Sound & Score
The Footstep Was Made Later: A Listener’s Guide to Foley
Explore how Foley footsteps and handling sounds shape a film scene, with a simple listening exercise that separates observation from production guesses.
The journal
Sound & Score
Listening closely to sound, music and the spaces between words in cinema.
Sound & Score
The Quiet Return of a Background Machine Can Mark a Scene’s Ending
A fan, refrigerator or distant engine may disappear from your attention while dialogue becomes absorbing. When conversation stops, the background sound can…
Sound & Score
A Song Heard Through a Wall Has a Different Job from a Clear Recording
You recognise a melody, but the film gives it to you through a wall, an open window or a distant room. The incomplete sound can establish a relationship…
Sound & Score
A Black Screen Can Keep a Film Scene Moving
When the picture disappears, the scene may continue through footsteps, breathing, speech or music. Treating every black screen as a simple pause can miss…
Sound & Score
The Sound of a Crowd Can Give One Face a Different Meaning
A close view of one face does not necessarily make a scene private. Applause, scattered conversation or a collective gasp can keep a crowd present even when…
Sound & Score
An Ordinary Background Voice Can Change the Scale of a Scene
Listen to public announcements and background voices in a film scene, separating their practical information from the world they suggest.
Sound & Score
When Two Characters Talk at Once, Which Voice Do You Follow?
Listen to overlapping dialogue for shifts in attention, unfinished phrases and reactions without assuming every word must be equally clear.
Sound & Score
A Sound Moves Closer Before the Person Enters the Frame
Footsteps, voices or an engine can suggest changing distance before their source appears. Follow the sound’s development and compare it with the eventual image.