When I visited the Museum of the Moving Image, I expected to focus on the horror movie prosthetics, as those are usually my favorite part. I had visited the museum before and was familiar with a lot of the technical exhibits, and this time I found myself much more compelled by the displays on sound design, especially the Foley simulator. Now knowing what the word Foley means and having seen it put to use in lecture, I felt compelled to sit down in front of the two computer screens set up. “Wait, guys, I know what this is, I know how they do this stuff, I want to try this,” I told my friends.
The Foley display allowed you to choose from a few movie scenes, and first watch them without sounds cues. Then, you would select your own sound for each cue from a library of Foley sounds. Having a weakness for Christmas movies and movies made in the 90s, I chose the scene from Home Alone 2 in which the two burglars enter the protagonist’s family’s apartment to find it booby-trapped. There were five sound cues removed, and it was interesting to listen to the Foley options and try to choose which one sounded the most like what I had heard in the actual film. What I found most interesting was what actions each removed sound cue corresponded to. It would make sense that the sound of a character falling down and hitting the ground hard would call for Foley. What I didn’t expect was that another sound cue was that of some sort of jelly dripping from a ladder and landing on Joe Pesci’s face. It was great to see the range of sounds that Foley can be used for-not only hard fighting and slamming sounds, but also tiny bits of action like dripping gel.
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