What is a foley artist?

Foley artists create sounds for live shows and films. Creaking floorboards, dripping faucets, the zing of a sword pulled from a scabbard and footsteps make scenes sound real and pull us into the experience. There are three kinds of foley sound effects: feet, movement and specifics.

Foley artists create the sound of footsteps by wearing different types of footwear on different kinds of floors—high heels on a hardwood floor sound different from bare feet squishing through a swamp, for example. Sounds to convey movement can be nuanced, such as the sound of two actors brushing by each other. Specific sounds can be the ping of an incoming text, a banging door, or a humming fan.

The highly- recognizable lightsaber sound from Star Wars was made by recording microphone feedback from a tube television. The sound of E.T.’s walk was created through a mix of the sounds of packaged liver, jelly in a wet towel and popcorn in a bag. In “Jurassic Park,” Foley artists created the hatching sound of a velociraptor by recording the sound of an ice cream cone being crushed.