Usually, when the staff in a shop asks if they can help me, I don’t mention that I’m a foley artist and that I am exclusively buying something to record foley sound effects because they may not understand the consequences it has for the product choice and it can lead to confusing conversations where I am trying to explain what I do for a living. But sometimes, it can also add significant value to tell them anyway. When I was prop shopping for the Netflix series Ottoman Rising, about the Ottoman army’s conquest of Istanbul, I visited a shop specialized in medieval objects. The series was full of medieval weapons like bows and arrows and swords, armors, and chainmail. When I explained that I was going to do the foley recording for the show, I had great help from the shop keeper. “Oh, you’re looking for a bow from the time of the Ottoman Empire?” he said. “Well, then, I have an archer’s bow for you, which was widely used by the Ottomans.” Or: “This armor isn’t useful for you because, as you can hear, it doesn’t make any sound.”

In the end, I left the store with two swords, a bow and arrow, a roll of parchment, chainmail, and some other small props.

Another occasion where I informed the shop owner about my work as a foley artist was in a second-hand bookstore. I was looking for an old and creaking book. Before I knew it, the owner, myself, and my girlfriend were pulling books from the shelves and testing them for a good book creak. It’s fun how enthusiastic shopkeepers can be at such times.