I’m interested in working on soundscapes and foley effects within shots. As an overall goal – I want to be able to improve the quality of my shots and short films by using my own, original sound effects to create the space in which my characters exist in.

The first difficulty I have is simply the shot I want to edit sound for. I don’t know whether or not I want to work with someone in the class to create the shot – in which I will then foley and soundscape – or if there is a visual element I could experiment with, with which I could then experiment with sound as well.

So, what kind of shot could I create that would excite me enough to want to create it? One shot that has always interested me is when the camera passes through a wall or floor into a different space. It has always been a cool and creative way to transition into a different scene, or show a character’s movement through space.

And I do think there are a number of ways I can experiment with this. From simple google searches, it seems that there are two predominant ways of doing it. One is the harder way, and that is by literally moving the camera through a window/wall/floor – but that requires some setup of the actual surface it’s moving through as well. Either can use a surface that can actually move, or film on a stage that was made for the very purpose of housing different spaces.

Otherwise, there’s also the easier way, through editing. After effects is an amazing tool, and it is definitely possible to produce the effect of passing through a physical object. I have no idea how to do it though, so that will prove to be a great challenge. I have no experience with after effects, so it’ll be a good entry point into the program itself.

So in what context could I film the camera passing through an object – in a way that is interesting, and also gives me enough action to foley in post?

My first thought is to have someone sitting in a car, have the camera pass through the car window and focus on the action that the actor will be performing. The actor will exit the car, and the next shot will be a wide shot of him/her exiting the car from outside; closing the door and walking out of frame towards their house. Next I could have the actor opening the door and walking into the home, and the camera could pass through the wall and enter the home. Lastly, I could have the actor walk back outside – this time towards the backyard, where again the camera will pass through from inside to outside. That will be roughly 3 shots, where I can employ different methods of wall passes (digital, physical and whatever other methods). And I think there will be more than enough action for me to foley as my actor passes through the different spaces.

They can pop their keys down, they can take their shoes off, open the door, walk on different surfaces, sneeze, take their coat off, turn a light switch on, etc.
Overall, these series of shots will give me more experience in passing a camera through different spaces, the use of after effects, and also sound effects.