Ever wondered how sound effects were created before computers gave us everything at our fingertips?
Take a look at the original Grace Gibson Productions Sound Effects Door. This ‘door’ is actually a wooden cabinet with doors, switches, bells, locks, etc on its sides, and has a removable top.
The top would be removed, turned upside down and filled with sand. Then bottles, coconuts and other objects would be squelched in the sand to create the sound of people walking – whether it be a cobbled street, a dirt road, or whatever.
The locks could sound like any sort house/building door (opening or closing), a fridge door, a car door, even a safe.
The zither would provide dramatic musical effects, the gavel is self-explanatory and same with the old telephone.
The actors themselves created a variety of sound effects as they were reading the scripts – and the smart ones knew they’d get more work if they were good sound effects operators!
