From its beginnings in 1920’s live broadcasts to “walking” with MIDI, Foley has always been a valuable form of character development, allowing viewers to learn more about a character through both visual and auditory cues. Whether we realize it or not, we can unconsciously assume more about a character by the sounds they make, as we did to first survive in the wilderness by detecting oncoming sounds as family or strangers. Foley artists can achieve unique footsteps that we learn to recognize in their own performances, but how have digital Foley techniques impacted character design? Boom Box Post’s Foley editor Carol Ma dives into the details of character design through digital Foley.
What are you considering when you think of finding the right footstep sound for a character?
It really depends on the show and characters. Most shows will have regular people with normal shoes. In these situations, I would look for whatever shoes they are wearing: dress shoes, sneakers, heels, etc. I would then try to cover as many surfaces I assume they would walk on: grass, dirt, concrete, wood, etc. Every now and then, we get a show with non-human characters. In those shows, I would first check to see if there are any specifications that our supervising sound editor mentions in terms of the Foley. In most situations, I consider the weight of the character, the texture of the character, and the textures of the surface they are walking on.
For example, bigger characters and large monsters require a lot more low-end impacts and thuds to emphasize their size, while smaller characters are more on the higher-end of the frequency spectrum. Slimy monsters would have more… well slimy sounds, using wet or muddy textures while a robot monster would have a solid metal impact. Finally, everyday surfaces we see can range from walking on grass to walking on concrete. I wouldn’t say this one is a very complex thing to consider, but it gets a bit out of the box when a giant slime monster tries to walk on lava. In these situations, I assume the supervisors would prefer the steps to be made by a sound effects editor. For the most part, our wonderful sound supervisors will note what the client wants and give me a push in the general direction they want for characters.
How can you utilize parameters in Kontakt to achieve a character's unique movements?
A lot of the character’s movements are relative to how well I can match their movements on screen with the MIDI keyboard and ultimately edit them when my walking has completed. There aren’t any set parameters in Kontakt, or at least that I know of, that can automatically do it for me. It’s very much looking for the rhythm of how the character is animated, whether they have a specific slow strut or a quick paced power walk and then playing it on the keyboard. There are specific parameters or little quirks I use in Kontakt to make designing characters easier or linking layers to make the editing process easier. For example, I like adding a randomized LFO to get variety in footstep samples, especially when I have limited samples to grab. I can also adjust the AHDSR to limit how much of the sample sounds I want to sustain, and sometimes I’ll add an insert or effect (usually an EQ). I also like to go into the edit window to cut samples right at the transient and create variation there.
Does digital Foley constrict or enhance your ability to match a character's movements to their personality?
Live and Digital Foley each have their pros and cons. For digital Foley I could match exactly what is on screen and every now and then create something a bit more difficult to do in a live stage setting. For certain characters and their personality, an example would be having extremely fast feet for when characters zoom out of frame, which is easy to accomplish digitally. I feel like this works well with animation where everything is very calculated. I would say the downside would be that when not properly done, it can sound robotic or repetitive. A live Foley artist records everything to picture, which sounds very realistic, but there’s a delay and not everyone has the same walk style or strut. It works a bit better with live action since it's more human and you have all the faults, like scuffs and trips, that a normal person would do when walking. It’s a hard job and the people who can do it well are pretty amazing. We work hard to make up this gap in our digital Foley work, cutting in extra sounds when necessary by hand and using a very wide variety of well recorded Foley samples to avoid repetition.
How do you vary foot step sounds based on animation style?
That’s the fun part! This can vary based on the project and with digital Foley, we have the ability to make subtle tweaks that can make a big different. On one series, the clients wanted the main character to sound like a heavy soldier, but as the character progressed and changed throughout the season, her Foley got lighter to match the tone of the softer world around her. In another show, the clients wanted everything to sound light and toy-like, so we recorded custom, extremely light footfalls for each character. Overall, we take our cues from the creator’s vision, desiring and tailoring our digital Foley to best server each project.
Can we hear some examples?
Sure! I chose some of the more regular, human footsteps to show the differences in texture and weight between characters, despite them all being human.
In this example the creators of the show wanted a heavier/weightier footstep for this man to emphasize his size and strength compared to the other characters.
I felt this example highlights the textural layers that are created. The character wears homemade sandals that aren’t floppy, but have a slight bend to them.
This example is just a simple one: A barefoot woman on wood.
If you enjoyed this blog, check out these:
SWEETENING FOLEY
LUNCH AND LEARN: SPLICING FOOTSTEPS
THE LOWDOWN ON DIGITAL FOLEY