most recent 30 from http://socialsounddesign.com 2013-05-23T04:19:18Z http://socialsounddesign.com/feeds/question/834 http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/rdf http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/834/how-do-i-record-snow-based-foley-without-real-snow VCProd 2010-05-03T15:13:57Z 2011-05-26T05:45:22Z

<p>At the time of recording, conditions were so severe on set that recording on-set foley was out of the question, much less getting clean dialog. Lo and behold, it's now May, all the snow is gone, and I still don't have my footsteps in the snow. I have some library effects, but I'd rather create my own.</p> <p>I have heard that cornstarch makes decent snow sounds, as well as course sand. </p> <p>What have you used to create snow-based foley effects without having the real stuff on hand?</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/834/how-do-i-record-snow-based-foley-without-real-snow/835#835 Jay Jennings 2010-05-03T15:47:07Z 2010-05-03T19:12:45Z

<p>You're correct, corn starch is a tried-and-true substitute and has been used for years by many foley artists.</p> <p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> May I also suggest possibly contacting your local ice company? I have known of at least one film that took place almost entirely in the snow, and the foley artist arranged to have <strong>LOTS</strong> of real snow delivered to his stage for authenticity. May cost you a little more than the cornstarch but I'll bet you'd be much happier with the results, plus you get to build out your library with some great snow material.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/834/how-do-i-record-snow-based-foley-without-real-snow/836#836 NoiseJockey 2010-05-03T15:57:57Z 2010-05-03T22:06:02Z

<p>+1: I've got a tiny ziplock of corn starch in a leather pouch, and just manipulating that sounds pretty good. Hands right in cornstarch works, too, but is messy. Depending on the scene, though, sweetening with styrofoam might add some icy-surface crunch if the snow's not recently fallen, or if the emotion demands a more aggressive sound.</p> <p>[EDIT for the original poster: Photo below. I think the bag was originally from a wilderness signaling mirror, if I recall correctly. OK, it's, uh..."pleather," not leather, and yes, it looks like I'm smuggling contraband. But, <em>sniff</em>, no no it really works really, <em>sniff</em>, lifelike*VERY*lifelikeOhYeahOhYeah...<em>sniff</em>...]</p> <p><img src="http://www.noisejockey.net/stuff/cornstarchPouch.jpg" alt="alt text"></p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/834/how-do-i-record-snow-based-foley-without-real-snow/837#837 georgi 2010-05-03T17:44:57Z 2010-05-03T17:44:57Z

<p>wildtrack foley? :)</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/834/how-do-i-record-snow-based-foley-without-real-snow/838#838 tim prebble 2010-05-03T19:43:00Z 2010-05-03T19:43:00Z

<p>It depends on the depth &amp; form of the snow - nothing will replace the real thing, especially for deep snow... for footsteps &amp; movement on 30 Days of Night we often used 3 layers: the initial impact was from rock salt that had been wet &amp; left to dry so it formed a crust, then the deeper crunch was from a mix of rock salt &amp; corn starch, plus the foley editor had a big library of real snow footsteps which he cut in sync with the foley performances... As it was summer in NZ when we worked on the project, we got a couple of sound recordists in Europe to go recording for us, which was essential especially for body falls &amp; dragging etc... </p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/834/how-do-i-record-snow-based-foley-without-real-snow/8251#8251 Matt Cavanaugh 2011-05-26T05:45:22Z 2011-05-26T05:45:22Z

<p>I'm needing snow foley in spring too, and ended up filling a couple of balloons with corn starch. I've been able to get a variety of different snow qualities by varying the performance. It still doesn't have a true snow sound to me, but it's clean (so far), portable, and cheap.</p>