Foleying

Foleying is a simple process in which you recreate the sound effects of films. For example you can tap objects repeatedly against sand to produce a similar sound you expect to see along with horse riding. 

This is a video showing that example by a professional Foley artist called Gary Hecker:

I had a go with foleying a gunshot effect to see the ways in which I could use different objects for a sound effect completely unrelated to the sound needed. I chose the gunshot because you have to be creative if you want a gunshot effect as guns are hard to get original footage for and even harder to obtain one. The video shows the attempts I had at creating the sound effect:

I left some weaker attempts out of the video, for example an empty crisp packet as the sound was nowhere near enough to drown out the sound of me smacking it and the bang itself was weak. I chose the air packets as they had a nice echo that seemed like genuine diegetic echo and the bang was full and loud.

From this, I have learnt how to think creatively about objects and generally how important foleying is when considering sound you cannot create on the day of filming. I shall have to consider any foleying attempts necessary when planning and filming the final production.