Come talk about fun and quirky words in the English Language. Posting is open to all members.
foley

foley
/ˈfəʊli/
N. [as modifier] Relating to or concerned with the addition of recorded sound effects after the shooting of a film. [source]
What is now called Foley is a range of live sound effects originally developed for live broadcasts of radio drama in the early 1920s… [Jack Donovan Foley] and his small crew projected the film on a screen while recording a single track of audio that captured their live sound effects. Their timing had to be perfect, so that footsteps and closing doors synchronized with the actors' motions in the film. [source]
Jack [Donovan Foley] estimated that he walked 5000 miles in the studio doing footsteps. He characterized the footsteps of stars in this manner: "Rock Hudson is a solid stepper; Tony Curtis has a brisk foot; Audie Murphy is springy; James Cagney is clipped; Marlon Brando soft; John Saxon nervous… Women are the toughest to imitate… their steps are quicker and closer together. I get winded doing leading ladies. Jean Simmons is almost, not quite, the fastest on her screen feet in all of Hollywood. She's topped only by June Allyson. I can't keep up with her at all." [source]
Tricks of a foley artist listed include “corn starch in a leather pouch” to simulate crunching snow and walking on balled up audio tape to simulate the sound of dry brush and grass. I always thought it seemed like a cool, problem-solving job.
But foley is also a handy metaphor, and offers an interesting way to describe an underlayer of sound:
Construction began in May, and summer played out against the foley of jackhammers.
photo by David E. Scherman for LIFE Magazine, 1944




If you ever get to Disney World's MGM Studios, they have an excellent tribute to Foley artists. However, if your health care provider mentions a Foley be aware that it is also a type of catheter. :-O
Yikes.