other genres of film.

While I was there, I also got the chance to analyse and look at previous students films,to see what separates a level 1 opening sequence, from a level 4 opening sequence. For level 1 sequences, they showed to much of the plot, which diminshed the enigma in the film. Also there were very few, if not, no credits for producers, editors, and many othe roles used in creating a film. Furthermore the camera quality was no very good, which further lost marks. In contrast, the level 4 film had, a good quality camera, contained over 15 credits, and had suitable music. Also, the level 4 film was exactly the right length (2 minutes), and did not tell too much about the plot, which placed an enigma in the audiences head, which made it a level 4.

A visual effects producer also came in, and explained how important it is to get the visual effects right. He first explained how significant it was to get the text the right colour and size, so that it was not to distracting, but equally not so difficult to read that it does not get ignored. he then said that certain cast members get individual credits, while some smaller cast member, barely get a credit at all. He suggested that this was down to the quality of the star cast members, and that they demand a individual credit, otherwise they will not take part in the film.

He also used the phrases, 'above the line' and 'below the line'. The phrases are all about the costs that the film has to pay. 'Above the line', refers to the amount of cost it will take to get a high class, Hollywood actor on board to act in the film. 'Below the line' is used to say the cost for actually producing the film.

We were then introduced to a young producer. He explained that his job was to basically look over the whole film. He told how difficult it was to get permission to film in certain areas of London, and to get good quality actors on board, with a small budget of just £60,000,for the entire film. He also said that he had to use cash raising websites like Kickstarter, in order to get funds, along with using facilities that he could use for free, like his old school.

http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/

Film openings 1 copy from petefrasers

Film openings 2 from petefrasers