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The Foley Artist's Studio of Odd Props

8th grade nonfiction passage about film sound jobs: 271 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction film sound jobs 271 words

The Foley Artist's Studio of Odd Props

When you watch a movie, the footsteps, the creaking doors, and the rustle of a jacket may seem to come straight from the scene. Very often they do not. The sounds were added months later by a Foley artist, a sound worker who recreates everyday noises in a quiet studio while watching the finished film on a screen.

The craft is named for Jack Foley, an early sound-effects worker in Hollywood who developed the method of performing sounds in time with the picture. The reason it is needed is practical. Microphones on a film set are aimed at the actors' voices, and they often miss small sounds or pick up unwanted noise such as wind and traffic. A Foley artist fills in the gaps.

The studio looks like a junk shop. The floor has pits and patches of gravel, wood, tile, and dirt, so that the artist can walk on whatever the character walked on. Shelves hold shoes of every kind, because a boot sounds different from a sandal. A bag of cornstarch, squeezed in the hands, makes a crunch that sounds like footsteps in snow. Coconut shells knocked on a hard surface imitate the hoofbeats of a galloping horse. A leather glove flapped quickly can stand in for the wings of a bird.

Timing matters as much as the props. The artist watches each shot and matches every step and movement exactly. A footstep that lands a fraction too early or too late breaks the illusion. When the work is done well, audiences never notice it at all, and that is the highest compliment a Foley artist can earn.

Questions

  1. What is a Foley artist? in the text

  2. Why do films need sounds added later? in the text

  3. Who is the craft of Foley named after? in the text

  4. What does the artist squeeze to make the crunch of footsteps in snow? in the text

  5. Why might a Foley studio keep shelves full of different shoes? think about it

  6. Why is it a compliment when audiences never notice the Foley work? think about it

Words to know

recreates
makes something again, as close to the original as possible
craft
a job that takes special skill and practice
gravel
small pieces of stone, like the ones on a path
imitate
to copy the sound or look of something
illusion
something that seems real but is not
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 202 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Watch a movie. You hear footsteps, a creaking door, and the rustle of a jacket. Those sounds often did not come from the scene. A Foley artist added them later. This person makes everyday sounds in a quiet studio while watching the film on a screen.

The craft is named for Jack Foley. He worked on sound effects in early Hollywood. Why do films need this work? The microphones on a set aim at the actors' voices. They miss small sounds. They also pick up noise like wind and cars. The Foley artist fills in the gaps.

The studio looks like a junk shop. The floor has patches of gravel, wood, tile, and dirt. The artist walks on what the character walked on. Shelves hold many shoes, because a boot sounds different from a sandal. A bag of cornstarch gets squeezed and sounds like footsteps in snow. Coconut shells sound like a horse running. A leather glove flapped fast can sound like a bird's wings.

Timing is important. The artist watches each shot and matches each step. A step that is too early or too late spoils the picture. If the work is good, nobody notices it. That is the best praise.

▲ This passage · 271 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.9

When you watch a movie, the footsteps, the creaking doors, and the rustle of a jacket may seem to come straight from the scene. Very often they do not. The sounds were added months later by a Foley artist, a sound worker who recreates everyday noises in a quiet studio while watching the finished film on a screen.

The craft is named for Jack Foley, an early sound-effects worker in Hollywood who developed the method of performing sounds in time with the picture. The reason it is needed is practical. Microphones on a film set are aimed at the actors' voices, and they often miss small sounds or pick up unwanted noise such as wind and traffic. A Foley artist fills in the gaps.

The studio looks like a junk shop. The floor has pits and patches of gravel, wood, tile, and dirt, so that the artist can walk on whatever the character walked on. Shelves hold shoes of every kind, because a boot sounds different from a sandal. A bag of cornstarch, squeezed in the hands, makes a crunch that sounds like footsteps in snow. Coconut shells knocked on a hard surface imitate the hoofbeats of a galloping horse. A leather glove flapped quickly can stand in for the wings of a bird.

Timing matters as much as the props. The artist watches each shot and matches every step and movement exactly. A footstep that lands a fraction too early or too late breaks the illusion. When the work is done well, audiences never notice it at all, and that is the highest compliment a Foley artist can earn.

■ Harder · 290 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9.2

When you watch a movie, the footsteps, the creaking doors, and the rustle of a jacket may seem to come straight from the scene itself. Very often they do not. Those sounds were added months afterward by a Foley artist, a sound specialist who recreates ordinary noises in a quiet studio while closely watching the finished film projected on a screen.

The craft takes its name from Jack Foley, an early sound-effects worker in Hollywood who developed the method of performing sounds in perfect time with the picture. The need for it is entirely practical. Microphones on a film set are aimed at the actors' voices, and they frequently miss delicate sounds or record unwanted noise such as wind and passing traffic. The Foley artist fills in all of the gaps.

The studio resembles a junk shop. Its floor contains pits and patches of gravel, wood, tile, and dirt, so that the artist can walk across whatever surface the character walked across. Shelves are crowded with shoes of every kind, because a heavy boot sounds nothing like a light sandal. A bag of cornstarch, squeezed in the hands, produces a crunch that convincingly imitates footsteps in snow. Coconut shells knocked against a hard surface stand in for the hoofbeats of a galloping horse, and a leather glove flapped rapidly can pass for the wings of a bird.

Timing matters as much as the props. The artist studies each shot and matches every step and gesture precisely, since a footstep that lands a fraction of a second too early or too late shatters the illusion. When the work is done well, audiences never notice it at all, and that is the highest compliment a Foley artist can hope to earn.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put recreates, craft, gravel, imitate and illusion on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 3 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "The Foley Artist's Studio of Odd Props"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 271 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.9. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 3 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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