Technical sound: Foley

Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound affects that are added to film in post production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. It usually goes unnoticed by the audience because it is supposed to be realistic. Without these crucial background noises, films feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable.
Foley artists recreate the realistic ambient sounds that the film portrays. The props and sets of a film often do not react the same way acoustically as their real life counterparts. Foley sounds are used to enhance the auditory experience of a film. Foley can also be used to cover up unwanted sounds captured on the set of a movie during filming, such as passing traffic. It was first used in radio shows in the 1920s in order to make the action sound more life like and realistic.

However, this technique is less frequently used today due to the massive range of technology that is available to us. Through the use of software such as Final Cut Pro, we were able to add extra sounds in post production such as the noise of rain because although it was raining during filming, it wasn't clearly audible when we watched it back. In addition to this, we added the sounds of thunder in order to match up with the dark stormy atmosphere.

In the picture above, the rain on the windscreen is clearly visible and therefore we used a sound effect to match with this.