Heard any good films lately? - Module 3

C1 Advanced · Gapped Text · Advanced Expert Coursebook, Pearson Education

You are going to read an article about Foley artists. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Heard any good films lately?

Foley artists can recreate any sound, from the crunch of footsteps on snow to the rustle of a book. Named after Jack Foley, the first person to turn a silent movie into a musical, these specialists make an art of sound.

But although the science has continued to develop, Foley is still all about the 'performance'. A footstep is not just a footstep, it can be angry, happy, sad, confused, clumsy, swaggering, light, heavy. And that performance – which conveys the meaning to the viewers – could only ever come from the human imagination.

The action they're recording culminates in a car pulling up at speed. As a protagonist runs away, Hanks reaches for his box of 'surfaces', which contains everything from sand to gravel. He runs his suede gloves across tarmac to recreate the sound of tyres and roots around in a box of shoes for 'running'.

Which is why everyday sounds like these have to be added in post-production in order to enhance the quality of audio for TV, radio and video games as well as films. Any sound can be created, from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass.

For example, in the absence of a bird, they might recreate the sound of flapping wings by blowing up a pair of kitchen gloves, and then slapping them together in time with the action on screen.

The entire opening of the film involves the hero, James Bond, chasing a villain. This high-energy sequence is from Casino Royale and it is the work that the Foley artists are most proud of.

Running along the side of one wall, a Canadian mini-series is playing out in stop-start chunks. There's no brief from the director so it's up to them to decide what needs to be recorded. Hanks watches and listens, picking out the important sounds before recording the Foley.

There is yet another way in which Foley art is the director's friend. Often more than 80% of film dialogue isn't recorded 'clean'. Maybe there was noise in the distance – a car for instance. Foley can cover it up.

During this process, known as 'the Foley', the artist is responsible for making the background noise sound as real as the dialogue. When done well, these effects are integrated to the extent that they go unnoticed by the audience. It helps to create a sense of reality in a scene; say the noise is meant to come from inside or outside.

Foley can also be used to rectify a continuity problem. If an actor is holding something, but forgets to bring it back into the shot, the sound of the object being put away off camera can be inserted later. It can fill in blanks, too. Foley artist Paul Hanks remembers a TV series in which they forgot to film a horse. So they used sound to create the impression there was one there. However, they don't stop at just creating sounds!

Things have moved on a long way since 1927, when the art of sound began in films. In those early days, microphones could only pick up dialogue, so Jack Foley had to add in the other sounds later. He projected the film onto a screen and recorded the footsteps and the movement all in one track. At that time, the sound had to match exactly what was going on. Digital technology has meant the sounds can be manipulated to fit.

It is dreamed up at Universal Sound – the only studio in Britain to specialize solely in Foley. From the outside, it could be an expensive home. There's a swimming pool, where the sounds for the Harry Potter computer games were recorded. But the heart of the operation is in the middle of the house, where there are three studios with thick walls. The main studio, where Hanks and mixer Simon Trundle are working, resembles a student bedsit.

Right now, he's struggling with the sounds of table football. If this were a different project, with a different budget, he would have rented a table. Instead he's slamming the handle of a broom into the spring mechanism of a toaster. 'Too tinny,' says Trundle.

Alex Joseph, in the studio next door, has been responsible for the Foley on a wide range of films and television. What he likes about Foley is that it's absolutely unique in every film. And, maybe because of his training as a psychologist, he is interested in subliminal messaging, using sounds rather than visuals. 'You can really play with people's heads,' he says. 'I set up characters before they even appear. It's a bit of a dark art.'

When directors shoot a film, they're worried about capturing the action and the actor's voice. Nothing else. Not hearing a sword scraping against a tree or a court shoe tiptoeing across a marble floor. Well, the sword is probably made of plastic, and the 'marble' floor is probably painted plywood, so when it comes to the edit, things don't come across as they're supposed to. ___ During this process, known as 'the Foley', the artist is responsible for making the background noise sound as real as the dialogue. When done well, these effects are integrated to the extent that they go unnoticed by the audience. It helps to create a sense of reality in a scene; say the noise is meant to come from inside or outside. ___ Foley can also be used to rectify a continuity problem. If an actor is holding something, but forgets to bring it back into the shot, the sound of the object being put away off camera can be inserted later. It can fill in blanks, too. Foley artist Paul Hanks remembers a TV series in which they forgot to film a horse. So they used sound to create the impression there was one there. However, they don't stop at just creating sounds! ___ Things have moved on a long way since 1927, when the art of sound began in films. In those early days, microphones could only pick up dialogue, so Jack Foley had to add in the other sounds later. He projected the film onto a screen and recorded the footsteps and the movement all in one track. At that time, the sound had to match exactly what was going on. Digital technology has meant the sounds can be manipulated to fit. ___ It is dreamed up at Universal Sound – the only studio in Britain to specialize solely in Foley. From the outside, it could be an expensive home. There's a swimming pool, where the sounds for the Harry Potter computer games were recorded. But the heart of the operation is in the middle of the house, where there are three studios with thick walls. The main studio, where Hanks and mixer Simon Trundle are working, resembles a student bedsit. ___ Right now, he's struggling with the sounds of table football. If this were a different project, with a different budget, he would have rented a table. Instead he's slamming the handle of a broom into the spring mechanism of a toaster. 'Too tinny,' says Trundle. ___ Alex Joseph, in the studio next door, has been responsible for the Foley on a wide range of films and television. What he likes about Foley is that it's absolutely unique in every film. And, maybe because of his training as a psychologist, he is interested in subliminal messaging, using sounds rather than visuals. 'You can really play with people's heads,' he says. 'I set up characters before they even appear. It's a bit of a dark art.'

Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

More C1 Advanced Gapped Text practice · All C1 Advanced practice