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Wilhelm vs. Howard Dean

Posted 10 May 2006 in war

Ok, not exactly. But you’ve heard both screams quite a lot in recent years.

Via Wikipedia:

The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the movie Distant Drums. has been featured in dozens of movies since. Alongside a certain recording of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk, the “Universal telephone ring” [1] and “castle thunder,” 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 Wilhelm, a minor character who emitted the scream in the 1953 movie The Charge at Feather River. Its use in the Star Wars films 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. In a tribute to its origins, the clip was used in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when the villain Mola Ram was eaten by alligators.

NPR did an entire segment on the Wilhelm scream. Of course, once you become familiar with this sound, you’ll be surprised how often you hear it in movies.

Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT

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