Mumbai9 minutes agoAuthor: Virendra Mishra/ Abhinav Tripathi
- Copy link
The art of making the background sound of films authentic is called ‘Folly Sound Art’. You must have heard the sound of thunder, gunshots, rain and car crashes in movies. The sound is prepared in a room like debris. Those who develop this sound are called folly artists. For this they use things like rice, sugar, paper, glass, slippers, shoes, umbrellas and wood.
The work of a folly artist is very creative. These foley artists use sugar or rice grains to make the sound of rain in films. They lay on the roof, thereby developing the sound of rain. How does a Folly Artist work? What household items are used for sound? In the new episode of Reel to Real we have talked about these issues.
For this, Divya Bhaskar’s team reached Aaradhana Sound Studio located in Andheri-East, Mumbai. Three sound engineers Rajendra Gupta, Karnail Singh and Sajjan Chaudhary, who have done foley and sync sound work in hundreds of films, were present there.
Earlier films used only original sound, dubbing started after the technology
In the early days only original sound was used in films. This means that only the sound made during on-spot shooting was used in the films. It was not dubbed separately. Until then there was no technology that could filter out noise. Gradually as the technology improved dubbing started.
Folly Sound started after dubbing. Separate sounds also began to be produced for the background activities of films. In such a situation, the scene began to look more original than before.
Natural sound is only heard in films when the original plates are broken in the studio.
Who Are Folly Artists and How Do They Work? Let’s find out…
All the sounds used in the background of films like breaking glass, running, punching someone, horses and elephants are made with a special technique. This is not natural, but is done with the help of Foley Sound. A person who works on this is called a folly artist.
Most of the items used in movies are fake. Suppose an actor hits a wall during an action sequence. Now apparently that wall is not real. A wall hitting sound effect is created to make the sequence look authentic. This work is done by Foley Artist.
A folly artist also has to pay attention to how the actor wears shoes
The work of a folly artist is very challenging and creative. A foley artist also has to pay attention to what kind of shoes the actor is wearing in the scene. If it is a leather shoe, it will make a different sound. Apart from this, if there are sports shoes, sandals and slippers, the sound will continue to change. Apart from this, attention has to be paid to the condition of the ground surface. Meaning, if the actor is walking on land, on a road or in a hilly area, a different sound has to be made. For this Folly Artist has all types of shoes and slippers available.
Karnail Singh and Sajjan Chowdhury said that if you want to make a clapping sound, slap a pair of ladies’ slippers against each other. This makes the slap sound very similar to the original.
To create the sound of a bell, a foley artist wears a real bell in the studio and records the sound.
Rice and sugar are used to make the sound of rain
In films, rice, sugar and umbrellas are used for the sound of rain. The folly artist takes rice or sugar in both hands and drops it on the umbrella. It makes exactly the same sound as if it were raining.
If there is a sequence of light rains, the amount of rice or sugar is kept low and it is released slowly on the umbrella. While if the sound of heavy rain is to be made, a whole handful of thick grains of rice or sugar is thrown on the umbrella.
The original gun shots and car sounds are pre-recorded
In movies we often hear gunshots. How is this sound produced? In reply, Rajendra Gupta said, ‘Actually a library has already been kept for this purpose. This library contains pre-recorded gun sounds from all over the world. Obviously, the AK-47, pistol and revolver produce different sounds when fired.
Dummy gun shots are shown during shooting. It means that the sound is not used in films. Whatever gun is used in that particular scene, we mix that gun sound from the library according to that scene.
The car model used in the film is found and its sound is recorded
The same thing applies to ordering cars. During dubbing the original sound of the car used in the sequence is used. Suppose a view is to show a Mercedes car. Now the sound engineer will find the car model. After that, the original sound of the car will be recorded and placed in the background of the scene.
In a scene from the movie ‘Sholay’, Hema Malini escapes by riding a thong to escape from bandits. The sound coming from the horse cart in that scene was prepared by Karnail Singh and Sajjan Singh sitting in their studio.
Hema Malini was seen wearing a thong in the movie ‘Sholay’.
The sound of a fluttering pigeon is made using a wallet and paper
If there are pigeons flying in a scene, how will the sound of their flapping be heard? Karnail Singh said, ‘We will take the leather wallet. A paper will be kept in the middle of the wallet. Then you will open and close the wallet very quickly. It will sound like pigeons fluttering.
It is most important for sound engineers to know the gestures of an actor
What is the most important thing to keep in mind for sound engineering? In response, Karnail Singh said, ‘We have to understand the scene and the actor’s gestures. How the actor is behaving, how he is reacting, what is his activity, all these things have to be kept in mind.
Suppose… in a certain scene if the actor gets angry, after drinking the water he will quickly knock the glass on the table. In such a situation we have to make the sound of holding the glass a little louder. When the actor behaves normally, the voice has to be lowered accordingly. Overall, it is most important for sound engineers to know the gestures of an actor in a film.