Customer Reviews

The Foley Grail: The Art of Performing Sound for Film, Games, and Animation

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm giving this book three stars, but I really didn't like it. For the past two decades, I have made my living, exclusively, in the sound for motion picture business. Because I am so passionate about it, I feverishly snatch up every book on the subject. The business is so complex, there is so much information, after twenty years, I still thrive on learning something new. And I do, almost every single day.

For years, I have been looking for a book specifically about foley. I'm fascinated by the many sounds that come out of various objects. I understand that experimentation is the name of the game, but the most fun thing about foley is finding out what items are used to create what sounds. I probably shouldn't give a book a bad review just because it wasn't written the way I wanted. But the fact is, I wanted a recipe book. I was disappointed because that's not what this is.

To be fair, this book contains a lot of information. It covers everything you could ever want to know about the history of foley and pays homage to several great foley artist. That's all great. Foley artists are under appreciated, and the work they do is incredible. Foley artists should get all the credit they deserve, and they deserve a lot.

There is also a great deal of information about what, in my opinion, has gone wrong with the Hollywood system. I'm speaking, specifically, about heavy-handed departmentalization. Without getting into it, I'll just say I found it very discouraging, even depressing. Not a quality I look for in a book, especially a book so closely associated with what I do every day.

This book is relatively expensive. A college student or a struggling, young filmmaker would be better off spending the money on something else. Despite what the title implies, "The Foley Grail: The Art of Performing Sound for Film, Games, and Animation," is more like a history book. The technical information isn't there. If technical information is what you're after, you'll have to look somewhere else.

By the way, when I bought this book, I also purchased "The Sound Effects Bible," by Ric Viers. So far, I've read only about half of it, scanning, quite a bit, over a lot of information I already know. But I can tell you this; Ric's book is full of very good, very useful technical information. It's presented in a positive, entertaining way with lots of nice pictures and useful diagrams. It's actually inspiring. I plan on reviewing Ric's book (I'm calling him by his first name, as if I know him, but we've never met), and I will give it five stars.

This is the first and only book, to my knowledge, written exclusively on the art of Foley. Written by someone who has well over one hundred film and television shows to her credit and a background in teaching, The Foley Grail lives up to its given title. This is not, however, a how-to book. It's not page after page of recipes for getting the best "face-punch or arm-break" sound. One can easily go online for that content. To be sure, Vanessa writes at length about things such as "walking" a character correctly or choosing props based on sonic characteristics over appearance (which can be a typical mistake). This book is much more about the collaborative process of foley as well as the things that have driven men and women to this profession over the years.
Ament gives us insight into the world of foley that only one with her experience can provide. From the foley artist, mixer and recordist to the editor and final dub mixer, the reader is taken through the very interesting, creative and challenging process of producing sound for film.

The book contains almost no actual information about foley. If you selected a few chapters from the Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, heavily edited them down to an almost road-side pamphlet size, and added in some more name-dropping, you'd have a decent approximation of The Foley Grail.

A brief look through the table of contents and you'll find that all chapters but one deal with the actual art of foley. Most deal with history, cue sheets, mixing, predubs, etc.. The one chapter that deals with actual foley techniques is 13 pages long. Most of which are filled with anecdotes instead of actual content.

The Sound Effects Bible, which as its title suggests, deals more with hard effects, has more actual information on foley techniques and props in its brief chapter than all of The Foley Grail -- and accomplishes it in 11 pages.

Really, if anyone is interested enough to know what the word foley means and to seek out a book on the subject, then there is nothing in this book to learn. More than likely, you're already familiar with all of the processes that go on before and after the foley (which again is what this book focuses on), and if you're not, pick up a copy of The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound. It gives a much more thorough treatment of those subjects.

In the meantime, we'll just have to wait for someone to write a book that's actually about foley techniques.

Reaches deep into the heart of the art and craft of performing sound to picture. Rich in technical details and notable in tone for never losing sight of the humanity of the sound artist within her/his myriad of working tools (i.e. endless props, digital/analogue hardware and sundry foley stages). Frank, in describing difficulties, less then professional behavior and the high task level which a working foley artist must be able to perform at. Somewhat expensive but, in my opinion, worth every cent. The depth of knowledge and feeling as I read it portends a book of lasting value. Jon Oh

Some reviewers choose to rate a book according to how it extends their prior knowledge of a subject. I choose to rate if a book if it meets its stated purpose, is well written, has suitable graphics, etc. If it doesn't teach me anything I already know, I don't take that out on the book.

I'll admit, I was looking for a book that delves more into the specific props used to make the sounds we hear on TV or the movies. A recipe book, if you will. What I got instead was a book that takes the reader into the fascinating world of sound from the engineering AND the business sides. From that perspective, Vanessa Ament deserves a 5 star rating.

I do take exception to a statement on the back cover of the book. "Build your own Foley stage with detailed instructions and illustrations provided." That's a recipe for disaster if you're looking in the book for a step-by-step procedure to build a working stage. Ament does indeed discuss the making of a Foley stage in a round-about way, but if you're looking for blueprints, you won't find them in the book.

All that said, I liked the book and learned a lot about the sound business from the point of view of a Foley artist.

The Foley Grail is an excellent resource...actually the resource for Foley production. Vanessa is well respected in her field and has so meticulously detailed the inner workings behind the art and science of Foley. It's clearly written from an artist's perspective and that's important, because those that perform Foley are truly artists. I'm sure this book will prove to be the standard for teaching Foley for years to come.

Ric Viers
Author, The Sound Effects Bible