If you watch Sanaa Kelley work, it might look like she’s just playing with old junk. She’s rattling keys and tin cans. She’s rolling plastic balls around a bin. She’s rubbing bricks on a sandy floor. But Sanaa is actually a Foley artist. She creates many of the sounds that bring TV shows and movies to life.
Why are Foley artists needed? While filming, cameras don’t always pick up on background sounds. They might be too quiet or not heard at all.
So Foley artists help re-create the noises you see happening on-screen. (Maybe it’s soup sloshing around in a pot or a superhero’s cape flapping in the wind.) Then an editor adds the sounds in.
We asked Sanaa—who has worked on Riverdale and Batwoman—about her job.