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Real-Life Activities

Real-Life Communication

You are a foley artist adding sound effects to a film set in medieval England. You are in your room full of sound effects picking out possible items that will create sounds that you want to make.

You have an apprentice who is also helping to pick out different items needed. "How can I know what we will need if I haven't seen the film yet?" he asks. It's true that you usually watch the film to figure out what sounds you will need to make, but sometimes you read movie scripts to get a general idea.

"Most of our work is done by watching the screen and interpreting what is happening there," says Gary Boggess, a foley artist in Ohio. "Sometimes we read scripts to get an idea ahead of time. We have to be great communicators and figure out the right sound to match an action on the screen."

You toss a page of script to your apprentice. He reads the script and tries to figure out where special sound-effects will be needed.

Read the excerpt below and help your apprentice find five places where you think special effects may enhance the sound of the film.

The Joust

The scene opens with the sun rising over distant mountains. The camera then pans across the green trees and flowers lining a meadow that is still covered with dew. The camera continues to pan across rough wooden seats placed at the side of the field.

The light fades and the film cuts to the same field later in the day. The sun is high in the sky. The wooden benches are filled with men and women in medieval dress talking and cheering as the first knight, in full armor, walks onto the field. He stops in front of the princess's chair.

She picks up the edges of her long dress to stand and then extends her hand to the knight. The knight bends on one knee and kisses the princess's hand. A squire leads the knight's horse across the grass. The horse nods its head and snorts as the squire helps hoist the knight into his saddle. The squire hands the knight his lance, and the horse and knight charge off across the field.

Name five sounds that you will reproduce from this film sequence.