The Sound Master

How Foley artist Sanaa Kelley makes the noises you hear on TV

February 2022

by Alex Lim-Chua Wee

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.

Why is your work important?

A Foley artist must tell a story through sound. Let’s say you need to re-create footsteps. If someone is sad, their steps will sound slower and softer. If they’re happy, the steps are upbeat. It’s my job to help you hear those feelings.

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Do you have any favorite sounds to create?

I love working on horror movies. If a zombie is scooping out an eyeball, I’ll squish juicy pineapple. I can run my nails on pinecones to sound like bugs running across a floor. There are a lot of opportunities to be creative.

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What’s the best part of your job?

Every day is different and exciting! One day, we might be working on a silly cartoon. The next day, it could be a show about football.

What’s the hardest part?

Some sounds are more complex to make. For example, a car crash requires layers of sound. Tires screech. Branches snap. Headlights break. Once it took us eight hours to make just a few minutes of sound! And after we’re done, we have to clean everything up.

Do you do anything to prepare for your work?

Creating sounds can be a workout. I may be running in place or banging old furniture for hours. So I always eat before recording. The last thing you want to hear is your stomach growl!