The Scream

[furtech]

We interrupt me talking about my dogs for...

The Wilhelm Scream

I found this while googling something entirely unrelated ("Seahorse"). If you've ever thought you heard a familiar scream in a film, chances are your ears are correct! In the sound effects biz there are certain ontologically perfect sounds-- which sound designers are perfectly happy to re-use...over-and-over-and-over...

One of the most over-used is the screaching hawk sound heard any time there's a shot of a wide-open wilderness ("Kree-aah!"). The reason? It's a freebie on a sample disk from the premier sound effects library.

Back to "The Scream". The scream was originally from an obscure move, "Distant Drums," but is named for the character in "The Charge at Feather River," that Ben Burtt-- sound designer of the original Star Wars movies-- first heard the cry. The sound is a perfect blend of surprise, desperation and pain and has become something of an inside joke for sound designers (sound effects geekery-- so sad).

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The video is almost surreal as it fugues...

Comments

[didjiman.livejournal.com]

OMG, that's so funny. It makes the edited scene in Star Wars 1999 worthwhile, I guess, to add "the Scream" at the celebration scene :-)

[skiefire.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a lot of the royalty free stuff is used so often its a kind-of game for some people to spot it.

There is one police radio snippet that I originally heard in the first Grand Theft Auto, and now I notice it in nearly every film that contains police where you can hear the dispatcher.

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

LOL! I never noticed that scream before but now I will ALWAYS notice it.

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

I had not noticed that before..heh, very funny XD
After talking with a sound designer I can better appreciate that. Heh!