Hollywood, will you PLEASE retire the Wilhelm scream!? (1 Viewer)

[John_Berger]

...who drinks all of your beer, eats all of your food, releases flatulence that could peel the wallpaper off the walls, and grabs your wife's breasts. Yeah, that's a good friend.

Not.

 

[Jeremy Allin]

I just watched Osmosis Jones and clearly heard it during one of the animated sequences!

Long live the Wilhelm scream!

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Here are some more well-known sound effects:

Castle Thunder


Universal's Telephone

In real life, the loon is found in Canada and Alaska, but in the movies they can appear anywhere in the world.

The Laughing Kookaburra (scroll down a bit) is overused as well.

 

[Gary->dee]

Sorry, John I should have elaborated on why I used those words. The Wilhelm sound is such a famililar sound to some of us, especially Star Wars fans, that it's like an old friend. But to me filmmakers tread a fine line when using the sound in today's movies. I'm torn whether I like it being used for homage purposes in movies like LOTR and Kill Bill or whether I think it should be retired. Currently I think it should be retired, but it's not a big issue for me.

You can read a short bit about it and sound designer Ben Burtt's use of it in the SW movies.

Btw the Wilhelm was also used in Poltergeist, albiet indirectly, when the little girl is watching TV in the kitchen and a war movie is playing.

The Wilhelm is like that old Atari 2600 Pac-Man sound often used in movies, commercials and TV shows when someone is playing a videogame.

 

[Scott McGillivray]

Well this is really quite interesting! I love learning something old that is new to me!

I have noticed other foley sound effects that get repeated a lot. The one that really stands out for me is a big old door creaking/squeaking open. Many big budget movies use the sound too, which I find odd since they could afford to re-record their own squeak/creak.

There was an old PC game called "Stonekeep" that featured this same sound and now whenever I hear it, I think of that game.

 

[Sean*O]

I have to add that I too am VERY SICK AND TIRED of this scream being mixed into everything (done at Skywalker?)

I will be totally into a scene, and then this tired and extremely worn out & overused 'audible watermark' will jump right out at me. There is no avoiding it. It can't be missed.

Isn't it enough that they get their names in the credits of the freakin movie?

Who is up there at the top of the food chain that mandates this scream be put on every sound mix? Is it some kind of company policy?

ENOUGH! /rant off/

 

[Jonny K]

Noooooo! I went and watched that vid of Wilhelm screams, and now I know what to look for! I never noticed them before, but now I'll hear them ALL THE TIME! Noooooo! :frowning:

And they don't even seem to fit into the films!

 

[John_Berger]

And just think -- the Wilhelm supporters apparently have nothing better to do with their lives than to make you hear it as much as possible! Oh, joy! I can't wait for "The Hobbit" to come out only to hear the Wilhelm as Smaug's death scream! Yes, that will fit into the movie, all right. But - hey - it will help the "immortalization" of a scream that's already immortalized enough.

 

[George_W_K]

I can't remember if Lethal Weapon 4 was mentioned yet. In the beginning when the fire guy flies into the tanker.


Maybe they can replace the Wilhelm with the Howard Dean scream!

 

[John_Berger]

I'm not sure which is worse, though.

 

[rick bie]

I am getting in to this late, but has any one noticed a sound appearing in movies the last couple of years that is from the computer game "Doom". I'll have to recheck the game to try and describe it accurately, it's a weird electronic burst which I have heard in several movies and have automatically associated with the game since thats where I first heard it back when Doom first came out. If anyone else can describe it chime in.

Rick

 

[Jason Borchers]

.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

So that's what a laughing kookaburra sounds like.

 

[Phil Carter]

Rick Bie:

Yes, there are two sounds at least that have started to crop up in films, commercials, etc. The first is the "hydraulic door opening" Jason B. mentioned; the second is, I think, the "electronic burst" you described. (It appears in Doom 2 on the final level, as the sound that occurs when the face on the wall is spitting out the cubes). It's like a kind of whooshing sound, right?

Attempting to get back on topic a bit -- me, I love the Wilhelm and am always happy when I find it in a film. It's not hugely well-known, so I get the nice feeling of being in on the "inside joke" when I hear one.

cheers,
Phil

 

[Scott Burke]

I also notice this scream and find it funny that they still use it in movies. However, I think it is even more funny that it has its own name.

 

[Gary->dee]

I just thought I'd mention that while I'm sitting here watching the 1954 version of "A Star Is Born" on TCM starring Judy Garland, I've heard the Wilhelm scream at least twice! For me it's definitely the oldest movie I've heard the sound effect used in.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Heard it in Hellboy. Thanks very much to this thread for ensuring that whenever I hear the scream, it'll distract the hell out of me!

 

[JayDerek]

[ edit ]

nevermind. already been posted.

~Jason

 

[George_W_K]

Will it never end?! The Wilhelm Scream was used in tonight's season premire of "The Family Guy". Is nothing safe from the (insert CASTLE THUNDER from post 43) WILHELM?!

 

[TonyD]

I KNnow the sound but have been lucky to never hae noticed it, ever in any movie or show.

i do see EE tho' :frowning: