DIY Foley Sound Effects: How to Make Horror Movie Sounds at Home
What do a head of lettuce, a Chihuahua, and a rusty apple corer have in common? They can all make surprisingly convincing horror movie sound effects! (And sure, they're all made of matter, exist on Earth, etc., etc.) Sound design is one of the most creative parts of filmmaking, and you don't need a Hollywood budget to experiment with it. In fact, some of the most memorable sounds in movies come from everyday objects being recorded, manipulated, and combined in unexpected ways.
In this episode of Indie Film Podcast, we're joined by sound designer Jacob Kinch, whose credits include work on The Last of Us and Call of Duty, to explore DIY Foley sound effects, creature design, and the surprising techniques that make movie sounds feel real.
What Are Foley Sound Effects?
Foley is the process of creating and recording sounds that accompany actions on screen, typically during post-production. Think footsteps, rustling clothing, creaking doors, or the sound of someone handling an object. While these sounds might seem insignificant, they're essential to making a movie feel believable. Without them, even a beautifully shot scene can feel strangely empty.
And here's where it gets interesting: The object making the sound doesn't necessarily have to match what audiences see on screen. A Foley artist might use an entirely different material to create a sound that feels more convincing than the real thing. Chuck has mentioned a few times one of his favorite sounds is a stapler he recorded years ago, and has used it for everything from computer mouse clicks to a door closing to a robot.
DIY Foley Sound Effects: Making Horror Sounds With Everyday Objects
Horror filmmaking offers some particularly entertaining opportunities for sound design. When you're trying to create the sound of breaking bones, tearing flesh, or something monstrous moving in the darkness, ordinary household objects can become surprisingly useful.
During our conversation, Jacob shared some of the unusual objects he's used to create sound effects, including:
Lettuce: Twisting and crushing a head of lettuce can create wet, unsettling sounds perfect for gruesome horror effects.
Pumpkins: Their stringy insides and thick flesh can produce convincing squishing and tearing sounds.
Watermelons: Tearing the flesh can create disturbing ripping textures, including effects used to suggest injuries.
Rusty apple corers: Twisting an old metal kitchen tool can produce convincing creaks and squeaks.
Rubber gas masks: Manipulating the rubber creates eerie groans and unsettling textures.
The best part? Most of these materials are inexpensive, easy to find, and require more creativity than technical expertise. And if you've never gone to explore your own garage to see what assuming devices might make the best sounds, you should probably block off a day to try it!
For indie filmmakers, experimenting with DIY Foley sound effects is a great way to create something distinctive without purchasing an expensive sound effects library.
How Sound Designers Create Monster Sounds
Of course, not every sound effect can be created by crushing vegetables. Creature sound design often involves recording existing sounds and transforming them into something entirely new.
Jacob demonstrated how a Chihuahua recording could be pitched down to create a surprisingly intimidating monster sound. By recording at a high sample rate, sound designers can preserve more detail when dramatically slowing down or lowering the pitch of audio. But creating a convincing creature involves more than simply lowering the pitch (or raising it, like The Chipmunks.)
Different sounds can be layered together to build a creature's voice. Deep animal growls might provide the low frequencies, while birds, scraping objects, or distorted textures help create additional character. Jacob recommends experimenting with timing, equalization, and shared processing to make separate recordings feel like one cohesive sound. It's a technique that can transform ordinary recordings into something audiences have never heard before.
The Surprisingly Strange Sounds of Jurassic Park
One of the best examples of creative creature sound design comes from Jurassic Park.
Sound designer Gary Rydstrom and his team combined recordings of real animals to create the voices of creatures nobody had ever heard.
Among the more surprising ingredients? Baby elephant recordings contributed to the T. rex, while mating tortoises provided some of the sounds used for the Velociraptors. It's a fantastic reminder that sound design isn't necessarily about recording what something actually sounds like. Sometimes it's about finding the sound that makes an audience believe what they're seeing.
Do You Need Expensive Software for Foley and Sound Design?
Not necessarily! While professional sound designers often use software like Pro Tools, there are plenty of alternatives for independent filmmakers.
During the episode, Jacob recommends Reaper as an affordable audio workstation, and we also discuss options like Adobe Audition, DaVinci Resolve's Fairlight tools, and GarageBand. The most important thing isn't purchasing the perfect software or collecting hundreds of plugins. It's learning how to listen, record, manipulate, and combine sounds.
You can start by downloading free sound effects, recording objects around your home, and experimenting with pitch, timing, and effects. Over time, you'll develop a better understanding of what makes a sound convincing and how to recreate it.
Better Sound Design Starts With Curiosity
One of our favorite takeaways from this conversation is that great sound design often begins with simply paying attention. Record the strange noises your household objects make. Experiment with different microphone positions. Keep interesting recordings for future projects, even when you don't immediately have a use for them (though, as always, create very detailed labels for all these file names so you can search to find them later!).
And remember that sound design isn't limited to horror. The same techniques that create terrifying creatures can also help you build more realistic environments, rescue problematic audio, and make your entire film feel more immersive.
Now, skip the excuses. Go make some damn art!
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