Saturday, October 16, 2004
The New “Wilhelm”
The Wilhelm scream is one of the most commonly re-used film sound effects, from this WikiPedia article:
But now there's a new kid on the block, courtesy Governor Howard Dean and an unfortunate audio eqiupment setup, we get the latest cliché, which I just noticed in this HP commercial (on the left) in the second scene if you listen carefully. I'm betting it will turn up in a few more places as well.Wilhelm scream
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect first recorded in 1951 for the movie Distant Drums. It has been featured in dozens of movies since. Alongside a certain recording of the cry of the red-tailed hawk, it is probably the most well-known cinematic sound cliché.
The Wilhelm's revival came from Star Wars-series Sound Designer Ben Burtt, who tracked down the original recording (which he found as a studio reel labeled "Man being eaten by alligator"). He named it after a minor character who emitted it in the 1953 movie The Charge at Feather River. Its use in Star Wars was the beginning of something of an in-joke amongst some sound designers of the film industry, (especially at Skywalker Sound). They continue to try to incorporate it into movies wherever feasible; action movies are naturals, but film sound cognoscenti are particularly impressed when it is used naturally in films such as A Star Is Born (with Judy Garland) and A Goofy Movie.
[edit]External links
- A quote from Ben Burtt (http://www.starwars.com/episode-v/classic/2000/11/classic20001127.html) on the subject
- A Wilhelm Scream filmography (http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html) (cached version (http://tinyurl.com/247z3))
- Film Sound Clichés
Oh, and of course: The Scream Clip (sound only)
