by Elisha Atkinson
Bradford UNESCO City of Film are today hosting sound effects workshops at Bradford City Library.
The workshops show people how to use household items to produce sound effects in post production – known as ‘Foley’.
Rachel Bottomley, production coordinator at Bradford City of Film said: “It’s giving people an insight that they can do these (sound effects) in day to day life.
“Horses hooves are so easy if you’ve got coconuts or if you have cornflakes you can crunch them like walking through leaves.”
Jane Hall, project manager at Bradford City of Film believes the workshop is suitable for all.
She said: “It’s great for younger people to see but also anyone with an interest in film.
“I think there will be a few surprises about where some of the noises on films come from.”
The art of adding sound in post-production began in 1927, when Universal employee Jack Foley turned a silent film into a musical.
As it turned out, Foley gave his name to an industry of post-production sound design.
A Velociraptor hatching in Jurassic Park? – Crunching an ice-cream wafer.
A lightsaber from Star Wars? – Microphone feedback.
A crushed skull in Terminator? – Grinding pistachios.
Jan Smithies attended the workshop this morning.
She said: “I recently retired and I just want to learn more about film and photography so I thought this would be a useful start up to kind of get a feel of it.
“I will never hear celery the same!”
For more information on upcoming UNESCO City of Film events in Bradford follow them on twitter @bfdcityoffilm.
To hear more: https://soundcloud.com/elisha-danielle-atkinson/foley-sound-effects