Foley is a technique for creating what's known as live effects in a film. Foley is named after Jack Foley, a sound artist at Universal who pioneered the technique.

A Foley artist matches live sound effects with the action of the picture. The sounds are created "manually and added in with the film on a Foley stage. This stage often looks like a junkroom - filled with shoes, ladders, tools, household objects, and all kinds of everyday items used to create their respective sounds (and sometimes other sounds for which they were never intended!) All Foley stages also have various surfaces - wood, metal, tile, etc., to create the footsteps required for different scenes.

Creating Foley sounds is a great way to add the subtle ambient sounds a movie or animation needs - doors, footsteps (which takes a VERY skilled Foley artist!), rustling clothing (such as the sound of a leather jacket when the biker mounts his Harley.)

Foley is NOT sound effects such as lasers, wind, explosions, thunder, etc. That is special fx, and is the job of the sound designer.

A good Foley artist can look at an object and imagine what sound it will make, much like 3d artists look at a wireframe and "see" the final render. The expert Foley artist must "become" the actor or the sounds will not be convincing.

For more information on Foley techniques, case studies, and articles, visit: www.filmsound.org

I hope this article was helpful. Enjoy experimenting with making your own Foley sounds!
--Donnie