When it comes to sound effects, there are several different approaches. We’ll cover the 4 principal sound effect types: foley, hard effects, backgrounds and sound design.
On the surface, sound effects may seem unnecessary. You might ask “can't we just record the voices and sounds as we shoot and present a completely honest soundtrack?” You can do that, but I think you'll be disappointed with the results. In the enhanced reality of hollywood, it's common to replace almost every sound - from main dialog to the smallest squeak. Your viewers grew up expecting that type of sound as they watch various forms of media. While a completely organic soundtrack is possible, it's the exception rather than the rule. However, there is good news! You can create big sounds for your productions, too! There is an art to it, but if you start simply, building on these 4 principal sound effect types: foley, hard effects, backgrounds and sound design, you will gain great depth in the auditable part of your video. Foley audio is the live recording of sound effects --effects that you create, capture to go along with the action in your video. The idea is to perform the sounds as they happen using materials in a studio so you will have the power to manipulate it and improve the quality of your final product. Many hollywood sound effects are substitutes for the real thing - often bad substitutes.These are sounds that should fit but they don’t. Here is an example: let's say a little scooter whizzes across the screen, it should be the sound like a little scooter buzzing by, not a gurgling, loud harley davidson ripping through. Pay attention to this when choosing sound effects or creating them. Try to be as authentic as possible. So, if your hero is stepping out of a giant truck and slamming the door, don't record the door clasp of your small compact car- record a big heavy door clunk of a truck. You get the point. As you're recording, there are several things to monitor. That door slam will start with a giant spike in sound level. Make sure you have plenty of recording headroom to eliminate the possibility of signal overload and distortion. If anything, record a little lower than normal - you can always bump the volume in post. Also, listen closely to the sound. For biggest impact, placing the mic as close to the sound source as possible, just be careful if impact is not needed as it may not suit the scene. For options and to plan for some malfunctions, record several versions and variations. Start with a few takes up close, then move the microphone back a bit and grab a few more takes. Finally, move the mic back even further - maybe somewhere close to the original camera position - and record some more. Later, when you edit, you stand a good chance of finding that one magical take that fits perfectly in your project. What is a hard effect? A hard effect is a sound that appears on screen, such as door alarms, weapons firing, and cars driving by. Narrative sounds that are synced to on-screen objects or actions. Let’s watch and listen to an example of a hard effect. Every space has its own sound. The street corner, the gymnasium - even the room you’re in right now. Each space feels different than the other. Sometimes the space feels the way it does because of the architecture of the space, other times, it's the environment around it. From a noisy road to the quiet of a remote ranch - they all have distinct sounds. These sounds are known as background noise or background sound effects. These are sounds that do not explicitly synchronize with the picture but indicate setting to the audience, like the wind blowing through pine trees in a forest, the annoying buzzing of fluorescent lights in an office building or the sounds of children playing in a park on a playground. The sound of people talking in the background is also considered a "bg or background," but only if the speaker is unintelligible and the language is unrecognizable. These background noises are also known as ambience or atmosphere. Dont underestimate the value of background noise. In some situations you might even add the same background noise, recorded on location of the scene you're adding it to, just to create more drama to that scene. By just changing the background sound you can magically whisk the audience away to a far away land. Here is an example.What sound does a sword that's made of light make when vigorously moved through the air? Before star wars was released, most of us wouldn't have known what that sounds like, but you and I in the modern world know. This sound may or may not be the actual sound that it would make, but we really can't be sure. But because of movie magic, it has a sound, this is a typical example of the next sound effect we are going to talk about: sound design. Great sound design consists of many elements. Yes, it can include recording unique sound effects — the sound team for “gravity” recorded underwater guitars to create their metal-on-metal sounds for space — but it also includes using an effective score and giving dialogue a sense of pacing. There is a common myth that all sound-work should be relegated to post-production, but this is a mistake which leaves the auditory aspects of your film tailing behind all other production elements rather than blending them cohesively and letting them informing the way the film evolves. Planning your sound design right from day one of script-writing means you can lend each environment a greater sense of identity. Plan your shots and make sound an active player in the development of your narrative. Let’s take a listen to some examples sound design Sound effects libraries were created because editors just like you needed just that perfect sound. From bug noises to train whistles, all you have to do is search for it, and a sound effects library probably has it. They use the best tools, record in the most pristine conditions, and offer the highest quality sounds possible. But sometimes, it's fun to see what you can achieve on your own.
