Today I’m going to be talking about one of the more interesting topics in Audio Engineering, Foley! In particular we are looking at video game Foley.
What is Foley you ask?
“Foleying is an excellent means of supplying the subtle sounds that production mikes often miss” (FilmSound.org, 1997). Think the sound of a jacket rustling as someone walks, the reloading of a gun or even the hum of a computer! All these and more falls underneath the wonderful category of Foley.
There are three main categories of Foley sounds:
Feet: The most common production sound a Foley artist creates is the sound of footsteps, since those are more difficult to accurately capture while shooting a scene.
Movement:The sound of movement, like the sound of two people brushing past each other
Specifics:Specifics are any sounds that are not movement or footsteps, like a phone ringing or a door creaking
(Masterclass , 2019)
Now onto video game Foley!
Ever since nerd culture has entered the mainstream,“the cost to make a AAA games in going up across the board” (Superannuation, 2014) and so has the quality of sounds within those games. Long gone are the bleeps and bloops of yesteryear, however, we are in a new and exciting world of bangs, kapows and explosions. But how are these sounds created? What do we use to record them? Will Dad ever come home from the corner store? He went out for a pack of smokes 15 years ago!
Stay tuned for ⅔ answers
Here is an example of the Foley we recorded for a Mortal Kombat fatality.
Gross right! You can imagine someone guts getting ripped apart!
Any guesses as to what it was????
If you said the humble grapefruit (sorry vegans) you are correct. This technique is identical to how NetherRealm Studios (Mortal Kombat’s creators) “uses everyday objects like peppers, bananas and nutcrackers to simulate the sounds of bones cracking and blood spilling” (Webb, 2019).
Show how it was done!
In order to record the sounds of the grapefruit getting torn apart we needed a microphone that could pick up all the subtitles of the Foley artists performance. We used a Sennheiser MKH-416, a“short gun interference tube microphone”(Sennheiser, 2019). It has a high sensitivity so it can record the quietest of noises and the shape of it allows it record directly from the source, without picking up too much of the surrounding environment.
In order to record these sounds, you fire up that old warhorse Protools in the control room and have the Foley artist inside recording room ready to go. It's your job as the Engineer to cue in the artist at the correct positions of the video, instruct them of their performance and ensure the work is saved and organized properly. Don’t be afraid to save bad takes, as you can always use it to layer sounds later.
A sneaky peak of the session.
Artists recording Foley for a previous session, overdubbing the cult indie flick Jurassic Park.
Here is the final video
(Campbell, 2019)
Note this project is still underway! Minimal editing and work to the sounds have been done. You are hearing either local thug Chris Gardener assaulting an innocent vegetable or myself hitting a chair.
And as a bonus here is how the pros do it!
(Vice News, 2019)
Bibliography
Campbell, R. (2019, October 13). AUS220 MORTALKOMBAT VIDEOxAUDIO. Retrieved from YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KVpcI8uGn0&feature=youtu.be
FilmSound.org. (1997, 3 23). Foley. Retrieved from FilmSound.org: http://filmsound.org/terminology/foley.htm
Masterclass . (2019). Film 101: Understanding Foley Sound and Why Foley Sound Is Important. Retrieved from Masterclass: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/film-101-understanding-foley-sound-and-why-foley-sound-is-important#what-happens-during-a-foley-recording-session
Sennheiser. (2019). MKH 416-P48U3.Retrieved from Pro Audio: https://en-au.sennheiser.com/mkh-416-p48u3
Superannuation. (2014, Jan 16). How Much Does It Cost To Make A Big Video Game?Retrieved from Kotaku: https://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/01/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-big-video-game/
Vice News. (2019, August 20). The Secret To The Gruesome Sounds In Mortal Kombat Is Exploding Vegetables. Retrieved from YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYS0rPYjW28
Webb, K. (2019, August 23). Watch how the creators of 'Mortal Kombat' use fruits, nutcrackers, and lots of imagination to make the game's audio as gruesome and gory as the visuals. Retrieved from Buisness Insider : https://www.businessinsider.com/mortal-kombat-sound-design-fatality-effects2019-8/?r=AU&IR=T
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