Foley Work - Gary Hecker

I've been slowly putting together loads of things for The Hush special features. A big part of the post process for us, was the foley and sound designing stages. They were fun and challenging; and there was always a need for time and patience. Layers must be built one at a time and then combined or filtered to get the right final sound.

In the meantime, while I put our The Hush version together, check out this video about Gary Hecker by Michael Coleman. Besides being insightful, it gives you a look into something that most movie goers take for granted, but this something brings the world movies take place in to life. Hecker is a seasoned professional who's worked on numerous high budget films, but it is an art form which he enjoys very much.



The funny thing is, when we did our foley passes on The Hush, we approached it in the same fashion (we had the same mindset and ideas for organizing ourselves and the executing the process). It seemed to come almost naturally. Granted our space was not as big, our equipment not as high-end and we don't nearly have as large a collection of sound making objects, we did spend the time and expelled our creativity in building our world with sound.

"The Hush" is near completion

Yes. I know it has been a while since I last posted. Needless to say it's because I have been incredibly busy.

- Locked my Edit down ( I am glad I spent the time to really let the editing of the film come to life. The rough cut went from 1hr and 47 minutes to my current 1hr and 32 minutes).

- Performed some very interesting color stylization passes (not 'correction') using some powerful tools in After Effects. Everything was stylized to fit an emotion or an atmosphere.

- Performed some basic animation/composite work for different scenes in the film. The more complicated and intricate work is being handled by Mark Jeschke (oogamedia.com).

- ADR passes for about 90% of the dialog.

- Recorded an entire original score for my film. A dozen+ tunes move the movie along, each song serving it's specific role.

The Sound Booth was completed early in the Spring and was immediately put to use. I brought my actors back into 'the Dungeon' of Mitchell Street Pictures for some very productive ADR passes. I am currently finishing Foley work using the booth but I will have to make many trips into the city at night to grab more natural sounds here and there.

I am very proud of my work and the work of everyone involved with the project. Stay tuned please and start bracing yourself.

Gear: Homemade Soundbooth

Now my goal has been to create a soundbooth for under $300; so far I am 2/3rds the way there. Now the booth as I write this is being slightly redesigned. I am hoping to use this for ADR and Foley work on my film(s). I figure that spending my target amount for something I can use all day, whenever I want and however I want is ideal.

First off, this would not be possible without some resources. My cousins, the Palacios Bros., are contractors and builders. They gave me insight and materials that saved me money (industrial grade plywood and fiberglass insulation). My uncle Carlos donated two quiet cooling fans, the kind you would find in a server room. From there I took a trip to a local depot for homes to purchase some 2x4s and screws.

The Room - This room is about 20 feet from my editing station. It is already isolated from streets and busy areas. The best part is that it used to be a dark room, so there are no windows and it is an ideal size. I made sure we built a shelf for the 13inch NTSC monitor that will be receiving a down converted signal straight from my tower. I purchased enough cable to send a video and audio signal to the talent.

Stay tuned as there is more to come on the Booth.

UPDATE: The booth was completed and used successfully for ADR and Foley work on 'The Hush'. It worked beyond my hopeful expectations and came together very professionally; I used it to create and re-create sounds for nearly 90% of the entire film.