Sound Effects
Learn the process of creating a compelling sound effects track for your movie, where to find high quality sound effects, how sounds effects and Foley work together, how to find a balance with the dialogue and music, and the role of the sound effects editor.Sound Effects
Developed by Jason Tomaric, FilmSkillsABOUT THIS LESSON
A movie sound track consists of several different elements - the dialogue, which can either be the original production audio recorded on set or ADR, the music, Foley, and then the sound effects track. Sound effects consist of both the ambience of the location as well as the sound design for the scene.
In this module, you will learn the process of creating a compelling sound effects track for your movie, where to find high quality sound effects, how sounds effects and Foley work together, how to find a balance with the dialogue and music, and the role of the sound effects editor.
Create a sonically-engaging experience for your audience and gain the knowledge you need to maximize the impact of the sound design in your film.
- 24:49 video that takes you through the sound effects design process
- Illustrated companion guide
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
- The difference between sound effects and Foley
- How to use ambience to help create the world
- Where to find high-quality sound effects
- Techniques for layering and mixing sound effects
- How to create compelling sound design
- Scheduling and budgeting requirements for sound design
ABOUT THE LESSON AUTHOR
Jason Tomaric
Director, Cinematographer Los Angeles, CaliforniaJason J. Tomaric is an Emmy, Telly, and CINE Award-winning director and cinematographer of four internationally-distributed feature films, dozens of national television commercials, music videos, and the largest film training content library in the world, published author of 8 books - used in many top universities, and creator of AccuSkills.com, an industry-changing learning management platform.
Jason has worked in Los Angeles and around the world in over 20 countries. His clients include Disney, NBC/Universal, National Geographic, McDonald’s, Toyota, Scion, Microsoft, and Paul Mitchell, with narrative work screened at Sundance, Slamdance, and South by Southwest film festivals as well as on Netflix and on all broadcast networks.
Jason has taught and/or guest lectured at some of the nation's most prestigious film schools including UCLA, Columbia College, John Carroll University, Kent State University, San Francisco State, University of Notre Dame, and numerous film festivals.
Jason has written eight industry-defining books, all sold in bookstores, and used in film schools around the world. The American Society of Cinematographers hails Jason's books - "There are no wasted words in Tomaric's tome, which concisely summarizes each facet of the director's craft. It's difficult to think of a step in the process that Tomaric fails to address."
Jason’s DVD training series on Hollywood film production have trained filmmakers in over 40 countries, with distributors in Europe, Hong Kong, New York and Australia.
In 2010, Jason launched FilmSkills, which combines the world’s largest film training video library with his proprietary learning management system. Adopted by 47 universities within the first year, FilmSkills is now the leading industry-standard training solution for motion picture and television production.
In 2015, Jason launched AccuSkills.com, an industry-changing learning management platform that bridges the gap between academia and industry.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS LESSON
Cindy Marty
Emmy-nominated Sound Effects Editor, "Titanic," "Die Hard," "Superbad," "Groundhog Day," and "Bridesmaids;" Winner of Golden Reel Award for TitanicCindy Marty has been an Sound Editor since 1985 for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Today her sound editing has be nominated for an Emmy and has won the Gold Reel award for her work on Titanic.
Ms. Marty’s pictures, include: Anchorman 2, Bridesmaids, Step Brothers, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, Something’s Gotta Give, Pearl Harbor, As Good As It Gets, Titanic, and Die Hard.
Frank Salvino
Post-Production Supervisor, "The Grey," "I am Sam," "Little Children," and "17 Again"Frank Salvino graduated the University of Kentucky with a BA in Telecommunications and was the VP of feature post-production for New Line Cinema for nine years.
More recently he has served as the post-production supervisor for The Grey, starring Liam Neeson, I Am Sam, starring Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer, and Little Children with Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connelly.
Vanessa Theme Ament
Foley Artist, "Die Hard," "Edward Scissorhands," "Predator;" Author of "The Foley Grail," Nominated for 2001 Golden Reel AwardVanessa Ament was born in Glendale, California, and raised in the central coast county of San Luis Obispo. She grew up the granddaughter of the early film pioneer Earl L. McMurtrie. Vanessa was a singer and dancer in her youth and performed in many plays and cabaret shows. At Whittier College, she earned a B.A. in Theatre, and after graduation, worked for the Glendale Regional Arts Council as an "Artist-in-the-Schools" in the field of theatre. She "fell" into the work of a Foley Artist by mistake when she auditioned to replace a voice for a film and her accurate sync caught the attention of the mixer, Robert Deschaine and the manager of Gomillion Sound James L. Honore. She started training as a Foley Artist at Gomillion, thinking it would be "a good gig between acting and singing jobs."
This fill-in job became her primary career for over twenty years. Along the way, she began voice casting and acting, Foley and ADR editing, and writing and singing her own songs in the L.A. cabaret and jazz scene. In her thirties, Vanessa earned an M.Div. as a Unitarian Universalist at Starr King School for the Ministry, in Berkeley. Vanessa has always loved teaching, and had various stints as a Sound Supervisor for students at AFI and USC, as well as an educator at various schools and colleges, including Cuesta College, in San Luis Obispo, as well as both DePaul University and Columbia College in Chicago. Vanessa has been a member of MPSE, CAS, BMI, AFM, SAG, Equity, Society of Composers and Lyricists, Women in Film, and The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She has won three Golden Reel Certificates for Foley for the films The Dollmaker (1984), Predator (1987), and Die Hard (1988), and has had several nominations for other films.
Vanessa has been featured at film festivals, sound festivals and in various publications. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, she published MovieSound Newsletter. Music is Vanessa's true calling and she released her first CD in 2004. The most challenging thing Vanessa ever did, other than keep the faith that "work would come," was home school her son for seven years.