What's with the *scream* I keep hearing in movies?

[ReadyAndWilling]

ok, so i'm watching episode 3 of Star Wars and hear this shrieking scream when a clone trooper gets blown up in the initial battle between the two ships. i'm now watching episode 1 and hear the same scream towards the end.

now that i think about it, i've heard the exact scream in a few other movies. is it just some 'injoke' in hollywood?



thanks

 

[Gepard]

Pretty much.

Also:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio[/yt]

 

[Brikar99]

I love Wilhelm!

 

[Turtletrekker]

A history.

One person who noticed the same distinctive scream reoccurring in so many movies was sound effects fan Ben Burtt. Ben and his friends in the cinema department at USC, Rick Mitchell and Richard Anderson, noticed that a scream was popping up in a lot of movies. One of the films they made together, a swashbuckler parody "The Scarlet Blade" (1974) included the scream - which they borrowed off another film's audio track.

A few years later, when Ben Burtt was hired to create sound effects for Star Wars (1977), he had an opportunity to do research at the sound departments of several movie studios. While at Warner Bros. looking for sound elements to use in the space adventure, he found the original "Distant Drums" scream - which he called "Wilhelm" after the character that let out the scream in "Charge at Feather River".

Known movies and TV shows with the "Wilhelm Scream".

 

[sojourner]

ok, so i'm watching episode 3 of Star Wars and hear this shrieking scream when a clone trooper gets blown up in the initial battle between the two ships. i'm now watching episode 1 and hear the same scream towards the end.

now that i think about it, i've heard the exact scream in a few other movies. is it just some 'injoke' in hollywood?



thanks

Welcome to a whole new world.

 

[CaptMurdock]

My son and I have evolved a game out of who can shout "Wilhelm Scream!" first when watching a show.

 

[ProwlAlpha]

I hate the Wilhelm Scream, almost as much as I hate Bruno Mars.

 

[Evil Twin]

Yeah I find it pretty annoying too. Just takes you out of the moment.

Latest sighting: Episode 9 of Game of Thrones. *sigh*

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think Wilhelm screams are great easter eggs for movie buffs.

 

[scotpens]

Wilhelm scream spotting is fun, but not as much fun as spotting stuff from Forbidden Planet.

 

[Roshi]

I heard the scream last week when I watched Paul.

 

[ITL]

I heard the scream last week when I watched Paul.

Spoiler: Paul

When the car goes into the gorge, right?

 

[Roshi]

yep!

 

[ITL]

Groovy.

 

[sojourner]

I like it when used well. But as can be seen in the first clip in this thread sometimes it's used pretty poorly.

 

[Shazam!]

Howie scream spotting is also fun

 

[sojourner]

Howie?

 

[JarodRussell]

Red Dead Redemption also has Wilhelm.

 

[Klaus]

I'd never heard of this before, it's really cool!

 

[AJBryant]

Add me to the number of people who hate "injokes" like the Wilhem Scream. It takes me RIGHT out of the movie. It's time it was retired.